America's Heritage of Faith
In this magnificent piece, Michael Medved points out the relative novelty of the idea that, in America, religious devotion and national pride are insuperably divided. As evidence, he points out the religious themes evident in all America's most beloved patriotic songs.
It's always been somewhat amazing that those who are so eager to junk America's religious heritage tend to be liberals. That's because our religious heritage has provided the rationale for and the backbone behind so many of the policies that the liberals would (wrongly) love to claim for their own: Abolition, civil rights, care for the poor, unprecedented generosity to suffering and oppressed peoples across the globe. Without the Judeo-Christian ethic that underlies America's founding and sense of mission, why, precisely, should any of us care for anyone besides ourselves? Because Jesse Jackson tells us to? Yeah, that'll work.
It's also worth pointing out that America has a beautiful national hymn -- "God of Our Fathers" (it's always played at presidential inaugurals). My favorite verse has always been the second:
Thy love divine hath led us in the past,
In this free land by Thee our lot is cast,
Be Thou our Ruler, Guardian, Guide and Stay,
Thy Word our law, Thy paths our chosen way.
It's always been somewhat amazing that those who are so eager to junk America's religious heritage tend to be liberals. That's because our religious heritage has provided the rationale for and the backbone behind so many of the policies that the liberals would (wrongly) love to claim for their own: Abolition, civil rights, care for the poor, unprecedented generosity to suffering and oppressed peoples across the globe. Without the Judeo-Christian ethic that underlies America's founding and sense of mission, why, precisely, should any of us care for anyone besides ourselves? Because Jesse Jackson tells us to? Yeah, that'll work.
It's also worth pointing out that America has a beautiful national hymn -- "God of Our Fathers" (it's always played at presidential inaugurals). My favorite verse has always been the second:
Thy love divine hath led us in the past,
In this free land by Thee our lot is cast,
Be Thou our Ruler, Guardian, Guide and Stay,
Thy Word our law, Thy paths our chosen way.
posted by LadybugUSA at 12:02 PM
12 Comments:
Easy, Carol. The lefties who post here may become incensed. Why, don't you realize that separation of church and state is sacrosanct? It is gospel. To say otherwise is sacrilege. Removing God from the public square is our only salvation. I don't care how many of our founders were religious. Just because they may have thought our form of self-government would be best served if the people were a moral people, doesn't mean that we should get all holy.
Yes I agree - Don't you realize that having a President who is guided by his sense of morality is illegal? Just for trying to be an honorable Christian he derserves impeachment
There you have it. A moonbat with a warped sense of morality that can equate collateral damage due to scumbags hiding amongst civilians to the death and destruction those same rat bastards purposely rain down on civilian targets. And she wants to kill the one world leader that's fed up with it, instead of the leaders that support the rat bastards. Typical. More so is the supporter of such goofiness like jillmartin who is equally blind and filled with hatred for a lawfully elected president. Back to Williams: a publicly pronounced desire to kill a sitting president (or anyone else, for that matter) should have her Peace Prize taken back. She's not worthy.
Carol, if my name calling has broken your rules, feel free to block me. I cannot tolerate such hateful nonsense as spewed by the likes of jillmartin. I'll take one for decency. Her rhetoric is shameful.
scumbags hiding amongst civilians
It's called guerilla warfare, or insurgent warfare.
It is the only way these people can effectively fight.
If they wore uniforms and built their bases in the desert with signs pointing to them them it may assuage our sense of indignity, but it would be militarily stupid from their point of view.
The response to insurgent warfare is not to drop bombs indiscriminately on civilians, hoping that some bad guys get hit.
It is through completely different means - by introducing a counter-insurgency and using the same sort of tools.
Winning civilians over is one of the top priorities of war against insurgents.
But America hasn't even attempted to do this Iraq, and Israel hasn't attempted to do it in Lebanon.
Did America learn nothing from the Vietnam war? Did Israel learn nothing from their own pre-1948 insurgency in Palestine?
Apparently not.
Jill and OSO,
First, it's called MURDER. These are not honorable freedom fighters you're referring to. Do honorable people hack off heads, torture and butcher their captives? And don't give me any nonsense that we have anything remotely comparable to that crap. They are despotic, power hungry animals who insist their religion gives them the license to engage in horrific acts against humanity. Again, nothing comparable from our end. Both our and Israel's armies put themselves at risk constantly to avoid civilian casualties. Don't try to pretend that their tactics are a result of their inferior military abilities. They purposely fight from behind innocent civilians in the hopes that retaliation will be prevented, or that it will come and they can use the civilian deaths for propaganda purposes. Either end suits them just fine.
How much begging is Israel supposed to do to get Lebanon and Palestine to put a leash on their respective murderous organizations? How many Israeli citizens have to die before they should be allowed to defend themselves? You both should be ashamed for defending those people.
World opinon has never held us as you think they once did. We are dirt until they need us. There is global envy of the United States, and unless there is a spineless Carter or Clinton in office, they think ill of us. Leave the America hating to the Islamofascists and French start dealing with reality.
Sounds to me, Ditto, like Annabelle McDonald just proved she didn't deserve a peace prize.
Her wanting to kill Bush does not prove he is a bad president any more than my dislike for John Kerry proves he's un-American (There are much more persuasive arguments for that characterization than my opinion.).
Oops!
I meant BETTY WILLIAMS.
Sorry.
Pain,
No it's not.
Who the hell is Doug Coe?
Rational thought does not suffer the likes of Hezbollah and their ilk.
Your style of posting is a Pain.
But America hasn't even attempted to do this [win over civilians? kick in doors?] Iraq,
Before I find even 1 piece of evidence to disprove this claim from One Salient Oversight, I'd like to know what the "do this" is that he meant.
One more point about world opinion:
Today O'Reilly made a good point concerning world opinion and terrorism. He reminded a letter writer that the world did nothing initially about Hitler, Stalin, Mao. To wait on world opinion becoming favorable is a bad idea.
And in this Christian States of America, Pete, who would go to the gallows first?
While you ruminate on that how exactly would the rest of the nation, those that do not think or act as you do be governed? What would be their recourse?
I think if Christendom were the solution to the ill will that lies in the hearts of men we would have a Utopia by now. As long as people lust for what their eyes show them you will have corruption, fear, misogyny, racism, greed, adultery and murder.
I could fill the Congress with 535 GOP evangelicals, pack the Supreme Court with lawyers from Liberty Baptist and make James Dobson president but nothing would change. Men would still beat their wives, wives would still kill their children the sick and sad will always be with you because you cannot inject legislation into the darkest corners of men's hearts or use law to cool the fevered minds of those bent on doing others harm.
A free nation means free for everyone as long as your rights are not infringed upon. Being offended by someone's actions does not deteriorate your rights it just ruffles your sensibilities. Somewhere between Vereide (30s) and Goldwater (60s) the GOP lost its way and have started to see the bogeyman of the destruction of their privileged futures via widening civil liberties in every dark corner.
So tell me what good is the forcing of a belief going to do American citizens to change the march of time and the acts of men?
Greg,
If only you could apply that sort of rational thinking to the events currently surrounding the sitting President.
I am for faith, heck, despite where I live I still have some, in nature, in art, in some people and even in the Divine Creator of Nature.
But you are not going to sit back smug and tell me that if the Dominionists lurking in the shadows on K Street just want the government to stay out of their business. People with that broad an agenda aren't lining up prayer Breakfasts just so the eggs go down well. They want to sit at the main table, the ruling elite's table and they are the ones who say the Bible is for sheep like you, but they get btheir orders directly from Jesus. However crazy as this sounds, my BITCH is that people like this make YOU believe you have an anointed palce above everyone else and to dissent makes you unpatriotic, un American, anti-Christian. And the GOP has called these kinds of people their base, "al-Qaeda", and these same people are now using their leaders to whisper in the ears of some of the most powerful and vulnerable men in Washington.
"Faith is for the soul, church is for Sunday, but the government never closes."
Do I need to quote Jefferson too? Pray in private do the public's work in public and NEVER the twain shall meet. That's my opinion and it would work just fine in my America.
Post a Comment
<< Home