This country was not founded on Abraham principals, commandments, or even "I wish we could have's." Sorry all you literalist indoctrinated Bible Belters. It just ain't so.
And before my loyal Readers have a conniption- no, I haven't suddenly become atheist. Yes, this is still a gnostic blog. But I like to think that even gnostics have enough braincells to rub together to realize fact from fiction. Reality and logic is a gnostic's university.
The Founding Fathers abhorred organized religion as they saw the tyranny it eventually led to. Want proof?
Article XI, Treaty of Tripoli. Passed by Congress 1797:
"As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion,—as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquility, of Mussulmen,—and as the said States never entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mahometan nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries."This was a document which was passed around and signed by the heads of state of two countries. The reason? The United States did not have a Navy at the time and could not protect its fleet of commercial goods traders traveling around Tripoli and piracy was killing trade. So the government did the only thing which seemed plausible: they bribed the government of Tripoli with gold and jewels.
The Treaty of Tripoli was bought and paid for to keep Tripoli and nearby pirates from looting our American ships. Buying off pirates for safe passage is one thing. But the fact that there was such a large amount of continual trade going on meant that the government and people of Tripoli feared the Americans would do what the British do with any other country they find lucrative for business- stake their imperial claim.
There is still argument to this day concerning Article XI and how exactly it was interpreted between the Arabic translation and the English. Legal scholars can disagree and spit back and forth at each other all they want but the fact remains: the document was read before the Senate on June 7th, 1797 and every Senator present agreed upon the terms unanimously.
The Treaty of Tripoli and portions of the Federalist Papers have since been interpreted as meaning the United States does not have an official religion and will not sanction or protect one over another. A smart move to make since the United States is a nation founded on immigrants from over a hundred countries. Why would someone come to "the land of the free" only to be told they have to abide by Abrahamic convention and thought? It is understood worldwide that the United States will open it's doors to any nationality or creed. And what is a creed?
| Main Entry: | creed |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | belief, principles |
| Synonyms: | articles of faith, canon, catechism, church, confession, conviction, cult, doctrine, dogma, faith, ideology, persuasion, profession, religion, tenet, weltanschauung |
Main Entry: | belief |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | something regarded as true |
| Synonyms: | assumption, concept, credence, credo, creed, doctrine, dogma, faith, fundamental, gospel, gospel truth, hypothesis, idea, ideology, law, opinion, postulate, precept, principle, say-so, tenet, theorem, theory |
My final question is this: why is it that parents still teach their young and impressionable children differently? Why would they tell their children something which legally just isn't true? They may want it to be true but any of our courts will throw out a religious argument of "but I thought that it was" faster than our government can hand out stimulus checks. Wanting doesn't make it so. So why perpetuate the lie at home? Why don't our public schools(I'm not even going to entertain the religious private school angle) teach our children about factual law anymore?
The Pledge of Alligence was altered in 1954 by Congress after a campaign by the Knights of Columbus. The words 'under God,' were added. The Pledge was now both a patriotic oath and a public prayer. Thank you Eisenhower for that religious insertion and attempt to make atheists seem unpatriotic to the rest of their countrymen. Not seeing a reason to believe in God does not make you unable to believe in the need for security and freedom for your nation.
ReligousTolerence.org states:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~On 2002-JUN-26, a three judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals voted 2 to 1 to declare the Pledge unconstitutional because of the addition of the phrase "under God." This decision only affects the states of AK, AZ, CA, HI, ID, MT, NV, OR and WA. The ruling stating that "the text of the official Pledge, codified in federal law, impermissibly takes a position with respect to the purely religious question of the existence and identity of God."
The U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Circuit Court of Appeals reading. They did not rule on the basis of the Pledge violating the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Rather, they ruled that the plaintiff Michael Newdow did not have primary custody of his daughter and thus did not have standing to take the case to the federal court system.
It is interesting to note that this decision happened to occur one day after the 40th anniversary of the Engel v. Vitale decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, which declared unconstitutional the inclusion of state-sponsored school prayer as a part of instruction in public schools. The Texas Justice Foundation had declared that anniversary a day of mourning.
I'll mourn right along with the Texans. It's not every day that our Constitution is trampled upon so deeply and soundly that the American public willingly pulls the wool over their own eyes to go right back to sleep.
