Article VI. of the U.S. Constitution says that "no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States."
The writers of the Constitution knew the recent history of wars of religion and religious persecution in Europe. Many of the thinkers who influenced them associated political freedom very closely with freedom of religion, with the dismantling of state religion, and -- in some cases -- with the abandonment of religion entirely. "Man shall not be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest," said Jean Meslier, or Denis Diderot, or perhaps Voltaire, depending whom you ask. Voltaire's bust was, and still is, prominently displayed in Thomas Jefferson's Monticello. Jefferson and George Mason led the establishment of religious freedom, first in Virginia, and then in the new United States.
The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, leading off the Bill of Rights, begins: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." This came before freedom of speech or anything else. It was considered essential to the survival of the nation. Jefferson, George Washington, Thomas Paine, Benjamin Franklin and other leading revolutionaries leaned toward deism in their own beliefs, distrusting churches and holy texts, prayers and miracles, and believing essentially in a deity who had supposedly created everything and then gone on break. They were not atheists, but theists who distrusted all religions, even their own. And their tolerance extended to tolerance of atheism: "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," wrote Jefferson.
But that was personal, not political advice. Politically, Jefferson et alia aimed to instill tolerance of all religions while establishing state authority and support for none: "Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legislative powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions," Jefferson wrote, "I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their 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."
How far we've come. Where once there was a wall between religion and the government, and the power of the government concentrated in the legislature, we now elect presidents who launch wars after discussing the matter directly with "God" but not Congress:
In a 2005 BBC series, Palestinian Prime Minister Abu Mazen and Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath described their first meeting with President Bush in June 2003. Shaath recalled: "President Bush said to all of us: 'I'm driven with a mission from God. God would tell me, "George, go and fight those terrorists in Afghanistan." And I did, and then God would tell me, "George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq …" And I did. And now, again, I feel God's words coming to me, "Go get the Palestinians their state and get the Israelis their security, and get peace in the Middle East." And by God I'm gonna do it.'" Mazen recalled that Bush told him: "I have a moral and religious obligation. So I will get you a Palestinian state."
I have one more quotation for you:
"Jake: First you traded the Cadillac in for a microphone. Then you lied to me about the band. And now you're gonna put me right back in the joint! "Elwood: They're not gonna catch us. We're on a mission from God."
Maybe our problem is that we've lost the wall of separation between news and entertainment, between statesmanship and Hollywood comedy. The corporate media now asks presidential candidates to name and explain their favorite Bible verses, and accuses candidates of not being sufficiently christian.
"Let's make clear what the facts are," said Barack Obama in one such debate. "I am a Christian, I have been sworn in with a Bible, I pledge allegiance and lead the pledge of allegiance sometimes in the United States Senate when I've presided."
President Bush has punched quite a few holes in the wall of separation. He has used agencies including the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Park Service, the Department of Defense (DOD), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Department of Education (DOE), the Department of Health and Human Services, and the office of the Surgeon General, to promote the establishment of a religion.
On January 20, 2001, at his first inauguration, at which he swore to defend the Constitution, President-to-be Bush announced plans to fund social services through religious institutions: "Church and charity, synagogue and mosque, lend our communities their humanity, and they will have an honored place in our plans and laws." President Bush immediately issued a proclamation establishing a "national day of prayer."
The first director of President Bush's newly established White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (FBCI), John DiIulio, reported that he was asked to leave because he opposed providing public dollars to agencies with behavioral codes and christian-only hiring policies. The FBCI quickly also became a mechanism for providing public dollars to churches that had supported the election campaign of presidential candidate George W. Bush.
An August 2004 report by Anne Farris, Richard P. Nathan, and David J. Wright, of the Roundtable on Religion and Social Welfare Policy, titled "The Expanding Administrative Presidency: George W. Bush and the Faith-Based Initiative," found that:
"In the absence of new legislative authority, the President has aggressively advanced the Faith-Based Initiative through executive orders, rule changes, managerial realignment in federal agencies, and other innovative uses of the prerogatives of his office. Among those innovations is the creation of a high-profile special office in the White House, the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, connected to mini-offices in ten government agencies, each with a carefully selected director and staff, empowered to articulate, advance and oversee coordinated efforts to win more financial support for faith-based social services. These ten agencies include: the departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Education, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Justice, Labor, and Veterans Affairs, as well as the Agency for International Development and the Small Business Administration. A similar office has also been created within the Corporation for National and Community Service. In addition, the Initiative has been promoted in a myriad of other government offices overseeing programs ranging from homeownership and business development to energy conservation.
"With assistance from the White House Office, these federal agencies have proposed or finalized a host of new regulations that together mark a major shift in the constitutional separation of church and state. Examples of these regulatory changes include:
David Swanson is the author of the upcoming book "Daybreak: Undoing the Imperial Presidency and Forming a More Perfect Union" by Seven Stories Press and of the introduction to "The 35 Articles of Impeachment and the Case for Prosecuting George W. Bush" published by Feral House and available at Amazon.com. Swanson holds a master's degree in philosophy from the University of Virginia. He has worked as a newspaper reporter and as a communications director, with jobs including press secretary for Dennis Kucinich's 2004 presidential campaign, media coordinator for the International Labor Communications Association, and three years as communications coordinator for ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. Swanson is Co-Founder of AfterDowningStreet.org, creator of ConvictBushCheney.org and Washington Director of Democrats.com, a board member of Progressive Democrats of America, the Backbone Campaign, and Voters for Peace, a member of the legislative working group of United for Peace and Justice, and convener of the accountability and prosecution working group of United for Peace and Justice.
While the sham press attempts to hypnotize the masses with untruths, lies and propaganda, which is working by the way, the elitist leaders are plundering earths resources. While we argue non-issue political ideology the elitist corporations and bankers control the strings on the puppets of government. While the deceitful Democratic and Republican parties attempt to fool the masses into believing they are different the government moves towards a police state without addressing the issues of poverty, economics, energy and monetary policy.
The system can not be changed by working within it. It's too big and too great a portion of it is directly opposed to your views.
Additionally, the majority of Americans have already been dumbed down over the past 20 years or so and can't understand or even be bothered with reading a post such as this.
Religion has them, the majority of Americans, doing precisely what you suggest here, praying, and leaving the worlds fate to a higher authority.
Foolishness that can't be combated.
When the majority of Americans are homeless and hungry, in say perhaps 2030 - 2050, the changes necessary might take place, and then again, perhaps not. Sheep exist to be lead to slaughter.
by
jeff prager (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 186 comments)
on Sunday, September 7, 2008 at 11:29:14 PM
1 comments
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