Thursday, February 26th, 2015
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
LIKE OIL AND WATER RELIGION AND POLITICIANS DON’T MIX!
I guess the good Lord has to put up with politicians. Nary a week goes by when some governor or other political type is holding a prayer rally and declaring that the ills of the nation can be cured by America being “born again” through embracing a Christian evangelical fervor. So the question is, do the Gospels need politicians?
Texas Governor Rick Perry seized the mantel of political-religious activism last month when he co-sponsored a prayer rally in Houston that reportedly attracted some 30 thousand fundamentalist Christians. “Our agenda is a salvation agenda,” he told an admiring crowd. Perry put aside any constitutional concerns over separation of church and state making it a governor’s certified state sponsored rally, using his official Website, stationary and other resources in the promotion.
Not to be outdone, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal led a similar rally at LSU’s basketball arena, calling for a national spiritual revival and telling the crowd that “our God wins.” I guess I’m okay with such a victory as long as everyone shares the same God. But what if the rally was not evangelical in flavor, but was sponsored by the governor in support of Mormonism (who believe they are the only true form of the Christian religion), Unitarianism, (that perceives Christ as human, rather than divine), Hindu (Jindal’s parents were Hindu), or even, pray tell, Islam? Would you be okay with a governor sponsoring a prayer meeting dominated by another faith?
The test is not what religious beliefs a politician accepts in private life. But when that same politician organizes and leads a religious rally in a public capacity, has he or she crossed the line into public endorsement? And if so, is that the job of a governor in his or her public capacity to validate particular religious beliefs? Continue Reading………….
Jim: Once again, you disappoint me. With all that’s “happening” in the world today, what’s “wrong” (particularly in a Nation that has a Constitution, guaranteeing religious freedom and freedom of expression) with an elected politician telling his or her constituents that he (or she) might “think” as they do, by “telegraphing” certain religious beliefs. After all, the constituents have the freedom of choice to stay away from the rally, if they wish. What’s the real difference between a “prayer rally” (that is purely voluntary) and a United States President refusing to call ISIS (which stands for “the ISLAMIC State in Iraq and Syria”) and ISIL (which stands for “the ISLAMIC State of Syria and the Levant”) ISLAMIC? I SAID HE REFUSES TO CALL THEM ISLAMIC! If politicians aren’t allowed to talk about “religion” every now and then, how are we to remember that our Founding Fathers declared our Nation to be “Under God”? Don’t all of us need to be reminded every now and then that we should live by “the Golden Rule”? (Incidentally, MOZLEMS don’t believe in “the Golden Rule”, but are committed to live as laid down by Mohammed in the 7th Century in the Medina (not the Mecca) Koran, as supplemented by the Sirah and Hadith. and by Salafism, NONE of which will benefit Kaffers like us, and will prove to be our undoing]. If politicians don’t talk about religion every now and then, how will we be reminded about what the MOZLEM Ottoman Empire did to the largely Christian Armenians between the late 19th Century and the end of World War I, slaughtering MILLIONS in the name of ALLAH? So instead of trying to “muzzle” politicians who really DO believe in “the Golden Rule”, why don’t you write a scholarly and well-researched article about that “Religion of Peace”, ISLAM? All of us, including you, might learn something. Ashton O’Dwyer.
Ashton,
I am no expert but I believe the term under God at that particular time is in reference to a Supreme Being or the Great Architect. Additionally, our Founding Fathers were hell bent on getting Religion out of Government.
IMHO…I think people like Jindal, Perry and Bryant are chipping away at introducing religion back into government due to their radicalism. They are nothing more than a piece of the Regime. What they are doing is the same crap that led to the Revolutionary War. I can clearly see that Bryant is a man of old tradition so his actions do not surprise me.
In my own opinion I find the behaviors of Jindal and Perry to be borderline UnAmerican to say the least. I certainly don’t have a problem with anyone expressing their religious beliefs but when they are in a position of authority, they need to be especially careful. There is no doubt in my mind that these are “planned strategic attacks” by Jindal and Perry to fulfill an agenda that will never materialize.
Much ado about nothing, given the fact that the only religion which actually “counts” for the rulers and the booboisie is the Worship of the Religion of State.