In this speech Obama raises some good points in the defence of separation of church and state and why a secular government is the only realistic type of government. I particularly liked this; "Which passages of [biblical] scripture should guide our public policy? Should we go with Leviticus, Which suggests slavery is ok and that eating shell fish is an abomination. Or we could go with Deuteronomy which suggests stoning your child if he strays from the faith. or should we just stick to the sermon on the mount, A passage that is so radical that it is doubtful that our own defence department would survive it's application. So before we get carried away let's read our bibles. Folks haven't been reading their bibles". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=df6vXLytoWg
You don't get out much, do you stox? You live in beautiful London and spend your days complaining about the American Government. Why the fixation with us Americans?
Because they are the most powerful nation on the planet and what they do effects everyone else. Need any more reasons or are you going to develop some integrity and attempt to form an opinion on the topic of the thread, A topic which is far from America-specific and is actually about the importance of a secular government. As for me getting out, I spend most of my time "out". For instance, This morning i done 3 hours volunteer work for an animal charity and then went to the British museum. Soon i will have some dinner with a friend, probably at the nice Greek restaurant at the top of my road, Then go to the pub for some magners over ice. Compare that to what you will spend your day doing, And after you have finished crying, Apologise for making unfounded accusations instead of participating in honest, grownup dialogue.
Whoo Hoo! Wow! You are testy today! Sure seems like you spend an awful lot of your time worrying about stuff you have no control over. No apologies from me, bud. This thread looks like more of the same from you. "Second verse, same as the first". - Herman's Hermits - 1965
Insightful and intelligent? Thanks. Now what do you think about secular governments and the pitfalls of using scripture to form public policy?
There you go again, trying to put words in my mouth. I like God. I like "In God we Trust" I like the fact that my government still supports the majority of the values that I was raised with which come from my parents and my church. Nah, You can keep your secular beliefs in Europe and leave us alone for all I care.
there are two countries that think their leaders think their oil pipeline is the result of gods will afganestan and iran it could soon be 3 lets hope not
I'm not asking you if you like god, I'm asking what you think about secular governments and the pitfalls of using scripture to form public policy.
I have to say, I'm not a big fan of secular governments. I think scripture should be used to form public policy, but only the *true* scripture. Which would, of course, be Scientology.
Sounds like a paradisical day to me. Faint memories of a Turkish place, across the river - after Blackfriars. Loved the museum.
Um. In a way I think they got their secular views from us(I say "in a way" because much of the principles our nation was founded on come from the ideals of the European Enlightenment). They've just applied them much better.
Your perfect right. Then feel free to say it as much as you would like. I like it when the government creates an environment where every American citizen's right to his or her values are equally protected. Yeah, but can't live without the food, man. And the beer. And wine. And highland malt.
When applied to an Eastern country, any non-secularism is known as "theocracy". On this side of the net, it's known as "supporting the moral values of such and such"
I beleive we would call that... Hypocrisy maybe. Anyone who wants an american theocracy is clearly wrong.