* Separation of State Authority VII: political leaders should not express religious preferences in the course of their duties
* Separation of Religious Authority I: no church should prescribe, proscribe, or amend civil or common law.
* Separation of Religious Authority II: the church should not interfere in civil political processes or relations between the state and other nations.
* Separation of Religious Authority III: no church should actively endorse any political figure, and should confine itself to moral, ethical, and religious teaching.
* Separation of Religious Authority IV: no church should actively endorse any civil institution by providing religious services or religious expressions at that institution, nor favor one civil institution over another.
It seems quite a sensible and laudable approach, so how did America go from that thought to this?
July 6, 2007 — JEFFERSON CITY – Missouri Governor Matt Blunt today made the Alternatives to Abortion Program permanent and took action that will keep abortion providers like Planned Parenthood out of Missouri’s classrooms. Gov. Blunt signed legislation at Concord Baptist Church that enacts the provisions to further “protect the sanctity of human life”.
“All life is precious and needs to be treated with the utmost dignity and respect,” Gov. Blunt said. “I commend Rep. Therese Sander and Sen. Delbert Scott on their work to protect the rights of the most vulnerable members of our society. I will continue working with the Missouri General Assembly to pass strong pro-life legislation that respects the sanctity and dignity of all human life.”
“We here at Concord Baptist Church have prayed, preached, worked, and gone to the polls so that the lives of precious little ones may be saved. This is legislation that we can celebrate. House Bill 1055 will result in fewer abortions in Missouri. It is a good fair law that makes sense. I am excited to host Governor Blunt as he signs this progressive piece of legislation,” said Dr. Monte Shinkle, senior pastor at Concord Baptist Church.
Disgusting on so many levels I don’t even know where to start. The sooner the Dems get in and roll back this faux-theocracy the better. 2008 can’t come soon enough.
Whooee! Along those lines, I attended a Canadian citizenship ceremony not too long ago. It was held at the Stony Creek Salvation Army hall and the SA captain/preacher had a role in the ceremony. Prayers were said. About 60 immigrants got their Canadian citizenship that day. Many came from non-Christian countries and some were taken aback by the Christian nature of the government ceremony.
Also along those lines, how many Canadians understand that our mission in Afghanistan is to support the government of The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and that Shari’a law is enshrined in the NEW Afghan constitution?
JJ, I’m sorry to say I ain’t got much more faith in the Dems than the Repugs. No candidate will be selected or elected from either party who doesn’t profess that his soul belongs to Jesus. During the years of southern segregation, the Dems were almost universally in power througout the Merkan southland.
JB
Ugh…the Blunt family! Matt’s dad is Roy Blunt, the gyu who took over for Tom DeLay, in 2005, dirty Abramoff connections be damned.
Matt has received loads of suspicious campaign donations from UPS, FedEx, and Altria (Philip Morris). Matt’s step-mom and brother are both lobbyists for Altria.
Like JimBobby I’m not sure the Dems will be too much different. We can hope that will at least dial back the rhetoric.
But as long as the media gives unequal time to the religious zealots ..well squeaky wheel gets the grease.
One thing that “liberals” in North America have against them, it’s that we will stand up for the rights of even the bigots and zealots to believe what they want and so do not go after them the way they go after us.
There is no right too sacred nor abuse too severe if they think it will make their twisted version of Gawd happy.
GDK it’s amazing isn’t it how these “Moralists” are really so much less than?