When I do good, I feel good, when I do bad, I feel bad, and that is my religion.
Abraham Lincoln
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Well, the National Day of Prayer sure has got the cauldron bubbling.
US District judge Barbara Crabb of Wisconsin issued a ruling saying that the National Day of Prayer is unconstitutional, and that has a lot of people with their knickers twisted. They think she's saying it's illegal. But all she means is that the Constitution does not allow for a religious celebration to be a national one.
We have some national celebrations, most of them holidays, such as the 4th of July and Thanksgiving. And we have others that are not national holidays such as Halloween and Christmas.
We are, thank goodness, a multi national, multi lingual, multi religious nation. We have the right to worship, but not the right to impose our religious beliefs on the rest of the nation. The right to pray is a constitutionally confirmed right, but it is not a national obligation.
But the United States is a Christian country, founded on Christian principles. Oh? The founding fathers, those that were religious, were Christians by default. They came from Christian countries. To say the nation was founded on Christian principles the fathers would have had to deeply investigate and seriously consider all the world's religions and then decide on Christianity as the basis for American government. But they didn't do that.
Let's say we are a "Christian" country. We have to round up everybody and find out what God they worship. Do you worship Yahweh, Allah, Jesus, Buddha, Shiva, the Copper Woman, Zeus, Quetzalcoatl, Osiris, Astarte. Satan? Are you a deist, an atheist, anti religious, areligious, animist, agnostic? Are you a monotheist, a pagan?
Alright, now we have separated the Christians from everyone else it's testing time.
How many believe Jesus was God? How many don't?
We've lost half of them. But the testing goes on.
On which day did God create the beasts of the field?
What did Adam do to earn the Lord God's curse?
How long did the flood of Noah last?
Who built the tower of Babel?
How many children did Jacob have, what were their names, in what order were they born and who were their mothers?
Who first said to "love they neighbor as thyself"?
How many of Jesus' disciples were fishermen?
How many beatitudes are there in the Sermon On The Mount and what are they?
What is the Mother of Harlots?
Well what do you know? There are a few true Christians who actually know the answers to those questions. Now one final question.
Do the few of you that are left go forth every day to "heal the sick, raise the dead, cleans the lepers and cast out devils"?
I thought so. Well, that more or less does it for our "Christian" nation.
There is a difference between a Christian and he who is trying to become one. And so it is with anyone on an earnest spiritual quest, whatever his religion.
The Vagabond
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SPRING QUESTION
(This is not a contest.)
In your opinion what is the most amazing thing that could happen during this decade? Make it as outrageous as you want but keep it within the realm of what you consider a possibility.
Only 7 responses so far.
Answers will be published the first day of Summer.
Thank you.
dbdacoba@aol.com
DB - The Vagabond
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6 comments:
Given the climate of debate today there is a lot of people who want to reinterpret what those founding fathers intended when they wrote the constitution. Many have forgotten that religious freedom was one of the pursued aims of many who came to this country.
But one of the problems of any religion is that it takes the simple and add layers of complexities to it, rendering it unrecognizable. There is no accounting for relative interpretations, as taking the words from the bible literally would give the okay to slavery, fornication, and incest among other acts that society has deemed immoral.
So many people use their faith as a weapon... I am sure that Islam has be radicalized for many that renders it unrecognizeable. The common thread I find in the debate about religion is the intellectual capbability of those who push their theist agenda. They aren't 'dumb' as they are inclined to ignore what they 'know' and cling to what they want to believe, even in the face of incontrivertible evidence.
Whatever happened to the separation of church and state? For a country that is fixated on so called Christian principles, there is nothing much Christian going on down there. Healing the sick, casting out demons or raising the dead. Are you serious? These people are much too busy quizzing and judging everyone else's Christian values that they have no time to go out and act like Christ in the world. I have no time for them or their "religion".
Very true Mark. If we are to take scripture literally why aren't we sacrificing sheep and goats and spilling the blood around.
It's always amazed me how otherwise intelligent people came become so unreasonable in the face of religious beliefs. There's a key. Whenever you approach a church you put the dey in the lock and close up the mind.
Thank you Pacifica. There are those in this country who would like to abolish the separation of church and state but only if the state religion conformed to their own prejudices.
Christians spend too much time "correcting" each other's thinking instead of their own..
I do not pray to the God I believe in.
He is far too busy to listen to me otherwise He would not be the God I believe in...
I am not a follower of any 'earthbound religion'.
I look to the stars for my physical origin and if I ever need any spiritual strength I only have to lie under a dark night sky.
I gave you a standing O for this one, D. (Really. I stood and applauded you.) You know I am in complete agreement.
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