The Lunatics Are At It Again

[Solitary]

https://richarddawkins.net/2014/12/the-right-wing-myth-that-america-was-originally-a-theocracy-is-so-wrong/?utm_source=Richard+Dawkins+Foundation+Newsletter&utm_campaign=7bb5d27d47-Dec_17th_Newsletter12_15_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f8fb39ec0e-7bb5d27d47-178678349

By Amanda Marcotte
Rick Santorum may be a terrible politician, but when it comes to being a conduit for some of the hoariest, long-standing myths of the right, he’s ol’ reliable. His latest bleatings are of particular interest, because, without meaning to, Santorum managed to articulate one of the biggest lies that has fueled the conservative movement for decades now: The myth that America was “supposed” to be a theocracy, but somehow lost its way.

In a conference call with members of the right-wing Christian organization STAND America, a caller went on a rant about how Democrats are pushing a secret agenda to push “a number of the tenets of The Communist Manifesto,” a book the caller seemed to believe was about “amnesty, the elevation of pornography, homosexuality, gay marriage, voter fraud, open borders, mass self-importation of illegal immigrants and things of that nature.” (Zero of these issues are mentioned inThe Communist Manifesto, a book about the role of labor in capitalist societies.)

Santorum latched onto this old-fashioned red-baiting and said, “The words ‘separation of church and state’ is not in the U.S. Constitution, but it was in the constitution of the former Soviet Union. That’s where it very, very comfortably sat, not in ours.”

This mythâ€"that separation of church and state is a modern invention created by communists/liberals/atheists and shoved down the throats of a Christian America until it forgot its theocratic rootsâ€"is a popular one on the right, perhaps the defining myth that created the modern conservative movement. It’s also pure malarkey. Even just reading the first amendment to the Constitution shows that this line is self-serving nonsense dished out by people who wish to believe they are patriots while standing against America’s grand tradition of secularism. The Constitution explicitly prohibits any law “respecting an establishment of religion,” a phrase that is so obviously about the separation of church and state that even the most literal-minded among us can get that.



8 COMMENTS
Alan4discussion Dec 16, 2014 at 7:04 pm
@OP- The Constitution explicitly prohibits any law “respecting an establishment of religion,” a phrase that is so obviously about the separation of church and state that even the most literal-minded among us can get that.
The likes of Santorum are probably so isolated in their little imagined world of theocracy, that they have never heard of the “Establishment of the Church of England”. â€" I mean that’s that foreign Europeany type of stuff that home schooled Americans have never heard of!!

http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2014/04/clegg-calls-disestablishment-church-england-and-hes-right
** Clegg calls for the disestablishment of the Church of England â€" and he’s right**
In an increasingly atheistic and multi-faith society, a secular state, which protects all religions and privileges none, is a model to embrace.
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The Puritans established a Theocracy that would make the Taliban weep. Also, most of the 13 colonies were originally established by the religious to impose their own brand on idiocy on the populace. The Enlightenment constitution was grafted onto this stock, and there in lies the problem with American Democracy. Realize that this is the root of the problem will go along way to finding a cure.

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Roedy Dec 16, 2014 at 8:56 pm
Here are some Thomas Jefferson quotes you can use in this debate:

All Fables
I have recently been examining all the known superstitions of the world, and do not find in our particular superstition (Christianity) one redeeming feature. They are all alike, founded on fables and mythologies.
~ Thomas Jefferson (born: 1743-04-13 died: 1826-07-04 at age: 83), third president of the United States.
Jefferson on Calvinist Lunacy

These are the demoralizing dogmas of Calvin:
That there are three Gods.
That good works, or the love of our neighbor, are nothing.
That faith is every thing, and the more incomprehensible the proposition, the more merit in its faith.
That reason in religion is of unlawful use.
That God, from the beginning, elected certain individuals to be saved, and certain others to be damned; and that no crimes of the former can damn them; no virtues of the latter save.

~ Thomas Jefferson (born: 1743-04-13 died: 1826-07-04 at age: 83), third president of the United States.
Jefferson on God

The Christian god is a being of terrific character â€" cruel, vindictive, capricious and unjust.
~ Thomas Jefferson (born: 1743-04-13 died: 1826-07-04 at age: 83), third president of the United States.
Logically, God should Approve of Reason more than Fear
Question with boldness even the existence of a god; because if there be one he must approve of the homage of reason more than that of blindfolded fear.

~ Thomas Jefferson (born: 1743-04-13 died: 1826-07-04 at age: 83), third president of the United States, letter to Peter Carr, 1787-08-10

Ridicule the Unintelligible
Ridicule is the only weapon which can be used against unintelligible propositions.
~ Thomas Jefferson (born: 1743-04-13 died: 1826-07-04 at age: 83), third president of the United States.
Separation of Church and State

Believing with you that religion is a matter that lies solely between man & his god… that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only and not opinions… Legislature should make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, thus building a wall of separation between church and state.
~ Thomas Jefferson (born: 1743-04-13 died: 1826-07-04 at age: 83), third president of the United States.
Unintelligible Abstractions

On the dogmas of religion, as distinguished from moral principles, all mankind, from the beginning of the world to this day, have been quarrelling, fighting, burning and torturing one another, for abstractions unintelligible to themselves and to all others, and absolutely beyond the comprehension of the human mind.
~ Thomas Jefferson (born: 1743-04-13 died: 1826-07-04 at age: 83), third president of the United States.

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Roedy Dec 16, 2014 at 8:58 pm
George Washington Quote:
George Washington On Religion

Of all the animosities which have existed among mankind, those which are caused by a difference of sentiments in religion appear to be the most inveterate and distressing, and ought to be deprecated. I was in hopes that the enlightened and liberal policy, which has marked the present age, would at least have reconciled Christians of every denomination so far that we should never again see the religious disputes carried to such a pitch as to endanger the peace of society.

~ George Washington (born: 1732-02-22 died: 1799-12-14 at age: 67), first president of the United States, letter to Edward Newenham, 1792-10-20

Miserablegit Dec 17, 2014 at 1:07 am
It is always the most twisted of religious zealots who insist that their way is always right and no amount of logical reasoning will get them to change their mind.

I think we can all agree that religion has and is endangering a peaceful society with their zealotry. Solitary

[GrinningYMIR]

Religion is the greatest tool for people who want to see humanity held back, the fact that people want to return to a theocratic state where they are enslaved by pope or imam or pharaoh or whatever, sickens me