To the tune of "Up on the House Top"
Up on the hill top
politicians scam,
to screw us over again, and again.
The wealthy rule the nation
and show who's boss
the middle class a notion
of that they wanna toss.
Ho, ho, ho here we go.
Ho, ho, ho up crap road
up on the hill top, what the hell?
Republican policies to us they sell!
Cry baby Boehner, Palin, Bochmann, Paul,
insane and crazy is what they squall.
Twisted fact and anti-love,
ridiculous platform is what they shove.
Ho, ho, ho here we go.
Ho, ho, ho up crap road
up on the hill top, what the hell?
Republican policies to us they sell!
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Saturday, September 25, 2010
New Rule: Rich People Who Complain About Being Vilified Should Be Vilified
A little crass, but very well said, by Bill Maher:
New Rule: Rich People Who Complain About Being Vilified Should Be Vilified
New Rule: The next rich person who publicly complains about being vilified by the Obama administration must be publicly vilified by the Obama administration. It's so hard for one person to tell another person what constitutes being "rich", or what tax rate is "too much." But I've done some math that indicates that, considering the hole this country is in, if you are earning more than a million dollars a year and are complaining about a 3.6% tax increase, then you are by definition a greedy asshole.
And let's be clear: that's 3.6% only on income above 250 grand -- your first 250, that's still on the house. Now, this week we got some horrible news: that one in seven Americans are now living below the poverty line. But I want to point you to an American who is truly suffering: Ben Stein. You know Ben Stein, the guy who got rich because when he talks it sounds so boring it's actually funny. He had a game show on Comedy Central, does eye drop commercials, doesn't believe in evolution? Yeah, that asshole. I kid Ben -- so, the other day Ben wrote an article about his struggle. His struggle as a wealthy person facing the prospect of a slightly higher marginal tax rate. Specifically, Ben said that when he was finished paying taxes and his agents, he was left with only 35 cents for every dollar he earned. Which is shocking, Ben Stein has an agent? I didn't know Broadway Danny Rose was still working.
Ben whines in his article about how he's worked for every dollar he has -- if by work you mean saying the word "Bueller" in a movie 25 years ago. Which doesn't bother me in the slightest, it's just that at a time when people in America are desperate and you're raking in the bucks promoting some sleazy Free Credit Score dot-com... maybe you shouldn't be asking us for sympathy. Instead, you should be down on your knees thanking God and/or Ronald Reagan that you were lucky enough to be born in a country where a useless schmuck who contributes absolutely nothing to society can somehow manage to find himself in the top marginal tax bracket.
And you're welcome to come on the show anytime.
Now I can hear you out there saying, "Come on Bill, don't be so hard on Ben Stein, he does a lot of voiceover work, and that's hard work." Ok, it's true, Ben is hardly the only rich person these days crying like a baby who's fallen off his bouncy seat. Last week Mayor Bloomberg of New York complained that all his wealthy friends are very upset with mean ol' President Poopy-Pants: He said they all say the same thing: "I knew I was going to have to pay more taxes. But I didn't expect to be vilified." Poor billionaires -- they just can't catch a break.
First off, far from being vilified, we bailed you out -- you mean we were supposed to give you all that money and kiss your ass, too? That's Hollywood you're thinking of. FDR, he knew how to vilify; this guy, not so much. And second, you should have been vilified -- because you're the vill-ains! I'm sure a lot of you are very nice people. And I'm sure a lot of you are jerks. In other words, you're people. But you are the villains. Who do you think outsourced all the jobs, destroyed the unions, and replaced workers with desperate immigrants and teenagers in China. Joe the Plumber?
And right now, while we run trillion dollar deficits, Republicans are holding America hostage to the cause of preserving the Bush tax cuts that benefit the wealthiest 1% of people, many of them dead. They say that we need to keep taxes on the rich low because they're the job creators. They're not. They're much more likely to save money through mergers and outsourcing and cheap immigrant labor, and pass the unemployment along to you.
Americans think rich people must be brilliant; no -- just ruthless. Meg Whitman is running for Governor out here, and her claim to fame is, she started e-Bay. Yes, Meg tapped into the Zeitgeist, the zeitgeist being the desperate need of millions of Americans to scrape a few dollars together by selling the useless crap in their garage. What is e-Bay but a big cyber lawn sale that you can visit without putting your clothes on?
Another of my favorites, Congresswoman Michele Bachmann said, "I don't know where they're going to get all this money, because we're running out of rich people in this country." Actually, we have more billionaires here in the U.S. than all the other countries in the top ten combined, and their wealth grew 27% in the last year. Did yours? Truth is, there are only two things that the United States is not running out of: Rich people and bullshit. Here's the truth: When you raise taxes slightly on the wealthy, it obviously doesn't destroy the economy -- we know this, because we just did it -- remember the '90's? It wasn't that long ago. You were probably listening to grunge music, or dabbling in witchcraft. Clinton moved the top marginal rate from 36 to 39% -- and far from tanking, the economy did well.
Even 39% isn't high by historical standards. Under Eisenhower, the top tax rate was 91%. Under Nixon, it was 70%. Obama just wants to kick it back to 39 -- just three more points for the very rich. Not back to 91, or 70. Three points. And they go insane. Steve Forbes said that Obama, quote "believes from his inner core that people... above a certain income have more than they should have and that many probably have gotten it from ill-gotten ways." Which they have. Steve Forbes, of course, came by his fortune honestly: he inherited it from his gay egg-collecting, Elizabeth Taylor fag-hagging father, who inherited it from his father. Of course then they moan about the inheritance tax, how the government took 55% percent when Daddy died -- which means you still got 45% for doing nothing more than starting out life as your father's pecker-snot.
We don't hate rich people, but have a little humility about how you got it and stop complaining. Maybe the worst whiner of all: Stephen Schwarzman, #69 on Forbes' list of richest Americans, compared Obama's tax hike to "when Hitler invaded Poland in 1939." Wow. If Obama were Hitler, Mr. Schwarzman, I think your tax rate would be the least of your worries.
New Rule: Rich People Who Complain About Being Vilified Should Be Vilified
New Rule: The next rich person who publicly complains about being vilified by the Obama administration must be publicly vilified by the Obama administration. It's so hard for one person to tell another person what constitutes being "rich", or what tax rate is "too much." But I've done some math that indicates that, considering the hole this country is in, if you are earning more than a million dollars a year and are complaining about a 3.6% tax increase, then you are by definition a greedy asshole.
And let's be clear: that's 3.6% only on income above 250 grand -- your first 250, that's still on the house. Now, this week we got some horrible news: that one in seven Americans are now living below the poverty line. But I want to point you to an American who is truly suffering: Ben Stein. You know Ben Stein, the guy who got rich because when he talks it sounds so boring it's actually funny. He had a game show on Comedy Central, does eye drop commercials, doesn't believe in evolution? Yeah, that asshole. I kid Ben -- so, the other day Ben wrote an article about his struggle. His struggle as a wealthy person facing the prospect of a slightly higher marginal tax rate. Specifically, Ben said that when he was finished paying taxes and his agents, he was left with only 35 cents for every dollar he earned. Which is shocking, Ben Stein has an agent? I didn't know Broadway Danny Rose was still working.
Ben whines in his article about how he's worked for every dollar he has -- if by work you mean saying the word "Bueller" in a movie 25 years ago. Which doesn't bother me in the slightest, it's just that at a time when people in America are desperate and you're raking in the bucks promoting some sleazy Free Credit Score dot-com... maybe you shouldn't be asking us for sympathy. Instead, you should be down on your knees thanking God and/or Ronald Reagan that you were lucky enough to be born in a country where a useless schmuck who contributes absolutely nothing to society can somehow manage to find himself in the top marginal tax bracket.
And you're welcome to come on the show anytime.
Now I can hear you out there saying, "Come on Bill, don't be so hard on Ben Stein, he does a lot of voiceover work, and that's hard work." Ok, it's true, Ben is hardly the only rich person these days crying like a baby who's fallen off his bouncy seat. Last week Mayor Bloomberg of New York complained that all his wealthy friends are very upset with mean ol' President Poopy-Pants: He said they all say the same thing: "I knew I was going to have to pay more taxes. But I didn't expect to be vilified." Poor billionaires -- they just can't catch a break.
First off, far from being vilified, we bailed you out -- you mean we were supposed to give you all that money and kiss your ass, too? That's Hollywood you're thinking of. FDR, he knew how to vilify; this guy, not so much. And second, you should have been vilified -- because you're the vill-ains! I'm sure a lot of you are very nice people. And I'm sure a lot of you are jerks. In other words, you're people. But you are the villains. Who do you think outsourced all the jobs, destroyed the unions, and replaced workers with desperate immigrants and teenagers in China. Joe the Plumber?
And right now, while we run trillion dollar deficits, Republicans are holding America hostage to the cause of preserving the Bush tax cuts that benefit the wealthiest 1% of people, many of them dead. They say that we need to keep taxes on the rich low because they're the job creators. They're not. They're much more likely to save money through mergers and outsourcing and cheap immigrant labor, and pass the unemployment along to you.
Americans think rich people must be brilliant; no -- just ruthless. Meg Whitman is running for Governor out here, and her claim to fame is, she started e-Bay. Yes, Meg tapped into the Zeitgeist, the zeitgeist being the desperate need of millions of Americans to scrape a few dollars together by selling the useless crap in their garage. What is e-Bay but a big cyber lawn sale that you can visit without putting your clothes on?
Another of my favorites, Congresswoman Michele Bachmann said, "I don't know where they're going to get all this money, because we're running out of rich people in this country." Actually, we have more billionaires here in the U.S. than all the other countries in the top ten combined, and their wealth grew 27% in the last year. Did yours? Truth is, there are only two things that the United States is not running out of: Rich people and bullshit. Here's the truth: When you raise taxes slightly on the wealthy, it obviously doesn't destroy the economy -- we know this, because we just did it -- remember the '90's? It wasn't that long ago. You were probably listening to grunge music, or dabbling in witchcraft. Clinton moved the top marginal rate from 36 to 39% -- and far from tanking, the economy did well.
Even 39% isn't high by historical standards. Under Eisenhower, the top tax rate was 91%. Under Nixon, it was 70%. Obama just wants to kick it back to 39 -- just three more points for the very rich. Not back to 91, or 70. Three points. And they go insane. Steve Forbes said that Obama, quote "believes from his inner core that people... above a certain income have more than they should have and that many probably have gotten it from ill-gotten ways." Which they have. Steve Forbes, of course, came by his fortune honestly: he inherited it from his gay egg-collecting, Elizabeth Taylor fag-hagging father, who inherited it from his father. Of course then they moan about the inheritance tax, how the government took 55% percent when Daddy died -- which means you still got 45% for doing nothing more than starting out life as your father's pecker-snot.
We don't hate rich people, but have a little humility about how you got it and stop complaining. Maybe the worst whiner of all: Stephen Schwarzman, #69 on Forbes' list of richest Americans, compared Obama's tax hike to "when Hitler invaded Poland in 1939." Wow. If Obama were Hitler, Mr. Schwarzman, I think your tax rate would be the least of your worries.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Change IS Happening!
I was sitting in a sandwich shop this afternoon, by myself of all things....no kids! Ahhh, relaxation! I guess that's why I had actual thoughts! ...So, I was sitting there, and of coarse they had a TV on. Yes, you guessed it! Fox News was on. I about loose my appetite when I find Fox News on in the same place where I have to eat! While I was "watching" there were two attractive women, discussing Obama. The conversation was entirely about how Obama is cold, arrogant, and out of touch with "real America." They aired, very edited, clips and pictures with Obama's head held high to back up their portrayal. They then began to bash his "incapability" of turning our country around. "Where's all the change?", they patronized.
I sat with this propaganda portrayal for awhile, really trying to dissect the attitude. Also including, into my dissection, a recent incident with family with the same hate filled, factless, superiority complex as the witnessed show before me. Of coarse the right has an agenda to fill. They have to portray the "other side" as the enemy so they may lift themselves a little higher. It's like the bully in the school yard putting everyone down, just so he can build himself up and fill his void of self confidence. But, for some reason, put the bully in the arena of politics, and suddenly everyone is blinded as to who he really is. He's loud, mean, twists the facts, and is in our face so much, that it's hard to see around him to the truth!
"Where's the change?" the two women cackled from their "news" desks. Remember, we inherited this mess. We inherited 2 wars, one of the worst recessions brought on by the deregulation of our market, $482 billion deficit (actually more, as it doesn't reflect war cost and such), a destroyed regulatory structure of the government as inspectors, administrators, and regulators were replaced with corrupt cronies, a neglected healthcare system, educational system, energy policies, environmental issues and more.
It took eight loooooong years to consistently dissolve America. We have to remember that it's only been two years of working to restore and build America to at least what it once was and hopefully better. Only this time, there is actual foresight in place! That's not arrogance that's intelligence! Our president is looking to the future and investing in it. Tomorrow, September 23rd is a big step in restoring health care! Children will no longer be dropped for pre-existing conditions and college kids (at lease until the age of 26) will have the peace of mind of staying on their parent's policies. College kids can also expect some financial relief for their education. Yes, money is being spent now, but will eventually relieve us in the end. You have to spend money to make money, right!?! I agree, change isn't coming fast enough, but it IS happening. The bullies can continue with their bashing, name calling, and twists of truth...but, we're rubber and they're glue! Whatever they say, bounces off us and sticks on them! So...stick that in your crayon box!
I sat with this propaganda portrayal for awhile, really trying to dissect the attitude. Also including, into my dissection, a recent incident with family with the same hate filled, factless, superiority complex as the witnessed show before me. Of coarse the right has an agenda to fill. They have to portray the "other side" as the enemy so they may lift themselves a little higher. It's like the bully in the school yard putting everyone down, just so he can build himself up and fill his void of self confidence. But, for some reason, put the bully in the arena of politics, and suddenly everyone is blinded as to who he really is. He's loud, mean, twists the facts, and is in our face so much, that it's hard to see around him to the truth!
"Where's the change?" the two women cackled from their "news" desks. Remember, we inherited this mess. We inherited 2 wars, one of the worst recessions brought on by the deregulation of our market, $482 billion deficit (actually more, as it doesn't reflect war cost and such), a destroyed regulatory structure of the government as inspectors, administrators, and regulators were replaced with corrupt cronies, a neglected healthcare system, educational system, energy policies, environmental issues and more.
It took eight loooooong years to consistently dissolve America. We have to remember that it's only been two years of working to restore and build America to at least what it once was and hopefully better. Only this time, there is actual foresight in place! That's not arrogance that's intelligence! Our president is looking to the future and investing in it. Tomorrow, September 23rd is a big step in restoring health care! Children will no longer be dropped for pre-existing conditions and college kids (at lease until the age of 26) will have the peace of mind of staying on their parent's policies. College kids can also expect some financial relief for their education. Yes, money is being spent now, but will eventually relieve us in the end. You have to spend money to make money, right!?! I agree, change isn't coming fast enough, but it IS happening. The bullies can continue with their bashing, name calling, and twists of truth...but, we're rubber and they're glue! Whatever they say, bounces off us and sticks on them! So...stick that in your crayon box!
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
...I have a dream?
By - Michelle Matthews
Tuesday August 31, 2010, 3:26 pm
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all mega-corporations with legions of lobbyists are created more than equal to anybody.”
I have a dream that the Yalie son of a Houston oil magnate can walk hand in hand with the daughter of a Wall Street hedge fund operator on the white sands of Southampton while evading inheritance taxes.
I have a dream that from the glorious Pacific to the bountiful Atlantic the Castro will become gayless and Greenwich Village will become free of feminism.
I have a dream that the Republican Party will come up with one new idea, any new idea, even if it is a rerun of one of Rush’s or my ideas, just to show that it isn’t completely brain-dead.
I have a dream that the young white guys playing with rifles at survivalist retreats in northern Michigan, that the middle-aged white guys playing Minuteman with guns at the Arizona border, and the older white guys frolicking at the Bohemian Grove, playing with whatever they play with, will keep people of different races or religions in their place.
I have a dream that the Supreme Court will vote 5 to 4 to revoke the statehood of Hawaii—but not Alaska—vindicating you Birthers out there.
I have a dream that Rupert Murdoch and the Fortune 500, thanks to another Supreme Court vote of 5 to 4, will be free to buy the Senate, the House and the White House at a Sotheby’s auction, without elections or public financing of campaigns.
I have a dream that oil spills in the Gulf, mining in West Virginia, egg farming in Iowa and predatory lending in every state will keep evading oversight.
I have a dream that all our children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the content of their character, but by the size of their stock portfolios.
I have a dream that the former lily-white golf clubs of Georgia and the lily-white boardrooms of Halliburton will not be tainted by people of different races or religions.
May corporations get the American people and “government of the people, by the people and for the people” (Lincoln had it wrong) off our backs.
From the newsroom of Fox to the boardrooms of our corporate masters, let freedom ring.
Thanks to Justice Roberts Almighty, the tea party and the GOP, we’ll be free at last!
Tuesday August 31, 2010, 3:26 pm
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all mega-corporations with legions of lobbyists are created more than equal to anybody.”
I have a dream that the Yalie son of a Houston oil magnate can walk hand in hand with the daughter of a Wall Street hedge fund operator on the white sands of Southampton while evading inheritance taxes.
I have a dream that from the glorious Pacific to the bountiful Atlantic the Castro will become gayless and Greenwich Village will become free of feminism.
I have a dream that the Republican Party will come up with one new idea, any new idea, even if it is a rerun of one of Rush’s or my ideas, just to show that it isn’t completely brain-dead.
I have a dream that the young white guys playing with rifles at survivalist retreats in northern Michigan, that the middle-aged white guys playing Minuteman with guns at the Arizona border, and the older white guys frolicking at the Bohemian Grove, playing with whatever they play with, will keep people of different races or religions in their place.
I have a dream that the Supreme Court will vote 5 to 4 to revoke the statehood of Hawaii—but not Alaska—vindicating you Birthers out there.
I have a dream that Rupert Murdoch and the Fortune 500, thanks to another Supreme Court vote of 5 to 4, will be free to buy the Senate, the House and the White House at a Sotheby’s auction, without elections or public financing of campaigns.
I have a dream that oil spills in the Gulf, mining in West Virginia, egg farming in Iowa and predatory lending in every state will keep evading oversight.
I have a dream that all our children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the content of their character, but by the size of their stock portfolios.
I have a dream that the former lily-white golf clubs of Georgia and the lily-white boardrooms of Halliburton will not be tainted by people of different races or religions.
May corporations get the American people and “government of the people, by the people and for the people” (Lincoln had it wrong) off our backs.
From the newsroom of Fox to the boardrooms of our corporate masters, let freedom ring.
Thanks to Justice Roberts Almighty, the tea party and the GOP, we’ll be free at last!
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Community Center in NY
Let's get something straight! For those out there that believe it is incomprehensible to build a religious community center in Manhattan (no...not a mosque), you should ask yourself one question.
Who do you think we are fighting to protect and dying for in Iraq? Shiites and Sunnis! And yes...they are ALL Muslims.
Who do you think we are fighting to protect and dying for in Iraq? Shiites and Sunnis! And yes...they are ALL Muslims.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Where is Erin Brockovich When You Need Her?
This BP oil industrial crime (I refuse to call it a spill as if it were an accident) is a disastrous occurrence that will haunt us for years and decades to come. As terrible as it is, it has only been at the forethought of our minds for the last few months. And, it's probably only been given this much attention because it is in America's oceans and coast lines. What a crime it is that very few of us even know about Chevron's deliberate industrial crime that has gone on for more than 4 DECADES in Ecuador's rain forest!
"Between 1964 and 1990, Texaco (which was acquired by Chevron in 2001) drilled roughly 350 wells across 2,700 square miles of Amazon rainforest. It extracted some $30 billion in profits while deliberately dumping 18 billion gallons of toxic soup, known as production water--a mixture of oil, sulpheric acid, and other carcinogens--into the streams and rivers where people collect drinking water, fish, bathe, and swim."
"In the process, Texaco constructed over 900 oil sludge pits, many the size of Olympic swimming pools. Unlike swimming pools, these pits were unlined punctures in the earth. With no concrete to protect the surrounding soil, poison seeped into the ground water." (Huffington Post)
Where is Erin Brockovich when you need her?
As hard as it will be, and as much as we will have to change jobs, mind-sets, and our false sense of security, we have got to get rid of our oil usage all together! We have to do the right thing, instead of continuing to take the easy way out. Just because it is profitable, doesn't make it right!
We KNOW there are other productive ways, and cleaner ways may I add, to use energy! (Which, by the way, would create more jobs in the long run!) Why are we so resistant to change our unhealthy ways? Why is it so easy for us to forgive big-fat oil companies who use and abuse us every single day? Their acts are simply not defend-able, but yet they do it and get the public to support them anyways! At the very least, why aren't we looking at this as a home-land security issue? Forget about the environmental impacts, we could "drill-baby-drill" all day long. But, doesn't anyone understand that even the oil we drill here at home goes into a world market? It's not necessarily drilled for our own personal use! Wake up America!
To read about an eye witness account of what is going on in Ecuador, please read the following link:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kerry-kennedy/chevron-and-cultural-geno_b_346257.html
or
http://chevrontoxico.com/
"Between 1964 and 1990, Texaco (which was acquired by Chevron in 2001) drilled roughly 350 wells across 2,700 square miles of Amazon rainforest. It extracted some $30 billion in profits while deliberately dumping 18 billion gallons of toxic soup, known as production water--a mixture of oil, sulpheric acid, and other carcinogens--into the streams and rivers where people collect drinking water, fish, bathe, and swim."
"In the process, Texaco constructed over 900 oil sludge pits, many the size of Olympic swimming pools. Unlike swimming pools, these pits were unlined punctures in the earth. With no concrete to protect the surrounding soil, poison seeped into the ground water." (Huffington Post)
Where is Erin Brockovich when you need her?
As hard as it will be, and as much as we will have to change jobs, mind-sets, and our false sense of security, we have got to get rid of our oil usage all together! We have to do the right thing, instead of continuing to take the easy way out. Just because it is profitable, doesn't make it right!
We KNOW there are other productive ways, and cleaner ways may I add, to use energy! (Which, by the way, would create more jobs in the long run!) Why are we so resistant to change our unhealthy ways? Why is it so easy for us to forgive big-fat oil companies who use and abuse us every single day? Their acts are simply not defend-able, but yet they do it and get the public to support them anyways! At the very least, why aren't we looking at this as a home-land security issue? Forget about the environmental impacts, we could "drill-baby-drill" all day long. But, doesn't anyone understand that even the oil we drill here at home goes into a world market? It's not necessarily drilled for our own personal use! Wake up America!
To read about an eye witness account of what is going on in Ecuador, please read the following link:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kerry-kennedy/chevron-and-cultural-geno_b_346257.html
or
http://chevrontoxico.com/
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Does Anyone Honestly Think Our Founding Fathers Wanted a Land Of More of The Same?
I guess lately, I am stuck on the issue of our founding fathers and their actual intention for our nation. It just seems to be the foundation for the right wing extremist and their plight to not only make a national religion for America, but it also seems to be the root of their anger and arrogance. They seem to have forgotten about about the humble aspect of their beliefs. It has simply turned into a political platform. This group ignores actual fact on a regular bases unless it can somehow back up their propaganda. And usually the facts have to be twisted just to fit into that hole.
Living in the south, I have to hear on a regular bases from my right wing friends, that we are a "Christian nation". I have to hear about the "prophecies" coming true as prayer is being removed from graduation ceremonies and football games. I have to hear many of them use Glen Beck, and Fox news in general, for their resource of history of our nation. Therefore, I have been educating myself on our nation's history, our roots, and the actual intentions for this nation. Not that it really should matter though right? Even if it were true, for argument sake, that this country was founded on Christianity, shouldn't we learn to evolve into the all encompassing nation that we set out to be?
I have been reading a book called, The Moral Minority - Our Skeptical Founding Fathers, by Brook Allen. Although I am only half way through the book, I have gotten a better insight into our beginning as a nation and the ludicrous notion that these men would actually base this nation on the Bible. The author gives a history on some of the founding men and their philosophies. As I was already aware, many of these men were deist. Which means, they didn't give a whole lot of regard to religion itself, but did respect the root of each religion's teachings. They, themselves, believed in a God of life so to speak, but not a religious God, and definitely not the Christian God. Benjamin Franklin even used a great analogy. He said that ALL religions are like sugar. They can be wrapped in different colored paper, but that the contents were all the same. Although, I will not deny the fact that there were many that were Christian. However, it is important to know that our founding authors were not all from the same fabric, but that their vision to make this an inclusive nation for all peoples tended to be uniform. It is also important to know that the majority of these men were intellectuals. In a time when education was a luxury, a good half of our first congress went to college and held law degrees.
Our roots fled from England and the religious suppression. America became our new home and open to a new description. However, we fell back into our old ways after a few generations of living on this new continent. Religious persecution ran rampant within the strict Puritan laws in some communities and in events such as the Salem Witch Trials. Stories of persecution in England were passed down to our founding fathers, and they also witnessed it first hand in the colonies. When they set out to make laws for the country they fought so hard for, these men understood that religion had no place in government, hence separation of church in state. They understood the slippery slope it could lead to.
The term "God" is used in the Declaration of Independence. It was a generic God term and this was a script written to tell England, and all nations, that we were now our own country. But, in the actual Constitution (the actual laws and rights of our nation), God and religion is left out. Statesmen used to have to make an oath that the Bible was truth and they soley believed in its contents when taking office. During the writing of the Constitution, this oath was abolished.
Benjamin Franklin, Jefferson and others were very candid and open about their beliefs, and even bordered on atheism in some regards, while George Washington was very private. Our founding men had a reputation to uphold and had to appeal to the masses and to the religious extremist...much as it is today. So, often times, a reference to the Bible, or to religion in general, was more for social reasons as they held powerful yet fragile positions. This is where today's right wing likes to find contradiction and twist facts to their liking. As many of our pivotal founding men were open about their beliefs and their visions for America on one hand, they would often speak the religious words the voters wanted to hear while at the podium, on the other hand. But, it all boils down to one point. Does anyone honestly think our nation's authors really wanted a land of more of the same? They heard the stories of suppression in England and they witnessed first hand, within the colonies, of what extreme religion (of any kind) could lead to. They understood the dangerous consequences of what starting a nation, and continuing it, could be if based on a single belief system.
Living in the south, I have to hear on a regular bases from my right wing friends, that we are a "Christian nation". I have to hear about the "prophecies" coming true as prayer is being removed from graduation ceremonies and football games. I have to hear many of them use Glen Beck, and Fox news in general, for their resource of history of our nation. Therefore, I have been educating myself on our nation's history, our roots, and the actual intentions for this nation. Not that it really should matter though right? Even if it were true, for argument sake, that this country was founded on Christianity, shouldn't we learn to evolve into the all encompassing nation that we set out to be?
I have been reading a book called, The Moral Minority - Our Skeptical Founding Fathers, by Brook Allen. Although I am only half way through the book, I have gotten a better insight into our beginning as a nation and the ludicrous notion that these men would actually base this nation on the Bible. The author gives a history on some of the founding men and their philosophies. As I was already aware, many of these men were deist. Which means, they didn't give a whole lot of regard to religion itself, but did respect the root of each religion's teachings. They, themselves, believed in a God of life so to speak, but not a religious God, and definitely not the Christian God. Benjamin Franklin even used a great analogy. He said that ALL religions are like sugar. They can be wrapped in different colored paper, but that the contents were all the same. Although, I will not deny the fact that there were many that were Christian. However, it is important to know that our founding authors were not all from the same fabric, but that their vision to make this an inclusive nation for all peoples tended to be uniform. It is also important to know that the majority of these men were intellectuals. In a time when education was a luxury, a good half of our first congress went to college and held law degrees.
Our roots fled from England and the religious suppression. America became our new home and open to a new description. However, we fell back into our old ways after a few generations of living on this new continent. Religious persecution ran rampant within the strict Puritan laws in some communities and in events such as the Salem Witch Trials. Stories of persecution in England were passed down to our founding fathers, and they also witnessed it first hand in the colonies. When they set out to make laws for the country they fought so hard for, these men understood that religion had no place in government, hence separation of church in state. They understood the slippery slope it could lead to.
The term "God" is used in the Declaration of Independence. It was a generic God term and this was a script written to tell England, and all nations, that we were now our own country. But, in the actual Constitution (the actual laws and rights of our nation), God and religion is left out. Statesmen used to have to make an oath that the Bible was truth and they soley believed in its contents when taking office. During the writing of the Constitution, this oath was abolished.
Benjamin Franklin, Jefferson and others were very candid and open about their beliefs, and even bordered on atheism in some regards, while George Washington was very private. Our founding men had a reputation to uphold and had to appeal to the masses and to the religious extremist...much as it is today. So, often times, a reference to the Bible, or to religion in general, was more for social reasons as they held powerful yet fragile positions. This is where today's right wing likes to find contradiction and twist facts to their liking. As many of our pivotal founding men were open about their beliefs and their visions for America on one hand, they would often speak the religious words the voters wanted to hear while at the podium, on the other hand. But, it all boils down to one point. Does anyone honestly think our nation's authors really wanted a land of more of the same? They heard the stories of suppression in England and they witnessed first hand, within the colonies, of what extreme religion (of any kind) could lead to. They understood the dangerous consequences of what starting a nation, and continuing it, could be if based on a single belief system.
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