'blog against theocracy'

“Religion is for those who do not want to go to hell.” Spirituality is for those who have been there, and don’t want to go back.”

thanks the future was yesterday

my husband said to me re: this blogswarm, "oh, but you'll get the folks who say, 'the first amendment says that we can't have a national religion. it doesn't say we can't bring our religion with us.' so what are you going to say to them?" fine question indeed. these would be the same folks who call america a 'christian nation.' i could refer these folks to history, but that wouldn't change their mind. hell, if you won't see that the earth and its peoples are suffering because of human causes, nothing i say will change your mind about the truth in history or american culture. actually, the first amendment says:

'Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;'

to me that means that promoting one religion- in this case christianity- over any other is prohibited by the constitution. why? because if you promote one religion nationally as politicians have done for decades, you are creating a national religion. anyhoo- this is supposed to be about why this shouldn't be. why our DEIST founding fathers took the time to put this provision in the constitution in the first place. my guess is to avoid what happened throughout history- where pagans killed christians; pagans killed jews; christians killed muslims; muslims killed jews; you get the idea. they believed that people should be free to worship as they pleased- i mean that's why the pilgrims came to the new world right? catholics versus protestants and all kinds of atrocities carried out in the name of god and country.

then, of course, are those christians who say- 'but we aren't like that- we follow christian tenets and help our fellow man and feed the poor and whatnot.' sure. that's nice. so do i- without the trappings of organized religion. i feel that if you choose to believe in something- have at it. i defend your right to practice your religious beliefs- because i am a rabid defender of the constitution. do not confuse that with me believing in what you believe. as long as we are not infringing on each other's rights- hey believe what you want. which is where we have been getting into trouble- the attempts to convert- but that's a different post.

it continues to amaze me how people who denounce pagan religions; ancient mythology; islam; hinduism, etc. believe that god decided to send his supernatural son to earth in human form to perform supernatural miracles and die for humanity in order to save it from itself. these are the same folks who believe a static book is the living word of god. in and of itself, that is a good enough reason for me to insist on a secular government. but i think there are many reasons to keep church and state separate. example- lesbian couple in wyoming denied communion-

"If all this stuff hadn't hit the newspaper, it wouldn't have been any different than before — nobody would have known about it," said the couple's parish priest at St. Matthew's, the Rev. Cliff Jacobson. "The sin is one thing. It's a very different thing to go public with that sin."

The 46-year-old newlyweds — Vader is a supervisor at a recycling center, Huskinson a coal miner — ran afoul of a sort of don't-ask-don't-tell policy on the church's part. "I told my wife in good conscience that if I had known those ladies, and we'd have been having a beer, I'd have just told them to keep everything to themselves," parish music director John Chick said. He added that once news like this hits the papers, "someone's forced to deal with it now, aren't they?"

are you kidding?

religion has been used since time immemorial as a control tool. ancient civilizations figured out really quickly that organized religion causes a 'group think' mindset that is easy to control. if you control the fate of people's soul, they pretty much do what you want. i mean- who wants to be damned to hell for all eternity? the powers that be also figured out pretty quickly that one god belief is really better for total control. i mean to have apollo's followers fighting with zeus's followers over who is better- well, that's a distraction right? so, the montheistic religions took root. look how easily the christian and islamic religions spread- as ancient empires grew so did the converts (yes, i know there were several reasons for this). i don't think it was an accident that constantine took advantage of declaring the roman empire christian.

anyhoo- you don't have to look any further than modern day for reasons to keep religion out of governments. on the christian front- look no further than bush. or if you want a better reason- look at robertson, dobson, and falwell. robertson wants to assassinate world leaders; dobson is 'curing' gay people and falwell is courting presidential candidates. all while bilking millions of dollars from the faithful sheeple who send them money and hang on their every word. the only thing that this does is give the leaders power and private jets to lead a double life- and the sheeple have less in their wallets.

in the muslim world- hmmm.... i'd say that you have a similar type of arrangement. ayatollahs and imams with unlimited power over sheeple who have nothing and still give- many give their lives. where else can you get a person to blow himself or herself up in the name of god? and let's face it- zionism in israel was built out of the notion that the jews are god's chosen and that this is their homeland he gave to them. hindu folks have a rigid caste system that has declared millions of people as 'undesirable' and therefore, less human. all in the name of religion.

now, one can argue that atheistic governments are just as bad- and that is correct. one only need to look at any one of the 'isms'- communism, fascism, nazism- to see that this is just as bad. i am of the mind that secularism has worked for us for over 230 years. folks have the right to worship as they see fit- as long as it doesn't impinge on the rights of others. that suits me just dandy. there is no reason that our government should have judeo-christian faith dictating to a nation that has millions of followers of other religions here. the religious right quotes the founding fathers the way it quotes the bible- they pick and choose the passages that coincide with their belief structure. their leaders smell opportunity for massive amounts of power. there is nothing religious nor holy about this. when religion and politics mix, it generally follows that it is the people who pay the price. jefferson and adams and franklin et al- they all knew this. they had seen it happen. that is why they made sure that it wouldn't happen here. and it shouldn't.

information on where your dollars go when sending in to evangelists-

ministrywatch.com

more compelling arguments than mine for separation of church and state-

americans united for the separation of church and state

first freedom first

thanks to flaring at virtual flaring for the logo