That's not secularism. Secularism takes the religion completely out of it, our government does not do that, never intended to do it and cannot legally do it.
Our system does take religion completely out .. what part of "The Gov't has no legitimate authority to make law that messes with individual liberty - on the basis of religious belief - do you not understand ? It has no Legitimate authority to make law on the basis of religious belief period - that authority is granted by "we the people". Stop the madness - tear down the wall
We agree on the result of the constitution but we disagree how it gets there. You'd say the constitution excludes all religion, i say it's equally inclusive of all religions without establishing a dominant religion.
I didn't say the Constitution excludes all religion - don't conflate the constitution with the founding principles in the Declaration. These are two different documents that have different purposes. That said - show me in the Constitution where Gov't is given authority to make law on the basis of religious belief ? The reverse is true .. the First amendment forbids the Gov't from making law on the basis of a particular religious belief. The Declaration declares where the authority of Gov't to make law comes from - "consent of the Governed" Not "Divine Right/God/Christianity/ as was the case in the past .. and the founders made no bones about how they felt about authority of Gov't coming from the Christian God. The Declaration also sets out what the limits to Gov't authority are ... This is where the "Creator" comes in. The Creator is not invoked to grant Gov't power to make laws ... it is invoked to limit the power of Gov't. Gov't has no power on the basis of 'the Creator" Gov't power is limited on the basis of the Creator. Essential liberty - is put "Above" the legitimate authority of Gov't "Outside" the legitimate authority of Gov't. Devil's advocate - assume we did want to allow Gov't to make law on the basis of religious belief - which religion does "the Creator" refer to. Which religion is "the Creator" the God of ? The answer is both None - and All. One thing for certain is that the founders chose the term "Creator" specifically not to invoke the Christian God.
Wonder if he would deny Trump or give him a mulligan "Donald Trump: "I haven't asked God for forgiveness ""
The only Universities that existed were the Ivy League ones, and they were Christian seminaries - which means that the Founding Fathers were Christian theologians. Considering the times and the society, I don't think any thoughts other than Christianity could have entered their minds. The only exceptions would have been Franklyn and Jefferson who lived in France and were influenced by the Enlightenment in addition to their own cultural upbringing. With the exception of the Southern landowners, German immigrants and a scattering of French and Dutch, most colonists left Britain to escape religious persecution - and yet when they settled here, they too began persecuting anyone not a member of their own denomination. So the greatest fear the colonies had, was that the Federal government would establish its own 'Church', and persecute anyone who was not a member. To form a federal government and keep all the colonies on board, our government had to be all inclusive. An example of this inclusivity was that religious services was held in the rotunda of the Capital Building every Sunday. I assume the services were Episcopalian (Anglican) since it had always been the Church of the 'Aristocracy'. Until recently, most politicians joined the Episcopal Church to further their ambitions - as did others.
The declaration of independence is just as important as the constitution. They are documents that are absolutely connected. The declaration is what gives the constitution it's life. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. Without these words the constitution is absolutely meaningless! The purpose of the constitution is to ensure that life, liberty and the pursuit of Happiness and other rights not mentioned are not trodden upon. As far as the constitution goes. 1. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free practice thereof. That's it. Congress can't make laws.. Again the purpose od the US Government is to uphold the rights of the people. The point at which it starts trodding on peoplh rights. It no longer has my concent to govern, we are extraordinarily close to that point now.
Maybe if he confessed to being a child molester the church would have happily welcomed him into the Catholic brotherhood and given him communion.
Most American Catholics aren't hypocrites. Well, but then again, they are. Anyone who receives the Eucharist shouldn't be enjoying the benefits of birth control. Even condoms. The only 'approved' birth control is the Rhythm Method. Anyone spouting off here about Biden's voting record should look inside their own damn house for 'sins.'
Using this priests exact same religious stand he should have denied communion to every woman who was using birth control and every man that used a rubber since the church also frowns n them.
I've never actually met a fundamental evangelical. at least that I'm aware of. I've met a lot of trump supporters however. how can I identify this base you speak of?
if the priest thinks you are a godless baby killer then that's his right, if that label makes someone uncomfortable then stop killing babies. not complicated.
Well I'm thinking you aren't Catholic to make that statement. Being a woman in a modern world and Catholic aren't compatible. Birth Control, subjugation of women (tho, to be fair, so are most religions -- aside from Pagans), politics of divorce, and absent a voice in the heirarchy/Vatican are just a few things American Catholics turn a blind eye to. Tho, mostly just worked around and not abided or accepted out of hand. So, I observe that on its face, it's very complicated.
I was raised catholic but drifted away in my teens/early 20's and then had a pretty big fallout over getting my kid baptized 25 yrs ago (they thought the baptism was all about how much I've donated and I thought it was about God, weird eh?) So after they told me that I need to track my donations past/present/future I politely told them to piss off and now I only go to church for weddings and funerals along with occasionally visiting one as a tourist, because they might be money grubbing buggers but they sure did build some pretty buildings back in the day, some of the buildings in Europe are quite spectacular! Anyway, I do agree in general, they may be more "modern" than ever but they haven't quite moved into the modern age with a lot of the core beliefs. I haven't paid close attn, but I think the newest pope has made strides but they still have some serious issues that I won't go into at this time.
He only practiced what he preached and in addition he is a lawyer and did serve the government through EPA and USDE. "Sadly, this past Sunday, I had to refuse Holy Communion to Former Vice President Joe Biden. Holy Communion signifies we are one with God, each other and the Church. Our actions should reflect that. Any public figure who advocates for abortion places himself or herself outside of Church teaching. As a priest, it is my responsibility to minister to those souls entrusted to my care, and I must do so even in the most difficult situations. I will keep Mr. Biden in my prayers." https://everipedia.org/wiki/lang_en/robert-e-morey
I'm a fundamentalist evangelical and Trump makes me sick. I started disliking him about 1986 and by about 2004 started getting literally sick to my stomach just hearing his name. It breaks my heart that evangelicals supported him in the primaries, but I understand most fundamentalists also can never vote for any Democrat because of the party's pro-abortion platform. However fundamentalist churches have no equivalent of a Pope and few written declarations about personal ethics, let alone political views. I've never seen an argument about someone accepting communion in any church I've been in, not even my occasional visits to Catholic churches. So I'm curious if this happened in front of everybody. I suspect a Congressman no one recognizes could have gotten through the line no matter what he believed in. If the priest is seeking attention, shame on him. His political preference in general should not be known. Maybe Biden should become non-denominational, drop out of the race and spend his last few years preaching anything he believes.
