My LTTE in response to rw nut

[cynatnite]

This is the letter in today's paper:

The liberal viewpoint is a squeaky wheel continually oiled by the liberal news media. Liberals eagerly quote the First Amendment to the Constitution, as well as the Bible, and then proceed to cunningly pervert the real meaning of them both. Political leaders whose activities and decisions are guided by their Christian beliefs are not pandering to a particular denomination or sect; they are simply enjoying the free exercise of their religion. Humanism and evolution are never accused of threatening our First Amendment rights, yet both seek to undermine the tenets of Christianity.

Our president is accused of seeking to establish a government religion, yet he is merely living his faith. Historical facts prove America was established by Christian men who applied biblical principles to their everyday life. One nation under God means the God of the Bible. When our president says God bless America, he is asking the blessing of the God of the Bible. America recognizes the God of the Bible as her God. Patrick Henry said, "It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For this very reason people of other faiths have been afforded asylum, prosperity, and freedom of worship here." People living in America are not forced to worship America's God. They can freely worship any god, or no god.


Mine in response:

As an American I prefer the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. As a Christian, I prefer the Bible in my home. As a liberal, I prefer not to see Christianity used as a stepping stone for higher office or as a tool in order to pander to the religious right. This is an outright disgrace and why I worry for the future of a country I have served and love.
Enjoying the freedom of religion and the willingness to express it whether publicly or privately is fine. Using it in order to make law in a country with so many diverse religions is disturbing. Those who worship differently or don’t even believe in God shouldn’t have to feel as if they are governed by Christianity.

Historical fact states that the founding fathers wisely saw that the separation of church and state was essential to this country. They knew that if the line should even dared be crossed that we would perilously come close to a government sponsored religion. This is what they escaped from. Historical facts also show that men like Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison were deists. They believe that the belief in God comes only in the way of rational thinking and not through religion or even the Bible. Thomas Jefferson said, “I do not find in Orthodox Christianity one redeeming feature”. Benjamin Franklin said, “Lighthouses are more useful than churches.” There are many other quotes by those men as well as George Washington, Thomas Paine and John Adams. A five minute Google search is all it takes.

[madmom]

1. excellent!!!!!!

[cynatnite]

2. Thanks

I'm waiting to hear back from a friend before I send it off. I want to make sure what I wanted comes across. That dork who wrote the wacko letter sounded like he might need a good does of valium or something.

[ellenfl]

3. excellent!

i get so tired of hearing about how this country was founded on christianity when, in fact, it was not. will your letter get printed?

i think the powers that be think that 'religion is the opiate of the masses'. they certainly manipulate poeple with it.

ellen fl

[indigonation]

4. Your concluding quotes were especially good!

Our small-city paper is full of editorials that I enjoy reading, and you can usually count on at least one bible-thumper a week declaring the vary same thing as yours, that our founding fathers intertwined God in the constitution, or that George Bush is our great leader and the bible says we must follow him without question. (cough)

The NICE thing that it's not usually a liberal that retorts them the following week, but a more-or-less liberal Preacher. Today there was one just so that railed on the Bush administration conning Christians into voting for them, while cutting Medicare benefits to the poor. It was a well written piece and I hope it hits home.

I'm inclined to follow your lead using similar quotes should I happen to respond to one of these. Thanks for the idea.

[cynatnite]

5. I love using quotes

My RW mom got on the founding fathers were christians kick and what shut her up was what I told her about them.

We get the same raving lunatics here in the paper and if I responded to every one of those the paper might not print it. They're fairly lenient at this point so I try to be careful how often I write in.

They have a 300 word limit. I had to do some editing plus a writing friend went through it. I wish I could respond to these the way I'd like, but I have tendency to be long-winded B-)

[NMMNG]

6. Good letter

Here's a killer quote you could add:

"The government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian Religion"
George Washington, from the Treaty of Tripoli

That should take the wind out of their sails.

[Melodybe]

7. Kicked and Nominated! i hope it gets published.

Good Luck.

:toast:

[hfojvt]

8. I remember reading in Franklin's autobiography

where he said he approved of churches and always gave money to help start one when asked, or that he gave money to several local churches. Then he complained that they seemed to avoid teaching real moral principles.

Naturally, I cannot find an exact quote, and I doubt if I could google it.

[flygal]

9. Recommended

You tied it all up neatly :) Well said!

[Tux]

10. Link

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&client=ig&q=deism+founding+fathers&btnG=Google+Search

If that nuts was so glad for Christians in this nation which is 87% but bitch how bad things are? 87% of the population is large enough to supply prisons with people. Liberal bias is old, lame, and stupid. Tell me Rush, Hannity, Coulter, etc are liberal and then we can say media has a liberal bias. I wish these people could turn their brains back on. Faith is good but reason is better and makes for a more moral person.