Something to bash on

[--Pete]

Hi,

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;"

To me means Congress will not declare a national religion . . .

But the so called ten commandments are essentially religious and based on Judeo-Christian mythology. Thus, embracing them as some form of our cultural basis is in effect making the Judeo-Christian ethos our official state religion, barring the other religions of the world. And that is unconstitutional.

Are you really disturbed by the phrase "In God We Trust" on US Currency, or that the US Congress has a chaplain and begins each day in prayer?

Yes and yes. Sometime ago I wrote an analysis of why "In God We Trust" is strictly a Christian concept. Among other points is the multiplicity of gods in many religions, the lack of a personal relationship with god in many religions, and the complete absence of god as a distinct entity in others. Again, this phrase is an offense to any non Christian American.

Similiar to going around making sure all athletic teams names (that have been in place for decades) do not offend anyone (e.g. Kansas City Chiefs, Cleveland Indians).

Not at all. Except after football games in England, I don't think many people have been persecuted or martyred over athletic events. And one can ignore the idiocy of professional and amateur sports. But when state supported religion raises its ugly head, ignoring it can get one killed. So, comparing the 'PC' of sports team names to the horror of state sanctioned religion is like comparing a paper cut to the effect of the guillotine.

The only way for all to have freedom of religion is for the state to practice freedom from religion. Anything else is tyranny. Jefferson was wiser than the hack who wrote the First Amendment and saw that a wall was indeed needed. He realized, unlike his contemporaries and the present day Americans, that 'freedom of religion' means more than the parochial foolishness of picking one Christian cult to fight for.

--Pete

EDIT: Changed 'judo' to 'Judeo' (teach me to accept the spell checkers suggestions without looking at them carefully). Also capitalized 'Judeo' and 'Christian' -- though I don't subscribe to them, that is no reason not to respect them.