Religious Freedom in the Age of Trump

The Donald has been busy again with his mouth.  First it was the Mexican rapists and murderers and now once more it is the Muslims.  Not long ago he stated that mosques should be shut down.  Now he thinks that we should ban all Muslims from entering the country.  His thought process runs to the side of separatists and that is never good for our nation.  Especially, if you are the one being targeted.

Thomas Jefferson battled the likes of Trump back in his day in the great state of Virginia.  He was the author of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom that passed in 1786.  This statute separated the recognized church from the state.  That same statute was used to write the Constitution of the United States of America.  His thoughts on religious freedom were heavily influenced by John Locke who spoke on the subject in England in 1689.  Locke, like Jefferson fought for peoples right to religious freedom which was for the Muslim, the Jew, and even the Pagan.  Jefferson much like Locke used the word Muslim in defense of and for religious freedom.

Flip the coin on the subject and insert Baptist or Catholic or Jew instead of Muslim.  Could any politician get away with even suggesting that their house of worship be shut down?  Could any politician get elected by banning any of them from entering our country?  Why would it be even remotely okay to even suggest to shut down all mosques or ban all Muslims from coming to America?

How fast would you as a Baptist, a Catholic, or a Jew be up in arms protesting and demanding any politician to step down from the race for President that would suggest such an action against your faith?  Would it be faster if the military starting boarding up your house of worship?  Would you take up arms to defend your religious freedom?  That my friends is what Trump wants to accomplish.  Divide you and separate you and tell you who to fear.  He's up in the polls? 

As Bernie Sanders said recently... "That kind of crap is not going to work in the United States of America."

Atheist and God

I’m confused about the understanding of what a true Atheist is. An Atheist is someone that does not believe in God and that life is just a biological experiment. We are all test tube babies made from another test tube baby and there is no significance to our lives other than to be a larger part of the living world that we exist in.

I disagree with the theory that there is no God. I bare no ill will to my friends that partake in the theory that God does not exist. For the most part I congratulate them on thinking out what is a very difficult theory. The end of that theory is that we are here now and worm food in the end. It does have one simple flaw.

Hope.

Hope is an amazing virtue of the human race. We can have hope that our children will grow up to be better than we as their parents could ever be. We can have hope that our parents will live longer than the average expectancy for a human being. We can have hope for numerous reasons and inside that envelope of the definition of hope is the thought process of prayer and guidance from God.

Many times in my life I have asked God for help to understand the things going on in my life. It is when I am at my weakest point that I need my faith the most because that is the last point of hope for me. I would like to think that I promote my sense of hope on others but I may be lacking the skills to do so. I’m not a preacher but I am someone that tries to make a difference in every life I touch. No matter how small a difference

I’m not a bible thumper and never want to be one. I just come to odds when someone that once believed in God is suddenly detriment to the theory that I can still have my faith in God.

The saving grace in this whole dilemma is that I am thankful that I live in a country where I can not be prosecuted for my religious beliefs and neither can my friends for their lack of belief. That is the beauty of America.

God Bless America!!!!

Papamoka

Who Would Jesus Endorse?

BY MICHAEL LINN JONES

It is, of course, a ludicrous question. And somewhat offensive. I'm not the one asking, though. It seems to be permeating the candidacy of Gov. Mike Huckabee.

In this AP article by Libby Quaid, Huckabee eschews politics for preaching , there is a clear pandering to what are known as "conservative Christians."

SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Republican Mike Huckabee spoke from the pulpit Sunday, not as a politician but as the preacher he used to be, delivering a sermon on how merely being good isn't enough to get into heaven.

Huckabee is vying for support from the Christian conservatives who dominate the GOP in South Carolina, which chooses a Republican presidential nominee on Saturday. A former Baptist minister and Arkansas governor, Huckabee is competing for their votes with fellow southerner Fred Thompson.

As in Iowa, where he won the Jan. 3 caucuses, Huckabee is rousing pastors to marshal their flocks for him. He pitches himself as someone who not only shares their views against abortion and gay marriage but who actually comes from their ranks.

On Sunday in South Carolina, Huckabee avoided politics entirely, instead preaching about humility and trusting in Jesus to open the gates of heaven.

"The criteria to get into heaven is you have to be not good, but perfect. That's the real challenge in it," he said at First Baptist North Spartanburg, a megachurch with 2,500 members.

"On that day, when I pull up, I'll be asked, `Do you have what it takes to get in?'" Huckabee said. "And if I ask, `Well, what does it take to get in?' 'Gotta be perfect.'"

"Well, I'm afraid I don't have that, but you know what, I won't be there alone that day. Somebody is going to be with me. His name is Jesus, and he's promised that he would never leave me or forsake me," he said.

Huckabee did NOT avoid politics at all. He brought politics into the church. And he'll bring the church into politics.

I'm reminded of the time my father was speaking to an elderly man in rural West Virginia. The subject came up about the different churches in the area, and the old curmudgeon used his 1st Amendment right rather bluntly.

"Ain't go no time for no preachers 'round here. Seems to me ever' time you see one of 'em coming out onto someone's porch they're either pickin' their teeth or zippin' up their pants."

A harsh judgment delivered harshly I suppose, but essentially the man was saying that preachers are human just like the rest of us. As a disclaimer I will freely admit to having been raised a Baptist. Belonging to what many would consider the Treasonous side, I do not believe in placing my beliefs on someone else. And I am very leery of those who do. And I am terrified of those who do and use the power of government to carry out their fervent wishes.

In my otherwise fruitless experience at the University of Florida, I retained a few nuggets. In a political science class, the professor asked, "Why do we have a Bill of Rights in the Constitution?" A very enthusiastic student answered immediately, "Because we believe in the rights of others."

"WRONG," said the professor, "We have them because we do NOT believe in the rights of others."

My own personal experience with this was in of all places, the Republic of Ireland. It is a wonderful nation with wonderful people. As an immigrant I learned enough of the culture to understand why Irish Catholicism is so strongly adhered to by the majority of the population. For centuries Roman Catholics were persecuted by the English. With independence being achieved only in the 20th century, the constitution reflected that struggle.

Problem was, and is, that there are many native Irish who are NOT Roman Catholic, yet must live as such in many ways. Granted, there never was the level of discrimination and resulting violence as in Ulster, but fair is fair. If you are not a Roman Catholic you can be made to feel foreign in your own birthplace. One example is the custom of have the Church Hierarchy review any social legislation before it proceeds in parliament.

So, with that in mind I think of the pitfalls that Gov. Huckabee is leading himself and his flock towards. I could speak for a long time about my beliefs as a Christian; how lousy a one I am and the imperfections of my soul and all the bad and sinful decisions I have made in my life. My faith tells me that Jesus will forgive me of much, if not most, of my transgressions.

But I could not forgive myself if I let stand unchallenged the preposterous notion that Christianity belongs in the White House; that Christians need to control any political party. I believe Jesus once said, "Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's."

Mike Huckabee apparently wants to use the beliefs of a particular group of Americans to render Caesar's unto the "chosen few."

The whole point of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is to spread His Word; to promote the teachings of Jesus. Outside of government I think that's fine. With government, there is a huge problem because, aside from that pesky Constitution, many Americans are NOT Christians. Many are atheists, or Buddhists, or Mormons, or Muslims. Christianity is not their faith but the United States is THEIR nation, too.

Seems odd now when you consider a little history of early America. Massachusetts was run by Puritans. Maryland was a Catholic colony. Pennsylvania was for Quakers. And so on. Yet Roger Williams, a Baptist minister of all things, established the city of Providence and later the colony of Rhode Island. Williams' unique attitude ensured that Rhode Island became a haven for religious freedom. Rhode Island's example was the prime reason the Bill of Rights prohibited the establishment of a state church.

Gov. Huckabee might reflect a bit upon Roger Williams. Four centuries is an understandable amount of time to forget a hard-won lesson. But that's the magic of print; you can read and learn.

As elections approaches each primary state, and in particular the general election in November, I would advise Christians to do the following about those whose llves are not in accordance with what they believe to be righteous. This includes gays, non-Christians, adulterers, liberals, opponents of school prayer.........

Forgive them.

Now vote on some earthly issues.
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Cross-posted at Michaellinnjones.com

*****The Chicago Sun Times has picked up this post...

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United States of Jesus Christ

In this little experiment that we call America there is the freedom of religion as one of the many foundation blocks of our entire society. Added to that foundation is our freedom of speech. Toss in the Bill of Rights and you have a firm base to build your nation on. Then you add in all the decisions by the Supreme Court that becomes the support beams to hold up the roof.

When it comes to the Presidency in the Unites States it is not a bad thing for the President to have a strong sense of faith and belief that there is a higher power but you can not govern by it. Square peg, round hole. With such a diverse population we are not a society of one size fits all and when it comes to religion that little theory can or should implode a candidacy for President. We may be a nation under God but we are also one nation with many variations under God. Over at the Washington Post they have this interesting piece of Reverend Huckabee’s version of faith and the Presidency.

Huckabee Stands by 'Christ' Comment

By LIZ SIDOTI
The Associated Press
Sunday, December 30, 2007; 5:19 PM

DES MOINES, Iowa -- Mike Huckabee, a Republican relying on support from religious conservatives in Thursday's hard-fought presidential caucuses, on Sunday stood by a decade-old comment in which he said, "I hope we answer the alarm clock and take this nation back for Christ."

In a television interview, the ordained Southern Baptist minister and former Arkansas governor made no apologies for the 1998 comment made at a Southern Baptist Convention meeting in Salt Lake City.

"It was a speech made to a Christian gathering, and, and certainly that would be appropriate to be said to a gathering of Southern Baptists," Huckabee said on NBC's "Meet the Press."

He gave the speech the same year he endorsed the Baptist convention's statement of beliefs on marriage that "a wife is to submit graciously to the servant leadership of her husband even as the church willingly submits to the headship of Christ." Huckabee and his wife, Janet, signed a full-page ad in USA Today in support of the statement with 129 other evangelical leaders.

Snip - Cut - Co-Pay

In the NBC interview, Huckabee, a longtime opponent of legalized abortion, said he does not believe that women should be punished for undergoing the procedure, but that doctors might need to face sanctions.

"I don't know that you'd put him in prison, but there's something to me untoward about a person who has committed himself to healing people and to making people alive who would take money to take an innocent life and to make that life dead," Huckabee said.

He also argued that his emphasis on his Christian beliefs does not mean he's alienating atheists. He said, if elected, he would have no problem appointing atheists to government posts. - Washington Post

Where do I start when it comes to Governor Reverend Huckabee? I’m just guessing that Mike Huckabee believes that God made women with smaller feet than men so they could get that much closer to the kitchen sink to do the dishes. For that matter all of you woman that were beaten or abused by an abusive testosterone bag of bones should have pulled a Tammy Wynette and stand by your man. Bruises heal, bones mend and you probably did something wrong anyway. In his mind or in his teaching woman are and will always be second class citizens and that is just simply wrong. Then there is the added point that if Hillary is elected then Bill is really the President. That hurts my head to even think how that would work.

Roe vs. Wade, under Huckabee, nope. Kiss it good bye under the cause of the Christian Right. All you pro choice people that think your body is your own will need to line up for womb inspections under Das Fuhrer Huckabee. You better start praying that your babies didn’t have sharp finger or toe nails. Any scratches on the sacred chalice and life building organ will be cause for lethal injection. He isn’t totally against the death penalty but I could be wrong.

Then he pulls a Paul Pot from Cambodia and locks up all of the OBGYN doctors that might have performed an abortion. Then they can focus on all of the Lawyers that fought for and defended Roe vs. Wade and lock their asses up too. He will pay for it first by the added tax on one bedroom trailer home sales for back alley locations that will skyrocket as Planned Parenthood and other such medical offices are shut down. Then he might just add a wire coat hanger tax but that is a little to graphic to explain.

Mike Huckabee is standing by his statements on bringing America back to Christ but he can’t see the difference between Americans and America. No two American’s are alike and where one person finds abortion totally disgusting and wants the law changed, that same person believes that the death penalty is appropriate for crimes against our citizens. Pick one but you can not have it both ways if you swear to God above to be righteous.

As for all you Atheists or other icky religious persona non grata, the Post Office will be plastered with Huckabee appointees. Don’t even think about SCOTUS. Those positions will be reserved for zealous religious proponents of bringing America back to Christ.

By the way, screw all you Jew’s too from the Huckabee campaign. Merry Christmas, Happy Easter and all of the other religious holy days we as Christians will stuff down your throat under a Huckabee administration.

Thomas Jefferson is rolling in his grave at about fifteen thousand RPM’s right now. Look up for yourself on Google why he wrote the separation of church and state. Then look up whom he wrote it for and against.

Voting for Mike Huckabee is voting against all that America was founded on. Your right to believe in the choice of faith you want or to ignore faith entirely. Huckabee is hoping that many people will take their faith to the poll and elect him as America’s beacon of light back to Christ but I personally do not believe Jesus ever wanted a political office that proposed hate or judgment on anyone he loved. All you non believers included.

Our nation and the foundation it was built on will stand strong when we have a President that believes that his or her faith can not come first when governing. We are a house built with many products called faith and the roof needs to be replaced. Mike Huckabee is not Jesus Christ, I know Jesus Christ Sir. And you Sir are no Jesus Christ.

I’ll probably go to hell for that last one but I could not resist.

Papamoka

Cross posted at Michael Linn Jones.com and Bring It ON!

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