Democracy Has Prevailed.

June 12, 2012

Tracking Teh Crazie - WND

From the head birther at birther-central (World Net Daily) we read this stunning display of religious tolerance.

It a piece called "Why atheists can't be real Americans."

Farah begins by taking a step further than Pastor John Hagee (how on Earth can anyone take something a step further than a nut case like Hagee?)  By the way, that's not my characterization.  It's Joey's.

Take a look:
Pastor John Hagee, senior pastor of San Antonio’s Cornerstone Church, is making People for the America Way very angry with some comments about atheists.

Here’s what he said in a talk captured on YouTube by the group: “This nation was not built for atheists or by atheists. It was built by Christian people who believed in the Word of God. To the atheists watching this telecast, if our belief in God offends you, move. There are planes leaving every hour on the hour, going every place on planet earth. Get on one, we don’t want you and we won’t miss you, I promise you.”

That may sound harsh, coming from a Christian minister of a mega-church with 20,000 members.

But let me take what Hagee said a step further.
See?

And what's the extra step from the birther-king?
Atheists can’t be real Americans in the truest sense of the word – and People for the American Way should be renamed People for the un-American Way.
So from Hagee, we learn that atheists should leave Amurika and from Farah, that we're not "real Americans" anyway.

Huh.  Upon what does Farah place this puffery?
America was founded on a creedal statement. It can be found in the Declaration of Independence: “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;...
And so on.

Too bad The Declaration, amazing document that it is, is not the law of the land.

The Constitution is.  And the Constitution has nothing to say about this being a "Christian Nation."  In fact Article VI, has this in it:
The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, 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. [emphasis added.]
And do I really need to quote the 1st Amendment at yinz?

I'll give the final word to the Supreme Court, circa 1943 (when the World was at war):
If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein. If there are any circumstances which permit an exception, they do not now occur to us.
So who's being un-American?  The folks who believe that all citizens are equal citizens or the religious zealots who want everyone that disagrees with them to just leave?

1 comment:

SamStone said...

Then there is the Treaty of Tripoli ratified by the Senate and signed by John Adams, which says "the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion".

It is amazing how the religious right ignores all that went into the establishment of a truly secular government by our founders.