Are we set to repeat the historical and political mistakes that forced immigrants from Europe to escape to North America to avoid persecution for their religious beliefs? Separation of church and state was non-negotiable for the founders of the United States. Our country is peopled by such an array of cultures that singling out one dictated way to harness everyone's spiritual beliefs or worldviews is logically counterproductive and politically dangerous. That is what we are seeing now in the name of "saving" our society. Our society cannot be saved when our political, corporate and religious leaders worship at the altar of the almighty dollar and defy our legal system to convict them of their flagrant and/or covert crimes.
TY for some background on Johnson. After hearing Beth Allison Barr on a radio interview, I bought her bk, "The Making of Biblical Womanhood, How the Subjugation of Women Became Gospel Truth". Elise and some of her MAGA colleagues should read it too. I fully support the separation of church and state, and our freedom of religion.
Very interesting-love the info on Johnson. We have a country filled with differently people with different beliefs and all should be respected, as well as separated from our politics. You can't unite a country if your laws only consider a percentage of what some hold dear. I was brought up a Catholic but by third grade had no use for the human rules that made no sense: no meat on Friday, the Rhythm method (really???), church on Sunday or sin, etc. I have to admit that my upper case "God" is still a little offended by the lower case "god" but that is my problem, not anyone else's. History has played this out over and over again in more wars and more countries than we can name. Religion and politics don't go together if you want to united people. Understanding, compassion, acceptance and caring bring a country together. Unfortunately that only seems to happen during a tragedy these days-sometimes.
Divisiveness is by design. The GOP has become a reactionary political movement that uses a strategy of divide and conquer to maintain power. They are not known as the Party of No for nothing.
Ken—thanks once again for pulling together and synthesizing all of this information in today’s three columns. These are the facts and story lines I appreciate reading. Re: elections. Now that we have early voting in NY, I love driving over to the B of Elections on Burgoyne here in Wash Co., zipping in to vote, and NOT standing in line outside in November!
The foundational principle of our American Experiment is a rejection of the Divine Right of Kings. A “Constitutional attorney” should understand that, but maybe the concept is hidden too deeply in the weeds of the very first sentence of the 1st Amendment. The corollary is that we also reject the concept of rule by might, instead we have a government based in consent of the governed. That is pointed to in the Declaration of Independence and in the 3rd Amendment. Nobody seems to remember the 3rd Amendment, nevermind the 9th Amendment which legal scholars treat like division by zero. But the 9th Amendment is there, guaranteeing all sorts of rights that are not explicitly spelled out in other areas of the Constitution.
<Rep. Johnson was elected speaker last week and that night he said to Sean Hannity, one of Fox network’s leading entertainers, “Someone asked me today in the media, ‘People are curious, what does Mike Johnson think about any issue?’ I said, ’Well, go pick up a Bible off your shelf and read it. That’s my worldview.’”>
I’m torn between describing Johnson’s comment as sanctimonious or flippant.
Also, it’s fortunate Chris Churchill knows by now not to hold his breath waiting for a reply from our rep. Her constituents should be likewise aware.
I have attempted to contact Elise on numerous occasions to no avail. If you do not think as she does, she has no use for you. She has served 5 terms. She stated when she was initially campaigning that she would only serve 5 terms. ( By the way, back when she was campaigning for her first term, she was driving around with Virginia plates on her car) Time to get out, Elise, and hand the reins over to a trusty worthy person or are you under threat from your puppet master Trump?
WOW. A double-header of investigative reporting today. Exceptional! Johnson must be making Ron Reagan Jr hopping mad! He certainly gives me the willies. Wasn't religious freedom one of the tenets this nation was founded on....but, actually, only for Puritans? I highly recommend the book "American Savior" by Roland Merullo, a fable about how "Christians" reject Jesus when he returns to the US today to reiterate his message of "Love thy neighbor."
Full disclosure:: I am a retired 87 year old American Baptist minister (old Northern Baptist - split in 1800’s over slave issue, as did Presbyterians, Methodists, and others. Southern and Northern Baptists never got back together).
First, Historically, main-stream Baptists have been strong proponents of religious liberty and the separation of church and state, and advocated for the inclusion of the First Amendment in the Constitutional. Bill of Rights.
Secondly, as I have noted here in the past, it is dangerous to cherry-pick sacred scripture, be it the Koran,, the Hebrew Scriptures, the New Testament, or whatever. At the heart of all the major religions is love of God and love of neighbor, as is shalom, salaam, peace.
Thirdly, the latter leads me to oppose violence in all forms, and to advocate for strict gun laws. Love of neighbor leads me to oppose all forms of white supremacy, anti-Semitism, sexism, Islamophobia, homophobia, and racism. I could go on and on, but I hope you get my point.
Fourthly, I do not believe the Bible is a scientific textbook. There is no conflict between my faith and modern science, and I believe that we are called to be responsible caretakers of creation.
Finally, I am a follower of Jesus because in him I believe God is revealing to us what it means to be human as God intends us to be human.
Are we set to repeat the historical and political mistakes that forced immigrants from Europe to escape to North America to avoid persecution for their religious beliefs? Separation of church and state was non-negotiable for the founders of the United States. Our country is peopled by such an array of cultures that singling out one dictated way to harness everyone's spiritual beliefs or worldviews is logically counterproductive and politically dangerous. That is what we are seeing now in the name of "saving" our society. Our society cannot be saved when our political, corporate and religious leaders worship at the altar of the almighty dollar and defy our legal system to convict them of their flagrant and/or covert crimes.
Well said.
Thank you, Mr. Tingley!
TY for some background on Johnson. After hearing Beth Allison Barr on a radio interview, I bought her bk, "The Making of Biblical Womanhood, How the Subjugation of Women Became Gospel Truth". Elise and some of her MAGA colleagues should read it too. I fully support the separation of church and state, and our freedom of religion.
I learned a lot from your smart essay, Ken, and thank you for your writings.
When you connect the dots, it is amazing what you learn.
Very interesting-love the info on Johnson. We have a country filled with differently people with different beliefs and all should be respected, as well as separated from our politics. You can't unite a country if your laws only consider a percentage of what some hold dear. I was brought up a Catholic but by third grade had no use for the human rules that made no sense: no meat on Friday, the Rhythm method (really???), church on Sunday or sin, etc. I have to admit that my upper case "God" is still a little offended by the lower case "god" but that is my problem, not anyone else's. History has played this out over and over again in more wars and more countries than we can name. Religion and politics don't go together if you want to united people. Understanding, compassion, acceptance and caring bring a country together. Unfortunately that only seems to happen during a tragedy these days-sometimes.
Divisiveness is by design. The GOP has become a reactionary political movement that uses a strategy of divide and conquer to maintain power. They are not known as the Party of No for nothing.
Ken—thanks once again for pulling together and synthesizing all of this information in today’s three columns. These are the facts and story lines I appreciate reading. Re: elections. Now that we have early voting in NY, I love driving over to the B of Elections on Burgoyne here in Wash Co., zipping in to vote, and NOT standing in line outside in November!
The foundational principle of our American Experiment is a rejection of the Divine Right of Kings. A “Constitutional attorney” should understand that, but maybe the concept is hidden too deeply in the weeds of the very first sentence of the 1st Amendment. The corollary is that we also reject the concept of rule by might, instead we have a government based in consent of the governed. That is pointed to in the Declaration of Independence and in the 3rd Amendment. Nobody seems to remember the 3rd Amendment, nevermind the 9th Amendment which legal scholars treat like division by zero. But the 9th Amendment is there, guaranteeing all sorts of rights that are not explicitly spelled out in other areas of the Constitution.
<Rep. Johnson was elected speaker last week and that night he said to Sean Hannity, one of Fox network’s leading entertainers, “Someone asked me today in the media, ‘People are curious, what does Mike Johnson think about any issue?’ I said, ’Well, go pick up a Bible off your shelf and read it. That’s my worldview.’”>
I’m torn between describing Johnson’s comment as sanctimonious or flippant.
Also, it’s fortunate Chris Churchill knows by now not to hold his breath waiting for a reply from our rep. Her constituents should be likewise aware.
Well, the one who try to contact Rep. Stefanik knows she doesn’t care.
I have attempted to contact Elise on numerous occasions to no avail. If you do not think as she does, she has no use for you. She has served 5 terms. She stated when she was initially campaigning that she would only serve 5 terms. ( By the way, back when she was campaigning for her first term, she was driving around with Virginia plates on her car) Time to get out, Elise, and hand the reins over to a trusty worthy person or are you under threat from your puppet master Trump?
Never heard about the Va. plates.
Sad commentary on Johnson and Stefanie. Sincerely hope Trump doesn’t get in. All I can do is hope and pray.
And Vote! We all need to vote. I believe voting Democrat is more important than ever even in upstate NY.
Thanks for calling Sean Hannity an "entertainer."
Seems about right. Glad someone noticed.
Ken,
"Jealousy" that explains SO much. Thank you for the insight.
WOW. A double-header of investigative reporting today. Exceptional! Johnson must be making Ron Reagan Jr hopping mad! He certainly gives me the willies. Wasn't religious freedom one of the tenets this nation was founded on....but, actually, only for Puritans? I highly recommend the book "American Savior" by Roland Merullo, a fable about how "Christians" reject Jesus when he returns to the US today to reiterate his message of "Love thy neighbor."
Full disclosure:: I am a retired 87 year old American Baptist minister (old Northern Baptist - split in 1800’s over slave issue, as did Presbyterians, Methodists, and others. Southern and Northern Baptists never got back together).
First, Historically, main-stream Baptists have been strong proponents of religious liberty and the separation of church and state, and advocated for the inclusion of the First Amendment in the Constitutional. Bill of Rights.
Secondly, as I have noted here in the past, it is dangerous to cherry-pick sacred scripture, be it the Koran,, the Hebrew Scriptures, the New Testament, or whatever. At the heart of all the major religions is love of God and love of neighbor, as is shalom, salaam, peace.
Thirdly, the latter leads me to oppose violence in all forms, and to advocate for strict gun laws. Love of neighbor leads me to oppose all forms of white supremacy, anti-Semitism, sexism, Islamophobia, homophobia, and racism. I could go on and on, but I hope you get my point.
Fourthly, I do not believe the Bible is a scientific textbook. There is no conflict between my faith and modern science, and I believe that we are called to be responsible caretakers of creation.
Finally, I am a follower of Jesus because in him I believe God is revealing to us what it means to be human as God intends us to be human.
Sounds like an excellent philosophy of life. Can you fix southern Baptists?
Beyond me…