"The clergy, by getting themselves established by law and ingrafted into the machine of government, have been a very formidable engine against the civil and religious rights of man." --Thomas Jefferson to Jeremiah Moor, 1800.
"History, I believe, furnishes no example of a priest-ridden people maintaining a free civil government. This marks the lowest grade of ignorance of which their civil as well as religious leaders will always avail themselves for their own purposes." --Thomas Jefferson to Alexander von Humboldt, 1813. ME 14:21
"Religion is a subject on which I have ever been most scrupulously reserved. I have considered it as a matter between every man and his Maker in which no other, and far less the public, had a right to intermeddle." --Thomas Jefferson to Richard Rush, 1813.
The religious right counts on the meekness of the media and Joe Bob citizen's ignorance of the the Constitution, as they gleefully tear down the Constitutional wall of separation between church and state. The "Christian" proclamations of Huckabee, Romney, Thompson et al. are more than just tactics in the campaign game (the legacy of Karl Rove), they're part of a theocratic push to deny Jefferson and establish The United States of Jesus. As far as the Founding Fathers were concerned, America is not to be a Christian or any other religious flavor of nation, and they would have been dismayed to hear Romney's campaign assurances that Mormons aren't devil worshipers (thank god for that :) because they established in article 6 of the Constitution that there is to be no religious test for political office. Not even for devil worshipers. Every time some politician claims that God is on our side the media should cry out, with megaphones and 72 point fonts "No sir, you are wrong! There's no God in the Constitution and America is a secular nation! Jefferson wrote the 1st amendment to keep folks like you from trampling on the rights of Jews, Muslims, Zoroastrians, atheists, etc. with those big clunky Christian Majority ($19.95 at Walmart) sandals. Now cut it out."Or maybe we should hold a seance, and bring Jefferson back from the dead to explain these things for himself...?
JR
6 comments:
This particular political race has been called unique because we have a black, a woman, a morman, a catholic, and a jesus freak. All of these people have one thing in common -- they are cowards. They are afraid to say that religion has no place in politics and to refuse to answer the questions about their personal beliefs. The day that there is an avowed atheist running for office will be the day we are all saved.
A shy but thoughtful reader asked me via email if Jefferson (slave owner and purported moral gadfly) was the only one of the Founding Fathers with such strong feelings about the separation of Church and State. He was not. James Madison, who wrote much of the 1st Amendment, also felt very strongly that religion and government should never mix. Here are two of his many statements on the topic:
(from http://www.jmu.edu/madison/center/main_pages/madison_archives/quotes/great/greatquotes.htm)
"Congress should not establish a religion and enforce the legal observation of it by law, nor compel men to worship God in any manner contrary to their conscience, or that one sect might obtain a pre-eminence, or two combined together, and establish a religion to which they would compel others to conform." (Annals of Congress, Sat Aug 15th, 1789 pages 730 - 731).
"Every new and successful example, therefore, of a perfect separation between the ecclesiastical and civil matters, is of importance; and I have no doubt that every new example will succeed, as every past one has done, in showing that religion and Government will both exist in greater purity the less they are mixed together..." (Letter to Edward Livingston, July 10, 1822).
Do I want the media to tell me what's "hogwash" with regard to politics & religion, or the constitution, or my uterus, etc.....? Or do I expect that the media maintain a sense of objectivity. That they don't attempt to "correct", or persuade; rather that they serve as a mouthpiece for the public, however informed, or uninformed, we choose to be...?
Maybe journalists really are doing their job in putting the religious question out there. After all, a good percentage of the American population seems to be interested in our candidates religious affiliations. Perhaps journalists are obligated to ask those questions...? Maybe Cynthia is right in suggesting that it's the candidates' responsiblity to set the record straight simply by refusing to answer the question...?
Additionally, I wonder....
Should I fear an "avowed atheist" just as much as a fear an "avowed baptist", or jew, or muslim...?
Update on candidate responsibility regarding religion:
In the Republican Debate on Thursday evening, Mitt Romney evoked Article Six of the Constitution when asked a question about his spiritual life as a Mormon. I never would've expected that comment come from him.
Mitt can probably "afford" to do that since he gave an entire speech already saying what he wanted to say. So evoking anything NOW is like closing the barn door after the horses are already out. Not really all that impressive. If he had taken that stance from the beginning I would be somewhat more impressed (not with Mitt, but with the idea that any candidate would defend his right to privacy about his religion or lack of religion).
I don't know if anyone will read a post after the time has passed, but I heard a Fresh Air interview with Terry Gross tonight.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18429953
This is an interview with the author of book called "God in the White House". He traces the history of american politics and religion and has some very interesting things to say. For example, when Kennedy entered the White House, having quelled peoples' fears about his catholicism, this paved the way for George Romney's election as governor of Michigan, with not one question about his faith -- an acceptance Mitt, his son, does not enjoy now. The author notes that while Kennedy defused the public's worries about religion, Nixon brought it all raging back by tiring the people out with his terrible, immorale behavior. Right after him came Mr. Carter, the baptist preacher. He also talks about the organization of what is now the religious right. All very interesting to hear and Terry Gross is polite and gracious and intelligent, usual. Click the link and take a listen.
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