I'm surprised it's not more as most decent people are too busy earning a living to take part...lefties,crusties and assorted detritus have nothing but time and nasty little minds.
Damn. Harsh much? I really don't care either way, but I do refrain from saying "Under God" when I recite the Pledge of Allegiance. It just irks me that I'm supposed to say that, when I don't believe it. After all, that phrase was added, it's not original.
christina - I have to say I take umbrage that western culture is increasingly permissive and welcoming of the religions practiced by people utterly hostile to us, and yet there is an active movement to eradicate evidence of any Christian culture from our society. I and many other Americans celebrate your right to abhor Christianity. What makes my foot twitch is the urge that no one should invoke God while at the same time we have to give Allah his propers.
I don't abhor Christianity! I don't want ANY religion in my face, that's all. I don't like political correctness, either, and bending over backwards to placate (religious) minorities aggravates me to no end. Do I see the contradictions in my previous statements? Absolutely! I never said that I made sense. I'm not an atheist, I believe in Deity, just not in organized religion. And I don't think any particular one has it right. I figure I'll find out one way or the other after I'm dead. I just try to be a good person while I'm here, and not because I want to earn brownie points from someone, or because I'm afraid of Hell, but because it's the right thing to do.
Well, apparently I'm the one et up with ignunce. So was the addition of "in God we trust" a concession to McCarthyism or somesuch?
I suppose I'm falling victim to the inclination that things should stay this way because they've been this way my whole life.
I still balk at having multi-culti rammed down my throat whilst simultaneously lambasting anything remotely reminiscent of traditional American values.
who else should we trust?...politicians?....even if you don't believe recognise the phrase as an in your face to a hostile world...a much needed one at that.
Well said, Christina, and I'm with ya on your whole comment. Even though I'm a (non-practicing) Buddhist by an official act of the US gub'mint, I don't see any significant difference in any of the world's major religions... it's the interpretations of said religions that kill me and others, sometimes quite literally.
That said... I'd prefer to see "In God We Trust" remain on our currency and in the pledge. As Phlegmmy notes... the phrase IS an important nod to this country's Judeo-Christian roots and heritage. I think that's important to America as a society.
thud - good point. Politicians and the gub'mint certainly don't have OUR best interests in mind, so we'd do better to try our luck with God, or Providence or what-have-you.
buck - I DO see a dramatic difference in the way modern Christians behave toward doubters versus the mud-hut third-worldedness of asshat Eeslam. Last I heard, Christians don't round up slatterns who show an ankle in public and behead them in stadia full of tens of thousands of cheering men. Nasty lot, that.
...versus the mud-hut third-worldedness of asshat Eeslam.
Once again, it's the interpretation and/or application of religious dogma, innit? I can point you towards Northern Ireland and The Troubles for some somewhat recent and gen-u-winely troubling (no pun...) examples of the way modern Christians handle doubters or non-believers.
OTOH, I spent a few years living in a modern secular society where Islam is the faith of more than 90% of the population (Turkey), and I never saw one single example of intolerance, egregious or otherwise. Of course, those years I spent in Turkey were before the rise of Islamic fundamentalism. Which just might be the difference... coz fundamentalism seems to breed intolerance, be it Christian, Islamic, or what-have-you. IMHO, YMMV.
12 comments:
I'm surprised it's not more as most decent people are too busy earning a living to take part...lefties,crusties and assorted detritus have nothing but time and nasty little minds.
Damn. Harsh much? I really don't care either way, but I do refrain from saying "Under God" when I recite the Pledge of Allegiance. It just irks me that I'm supposed to say that, when I don't believe it. After all, that phrase was added, it's not original.
thud - I hear ya.
christina - I have to say I take umbrage that western culture is increasingly permissive and welcoming of the religions practiced by people utterly hostile to us, and yet there is an active movement to eradicate evidence of any Christian culture from our society. I and many other Americans celebrate your right to abhor Christianity. What makes my foot twitch is the urge that no one should invoke God while at the same time we have to give Allah his propers.
I don't abhor Christianity! I don't want ANY religion in my face, that's all. I don't like political correctness, either, and bending over backwards to placate (religious) minorities aggravates me to no end. Do I see the contradictions in my previous statements? Absolutely! I never said that I made sense. I'm not an atheist, I believe in Deity, just not in organized religion. And I don't think any particular one has it right. I figure I'll find out one way or the other after I'm dead. I just try to be a good person while I'm here, and not because I want to earn brownie points from someone, or because I'm afraid of Hell, but because it's the right thing to do.
Considering that "in God we trust" as only added in 1955, I have no problem with.
As a matter of fact, I don't trust in God, and I fail to see why or how it can be excused on our currency. But that's just me.
Well, apparently I'm the one et up with ignunce. So was the addition of "in God we trust" a concession to McCarthyism or somesuch?
I suppose I'm falling victim to the inclination that things should stay this way because they've been this way my whole life.
I still balk at having multi-culti rammed down my throat whilst simultaneously lambasting anything remotely reminiscent of traditional American values.
who else should we trust?...politicians?....even if you don't believe recognise the phrase as an in your face to a hostile world...a much needed one at that.
I don't want ANY religion in my face, that's all.
Well said, Christina, and I'm with ya on your whole comment. Even though I'm a (non-practicing) Buddhist by an official act of the US gub'mint, I don't see any significant difference in any of the world's major religions... it's the interpretations of said religions that kill me and others, sometimes quite literally.
That said... I'd prefer to see "In God We Trust" remain on our currency and in the pledge. As Phlegmmy notes... the phrase IS an important nod to this country's Judeo-Christian roots and heritage. I think that's important to America as a society.
thud - good point. Politicians and the gub'mint certainly don't have OUR best interests in mind, so we'd do better to try our luck with God, or Providence or what-have-you.
buck - I DO see a dramatic difference in the way modern Christians behave toward doubters versus the mud-hut third-worldedness of asshat Eeslam. Last I heard, Christians don't round up slatterns who show an ankle in public and behead them in stadia full of tens of thousands of cheering men. Nasty lot, that.
...versus the mud-hut third-worldedness of asshat Eeslam.
Once again, it's the interpretation and/or application of religious dogma, innit? I can point you towards Northern Ireland and The Troubles for some somewhat recent and gen-u-winely troubling (no pun...) examples of the way modern Christians handle doubters or non-believers.
OTOH, I spent a few years living in a modern secular society where Islam is the faith of more than 90% of the population (Turkey), and I never saw one single example of intolerance, egregious or otherwise. Of course, those years I spent in Turkey were before the rise of Islamic fundamentalism. Which just might be the difference... coz fundamentalism seems to breed intolerance, be it Christian, Islamic, or what-have-you. IMHO, YMMV.
Someone else said it better than I ever could:
All men are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights.
Yup. Thought so. These references have been here from the git-go and are woven into the very fabric of our nation.
It was an attempt to separate ourselves from those godless commie Reds.
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