One of Jill’s finest … with a message that we ALL need to stop and consider.
I think that the ‘wall of separation’ between Church and State is critical to maintaining the democratic foundations of this nation. If 100% of all people who vote and pay taxes in the nation were of the same religious beliefs, then it might not be critical, then a theocracy might be workable. But in this nation where there are so many different religions, to form a theocracy would be to enslave a large portion of the populace. Yes, I said ‘enslave’ and that is precisely what I mean.
Let me start out with an example: What if I told you that there is a bill before Congress to ban the production and consumption of pork and pork products? (No, there isn’t really such a bill … this is a hypothetical … bear with me here). The reason? Well, two of this nation’s major religions, Islam and Judaism, prohibit the…
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Nan's Notebook 
I read this post just before reading Arnold’s comment on Jim’s blog. There were things I wanted to say, but I kept it clean out of respect. I really do not care what anyone believes, we are all going to discover, or not, the same circumstances when we die. So why do we have to fight about it here in this dimension? We should be spending time “making love, not war!” (But not necessarily making babies, for all the old hippies in the crowd.)
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Many thanks, Nan! I appreciate you sharing my thoughts!
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I read Jill’s post and it was excellent…I commented over there. I’m not religious at all, but there are or were the old timey religious people that I grew up around who weren’t in any way like these new trump Christian Right wingnuts. And to imagine that any kind of a decent god would support this way of thinking and acting would be ludicrous. Religion has done far more harm than good though and to let it become institutionalized in our laws and constitution, will destroy America once and for all.
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mary: I do wonder though that the reason for the mellowness of those old time religious folks was because their basic beliefs were so…assumed to be universal and enforced (remember that the police assaulted gay bars…assaulted with billy clubs or worse…into the 1970s). the toxic modern christianity came about largely because some felt threatened and because right wing racists saw them as a convenient foil for the newly (and imperfectly) enfranchised black population. Heck…the Voting Rights movement is the real reason for pro life
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My cat believes she is a god and that humans are required to worship her by giving her food five times a day and letting her use them as her personal chair. We should pay about as much attention to these people who screech and scream and wail about their “religious rights” being violated because we won’t let them discriminate against their fellow human beings as I do to my cat when she complains about her dinner being late.
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“Rights” end at the tip of the nose. I’ve read numerous variations on that attributed to everyone from Ben Franklin to Thom Jefferson, enough to call it a core of the “American” identity: your right to practice your religion ends when it infringes on my “right” to not.
Aside ~ as to the “christian” identity I was groomed into, baptized into the Foursquare Pentecostal Baptist Church of Jesus Christ Ascendant (Holy Rollers!) in Pearblossum California at age eight, we weren’t of this world. Had a sticker in the back window of my mother’s ’65 Chevy Nova wagon (red with a white top, straight six, three on the tree) that said just that: Not of This World. Jesus is Coming! Gonna’ float down out of the sky on a floating rainbow unicorn with thousands of angels on floating rainbow unicorns to carry us all away to Paradise. Don’t have time to fiddle-fool around with politics, that’s worldly and we’re not of this world. No time to preach, to convert the unconverted, that’s worldly and we’re not of this world. Sometimes I think I’m still not part of this world.
Attributed to Marx but I learned it from an old man up on The Rez (wouldn’t surprise me if they both learned it from some old Chinese guy) ~ if it wasn’t for religion just think how many drunks and dope addicts there’d be. How many more drunks and dope addicts.
I tend to view those who bow down to gods as less than sufficiently evolved …
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those not of this world (notw) bumper stickers are still popular!🤪
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“ were of the same religious beliefs, then it might not be critical, then a theocracy might be workable
This would be a huge disaster as detailed in every community where religion had unfettered control. A community of virtuous child and women’s abuses is the historical norm from every town and hamlet—not just an occasional masochist but widespread in urgency for christs sake. And for your own good!
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Nan, the phraseology “separation of Church and State” does not appear anywhere in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. It says that there is to be no nationally established religion.
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With that in mind Ragnar, would you object to the involvement of Islam and Judaism in US government policies?
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Ben Berwick, I would disagree with government trying to impose a national religion. Having said that, as long as they are a peaceful and law-abiding people, I have no real issue with people of any religious or non-religious inclinations in power insofar as they are not trying to impose anything upon anybody.
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