Creative Retirement - Friday Roundtable
GOD in GOVERNMENT -- April 24, 2015
The presenter had prepared this line on a handout and the blackboard: (fill in the blank.)
__________ bears fruit of:
Love, joy, peace, aptience, kindness, goodness, fithfulness, gentleness, self-conrol holidness, justice, grace (trust), mercy, win souls.
Answer was discussed as the last point.
A long movie by Newt Ginrich in which EVERYBODY from founding fathers to recent presidents used expressions of God (or Providence) in their public statements. Except O'bama -- guess he could not find anything by him saying anything at all good about Christianity.
What the presenter got out of it was a message of anti-bullying. ( Everybody draws conclusion based on his
personal experience and that is a hot topic around town.) What I got was that all politicans harken to the voter, thus if you like apple pie, then it just turns out that apple is my favorite, too. God in his radiance is a symbol, perhaps a step above Mother in her apron, Lady Liberty in flowing gown, or Uncle Sam in his top hat.
Much was made by the class that the founding fathers were revolutionaries seeking tolerance. Witness that Allahu Akbar is inscribed on the cap stone of the Washington Monument, tallest structure in the world at its building. Oh, that is a proper interpretation of "Praise to God", which is the actual lettering chiesled up there.
Actually these rebels were masons who built the capitol and the nation whose union had a philosphy about religion and freedom, their interest was morality, commonly identified with religion. (Religion thinks it has a monopoly on morality.) The symbolic words, "in good we trust" on our money was initiated by the pastor of the Prospect Hill Baptist Church in which I was raised. Ordinary men make laws.
Some wanted to trace American religious ideals to England. I pointed out it is older than that, that I have been curious when religion was introduced by mankind : Nienaderthal did not have it. Homo Idalti had nature; H. Cro Magnon had respect for the dead ; Homo Sapians developed religion which evolved. The O.T. Jews did not have life after death, ie., neither heaven nor hell. (Must find when/where/who made up that idea.) Religion goes back beyond Europe, likely as a feeling of soleus to a man's insecurity to believe something was causing all the things to happen as they did. Others brought out that lightening and thunder needed an explaination.
Somebody mentioned, but it got no follow up discussion, that religion is a means of controlling the people. Think sharia law, Japanese Emperor-God, Egyptian god-king. Suppose the pre-history tribal witch doctor had political influence.
Somebody suggested our Constitution was written from the results of the French Revolution. Just looked up the dates -- false.
Articals 1781-1789. Call convention to revise in 1787. Constitution effective 1789.
French Revolution 1789 to 1799 ended by Napolean. Reign of Terror 1793-1794 came after
Constitution was already in effect, so could not have influenced a change from Ariticals to Constitution.
Ghandi or such is supposed to have said, Christianity is a great philosophy, shame nobody has practiced it.
My chart was presented as an attempt to avoid provencialism, ie., our religion in our county, when there is the whole rest of the world throughtout all of time to be considered when the subject of God is raised. Presentor seemed to appreciate it and referred the class to it several times. The class was curious about Wikki ; the invocation to the Iowa legislature last week was give by a Wikkian (she has Unitarian background) -- to which 1/3 of house did not attend and had a protester shouting from the balcony. The invocation was read to the class( from smart-phone): totally harmless to all. I did not bring up that the words heard on Sunday morning radio could be spoken equally by an
evangelist or an inman. " Did not bend to society, go forth and do God's work." That means to give generously and to work in a soup kitchen to one audience, or to smite off the head off the infidel by another group.
The answer to the opening question, fill in the blank.
__________ bears fruit of:
Love, joy, peace, aptience, kindness, goodness, fithfulness, gentleness, self-conrol holidness, justice, grace (trust), mercy, win souls.
The expected the answer was "Christianity." I said it was obviusly, " Voting for the democrat party" bears fruit of all good things. After the class's discussion and with my handout in hand, the answers was changed to deem that any of the religions on the list will lead to all good things.
(So will putting faith in the president or putting a tooth under your pillow.)
Link to Handout : Religions and Sects
URL : http://www.manorweb.com/creative/2015/godngov.html
Last updated : April 24, 2015
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