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In their so-called quest to be “receptive to all,” some Leftist groups have taken it upon themselves to seek the removal of any vestiges of religion in general, and Christianity in particular, from American streets and public buildings. As such, across America, some mayors and some school officials often wrestle with the dilemma of how to observe Christmas and other Christian holidays in a culture of “political correctness.”
The perpetrators of such removal efforts hide behind words such as “tolerance” and “diversity,” claiming that they merely wish to avoid offending people of different faiths.
Welcome in America
As a non-religious person who believes in God, I have lived in ‘Christian’ America all my life. Except for a handful of minor incidences of grammar school playground name-calling, I have never felt anything less than welcome in America from the time I could first formulate coherent and lasting thoughts, to this day.
While Christianity has had its growing pains through the ages, and the persecution of Jews and others lasted for centuries, for the last five decades or more, no religion that I’ve observed comes as close to practicing what it preaches. I have visited 46 states in the union and 81 countries around the world. I’ve had the opportunity to step into the hallowed halls and shrines of the world’s great religions and in many cases have observed first-hand how people’s actions and behaviors square with their religious doctrine.
I find Christians to be among the most charitable, understanding, and tolerant people on the planet. In an age of tough choices, they are the greatest supporters of Israel and its right to exist – and of Muslims, Hindus, and religions I can’t even name. I am glad I live in a Christian nation and given the options around the globe, wouldn’t have it any other way.
Leftist Wannabe Enforcers
The “politically correct” among us, however, loath public displays of Christianity in America. Their agenda is to strip public America of its last vestiges of Christianity, as if somehow, that will make us a better, more open, more tolerant society. It won’t. These thought police have decided that America’s majority religion and its practitioners are a blight on society.
These wannabe enforcers utter phrases such as “separation of church and state” although these words are not contained in the U.S. Constitution or in any official U.S. document. For the record, they appeared in Thomas Jefferson’s letter to the Danbury Baptist Association in his effort to alleviate any fears the government would make dictates to the church.
The U.S. Constitution says, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…” This means Congress cannot make any laws regarding religion, and Congress cannot pass any law establishing a state-mandated religion. Public displays of religion, even by a government jurisdiction, depending on the specific context are allowable if it is part of a broader secular holiday display.
Home of the Bland
Public America, stripped of its religious symbolism, forced to endure a meaningless annual parade of lights – instead of a Christmas parade – with its Christian trappings marginalized, is not a place where I want to be.
In a genuinely tolerant and open society, people of any faith are free to celebrate their beliefs. If one particular faith was predominant at the founding and remains so today, that does not preclude others from celebrating their faiths.
From first grade on, when I attended my school’s annual Christmas Pageant, I was not offended because eight songs in a row mentioned Christmas, Jesus, or Bethlehem. Then as now, I had options. I could skip going to the assembly or I could attend but not sing along. Or I could do what I chose to do in every instance: attend, not sing along, but be caught up in the merriment of the day.
Tolerance Abounds
Gentile classmates did not expect me or anyone else to forsake my preferences and I did not expect them to modify their festival to accommodate me. The fact that it was a public school mattered little. If I were to move to Indonesia, Egypt, or Turkey, I would not expect any public or private celebrations held there to be changed to accommodate me. Remaining free and being respected is sufficient.
Would any astute American moving to any of those countries expect their societies to diminish their public and private religious celebrations so as to accommodate them? Hardly.
Fellow citizens who are Christian, I and others who are not religious lend our voices to safeguarding America for public and private expressions of Christianity along with those of other peaceful, tolerant religions.
You are born into a religion just as you are born into a culture – you no more give that up than you give up your native tongue. You have the same “holier than thou”, “whited sepulchre” attitude as the late president Jimmy.
Jeff,
I disagree. We live in a nation filled with Christians.
As a lifelong student of the Bible and world religions I can say unequivocally that authentic Biblically-based believers in Jesus Christ have never persecuted the Jewish people, but have embraced their heritage found in the Hebrew Scriptures and believe in and support a future earthly Messianic kingdom. Long term persecution of the Jewish people has been and is still the guilt of the Roman Catholic Church, which is predominantly a syncretistic amalgamation of historic pagan idolatry. Those people who claim to be Christians yet propagate supersessionism (aka replacement theology) are committing a grave heretical error.
It’s really not that complicated.
I am so very happy to be a citizen born in this country. It’s the equivalent of winning the lotto, if you know how the system works.
I am so glad I am an unapologetic Christian and that most Christians support Jews and Israel
I hope that the idiot Poison Ivy League college kids outgrow their campus leftism “river to the sea” crap, especially when it’s time to get a job. Remember, a degree in Campus Protest and Jihad in America is not exactly the path to success. And it may just get you killed.
Dumb people make it complicated.
Remember, the apostle John gave us clues on how to identify any antichrist. According to 1 John 2:22, both the spirit of antichrist and ‘The Antichrist’ always deny three things:
1) Both, deny the deity of Jesus Christ
2) Both, deny that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
3) Both, deny the relationship between the Father and the Son.
Fact… Islam denies all three. However; they stress to the unsuspecting, that Jesus is mentioned in the Quran. <<< The fake Jesus called Isa…
Which makes your allah worshiping, satanic homosexual ELCA Lutheran fake church an Antichrist mosque…
Get this Intrepid… your allah is a fake moon god, once called Baal !!!
I agree that the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America has problems, but name one old line denomination or offshoot that doesn’t have issues? There are some Christians in every denomination.
Sounds like you misunderstand what a Christian is…
A Christian accordingly is… a person who…
1) Believes Christ Jesus is the Son of God
2) Believes Christ Jesus died for their sins
3) Accepted Christ Jesus as their Savior
Answering Christian Claims… An Islamic Apologetic website: Clearly tells us that their god has no sons or daughters…
Saying: “In Islam, Allah (God) is one, and one and only. He has no beginning and no End and has no partners, sons or daughters.”
This islamic belief comes directly from the stanic quran…
He is allah, the One and Only; allah, the Eternal, Absolute; He begetteth not, nor is He begotten; And there is none like unto Him. (Quran 112:1-4)
So it is clear… the evidence stands… islam is a satanic antichrist religion. Not only does the Bible tell us what defines an antichrist… islam stands firmly against Christ Jesus as the Son of God and that islam’s god has no sons.
It is also clear… anything in opposition to the Resurrected Son of God, Christ Jesus… is antichrist and thus… satanic.
Therefore… a person can NOT worship the fake god allah and be a Christian at the same time.
Well Slumsrent you have finally begun scraping the bottom of your world. You have run out of things to say and you are simply repeating yourself. In short you are a consummate bore
And I hate to be bored. Especially by one of my lessers.
Bottom line, you are the worst kind of Christian, you are a grifter.
You never have any idea what or who you are accusing of anything so you just make shit up to make yourself feel superior. Except that you are inferior, defective and illiterate. In short, you don’t know what you are talking about. You are an ignoramus
One day it’s bisexuals, homosexuals, and the next day it’s Lucifarian globalist Muslims. I don’t think you know what you are saying 99% of the time. Just the same version of your mindless gibberish every day.
With that said I am done with you since you are too chickenshit to actually answer my comments.
Have fun playing with yourself. It will be fun watching you and your Beema-Bob-a-Looma toilet seat bounce off the walls. I am free and you are already in your own private hell.
Another little Ode to Scumsrent:
One and one is two, two and two is four
I feel so bad because I’m such a bore.
But don’t you step on my Beema Bob a lulu shoes
You can do anything but don’t step on my Beema Bob a lulu shoes
three and three is six
I feel so bad ’cause I can’t get no chicks
But don’t you step on my Beema Bob a lulu shoes
You can do anything but don’t step on my Beema Bob a lulu shoes
four and four is eight
I feel so bad cause I can’t get a date
But don’t you step on my Beema Bob a lulu shoes
You can do anything but don’t step on my Beema Bob a lulu shoes
Since you stand strong with your your allah worshiping, satanic homosexual ELCA Lutheran fake church…
You deny
1) The deity of Jesus Christ
2) That Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
3) The relationship between the Father and the Son.
MAKING YOU A MUSLIM !!!
You can NOT be a Christian and worship the fake god allah of satanic islam…
I’m Jewish and I say Amen. Growing up in Christian America was like winning the lottery. I lived in the shining city on a hill.
Arguably we now have a state religion, unfortunately. That religion can be called Atheistic secular humanism.
Absolutely, the Constitution protects Natural Rights, including the right to practice one’s religion (or non-religion), provided one does their neighbor no harm.
The Constitution therefore does not forbid religious freedom; it rather protects and promotes it.
When the Supreme Court ruled in Engel v. Vitale (1962), that ruling effectively helped to jettison Christianity from the public forum, whether by accident or design.
The vacuum seems to have been filled by Atheistic secular humanism.
Regarding the High Court, with possibly two exceptions, the majority of the court members in the 1962 ruling arguably seem to have misread the point of Jefferson’s Letter to the Baptists of Danbury Connecticut, a letter that was said to be influential in the Engel v. Vitale ruling (as alluded to by Mr. Davidson).
Briefly, when President of the United States, Thomas Jefferson received a letter from the Danbury Baptist, who believed their religion (Baptist faith) was being forcibly shoved aside in favor of the state religion of the time in Connecticut, Congregationalism.
Although not Baptist himself, Jefferson was sympathetic to their cause. But he opted not to intervene.
Why not?
Jefferson reasoned that, as POTUS, he was forbidden by the Constitution to weigh in publicly on religious matters. Hence a ‘vast wall of separation between Church and State.’
That is much different than expunging Christianity from the public forum, which arguably is what is happening today.
Christians brought in Common Sense and a civilized world
“Their agenda is to strip public America of its last vestiges of Christianity, as if somehow, that will make us a better, more open, more tolerant society.”
Actually, that is their agenda because Christianity stands in their way of setting up a totalitarian leftist dictatorship.
We DO NOT have to”make a law” to recognize or even celebrate the role Christianity played in the lives of our founding fathers, documents, and even in our more recent history. Yes, we can point out national failures, but those failures stemmed not from Christianity but from our failure to adhere to TRUE Christian values.