alt.education

On Sun, 23 Mar 2008 09:00:07 -0400, buckeye
wrote:

>
>America is great because it was built on foundation of Bible principles
>http://www.news-leader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080322/OPINIONS02/803220313/1006/OPINIONS
>
>Dee Wampler • March 22, 2008
>
> * Read Comments(45)
>http://www.news-leader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080322/OPINIONS02/803220313/1006/OPINIONS#pluckcomments
>
>Easter is coming, the time of year when we recognize the death and
>resurrection of a little known Jewish carpenter, Jesus of Nazareth.
>Advertisement

And the time when the Pagans fornicate in the fields to celebrate
fertility. Look up the derivation of "Easter" and you will see who is
properly celebrating it.

>His birth is honored by state and federal holidays,

Name one Federal Holiday based on Easter.

> and all 50 states
>recognize the Almighty. Time is dated from his birth.

Since he wasn't born in 0 AD, please explain.

> His life changed the
>history of the world.

So did Hitler's.

> Billions of believers have and do attempt to follow
>his teachings.

As they do Mohammad.

> More than 60,000 books have been written on the life of
>Jesus, more than any other person in the world, yet his public career was
>less than three years.

Lots of books written about mythical characters, so what?

> And his followers began to settle our nation.

Evidence, please.

>In 1892, America's highest court declared "This is a Christian nation."

Now this is an obscure quote out of context, but in any event it is
safe to assume that all the founding fathers were all dead by this
time.

>In
>1952, the U.S. Supreme Court acknowledged "We are a religious people whose
>institutions presupposed a supreme being."

Not clear what "Institutions" they are referring to, but clearly it
isn't the constitution. Founding fathers had been dead for a century
by this time. And no reference that the supposed supreme being is
Christian.

>In 1984, after years of legal wrangling,

And almost two centuries after our secular Constitution was adopted...

> the U.S. Supreme Court made it
>absolutely clear the so-called doctrine of total separation of church and
>state has never been thought to be possible or practical. In Lynch vs.
>Donnelly, the court stated (in no uncertain terms) that there has always
>been an "accommodation" between church and state.

Not clear what "accommodation" means in this context, but it seems a
long way from saying America was built on a foundation of Bible
principles.

>Once in awhile your newspaper prints guest editorials that are almost more
>than a body (or mind) can stand. Recently one Jim Broadstreet opined that
>"all religions are pretty much bunk." ("Religion has no business in
>government -- history agrees," March 3.)
>
>Strict separationists quote an obscure Article XI of the Treaty of Tripoli
>(1783) (later deleted) in a desperate attempt to try to show that America
>was not settled or influenced by people of faith.

The treaty was actually signed in 1796 and ratified in 1797, but
clearly you are not making fact-based arguments so we will let that
slide. Not clear whether, when, how or why the Article was deleted
from the Treaty, but this treaty with Article XI intact was witnessed
and signed by President John Adams (a founding father).

"The preliminary treaty began with a signing on 4 November, 1796 (the
end of George Washington's last term as president). Joel Barlow, the
American diplomat served as counsel to Algiers and held responsibility
for the treaty negotiations. Barlow had once served under Washington
as a chaplain in the revolutionary army. He became good friends with
Paine, Jefferson, and read Enlightenment literature. Later he
abandoned Christian orthodoxy for rationalism and became an advocate
of secular government. Joel Barlow wrote the original English version
of the treaty, including Amendment 11. Barlow forwarded the treaty to
U.S. legislators for approval in 1797. Timothy Pickering, the
secretary of state, endorsed it and John Adams concurred (now during
his presidency), sending the document on to the Senate. The Senate
approved the treaty on June 7, 1797, and officially ratified by the
Senate with John Adams signature on 10 June, 1797. All during this
multi-review process, the wording of Article 11 never raised the
slightest concern. The treaty even became public through its
publication in The Philadelphia Gazette on 17 June 1797."

http://www.nobeliefs.com/Tripoli.htm

> Calling "most" of our
>Founding Fathers "deists" is their favorite phrase to argue that our
>Founding Fathers had "no interest whatsoever" in the religion of others or
>whether they were Christians. Some want to scrub out any mention of God
>from all political life and documents.

Just like it was scrubbed from the Constitution?

>Claims that the First Amendment keeps religion and government "absolutely
>and completely separate" are totally unsupported by past or present law.
>Advertisement
>
>Strict separationists twist the First Amendment to totally separate church
>and state at a time when we are today altering moral values, undermining
>patriotism, celebrating diversity to change lifestyles, fostering
>dependence on government and censoring textbooks to exclude our founders'
>belief in God.

Of course, the characterization of the First Amendment as a "Wall of
separation between Church and State was made by Thomas Jefferson.

>Some want to exclude The Ten Commandments, the Pledge of
>Allegiance and other historical documents since they mention God.

We want to exclude them from official government endorsement. If you
can show us any mention of the Ten Commandments in the Constitution,
we will gladly withdraw our objection.

>There are so many examples that disprove the lie of total separation of
>church and state that space does not permit a listing.

Is there a reason you can't list a single one that dates back to the
founding of our nation?

>A tour of our historic sites affirms that America was birthed by men who
>had a firm reliance upon an Almighty God and his son, Jesus Christ.
>Inscribed upon our buildings, monuments and national symbols is our
>nation's faith in God, yet a small vocal minority of the American public
>still refuse to acknowledge our heritage.
>
>We have come a long way from the U.S. Supreme Court decision in 1892
>stating that "this is a Christian nation."

Yes we have. See:

McCollum v. Board of Education Dist. 71, 333 U.S. 203 (1948)

Court finds religious instruction in public schools a violation of the
establishment clause and therefore unconstitutional.

Burstyn v. Wilson, 72 S. Ct. 777 (1952)

Government may not censor a motion picture because it is offensive to
religious beliefs.

Torcaso v. Watkins, 367 U.S. 488 (1961)

Court holds that the state of Maryland can not require applicants for
public office to swear that they believed in the existence of God. The
court unanimously rules that a religious test violates the
Establishment Clause.

Engel v. Vitale, 82 S. Ct. 1261 (1962)

Any kind of prayer, composed by public school districts, even
nondenominational prayer, is unconstitutional government sponsorship
of religion.

Abington School District v. Schempp, 374 U.S. 203 (1963)

Court finds Bible reading over school intercom unconstitutional and
Murray v. Curlett, 374 U.S. 203 (1963) - Court finds forcing a child
to participate in Bible reading and prayer unconstitutional.

Epperson v. Arkansas, 89 S. Ct. 266 (1968)

State statute banning teaching of evolution is unconstitutional. A
state cannot alter any element in a course of study in order to
promote a religious point of view. A state's attempt to hide behind a
nonreligious motivation will not be given credence unless that state
can show a secular reason as the foundation for its actions.

Lemon v. Kurtzman, 91 S. Ct. 2105 (1971)

Established the three part test for determining if an action of
government violates First Amendment's separation of church and state:
1) the government action must have a secular purpose; 2) its primary
purpose must not be to inhibit or to advance religion; 3) there must
be no excessive entanglement between government and religion.

Stone v. Graham, 449 U.S. 39 (1980)

Court finds posting of the Ten Commandments in schools
unconstitutional.

Wallace v. Jaffree, 105 S. Ct. 2479 (1985)

State's moment of silence at public school statute is unconstitutional
where legislative record reveals that motivation for statute was the
encouragement of prayer. Court majority silent on whether "pure"
moment of silence scheme, with no bias in favor of prayer or any other
mental process, would be constitutional.

Edwards v. Aquillard, 107 S. Ct. 2573 (1987)

Unconstitutional for state to require teaching of "creation science"
in all instances in which evolution is taught. Statute had a clear
religious motivation.

Allegheny County v. ACLU, 492 U.S. 573 (1989)

Court finds that a nativity scene displayed inside a government
building violates the Establishment Clause.

Lee v. Weisman, 112 S. Ct. 2649 (1992)

Unconstitutional for a school district to provide any clergy to
perform nondenominational prayer at elementary or secondary school
graduation. It involves government sponsorship of worship. Court
majority was particularly concerned about psychological coercion to
which children, as opposed to adults, would be subjected, by having
prayers that may violate their beliefs recited at their graduation
ceremonies.

Church of Lukumi Babalu Ave., Inc. v. Hialeah, 113 S. Ct. 2217 (1993)

City's ban on killing animals for religious sacrifices, while allowing
sport killing and hunting, was unconstitutional discrimination against
the Santeria religion.

> Admittedly, much has changed
>since then and America has now inverted our values.

Starting with the Supreme Court in 1948 apparently.

> The secular humanistic
>system of values has become a predominant way of thinking.

Yes, we banned slavery and no longer consider genocide a noble
occupation.

>America became the greatest nation in the world because it was established
>by faith-filled men and women who intentionally set out to establish a
>nation built upon principles of the Bible. Their hope was to build a nation
>that honored God.

Evidence?

>A watering down of our local and national religious heritage has occurred
>in my lifetime. Our woeful neglect of America's Christian history is never
>more apparent than in politically correct, scripted history that is today
>carefully being sacrificed upon the altar of political correctness by
>religious cleansers.
>
>Religion may no longer define our nation as it did for us when the pilgrims
>and Founding Fathers came to this land,

There was no nation when the pilgrims and Founding Fathers came to
this land.

> but the United States is still a
>deeply religious society and our language, institutions and government
>reflect that heritage.

You are free to express your religious sentiments in your *private*
institutions. Keep it out of my government.

>May God bless America and our proud history!

Stick your God up your arse.

>Dee Wampler lives in Springfield.

So does Homer Simpson.

--
satyr #1953
Chairman, EAC Church Taxation Subcommittee
Director, Gideon Bible Alternative Fuel Project
Supervisor, EAC Fossil Casting Lab