VP Nominee Palin Understands America's Heritage

That religious heritage is a bit broader and deeper than you acknowledge, Mr. Sekulow. For example, the Christian heritage alone covers the gamut from the Puritans and Congregationalists to the Universalists and Quakers. Also in the mix was a large and active group of Unitarians and Deists.

And strangely, especially when compared to their position in today's political circles, it was the Baptists who were loudest in their protestations about the government favoring any one religious group over another. Remember that it was the Danbury Baptist Church that wrote President Jefferson the letter that lead to Jefferson's coining the phrase "wall of separation" when referring to church and state.

So certainly we need to recall our national heritage as being rich in the various spiritual movements of that day. But to somehow suggest that today's Evangelical Christianity encompasses all that there is in reference to that heritage falls FAR short of the mark.

For that matter it was two heretical movements, the Unitarians and Universalists, who led the way in the spreading of churches throughout the western frontier, from Appalachia to the Rocky Mountains. The "Prophetic Sisterhood" of female Universalist ministers helped make Universalism the fastest growing Christian denomination in the post Civil War era.

I trust that as these states, and even as our federal government set aside days to recall this history, that the leaders in those recollections will be honest in recalling ALL of the players in that time, not just those who support their particular theological or political leanings.

As I said in you last comment before this one, it is part of heritage, and forces no one to participate since it is not a law, ordinance, edict, or mandate.

She could have just as well had a Deist Heritage week or an Agnostic Heritage week, and quoted quotes for either.

I do not see the point you are getting at, Jay. Are you trying to paint Palin as a religious zealot? or just a good Christian? Either way the point you make is not very cogent to the attempts the Religious Rights makes to curtail the choice(s) of the individual.

A Christian Heritage week is about exclusion - about telling those of us who do not share this view of a Christian Nation that we are outsiders and unwelcome. That we have had no valuable inputs to the traditions and heritage of this nation. That we have nothing valuable to offer now. It presumes and perpetuates the idea that we are less American than Christian citizens, purely on the basis of our beliefs or lack thereof.

It is divisive, and it is bigoted.

"Governor Palin's acknowledgment of our nation's history and heritage is welcomed and encouraging."

"Christian" is only part of the broader European heritage of the present day United States. It is a way of confusing the origins of the present system. It is in keeping with the profound self-centered and self-referential nature of modern U.S. Christianity.

I'm getting to the point where I just want to quit. I want to let these fundamentalist fanatics just take over, grind the ecology to dust, blow the world to bits, and then sit there and wait for "the second coming" just so they'll finally see how wrong they are. God's not out there coming to help you, Virginia, and your beliefs are simply your way of denying that you're terrified to die.

"I believe in preventing pregnancy with abstinence..."

Gloves are off, people! Stop having sex.

This is my continued point: US fundamentalist Christians have no qualms about killing. Their issue is that people are having sex. If the killing of an innocent was a problem for them, they could not live with the thought that Jesus had to die so that they could be saved.

Jay, I'm sorry, but you're wrong about Palin. She's a Christianist like you are, and she doesn't understand the First Amendment. If you want someone who understands what the First Amendment is really all about, check out the benedictions from the Democratic National Convention by folks like Donald Miller and Joel Hunter. I thought Hunter's approach was brilliant - pray in the name of the God of your own understanding - for Hunter (who had the mic), it was in Jesus' name.

But Palin's approach is just plain silly - Christian Heritage Week? This ignores the best traditions of non-establishment. And while I think Barry Lynn goes too far, I think Palin's wrong on the idea of our "Christian Heritage". Our heritage is specifically tied to freedom of religious expression and freedom from religious persecution.

Responding to thoughts of Brian Horan...
from paragraph 1>
I doubt that Palin's "Christian Heritage Week" proclamation was politically expedient for her in today's society. As for McCain's choice...doesn't EVERY politician try to make a running mate choice that will be good for them?
from paragraph 2>
OK, I hadn't heard of her before the announcment (maybe because I don't live & breathe politics)...BUT she didn't just appear out of the blue...she does have a record and it's being reported on, and so...
from the remainder of the comment>
I can say that I DO like what I've heard so far. As for the topic of experience: OK, neither one is old...neither has many decades of service...but, there is a difference from my perspective.
(Without writing a full page), I can respect her choices/actions(I don't Obama's). She stands for her beliefs/morals(not Obama). So, she only has a couple years of experience with the military(heading their National Guard)...that's a couple years more than Obama has. I think when we know even more about her, Palin's experience will stack up very well next to Obama's (and she is running for the #2 spot...not the #1). Actually, it's really not so much Obama's 'lack of experience' that's the problem. That's just a more polite way to put it, as far as I'm concerned. I'd say it's his lack of judgment; it's what his record shows about his character; it's all of those really questinable things about him that the MSM chooses to gloss over (unless it's completely ignoring that particular one).

The "Christian Heritage" resolution is filled with misquotes of the founders: see http://www.positiveliberty.com/2008/08/palins-sloppy-scholarship.html

"The "Christian Heritage" resolution is filled with misquotes of the founders"

In the first example, she altered the tense, speaking in he first person as being one of those (along with her audience) to whom Washington was addressing ("ourselves" instead of "themselves:), along with paraphrasing, and giving partial quotes without the required [...]where appropriate.

Also, it's possible to misquote by quoting a source that is in itself in error. This requires multiple searches or lookups to avoid.

By now she must know that every citation you provide will be disected, and even if correct, may be labled 'quote mining', if taken out of context to a degree that may (to some) alter its meaning. Quoting others to support your views is indeed a slippery slope.

Rather than being disingenuous, she simply needs an editr/writer to proof her words.

MR. Sekulow,

Your fund raisers just called me and asked if I knew Christians were being persecuted in foreign countries. I asked if she knew that Christians like me are being persecuted in this country. I am accused of not being a Christian and have repeatedly had my Obama for President signs stolen from my front yard by God fearing Republicans. I am called a socialist for daring to assume that a righteous God would have no problem with providing health care for all of his children. I know that I am on God's side and that he would cleanse his temple of these "family values" phonies if he were here today.
You are welcome to call me again tomorrow night. I'll be glad to talk to you about your concern for persecuted Christians. By the way, Jesus WAS a community organizer.
Carol D. Thompson

www.discoveringjesusfishing.net

The US' (and Alaska's) recognition of Spiritual Heritage Week does not violate the Establishment Clause if in fact the proclamation is based on the country's historical Judeo-Christian roots, not promoting the establishment of Christianity as a national religion like that of Islam in the Middle East. Based on the overwhelming majority of Christians in America, the honor and promotion of Spiritual Heritage week is appropriate complimenting a democratic form of government of the people, by the people, and for the people.