Frank Luntz gave a little greeting last night @ the Forum.
My Vantage Point of the Proceedings.
Bless their little back ends!
Random Thoughts, # 1:
1. Republican Alan Clemmons and his long-winded prayer/invocation.
Just because something like praying an invocation has become a part of government-sponsored events...does not mean it should continue or that it's right.
Government representatives or agents should not be involved in anything which indicates a religious preference.
I say that as a former pastor's wife (over 17 years)
I never thought it was right and I still hold to the notion that it's not right.
It flies in the face of the intentions of our Founding Fathers when they crafted the Constitution of the United States.
How do I know their intentions?
I read what they wrote.
Not only that, but I look at their actions in the following days and months and years.
They kept the wall of separation in place.
Inscribing our money and our Pledge of Allegiance with mottos and additions such as "under God" and "In God We Trust" and requiring invocations to be a part of the order of business during government proceedings was not their doing.
For all of the separation of church and state rhetoric that is thrown around willy-nilly...specifically during election cycles...we live in a Country where those who do not believe in the Judeo-Christian God of the Bible cannot hold public office in more than a handful of States.
There should be no religious test for public office.
Our Constitution states so in the First Amendment, Article 6, 3rd Clause:
"... shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States."
But South Carolina's Constitution states thus as of 2010:
Article VI
Officers
Section 1. Eligibility for office; terms.
Officers
Section 1. Eligibility for office; terms.
Section 2. Person denying existence of Supreme Being not to hold office.
No person who denies the existence of the Supreme Being shall hold any office under this Constitution. (1972(57)3181; 1973(58)83).
I think Christians have this false notion that if they stand up for the Constitution in matters such as these...[of separation]...that they are in some way bringing shame to their God or denying him or doing him an injustice.
How can that be?
If you believe He founded this great country of ours and that he inspired the men who compiled our fantastically resilient Constitution, then it seems you should also believe that He obviously did not inspire them to begin adding "In God We Trust" and "Under God" to everything in sight.
If He had...they would have!
They did not.
Were they not listening?
They were secure in who they were and in what they believed so much so that they didn't have to plaster it everywhere as some sort of validation.
You can plaster stuff...just not on Public properties or in Government offices and the like.
Post it on private property.
Use private funds.
No one is stopping your voice from being heard in spreading what you believe is your Great Commission from God.
You just can't infringe on the rights of others or venture into the realm of "State".
Were they not listening?
They were secure in who they were and in what they believed so much so that they didn't have to plaster it everywhere as some sort of validation.
You can plaster stuff...just not on Public properties or in Government offices and the like.
Post it on private property.
Use private funds.
No one is stopping your voice from being heard in spreading what you believe is your Great Commission from God.
You just can't infringe on the rights of others or venture into the realm of "State".
It's not blasphemy to remove Nativity Scenes from Public properties or to remove the 10 Commandments from Courthouses...though Christian leaders have made you believe that this is heresy and a slap in the face to God...but it's no such thing...it's just Constitutional.
Plain and Simple.
And let me state this and you might not like it, but I have held the belief for a very long time that those who take stock in nativities and laws of the Old Testament engraved into gold plates attached to wooden plaques and those who believe in public praying as the Pharisees did...well, I think Jesus would think the same of those people as He did of those self-righteous religious folks back in his day.
Belief in God is not about any of those things and it cheapens the whole experience when you raise a ruckus over pieces of parchment and forced prayers and mottos.
You favor the "letter" of your man-made religious doctrine and not the "spirit" which sets you free from all that outward stuff.
And let me state this and you might not like it, but I have held the belief for a very long time that those who take stock in nativities and laws of the Old Testament engraved into gold plates attached to wooden plaques and those who believe in public praying as the Pharisees did...well, I think Jesus would think the same of those people as He did of those self-righteous religious folks back in his day.
Belief in God is not about any of those things and it cheapens the whole experience when you raise a ruckus over pieces of parchment and forced prayers and mottos.
You favor the "letter" of your man-made religious doctrine and not the "spirit" which sets you free from all that outward stuff.
And it would then seem to follow logical reasoning...
that if you fight against keeping God where He ultimately belongs...sacred and personal in your life as an individual... and leave Him out of Government where He never was to begin with, then are you not just fighting against God's desires and wishes?
And, while you're so busy standing up for what you think is "right", you treat many of your fellow human beings in a most un-Christlike way in the process.
Which is more godly?
Save stuff or treat your neighbor as you'd like to be treated?
I looked around the room last night as Mr. Clemmons was asking God's blessing over everything in sight. He seemed to put on the brakes just shy of anointing the chairs and the microphone and the toilet seats in the bathroom(hyperbole alert!)
I saw so many who did not have their heads bowed.
It was a reminder...that elections are not just about you dear Christian. We're in the room too ya know. It's about all of us and
it's not wise to alienate those whose votes you're going to need come June and November.
It borders on foolishness.
And, while you're so busy standing up for what you think is "right", you treat many of your fellow human beings in a most un-Christlike way in the process.
Which is more godly?
Save stuff or treat your neighbor as you'd like to be treated?
I looked around the room last night as Mr. Clemmons was asking God's blessing over everything in sight. He seemed to put on the brakes just shy of anointing the chairs and the microphone and the toilet seats in the bathroom(hyperbole alert!)
I saw so many who did not have their heads bowed.
It was a reminder...that elections are not just about you dear Christian. We're in the room too ya know. It's about all of us and
it's not wise to alienate those whose votes you're going to need come June and November.
It borders on foolishness.
Christians don't seem to mind breaching the wall of separation when it suits them because they feel they have God to back them up.
But when the roles are reversed...they don't like it.
You can't have it both ways and that's why the Founding Fathers kept these matters separate.
They had an uncanny ability to understand the psyche of man and fashioned our Foundational documents accordingly.
They had an uncanny ability to understand the psyche of man and fashioned our Foundational documents accordingly.
Religion and Spirituality and Faith are matters of the Heart and Soul and are extremely personal and that's where they should remain.
When Alan Clemmons went on and on praying...
...that's when I realized that I wasn't going to keep my opinions to myself any longer on this subject.
As Americans, we tend to be very annoyed with those who do not think exactly as we do.
Politics and Religion have become subjects of taboo in our overly sensitive society.
I don't like that.
I love hearing other points of view because it opens my mind to alternative ways of thinking and it challenges me in my system of beliefs.
Sometimes it solidifies and buttresses my ideals and other times it causes me to rethink and refashion.
I'm not a static person.
I'm dynamic in my thinking...and I have high hopes that you all are as well.
If you'd like to take issue with anything I say; I welcome you.
I write posts here based on the best and most up-to-date information I have.
I do not claim infallibility.
I'm not the Pope speaking ex cathedra from the Chair of Peter.
I'm just a woman living in Myrtle Beach with a point of view.
No comments:
Post a Comment