Friday, July 20, 2007
My Way or the Highway
Right wing Christians want their Ten Commandments posted in every courthouse and schoolroom in the country. They want their holy book taught in public schools, and they indignantly demand that every student recite their prayers and be taught their interpretation of Genesis.
They're not so keen on extending freedom of religion to other faiths.
When Rajan Zed, director of interfaith relations at a Hindu temple in Reno, Nev. opened the Senate with a Hindu prayer July 12, there was a predictable uproar from the very people who demand all the rest of us pray to their god.
"No one can legitimately challenge the fact that the God America refers to in the pledge, our national motto, and other places is the monotheistic God of the Jewish and Christian faith," says Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council. "There is no historic connection between America and the polytheistic creed of Hinduism."
No one except President John Adams and both houses of Congress in 1797.
Here's an excerpt from the Treaty of Tripoli which they ratified.
"As the Government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion; as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquillity, of Musselmen; and as the said States never have entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mehomitan nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries."
They're not so keen on extending freedom of religion to other faiths.
When Rajan Zed, director of interfaith relations at a Hindu temple in Reno, Nev. opened the Senate with a Hindu prayer July 12, there was a predictable uproar from the very people who demand all the rest of us pray to their god.
"No one can legitimately challenge the fact that the God America refers to in the pledge, our national motto, and other places is the monotheistic God of the Jewish and Christian faith," says Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council. "There is no historic connection between America and the polytheistic creed of Hinduism."
No one except President John Adams and both houses of Congress in 1797.
Here's an excerpt from the Treaty of Tripoli which they ratified.
"As the Government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion; as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquillity, of Musselmen; and as the said States never have entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mehomitan nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries."
