CHAPTER 2
The Christian Right's Strategy to Turn the Declaration into a
Baptismal Certificate
The strategy of the current crusade by the Religious Right to Christianize
America envisages a two-step process: The first requires a lowering of the
wall of separation between church and state to a level that would permit
the introduction of generic religion—God, nonsectarian prayer, multiple
religious images—into the governmental sphere; once this is accomplished
the next step would be to insist that America's true religion is
Christianity, since our nation was founded by Christians on Christian
principles.
The first step, which sounds benign to many but is seen by the Religious
Right as a Trojan horse hiding an army of Christian soldiers, is now
becoming mainstream and is likely to be approved, in general terms, by the
current Supreme Court. The second step is still the province of the extreme
Religious Right, but that group is growing in size and influence, and its
goal of a Christian America, with other religions being
tolerated as "second class" and atheism and agnosticism being condemned as
immoral, is no longer merely a prayer.
Moreover, experience suggests that once religion, even generic religion,
becomes sufficiently entwined in governance, it is only a matter of time
before a competition ensues as to which is the true religion of our nation.
Jacob Henry, a Jew who was elected to North Carolina's legislature in 1808
but was blocked from taking his seat by a law requiring him to accept the
divinity of the New Testament, posed the following rhetorical question:
"Will you drive from your shores and from the shelter of your constitution
all who do not lay their oblations on the same altar, observe the same
ritual, and subscribe to the same dogmas? If so, which among the various
sects into which we are divided shall be the favored one?"1
As if to demonstrate that intolerance once practiced against Jews can also
be practiced by some Jews against other minorities, a Jewish right-wing
talk show host named Dennis Prager led a campaign to disallow the first
Muslim elected to congress (in November 2006) to take an oath of office on
the Koran. Prager insisted that congressman Keith Ellison
should not be allowed to do so—not because of any American hostility to the
Koran, but because the act undermines American civilization. Insofar as a
member of Congress taking an oath to serve America and uphold its values is
concerned, America is interested in only one book, the Bible. If you are
incapable of taking an oath on that book, don't serve in Congress.2
Prager's bigotry was immediately condemned by Jewish organizations across
the ideological spectrum. . .
FOOTNOTES
Chapter 2.
The Christian Right's Strategy to Turn the Declaration into a Baptismal
Certificate
1. Jon Meacham, American Gospel: God, the Founding Fathers, and the Making
of a Nation (New York: Random House, 2006) p. 109.
2. Dennis Prager, "America, Not Keith Ellison, Decides What Book a
Congressman Takes His Oath On," Townhall.com, November 28, 2006,
www.townhall.com/columnistsiDennisPrager/2006/11/28/
america,_not_keith_ellison,_decides_what_what_book_a_
congressman_takes_his_oath_on (accessed December 19, 2006).
SOURCE: BLASPHEMYHow the Religiois Right is Hijacking Our Declaration of
Independence, Alan Dershowitz. John Wiley & Sons , Inc. 2007, pp 77-8
***************************************************************
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
HRSepCnS · Historical Reality SepChurch&State
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HRSepCnS/
***************************************************************
.. . . 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)
.. . .
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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.
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THE CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCIPLE:
SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html
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