Christian Nation?

Think about this: As Bishop England wisely put it, “There never was a union of church and state which did not bring serious evils to religion.”

I just passed upon the website of Americans United. Their purpose is to protect the rights of separation of Church and state. They presented some recent poll data that was more than a little bit scary; it said that 55% of Americans believe that the constitution establishes the U.S. as a Christian nation.

The posting also reminds us of the work of Bishop John England, who was a staunch supporter of the separation of Church and state. Please allow me to present some quotes that I thought it important for us to consider:

England Argued, “If ninety-nine hundredths of the present population, were to become Catholics to-morrow, they would be morally criminal did they exclude the remaining hundredth portion from any civil, or political, or religious right; and under our Constitution the attempt would be usurpation, and therefore invalid.”

He also stated, “Congress has no power to nurse the Evangelist, nor to frown upon the Papist; it cannot prefer the Christian to the Jew; nor bestow one cent either to plant the Gospel in Monrovia, to build a synagogue at Grand Island, or a mosque in New York.”

He really makes some solid points and when one considers the history of what has happened when the religion is in a place of Governmental power it never really works out well. Consider the past power of the Catholic church or what of nations of Islam? Religion has its place in peoples lives but its my opinion that a ruling body should neither promote nor deny its practice. Do yourself a favor and visit their site.

http://blog.au.org/2008/09/22/christian-nation-nonsense-americans-need-lessons-in-history-and-civics/

How to be human

This will be my first ever blog post and I approach it with much trepidation. The fear that the world will find me inadequate, or my thoughts. Its my opinion that bearing your honest, your own, thoughts to some one else is worse than them seeing you naked. So enjoy your selfs fellow voyeurs.

I'm going to post stuff that interests me. As a reader you should know that I am interested in what it means to be a human. A real human. In my opinion the majority of "humanity" lives empty lives based on mimicry. Or in blind pursuit of fulfilling desires. So I will try to post things (links, pictures, etc.) that make me think and hopefully others too.

On the subject of what it means to be real I found this story at michaelpalmer.net The story posted is the Velveteen Rabbit. The author presents an intriguing idea of what it means to be real. Read it for yourself and let me know what you think.

The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams "What is REAL?" asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. "Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?" "Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real." "Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit. "Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt." "Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?" "It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in your joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."