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Originally written by A punchline in the gut:

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Originally written by ben III:

Well, some people are so eager to take all religion out of government, and it's just not good. They declare to be promoting freedom of religion, yet they press to prevent Christians from displaying a part of their religion. Freedom of religion does not mean removal of religion. Especially since Christianity in the dominant religion in the United States.

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Did you know that federal employees are banned from displaying partisan tendencies in the workplace to the point where wearing pins supporting one party's candidate is grounds for disciplinary action and possibly termination? I feel much the same way about religion. What you believe is your own business, but where the state is represented, religion must not be present and must not appear to be present.

Okay, seeing as not everyone in the United States is Christian, I'll have to agree with you there because by agruing this from a viewpoint of a Christian, that is partiality in itself.

So. I was just giving my honest opinions there, which is what the topic asked for anyway. Use them or leave them.

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As soon as we take God out of the country, that'll be our downfall. It's happened every time. And it's actually a good sign that the endtimes are near.

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How many times has it happened? This is not a rhetorical question. I want to see examples. Keep in mind that many founding fathers were deists, not Christians. That didn't seem to damn the birth of the United States.

I'd love to refer to the Bible here, but that is a "religious text," so if you want me to go into that, speak up.

As for the founding fathers part, many people have tried to imply that they were much more secular and non-religious than they really were. As a counter-argument here, I'm going to say that many of the founding fathers were Christians, but because of the religious freedom in the United States and opposition by other religious and anti-religious groups, this fact was made much less important than the values of the country itself.

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[b]Not only that, but the Ten Commandments are part of our cultural history. The United States has always embraced Christianity as a religion while still allowing other religions to exist freely. Until now.

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Argumentum ad antiquitatem is a logical fallacy, my friend. Tradition does not make right. Slavery has also been part of our cultural history, as have oppression of immigrants and the betrayal and murder of Native Americans. I don't think we have a sterling record in the cultural department.[/b]

I suppose this goes back to whether or not the founding fathers were Christians and could be argued either way based on how that question is interpreted, so I won't go into a long unnecessary rant here.

[Edit: The "Under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance is a Cold War addition to show how different we were from the godless commies, and swearing with "so help me God" is not in the Constitution. In fact, historically several people, notably Quakers, have been permitted to refrain from swearing an oath at all. An "affirmation" that one will uphold one's duties in office is all that is mandated. So if anything, religion and God are metastasizing in American society.]

Godless commies? So you're saying that we were making a statement that we were "better than them" by using a statement that we were more religious? I say, a few people must have seen the light. :P

—Alorael, who can think of many documents far more important to the culture of American law than the Ten Commandments. The Bill of Rights, for one. Maybe then people would notice that pesky First Amendment.

And accordingly so. The Bill of Rights has been cited many more times in certain cases than the Ten Commandments.

But really, why can't we put these things to a vote? If the majority of the American people don't care if the Ten Commandments is displayed in our federal buildings, well, then, majority rules. Part of democracy.

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But really, why can't we put these things to a vote? If the majority of the American people don't care if the Ten Commandments is displayed in our federal buildings, well, then, majority rules. Part of democracy.

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Originally written by ben III:

Ideally, that's what it should be. But as long as people continue to disagree about religion, it will not be. And it will be a while before everyone agrees on religion - well, it might not ever happen - so for now people will continue to press against religion in government. So I suppose that's how it has to be.

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Originally written by ben III:

Kinda far-fetched, isn't it?

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Originally written by Unpleasantness for its Own Sake:

... If nothing else, it's no less credible than Khrushchev's prediction that the USSR would have achieved communism by 1980.

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