The Separation of Church and State
“History, I believe, furnishes no example of a priest-ridden people maintaining a free civil government. This marks the lowest grade of ignorance of which their civil as well as religious leaders will always avail themselves for their own purposes.” ~Thomas Jefferson.
“That’s the phoniest argument there is. (Referring to separation of church and state) This whole nation was founded as one nation under God.” ~Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.)
Different Americans, Different Traditions
Variety is the spice of life, and different Americans have different traditions. Consider one hypothetical American family’s much-loved Uncle Mert…
Sister Emily
When Uncle Mert visits his sister Emily’s home, Mert and his sister’s family all sit around the dining room table, eat roast and vegetables, followed by dessert. Then they retire to the living room couch and chat over several cups of coffee.
Brother Ralph
But when Uncle Mert visits his brother Ralph’s home, he arrives at 4 AM. Uncle Mert and Ralph don their cold-weather gear, load up the truck, and go spend the daybreak hours in the woods hunting.
Cousin Dave
Uncle Mert has never visited his cousin Dave’s house. And Dave has never even called Mert, even though they live in the same state. As far as Dave’s concerned, Uncle Mert doesn’t even exist.
Sister Martha
However, when Uncle Mert visits his sister Martha’s home, Martha makes him wear a suit and tie. Martha leads him straight to the dinner table, and serves a plate full of Brussels sprouts. Martha’s family and Uncle Mert really love to get together and eat Brussels sprouts.
Martha loves eating Brussels sprouts with Uncle Mert so much, that she wants everybody else to spend their time with Uncle Mert the same way she does — she thinks everybody should spend their time with Uncle Mert eating Brussels sprouts, and ONLY eating Brussels sprouts.
Freedom to Choose
Fortunately, Martha’s relatives live in the United States. Martha’s relatives are not required to spend their time with Uncle Mert eating Brussels sprouts; they’re free to share their time with Uncle Mert in any way they choose.
Likewise, the U.S. Constitution guarantees that every American can spend (or not spend) time with their best friend — even if that friend is a deity — whenever and however they desire. What’s more, Americans aren’t forced to spend time with friends or deities they’d rather not get to know.
And if Martha doesn’t want to live according to the U.S. Constitution, she is free to pursue citizenship in another country of her choice.
Thanks to Blue Gal for getting this rolling.
Read more Blogs Against Theocracy.
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Read More: theocracy, religious right, U.S. Constitution, separation of church and state
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I know what you are saying, Joe. Unfortunately, since only 3% of the USA knows what critical thinking/scientific method is, we are all subjected to/at the mercy of sister Martha and those like her…at the polls.
I think that’s why the Blog Against Theology is such a great idea…the Christian Right has hogged the media/public consciousness on this matter for the last decade, and hammered their message into all the non-critical thinking (or don’t-have-time-to-think…) masses.
Now a lot of good people believe that anybody for separating church and state, anybody against prayer in schools, etc., are a bunch of radical ACLU nuts. The fact is, there are very good reasons for separating church and state, and they’re not all anti-religion. And it’s good to see things like that FirstFreedomFirst video and realize that anybody that is a citizen is by definition a proponent of church-state separation, or they’re an enemy of the constitution that the founding fathers drafted.
To use a religious metaphor, I know I’m preaching to the choir, but some things can’t be stated enough. And I DID like that video…very well done!
Bravo JC!
Great use of brussel sprouts, too, I must add.
Regards,
Tengrain
My Pleasure. You, Blue Gal, and the gang are doing a good thing.
Seperation is great, but the evolution of the so called MEGA churches and the power that these preachers are begining to wield is getting a bit scary, but worse is how the politicians pander to gain favor with them.
It is VERY scary…
Tune in tomorrow (between eating Chocolate Easter Bunnies) and read a post about a group of religious radicals gaining control in the U.S. that will make Hitchcock films seem like Charles Schulz holiday specials (yeah, I know, my posts have been a little dark and heavy lately…promise to lighten up soon…)
Why do brussel sprouts always get the short end of the stick? LOL!
I enjoyed that very much! Thank you.
I don’t know why brussel sprouts are hated so. Actually, I don’t really mind eating them…they’re not THAT bad. Maybe brussel sprouts just need a new image makeover marketing campaign from the brussel sprouts growers association…
Thanks for dropping by Lynda! I enjoyed the Theocracy post on your site, too!