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| Silverfiddle Rant! |
Any system built by man has logical inconsistencies that spawn hypocrisies, and on the other end, abuses by those attempting to carry out every last jot and tittle of the letter of the law.
Given all that, Judeo-Christian praxis, even with its excesses and deficiencies, has built the most powerful and most advanced civilization humankind has ever seen. Our broad-based system of rights for all is not perfect, but where else is it better?
Despite Christianity's persecutors and inquisitors, the fundamental tenets of the Bible are essential for a salubrious and prosperous society.
That is why government appears to endorse or favor Christianity. Anti-Christians continue to scream about this, and my answer has always been the same: if you can build a secular system of morality with similar foundational bedrock principles, I am all for it as a national ethos.
But didn't the founders give us that already?
How often do public officials invoke our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? Never. Like the founders, they wisely use broad euphemisms like the creator, or divine providence. That is the respect religious people pay to those who are not into that.
Outside of the early colonies, nobody has been forced to go to church here. We had a good set up. Religious people could live their lives, and the irreligious could as well. People were always free in this nation to practice their perversions, and the tribute vice paid to virtue was hypocrisy. People practicing perversions didn't do it in the public square; they respected community standards for the most part. They went off to their dens of iniquity, which town fathers and churchmen knew existed, and no doubt a number of them visited, but this unspoken social compact made for a healthy society.
What we have now is creeping neo-paganism, and it will not end well.
How often do public officials invoke our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? Never.
ReplyDeleteYou sure that you want to make that claim?
It's not a claim. It's an invitation. Jimmy Carter may have been the last President to mention Jesus Christ, and that was in a playboy interview.
DeleteSo, OK, at religio-politico gatherings (which I abhor)...
DeletePoint is, our government is not beating us over the heads with Bibles and imposing religious strictures on us, and thank God for that.
I was including all public officials.....federal, state and local. I'm also not implying that anyone is getting beat over the head, nor am I including speaking at/to religiously oriented functions/groups....but there is a reason that there are still lawsuits regarding public officials using government time and venues to proselytize.
DeleteWe agree that government, and anyone in government, should not be proselytizing anyone on government time or government dime.
DeleteGiven what I have stated in the blog post, it is impossible to cleanse all vestiges of Christianity from the national ethos expressed by government officials.
DeleteNor should we, cultural traditions are fine, but State venues and official business ought not be used to endorse religion.
DeleteNo, when the dens of iniquity got out of hand, the lady temperence league marched in with their axes and chopped the place up.... or the lynch mob eventually showed up and hanged some "fruit.". When local LEOs don't, the people of the community step up and DO.
ReplyDeleteI dunno, I think our history is interesting but far from rosy (I know that isn't your claim). I'm keen on whatever it is that's helping us keep a lid on the viscious sectarianism that plagued us for centuries.
ReplyDeleteThe west has suffered blessed few sectarian flareups over the past recent centuries.
DeleteSectarianism in Northern Ireland is secondary to Imperial England's immoral invasion and occupation of another sovereign nation.
Sectarianism flared in the Balkans when Yugoslavia came apart, but that was actually centuries-old grievances reigniting, egged on by a foreign religious ideology (Islam) backed by Wahhabists the Clinton Admin allowed in.
Not playing your games. Get to the point--if you have one.
DeleteSF,
ReplyDeleteHow often do public officials invoke our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? Never.
[...]
Excellent points!
I, for one, am sick and tired of the citing of the Spanish Inquisition and other extremist movements and events to prove that Christianity is worthless.
Oh, some who are making these citations don't really mean that Christianity is worthless, but rather that the history of Christianity is flawed or that Christianity should change its "code of conduct" (ethos). Still, the neo-pagans hear those citations and run with them.
And my point is, I don't want my government--or government schools--preaching Christianity, or any religion.
DeleteI long for the return unspoken social compact, but I fear that it is gone without a bloody revolution along the lines of the Spanish Inquisition. In other words, a course correction via the pendulum swinging hard the other way.
ReplyDeleteAt the moment, America is becoming balkanized in the extreme! Makes me want to go live under a rock for the years I have remaining in this life.
"How often do public officials invoke our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ?"
ReplyDeleteIn 2017, a federal court ruled that Congress can continue to open its sessions each day with a prayer, and upheld the House's ability to pick and choose who's allowed to lead the prayer. “Since the first session of the Continental Congress, our nation's legislature has opened with a prayer to God.
Also, The National Day of Prayer is an annual day of observance held on the first Thursday of May, designated by the United States Congress, when people are asked "to turn to God in prayer and meditation". The president is required by law (36 U.S.C. § 119) to sign a proclamation.
In the history of the US presidency, no non-Christian (or at least a professed one) has ever held that office, and each one, except for T. Roosevelt, J.Q.Adams and F. Pierce, has sworn his oath on a Christian Bible.
Nice snapshop, but you didn't answer the question.
DeleteCassiopeia O'Casey-Yiannopoulis said:
ReplyDeleteNothing in this article any sane person could disagree with.
I was on board until your conclusion:
ReplyDelete"What we have now is creeping neo-paganism, and it will not end well"
Neo-paganism is a broad brush to paint as to what is causing our difficulties. There our many forms similar to Christian faiths.
Not to get into a long and involved discussion, I find many aspects compatible in honoring the seasons and Mother earth with Jesus's teaching.
While practicing "intentions" may not be your cup of tea... Jesus said Asked and it shall be given. Then there is the three fold rule
The Rule of Three (also Three-fold Law or Law of Return) is a religious tenet held by some Wiccans/Pagans and occultists. It states that whatever energy a person puts out into the world, be it positive or negative, will be returned to that person three times.
My genre would fall more under the "Wiccan" label. But let us not get confused with devil worship and the like.
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"Neo-Paganism" is a broad brush, but I employ it purposely to make my point that our old Christian-based order of morality is waning. Fortunately, as you point out, there is a lot of overlap between Judeo-Christian morality and other systems.
DeleteStill, the moral order that is emerging is feelings-based, flavor of the day, and enforced by social media pogroms. It has no bedrock foundations.
Neo-pagan, because our society worships many gods. Indeed, Paul's words to the Athenians in Act 17 could be addressed to us today:
“People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. 23 For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship...
Spirituality is not just belief in God, it's the creation of mental forces that guide, protect, comfort & empower one. IMO.
DeleteSadly too many Christian churches lost their way IMO and has caused many to look elsewhere. But then my minister said I appear to think that God is a cosmic vending machine. Is not prayer a wish? A wish the same as hoping for Magick to occur? Healing being a standard prayer. Praying for guidance to be a good and decent person.
Dogma is not the same a morality. Judaeo-Christian beliefs have become a hybrid for many leaving them unfilled.
But your points are well taken, and I doubt this ramble has been successful in making my points. Then I have never been a big fan of Paul but prefer to refer to Jesus. I admit I am more attuned to the Gnostics
Bunker,
DeleteYou have made your point well, and logically stated. We are spiritual creatures, and good religion (a human enterprise) should foster spirituality, not crush it.
"Judeo-Christian" is not a religion, but a loose term for cultures, societies and mores flowing from the Bible. Indeed, Judaism and Christianity hold incompatible beliefs on the messiah, which is a fundamental difference and cannot be reconciled.
Not sure that what point I'm arguing here, but when my wife indulges in her adoration of Obama, my mind goes to him preceding his presidency by engaging in the spectacle of parading with McCain to the Temple of Warren to be interrogated by the High Priest as to his religious qualifications for the office, then inviting the High Priest Warren to offer a prayer at his inauguration.
ReplyDeleteAnd they claim that Trump demeans the office!
What are the basic tenets of the Bible, Leviticus and the OT or the Sermon on the Mount and the acts of mercy?
ReplyDeleteDo the founders owe more to the Renaissance and Enlightenment or to the OT and fundamentalism?
I think many who call for Biblical morals (which we are gradually shedding) don't realize the similarity between the OT and sharia. The Abrahamic code has long outlived its usefulness.
You claim to be Catholic, so you must have had some religious education. If you did, you would have learned that punitive laws in Leviticus and other parts of the Pentateuch were "time and place" directives, meant for a specific community at a specific time.
DeleteGod's law is perfect and immutable; you know that as well, so why play at the childish game of pretending to find a contradiction where there is none?
The Renaissance stands on the shoulders of the Scholastic Age, which draws from Ancient Rome and Greece...
Again, you know all this, so stop boring us with your dime store Socrates shtick.
It is unsurprising islam has similarities with Christianity and Judaism. Mo cribbed heavily from the Bible, but much was lost in translation and muddled interpretation, apparently.
If Leviticus was "time and place" then why do you still lean so heavily on the stricture against homosexuality?
DeleteThe Renaissance certainly owes a lot to Greek and Roman philosophy (as demonstrated by the Greek themes of much Renaissance art) but the attempt by Scholasticism to join theology and reason started showing cracks despite Aquinas. I still wonder why we never talk of our Greco-Roman heritage.
I wonder if the reason we never talked of our Greco-Roman heritage anymore is because, with few exceptions, they stopped teaching it in schools decades ago.
DeleteSo you think pederasty, incest and adultery are OK now? Leviticus also mentions those sins.
DeleteWhat does "OK" even mean though? Frowned upon by society, or prohibited by law. Different cases can be made for different issues.
DeleteDucky's question was about Biblical prohibitions.
Delete"...the fundamental tenets of the Bible are essential for a salubrious and prosperous society."
ReplyDeleteWhat are the fundamental tenets of the Bible that you believe are necessary for a salubrious and prosperous society? The Ten Commandments?
All of it.
Delete"All of it." The Bible? You're not being serious are you.
DeleteContext is everything.
DeleteFarmer, Ah! But putting passages in context and consulting the Talmud and early church fathers isn't nearly as much fun as goading the spaghetti monster believers...
DeleteNot a spaghetti monter believer but someone struggling with the knowledge that Spinoza pretty much trashed the place.
DeleteDucky... I wasn't aware anyone read Spinoza anymore.
DeleteAgreement or disagreement is immaterial. You made my day by mentioning him.
Hell, I'm forever entertained by the theory that "flying spaghetti monster" = science fiction, but Christian mythology isn't.
DeleteGreek and Roman mythology are not science fiction either. They are mythology.
DeleteSupreme Court upholds cross on public land in Maryland
ReplyDeleteExtreme leftists Sotomayor and Ginsburg were the only dissenters.
SF,
DeleteI can hear the cries of outrage now. Sheesh.
I generally agree with the reasoning behind the ruling. I'd like though, to see the court rule on a case without historic merit.
DeleteWe already have rulings like that. Creches have been torn down, or have pagan or satanic monstrosities sitting next to them, as if that is what our nation was founded upon...
DeleteYou mean religious freedom?
DeleteIts hysterical reactionary Christophobia, but it is an exercise in free speech, so I have never called for such stupidities to be shut down by the government.
DeleteSuch absurdities do nothing to advocate for the rights or beliefs of satanists or whoever, but it does further poison the atmosphere and deprecate the cultural expression of the people.
I don't visit New York, but I would expect Jewish expressions during the seasons of their high holy days, and I would find them, and the people enjoying them, delightful. I would consider it an abomination to force government to put Christian crosses and other symbols up beside Jewish displays, all in the supposed name of "fairness" or whatever.
People need to get over themselves. Face it, most of this anti-Christian stuff is about bitter people wanting to trash the place.
Yep - sectarian phobia is indeed about bitter people wanting to trash the place.
DeleteAnd please note, I hate people using the Bible to bash people over the head, and hijacking government to enforce their narrow sectarian agendas. This goes against Christ's teachings to "render unto caesar..." Jesus specifically rejected a revolution and setting up a sectarian government.
DeleteThe "Religious" Right has done great harm to Christianity, imo.