| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"" |
| Date: |
08 Oct 2006 10:02:19 AM |
| Object: |
The Presidents and God |
Originally posted at
HRSepCnS · Hampton Roads [Virginia] SepChurch&State
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HRSepCnS/
[Its not just Hampton Roads folks who are members, there are members from
all over the US and a couple from overseas as well]
by Ray Soller
American Gospel: God, the Founding Fathers, and the Making of a Nation
Jon Meacham writes an insightful book about America's historic relationship
with God (2006, ISBN 1-4000-6555-0).
Reviewed by Larry W. Greider
http://www.wnponline.org/wnp/wnp0609/pageworld0609.htm
[excerpt]
"George Washington improvised "so help me, God" at the conclusion of the
first presidential oath and kissed the Bible. This tradition of using the
Bible at inaugurations continued, and it speaks volumes about the true
source of America's blessings."
[end excerpt]
Meachem's book is a good book to read in that it tries to present a
balanced approach when examining our American religious heritage.
When I appraoached Meachem at a book-signing event in Atlanta he
acknowledged that he, unfortunately, had not check out all of his facts
before publishing his book. I presented several pages of documentation to
him, so that he is now aware of the following historical information:
The statement that "George Washington improvised 'so help me, God' at the
conclusion of the first presidential oath and kissed the Bible" speaks
volumes about how much people are willing to swallow without having checked
out the facts.
There is no known firsthand account that substantiates the notion that GW
improvised anything at the end of his presidential oath. The first
President who is known to have added the words, "So help me God," to his
oath of office is Chester A. Arthur during his swearing-in ceremony on
Sept. 20, 1881, after the death of President Garfield.
There is only a single anonymous "firsthand" report, most likely, by a
person standing somewhere in the crowd in the street, who described GW as
having bowed down to kiss the Bible. This tid bit was carried in a
Philadelphia newspaper with the publication of a letter written to an
unidentified person living in Philadelphia. This letter was republished
several times in the following decades in spite of the fact that no
close-up witness had indicated that Washington kissed the Bible.
The improvised notion that GW concluded his oath with "So help me God"
first appeared sixty-five years after the fact, and has been repeated many
times thereafter even though there is no known documented source for this
unsubstantiated occurrence.
Ray Soller
***************************************************************
You are invited to check out the following:
The Rise of the Theocratic States of America
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/theocracy.htm
American Theocrats - Past and Present
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/theocrats.htm
The Constitutional Principle: Separation of Church and State
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html
[and to join the discussion group for the above site and/or Separation of
Church and State in general, listed below]
HRSepCnS · Hampton Roads [Virginia] SepChurch&State
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HRSepCnS/
[Its not just Hampton Roads folks who are members, there are members from
all over the US and a couple from overseas as well]
***************************************************************
.. . . You can't understand a phrase such as "Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishment of religion" by syllogistic reasoning. Words
take their meaning from social as well as textual contexts, which is why "a
page of history is worth a volume of logic." New York Trust Co. v. Eisner,
256 U.S. 345, 349, 41 S.Ct. 506, 507, 65 L.Ed. 963 (1921) (Holmes, J.).
Sherman v. Community Consol. Dist. 21, 980 F.2d 437, 445 (7th Cir. 1992)
.. . .
****************************************************************
USAF LT. COL (Ret) Buffman (Glen P. Goffin) wrote
"You pilot always into an unknown future;
facts are your only clue. Get the facts!"
That philosophy 'snipit' helped to get me, and my crew, through a good
many combat missions and far too many scary, inflight, emergencies.
It has also played a significant role in helping me to expose the
plethora of radical Christian propaganda and lies that we find at
almost every media turn.
*****************************************************************
THE CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCIPLE:
SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html
****************************************************************
.
|
|
| User: "Raymond" |
|
| Title: Re: The Presidents and God |
08 Oct 2006 10:54:41 AM |
|
|
wrote:
Originally posted at
HRSepCnS =B7 Hampton Roads [Virginia] SepChurch&State
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HRSepCnS/
[Its not just Hampton Roads folks who are members, there are members from
all over the US and a couple from overseas as well]
by Ray Soller
American Gospel: God, the Founding Fathers, and the Making of a Nation
Jon Meacham writes an insightful book about America's historic relationsh=
ip
with God (2006, ISBN 1-4000-6555-0).
Reviewed by Larry W. Greider
http://www.wnponline.org/wnp/wnp0609/pageworld0609.htm
[excerpt]
"George Washington improvised "so help me, God" at the conclusion of the
first presidential oath and kissed the Bible. This tradition of using the
Bible at inaugurations continued, and it speaks volumes about the true
source of America's blessings."
[end excerpt]
Meachem's book is a good book to read in that it tries to present a
balanced approach when examining our American religious heritage.
When I appraoached Meachem at a book-signing event in Atlanta he
acknowledged that he, unfortunately, had not check out all of his facts
before publishing his book. I presented several pages of documentation to
him, so that he is now aware of the following historical information:
The statement that "George Washington improvised 'so help me, God' at the
conclusion of the first presidential oath and kissed the Bible" speaks
volumes about how much people are willing to swallow without having check=
ed
out the facts.
There is no known firsthand account that substantiates the notion that GW
improvised anything at the end of his presidential oath. The first
President who is known to have added the words, "So help me God," to his
oath of office is Chester A. Arthur during his swearing-in ceremony on
Sept. 20, 1881, after the death of President Garfield.
There is only a single anonymous "firsthand" report, most likely, by a
person standing somewhere in the crowd in the street, who described GW as
having bowed down to kiss the Bible. This tid bit was carried in a
Philadelphia newspaper with the publication of a letter written to an
unidentified person living in Philadelphia. This letter was republished
several times in the following decades in spite of the fact that no
close-up witness had indicated that Washington kissed the Bible.
The improvised notion that GW concluded his oath with "So help me God"
first appeared sixty-five years after the fact, and has been repeated many
times thereafter even though there is no known documented source for this
unsubstantiated occurrence.
Ray Soller
***************************************************************
You are invited to check out the following:
The Rise of the Theocratic States of America
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/theocracy.htm
American Theocrats - Past and Present
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/theocrats.htm
The Constitutional Principle: Separation of Church and State
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html
[and to join the discussion group for the above site and/or Separation of
Church and State in general, listed below]
HRSepCnS =B7 Hampton Roads [Virginia] SepChurch&State
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HRSepCnS/
[Its not just Hampton Roads folks who are members, there are members from
all over the US and a couple from overseas as well]
***************************************************************
. . . You can't understand a phrase such as "Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishment of religion" by syllogistic reasoning. Words
take their meaning from social as well as textual contexts, which is why =
"a
page of history is worth a volume of logic." New York Trust Co. v. Eisne=
r,
256 U.S. 345, 349, 41 S.Ct. 506, 507, 65 L.Ed. 963 (1921) (Holmes, J.).
Sherman v. Community Consol. Dist. 21, 980 F.2d 437, 445 (7th Cir. 1992)
. . .
****************************************************************
USAF LT. COL (Ret) Buffman (Glen P. Goffin) wrote
"You pilot always into an unknown future;
facts are your only clue. Get the facts!"
That philosophy 'snipit' helped to get me, and my crew, through a good
many combat missions and far too many scary, inflight, emergencies.
It has also played a significant role in helping me to expose the
plethora of radical Christian propaganda and lies that we find at
almost every media turn.
*****************************************************************
THE CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCIPLE:
SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html
****************************************************************
"My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge."
-- The Old Testament prophet Hosea
On the Madison Building of the Library of Congress, these words of our
fourth president are inscribed:
Knowledge shall forever govern ignorance. And a people who mean to be
their own governors must arm themselves with the power which only
knowledge gives.
In a 1990 survey, the Educational Testing Service concluded that only
40 percent of young Americans could read well enough to grasp the
meaning of a typical newspaper column.
10 percent of the people read 90 percent of the books. Those people are
the leaders. The exception:
GW Bush.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2006/08/30/video-bush-explains-his-_n_28367.h=
tml
No wonder Bush doesn't connect with the rest of the country
By HELEN THOMAS
HEARST NEWSPAPERS
WASHINGTON -- President Bush recently gave an hour-long exclusive
interview to Fox TV anchor Brit Hume, who tossed him a series of
softball questions.
Among them, Bush was asked how he gets his news. Answer: He relies on
briefings by chief of staff Andrew Card and national security affairs
adviser Condoleezza Rice.
He walks into the Oval Office in the morning, Bush said, and asks Card:
"What's in the newspapers worth worrying about? I glance at the
headlines just to kind of (get) a flavor of what's moving," Bush said.
"I rarely read the stories," he said.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/143851_thomas15.html
Three thousand innocent lives would have been spared if the dumb ***** in
charge would have read the August 6, 2001 memo entitled, "Bin Laden
Determined to Strike United States." "DUH!"
By: Betsy on August 30, 2006 at 03:53pm
.
|
|
|
|
|
Related Articles |
|
|
