Category Archives: Religion

Lady Liberty

Posted on August 8, 2017 | 1 comment

So, there’s an art contest where students submit their work to Congress.  Among the entrees, there are finalists and those finalists get their work displayed.  This year, one of those finalists depicts the Statue of Liberty as a Muslim woman wearing a hijab.

I like it.

I like the actual art AND I like the message.  I like the idea that people of all walks are able to look at Lady Liberty and see themselves reflected.  Apparently, not all people are as impressed as I am:

A Democratic congressman is taking heat from Sarah Palin and other conservatives for a painting hanging in his California district office that depicts the Statue of Liberty as a Muslim woman.

We the People Rising, a conservative-leaning activist group, was among the first to object to the painting in Rep. Lou Correa’s district office in Santa Ana, Calif., arguing it violates the separation of church and state.

And more; from a video posted on We the People Rising’s website:

“You guys have a picture out in front of your office with the Statue of Liberty wearing a hijab, which I find reprehensible and disrespectful,” one of the members tells a staffer in the first video. “I would like to request that you remove it.”

Again, I don’t understand the reprehensible and disrespectful nature of the painting.  It’s not mocking the Lady, it doesn’t depict her in  a negative light.  All it does is show what Liberty might look like if she were standing in another part of the world.

Kinda like depicting Jesus as a white guy standing in America rather than the brown guy he really was.

And speaking of religion, how is the painting supposed to violate the separation of church and state?  And since when have conservatives minded such violations; though it is delicious to see such an argument used against a democrat.

As I’ve explained over and over – the concept of such separation between the church and the state does not mean that there can be no explicit religion in the state, only that the leader of state cannot be te same leader of the church.  Or, that there be no official nation religion supported by the state.

If congress wants to open with a prayer to Allah, they may.  The idea that a congressman can’t have a religious symbol in his office is insane; no one makes a fuss, or should make such fuss, when a congressman wears a cross chain, or has the Bible in his shelf or other such outward symbols.

As far as I’m concerned, the more Muslim girls that yearn from America’s Liberty the better this world will be!

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Posted in Liberty, Religion

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Kansas Day of Prayer

Posted on December 10, 2012 | 7 comments

There is some amount of controversy in Kansas:

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is urging Kansas Governor Sam Brownback to rescind his religious proclamations and opt not, in his official capacity, to attend or endorse the overtly Christian event “Going to the Heart,” which is scheduled to broadcast live from Topeka, Kan., on Dec. 8 from 3-6 p.m. CST.

Brownback not only publicly declared Dec. 8 a “Day of Restoration,” but recorded a promotional video for the national simulcast, calling on citizens to “pray to God, in humility and in unity to ask for his favor and assistance in these difficult times.”

I happen to feel that the United States is explicitly founded on the basis of a nation endowed by the Creator; we are a Spiritual nation.

However, I am further convinced that we are not an explicitly Christian nation.  Further, I’m aware of the rulings of the Supreme Court that has severely restricted any government involvement in matters spiritual.

The worry that occupied the framers was not the public displays of religion or of government officials calling on days of prayer; indeed, Washington himself was very explicit regarding his belief that America was a Divine Experiment and often issued orders of prayer.  Rather, the concern was that the government not establish a religion.  That the government not pass laws requiring the joining of any religion or of passing any legislation that would require taxes to fund a state religion.

That being said, what would the general public say if, instead of asking citizens to “pray to God” implored them to “pray to Allah?”

Especially interesting because both the Christian God and the Muslim Allah are the God of Abraham.  In other words, the same divine entity.

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Posted in Liberty, Politics: National, Religion

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War On Christianity: No Christian Present

Posted on February 24, 2012 | 11 comments

So the claim is that there’s a “war on religion” going on.  And when you hear that you can safely substitute “religion” for “Christianity.”  I’m not sure that war is the right word, but there is clearly an over-reach by the left when it comes to the separation of the church and the state.

We know what they meant when they crafted the nation.  They meant that the “officers” of the church were not to be the “officers” of the state.  The two couldn’t be the same.  They most certainly, and clearly, did NOT mean that there was to be no religion in the state.

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Posted in Liberty, Religion, States Behaving Badly

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Religious Freedom: Double Standard

Posted on February 15, 2012 | 2 comments

When I think of the proper separation of church and state I think of the concept of the institutions.  I really think the intent of the separation came about because back in the history of the founding, the head of England was also the head of the church.  They were, in many respects, the same.

This lead to the condition where the official function of state was to discourage, and even make it illegal to practice, other religions.  I don’t think it was the goal of the time to make sure government didn’t contain religion, only that it not BE religion. There are numerous instances of examples of this belief.

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Posted in Liberty, Lobby/PAC, Politics: National, Religion

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The Separation of Church And Sports

Posted on November 7, 2011 | Leave a comment

We are mostly a peaceful society.  And in those cases where our nation does wage war, most of us have little danger of facing any chance at combat.  The age of the “warrior” is mostly over.

I have always thought that it’s in our DNA to wage that war, however.  I think that in our DNA is the warrior, the defender of our “tribe”.  It’s what explains the “atic” in “fan”.  It takes the mild and meek long haired dude in the office and turns him into the illogical screaming fool who lives and [mostly] dies with the Vikings and the Twins. It’s that thing within us that can only be explained by a long standing evolutionary thing.

And when humans reach into their inner nether regions to grasp and channel this “yawlp” it shouldn’t be a surprise when we find another, strangely similar concept:

God.

And so it is that I don’t understand the conflict:

Tim Tebow is an N.F.L. quarterback, and Tim Tebow is an outspoken Christian. And while quarterback controversies are almost as common as quarterbacks, who play perhaps the most scrutinized position in American sports, what has erupted around Tebow this season is altogether different.

At the intersection of faith and football, the fervor that surrounds both Tebow’s beliefs and his struggles in his second season for the Denver Broncos has escalated into a full-blown national debate over religion and its place in sports.

I guess I get the idea that the religious guys are the soft spoken gentle soul.  Characteristics not usually associated with the battle that is sports.  I remember when Gary Gaetti found God.  He was never the same player again.  So I get that aspect of it.

But I don’t understand the mockery of it all.  If a players obtains his inspiration from God, or from a desire to be the best or from wanting to bang Jessica Simpson, who cares?  In fact, the idea that warriors took to the field in defense of their god is a history as long as the history of war.

I don’t see religion and sports as contradictions.  I see them as complimentary forces.

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Posted in Faith, Fun, Religion

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Silence For You – Tolerance For Me

Posted on April 2, 2011 | 15 comments

Pastors Terry Jones and Wayne Sapp are loathsome individuals to be sure.  It’s one thing to hold a belief, to claim faith and ardently follow your heart and spirit through the religion you choose.  But to purposely insult, demean and antagonize another set of beliefs is simply horrible.

Further, it’s inconsistent with the message of most mainline religions.  As a Christian I practice patience, tolerance and love of my neighbors.  Even my enemies.  As such, even if, and I certainly don’t hold this belief, but even if those of another religion were my “enemy” I find consistency in the Lords commandment to “love thy enemy”.

To burn the most Holy Book of Islam is an insult that goes too far.

With that said, I am finding the inconsistency in response appalling.

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Posted in Diplomacy, Politics: International, Politics: National, Politics: North Carolina, Religion, Uncategorized

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