“But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no God. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.” -Thomas Jefferson, Notes on Virginia, 1782 “Question with boldness even the existence of a god; because if there be one he must approve of the homage of reason more than that of blindfolded fear.” -Thomas Jefferson, Letter to Peter Carr, August 10, 1787 ………….

Well, Robb, some people prefer to imagine a God rooted on unquestioning, blindfolded fear. That’s their right, of course. The problem is, they tend to want to tell the rest of us how to live. “Put that silly Koran down! The law of America requires you to worship the Bible!” This, of course, does no favors for God or country, but it is emotionally satisfying.

Hold the phone. President Bush celebrates Ramadan? With fasting etc.? Are you serious?

Wow. I didn’t know that Jesus campaigned for nationstate-enforced oaths.But I can’t seem to find that scripture anywhere… I must be reading the wrong gospel.

Dear Mr. Kuo, Let me start off by prefacing this with a confession. I would not have gone to hear you speak had I not received extra credit for a write-up on your book/discussion. I went in skeptical of what you had to say, skeptical of the conservative right. I went for selfish reasons, but I left with a new outlook of not only the republican party but religion and politics as a whole.I am a senior at American University, originally from Boston. I was raised in an extremely Catholic household. My parents were/are actively involved in the church. And until college so was I. In college, like most people, I began to question my faith. I started to question the political stance of the Catholic Church, the sex-abuse scandal (of which my home pastor was accused), and my own faith in God. I hit a patch in my life where I didn t understand God s plan for me. I was angry at the church s stance on abortion, gay marriage, and even divorce. These are issues I have been struggling with for a couple years now. I, like many, started confusing God with politics. I started hating God because of the politics others were telling me were his. So maybe hearing you speak was part of God s plan. I have gone to countless speakers at American. I have heard hundreds of people speak on countless issues. I have always tried to steer clear of religious speeches, for fear that it would always turn into a lecture, and convinced that my political views outshined my religious ones. Again, there comes my stubborn and skeptical side. Up until this year college has represented my lack of faith in God. Maybe it was my pigheadedness that fueled this. Maybe I could have come to terms with my faith sooner had I got to more religious events. There are so many maybes and what ifs. I went into hearing you speak skeptical and ready to leave as soon as I got enough meat to write my short four page paper. I needed just enough to understand your side, argue against it, and get my grade. But the longer you went on, the more I agreed with you. I began to realize I was one of those people who confused religion with politics, only in my case I did the opposite. I confused the political views of my religion with God. My solution was cutting God out completely, instead of separating the two. I left the Kay Spiritual Life Center feeling inspired and invigorated. My faith began to make sense. I began to make sense of all these feeling I had pent up inside. I was able for the first time in a long time realize that I could still love God and disagree with the political stance the church took. There was a way to distinguish the two. Since then I have prayed everyday. I have prayed that others can come to this realization. I pray that one day God will not be synonymous with the republican party. Maybe this stint of skepticism was part of God s plan, maybe my faith needed to be tested. Whatever his plan was, thank you. Thank you for helping me renew my faith.Thank you, Rachel C.

Rockin’ post, Rachel C. Wonderful to hear your experience.

Thank you for your inightful comments. When we limit God and his message to only one book, the Bible, we in fact are defining and limiting what can not be defined or limited.

Isn’t it interesting that I, “as a Christian,” am an atheist to Islam. AND, to Mormonism too. I don’t hear any outcry about Mormons being sworn in on thier abridged religious book.Abraham did not try to sacrifice Ishmael. Allah is not “God” to me, and neither Joseph Smith or, Mohammad are prophets in the line of Biblical truth “to Christians.”Also interesting, if a Christian tried to swear into an office in an Islamic country by using the Bible and not the Qur’an, he would face death threats or worse. Remember, this man was duly elected by the political process of the day. “In the Bible” it says to submit to the authorities (to a degree) above you. No Jihad allowed. Ahhhh, now it’s time to put the “seperation of Church and State” rabble on the trail of Qur’an users. Wanna bet they are completely silent?Rev. Barry Lynn hasn’t the guts to go after those that will fight back. Literally, on both counts.

Donny: Possession of a Bible in Saudi Arabia is an arrestable offense. Check these out: Amnesty International 1999 Report on Saudi Arabia (I know it’s seven years old, but certainly little has changed) US State Department 2006 Report on Saudi Arabia (see brief paragraph on Human Rights)

Hey, Has anyone ever read David’s other book called DOT.BOMB where he team’s up with some other religious freaks called ValueAmerica.com, roasts the investors, rushes towards an IPO, gets out before the bankruptcy, takes his cash and teams up with the neo-cons? And all of this during the Enron debacle. Put YOUR hand on the bible, David, and tell us how much money YOU have made from misleading Americans/investors.

Thank you David Kuo for the breath of fresh air. I’m so glad there are thoughtful evangelicals like you who are speaking out and bringing some sanity and balance to discussions that have for too long been dominated by the religious right. As a concerned evangelical myself, I applaud you and pray that you will continue the good works.

just read this blog at Huffington and had to come see what else you had to say, you seem to be a genuine voice of reason, thank you. I had the misfortune of attending a taping for Dennis Prather’s show one time. I had been to see Bill Mauher’s show, and at the end there was a freaky person handing out tickets for another show, I didnt know Prather from horseshit, so I figured why not, after getting in there and getting a feel for the show, I decided there was no difference between Prather and Horseshit.The air got too thick and too repressive, I had to leave. Thanks for the clear vision here.

David, It is decidely refreshing to read your posts and articles. Thank you for representing Christ, and also upholding what I believe were the intentions of the founders of our nation. May God continue to lead you. ATJ

Isn’t this interesting considering how often you hear the some Christians talk about Democrats being anti-Christian and how we are trying to abolish thier religion? Here is seems that they are the ones who are anti-religion to any religion not their own. Not surprising really.

Swear by the Bible?? In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus forbade us to swear at all!! Why? Because our Yes should mean Yes! and our No should mean No! But, politicians? Oh, well… Thanks for standing up for the truth. I think you have one more step to take. Take your fast and make it PERMANENT. John 18:36.

Bible-idolatry now has reached comical heights. Isn’t the idea behind swearing on some supposedly holy book to add an additional element of guarantee to the promises the person swearing makes? Like he should be scared to make a false promise with his hand on the holy book, or some such nonsense. Okay– the idea in itself is laughably superstitious, but that’s where we are at this point in history. But if the book is not YOUR holy book, but someone else’s holy book, what’s the point? Maybe we should get the new congressfolk to say “If I lie I’ll stick a needle in my eye” as well. The whole ‘controversy’ is stupid and childish.

Skip, excellent post. And BTW, Tom DeLay quite readily and happily took his oath on THE BIBLE…in fact I’m sure he made as much pomp and circumstance over it that he could. And judging by the fact he was one of the most corrupt politicians in modern US history, it made not a wit of difference on his sociopathic behavior.