The Foundations of the Debate

I cannot let this pass untouched. Either retract these ludicrous claims or propose a new thread and be prepared to defend them. I guarantee any Proposed New Topic in this vein will be swiftly promoted - I have an in with the administration.

Exactly.Question: How can I make $500,000 a year?Answer: Get 10000 people to send you $50 apiece.

Absolutely the latter. What good is power if you can't use it?

Sounds pretty bad, doesn't it? However, what the fundamentalists who attempt to use that as a basis for their declaration (heee, unintended) that the US is a "Christian" nation always forget is that the "creator" referred to is a Deist construction - a non-personal, non-interventionist, very "unitarian" kind of creator. In the context of the times, and especially the place (remember where the odious Brit Puritans ended up?), it was an extraordinarily brave and non-religious statement. That the Religious Right is in control of the country today has nothing to do with the history of the nation OR the founding documents.

I agree completely. Interestingly, so did many of the US's founders - including those who wrote the Declaration of Independence, and the group who wrote the Constitution. The very LAST thing they wanted in general was to bring religion into the mix. Both are very interesting documents. Worth a read if you have the time.One of the reasons we have so many problems in the US today - the "foundation" of the debate (or at least the philosophical underpinnings) - is that the Religious Right US has forgotten the critical principles on which the US was founded (or choses to ignore them). Indeed, although they call themselves "Republican", they have even forgotten the roots of what they claim is their own party. A very bad time to be a gringo...