tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3124283.post537775499587163397..comments2023-10-23T11:58:43.116-05:00Comments on Rhetoric & Rockets: Barthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01956864183240824354noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3124283.post-19967271525580533672009-09-01T12:55:58.019-05:002009-09-01T12:55:58.019-05:00I think it's a bad thing only insofar as I don...I think it's a bad thing only insofar as I don't think we need the religious equivalent of "loyalty oaths" for office-holders. Religion does not hold exclusive claim to ethical behavior, and it gets old hearing people assume that they do.<br /><br />My larger beef is the whole persecution complex that the Moral Majority has, throwing around scare tactics about being "under attack," when they've been running the country for as long as I've been alive.<br /><br />I would just as soon see religion return to being a personal thing that *informs* someone's public activity, rather than be a constant drum banging on in the public square. It turns into another cheap rhetorical weapon to turn on those who disagree. People who don't like Policy X are "unChristian" or "forgetting the founding principals" or what have you (never mind the huge number of Deists involved in the founding...that's a whole 'nother kettle of fish).Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00087235774126030545noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3124283.post-69582747669710648552009-08-31T19:42:56.023-05:002009-08-31T19:42:56.023-05:00>>avowed Christians hold just about every el...>>avowed Christians hold just about every elected office on the federal stage, and could not attain said election without making the right noises about religion and their faith<<<br /><br />You say that like it's a bad thing. Admittedly, politicians often say what they do to get elected, but if the majority of voters are Christian, saying you're not or anti- is a sure way not to get elected, yes?<br /><br />And even if you leave aside election rhetoric, most of the rest of the political culture--from the courts to the lawsuits presented in them to the media people reporting on them to the actors and comedians mocking them daily--is working very, very hard to keep God and religion for even being necessary in election rhetoric. Throw God out of the conversation, and you can throw out everything that goes with Him, including Christian morals and several of our most cherished freedoms. That is precisely the goal of this lawsuit and others like it, and that's why it bugs me.<br /><br />Recall, if you will, the atheist who sued because Apollo 8 astronauts read from the Book of Genesis while orbiting the Moon. It's only gotten worse since then. I believe this lawsuit needs to be stopped, and I hope the Supreme Court will, as before, see the wisdom of doing so.<br /><br />/bBarthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01956864183240824354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3124283.post-69276019967590767482009-08-31T13:28:34.263-05:002009-08-31T13:28:34.263-05:00While I agree with you on the silliness of the sui...While I agree with you on the silliness of the suit and similar such measures, can we talk about there being a huge diminishment of God in U.S. politics, when avowed Christians hold just about every elected office on the federal stage, and could not attain said election without making the right noises about religion and their faith? <br /><br />Obama's religion was a major campaign issue (seekrit Mooslim! crazy preacher!), Bush's faith was a major plank in his platform and in his policy-making...it's not like the country is being overrun by the godless heathens. :)Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00087235774126030545noreply@blogger.com