Have you actually read the Constitution? It supports my position not yours. I propose you read it in its entirety and get back to me on just exactly WHERE you find the words "God" or "Christian" in it. I will await your post with interest.
The Declaration of Independence is not an article of governance - it was a statement and a document of a specific time. The framers wisely (I think) made the Constitution religion neutral. The Declaration of Independence was a more populist document, and its phraseology did not have to be parsed out as carefully since it was in no way binding on successive generations in any legal way- as an article of the Constitution would be.
You are a naive and reactionary individual. A sad combination in one who has some modicom of intelligence.
>There is also a fallacy in thinking that religion can be removed from all events and that
the results will be a benign neutrality. Since nature abhors a vacuum, the religions of
moral relativism and secular humanism will simply replace the religions that were
expelled.<
No one wants to remove religion from all events. No one suggests this. Since most families claim to be religious I do not see how this will be accomplished. I have read wonderful accounts of many religions in this country I would not wish to see any of these histories expunged, nor do I belive they will be. Let me recommend the book "Mormon Country" by Wallace Stegner to you (available in highschool libraries, btw)- I recently read it and found it fascinating. The history of Jews in this country is fascinating also. I've read some terrific books by former orthodox Jews- and at some point I intend to read the Kabbala, which has been mentioned in several of the books I've read. I am not familiar with it. At the moment I am reading the "Tao Teh Ching" and "The Essential Rumi"as well as "Moo" so I can't pick it up right away. And then I have to read "Midnight's Children" for my book group.
There is nothing value neutral about leaving people alone to make up their own minds- this allows people to choose their own religions, whatever they may be. I know that is distressing for control freaks- but our Constitution was written to keep control freaks at bay. frustrating I know.
Secular humanism doesn't uproot other religions- if it did we surely wouldn't have so many religious people running around would we? The majority of people are religious- probably not exactly like you- but they call themselves religious. The people who need to be protected are the agnostics and atheists who don't belong to big groups with big agendas that like to fuss about how everyone is out to get them. People really ARE out to get atheists and agnostics (frequently) but because they aren't joiners there isn't a protective group to fall back on, and the paranoid religious fanatics aren't very sensitive to REAL persecution, only to imagined persecution. Which I find fascinating- in a snake eating mouse sort of way.
Your paranoia would be humorous if it wasn't dangerous. People who want the whole country to be like them, so they won't have to fear what is different, is NOT what this country is about. This country is about religious toleration. This country was founded by people who knew what it was like to have fanatics (both Catholic and Protestant) in charge of a country- namely England. I hope you know a bit about that. If not, read up.
We haven't always been what we should be (witness the persecution of teh Quakers, the Mormons, the Jews and many many others) but at least we try. It requires no "redefining" of our cultural heritage to support the Constitution and the separation of church and state. That IS part of our cultural heritage. Of course there are plenty of Christians in our cultural heritage- Catholics, Deists, Baptists, Presbyterians, Lutherans, Calvinists, Quakers, Shakers, Menonites, 7th Day Adventists, Christian Scientists, geez- I could just go on and on. Then there are the other elements of our cultural heritage, some still extant, some not- Jewish, Mormon, Buddhist, myriad African religions, Native American religions, Hindu, Muslim, Black Muslim, Unitarian- and all those other ones I've forgotten, and even the Atheists, and the agnostics- they all contribute to the cultural heritage. It isn't as if it is one strand you can pluck out and say, Ahhhh, here it is - THE cultural heritage strand. It is so many threads, and so intertwined, if you pull one a bunch of others are going to come with it.
Toleration is scary for intolerant people, I understand that, but tough. That is why our Constitution protects the minority (whoever they are) from the tyranny of the intolerant. Read the Constitution and get some help with your paranoia. |
