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'Scripture is very clear': New House Speaker tells Congress God has 'ordained' them
(www.alternet.org)
this post was submitted on 25 Oct 2023
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Ok, show me where it says that then
Specifically, I like this line here, that was present in the third paragraph I quoted from the Constitution:
Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't that mean that we specifically don't care if God, Allah, Buddha, or whoever says they are supposed to be in power?
Edit: and since we both want to be dickheads, today, why don't you show me where it says in the Constitution to base our laws around the bible?
None of that says that church and state must be separate, just that there can be no religious test. There's nothing in there barring him from saying "I think God blesses the people here"
In fact, to really be edgy, that also doesn't prevent the government from say donating $10B each year to some Christian church.
To your second point, I never suggested that the Constitution says we should base our laws around the Bible.
My only point is the oft quoted Separation of church and state is only an idea from the Jefferson papers. If you want to make sure church and state remain separate, and the new speaker doesn't start using federal funds for his church, perhaps it's time to actually put separation into the Constitution?
If no qualifying religious measure can be used to install a person into office, it stands to reason that religious belief shouldn't come into play.
I would hope our (the US') political system would be aware enough that writing private funding into any religious system would be seen as favoritism and the remaining belief systems would be righteously offended at the lack of consideration, or perhaps even the outright rejection of our beliefs.
This nation was built on immigrants (and the blood of natives, but that isn't what we are discussing) from every walk of life, every religious circle. To disregard others in favor of your own belief SHOULD be political suicide. These elected officials, after all, supposed to be elected to help with the concerns of the WHOLE populous, after all, not just a specific subset.
Playing religious favoritism has a high potential to try to convert the country into a religious state, as funding continues to be funneled into these specific religions, and in turn the churches funnel money back into the candidates as lobbying.
Coming to that point, does anyone who wants to to fund the church with government money which would be better used to take homeless off the streets, feed homeless children, or making people's lives in general, don't have the people's, or even God's best interests at heart?
Do they tithe their first ten percent, as the Bible says? Surely it would be in their tax records as charitable donations? If not, that would make me even more suspect of their intentions.
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."
That's really more a bar on state religion, that again doesn't really prevent our new speaker from say proposing a bill that donates Federal funds to his favorite church, so long as the government isn't in control of said church.
That would be news to Madison, the man who wrote it. He specifically wrote it to stop a religious funding policy in Maryland. As he pointed out funding would have to pick and choose which religions to fund
It would also be news to Jefferson- his letter to the Danbury Baptists highlights that states like Mass and CT established state religions under the confederation rules, which put Baptists in CT in the role of a religious minority, required to pay taxes to the Congregational Church. In colonial times it was the established religion, a state of affairs that would continue until it was 'disestablished' as the state religion via a state constitutional amendment in 1818.