Where do they get this stuff indeed. My favorite is when the Righties and Fundies use Jefferson's famous quote on the Jefferson Memorial to justify their latest bigotry: "I Have Sworn Upon the Altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man."
What they don't seem to realize that this quote was from a letter to a friend, Dr. Benjamin Rush, and that the people he was ranting against were a group of Christians who were trying to take over a school system. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Vaj <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Yet another new book on the religious right is available: > > Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism. written > by Mchelle Goldberg > > This probably touches on subjects that we have broached before. > However, I came across an interview with the author linked from the > Working for Change website that gave me pause... > > You can read the entire thing at: > > http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?itemid=20902 > > Congress was going to have the first-ever Hindu priest give an > invocation. The Family Research Council issued a really angry > statement, which says: "While it is true that the United States of > America was founded on the sacred principle of religious freedom for > all, that liberty was never intended to exalt other religions to the > level that Christianity holds in our nation's heritage. Our founders > expected that Christianity and no other religion would receive > support from the government, as long as that support did not violate > people's consciences and their right to worship. They would have > found utterly incredible the idea that all religions, including > paganism, be treated with equal deference." That's from the Family > Research Council, which is a spin-off of Focus on the Family. > > The Virginia religious liberty statute was written by Jefferson and > is widely seen as the basis for the First Amendment. As Jefferson > wrote in his autobiography, some had wanted to put an amendment into > that statute saying that Jesus Christ was a source of religious > liberty. Jefferson said, "It was rejected by the great majority in > proof that they meant to comprehend within the mantle of its > protection the Jew and the gentile, the Christian and the Mohammedan, > the Hindu and infidel of every denomination." > > So where do they get this from? Part of what I seek to do in my book > is show that this is not just a political movement, but an entire > parallel reality. It has its own revisionist history, including its > own revisionist American history. There are volumes upon volumes that > essentially rewrite the history of America, cherry picking various > quotes and taking things out of context to try to show that the > founders intended to create an Evangelical Christian America, and > that separation of church and state is something that they never > intended, and indeed would have been appalled by. > > It's an interesting, but scary, interview. > > ------ > "Though I am a committed Christian, I believe that everyone has the > right to their own religion, be you Hindu, Jewish or Muslim. I > believe there are infinite paths to accepting Jesus Christ as your > personal savior." --Stephen Colbert, from remarks at the White House > Correspondents' Dinner. > ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Get to your groups with one click. Know instantly when new email arrives http://us.click.yahoo.com/.7bhrC/MGxNAA/yQLSAA/UlWolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
