Newt is starting to play the Catholic card

What does a conservative politicians do who has a tarnished political reputation, and committed adultery and ethics violations? Normally a former Southern Baptist like Newt would become reborn.

But that's not what Newt did in 2009. He converted to Catholcism. Shortly afterward, he criticized the newly inaugurated President Obama who was invited to Notre Dame University to speak.

Perhaps Newt thinks he is the reincarnation of JFK and will lead the nation out of it darkness. Perhaps he thinks he can get both the Evangelical and Catholic vote in the next election.

In the 2008 election cycle, Gingrich did not do well with Evangelicals because of his three marriages and adultery scandals.

Perhaps he turned Catholic to spite the Evangelicals who abandoned him in 2008.

Tonight in the GOP debates Gingrich suggested that the contemporary “crisis of values” stems from the anti-clericalism of the French Revolution.

The Catholic church was attacked during the French revolution because it supported the French nobility's divine right of kings as the Second Estate. Some French became atheists and others--deists--who were people who believed in God, but not organized religion.

Priests and bishops were persecuted and church property confiscated during this revolution.  

Many of the founders like Jefferson, Monroe and Franklin were deists. 

No doubt the Catholic church liked Newt's quote although the crises we are in today has little to do with the "crises of values"  or the French revolution. 

This is psuedo-intellectual double talk.

In any event, be prepared for Newt to play the Catholic card even more.

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NMA: Catholics can confess with the Jesus phone

The Catholic Church has given its blessing to a new application that runs on the Jesus phone. It’s called “Confessions”.

The app helps users seek absolution of their sins. It also walks them through the sacrament process.

But the Catholic Church cautions: the app is not meant to replace attending traditional confessions.

The Catholic Church’s efforts to stay current will no doubt prompt snickers in certain corners of the internet.

And besides, Apple users have always treated its products with religious fervor.

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The real cause of the fall of he Roman Empire

Abtract: 2500 Years of European Climate Variability and Human Susceptibility | Science/AAAS

Climate variations have influenced the agricultural productivity, health risk, and conflict level of preindustrial societies. Discrimination between environmental and anthropogenic impacts on past civilizations, however, remains difficult because of the paucity of high-resolution palaeoclimatic evidence.

Here, we present tree ring–based reconstructions of Central European summer precipitation and temperature variability over the past 2500 years.

Recent warming is unprecedented, but modern hydroclimatic variations may have at times been exceeded in magnitude and duration.

Wet and warm summers occurred during periods of Roman and medieval prosperity. Increased climate variability from ~AD 250 to 600 coincided with the demise of the Western Roman Empire and the turmoil of the Migration Period. Historical circumstances may challenge recent political and fiscal reluctance to mitigate projected climate change.

The archaeologists used tree rings to make this determination.

Archaeologists have developed oak ring width chronologies from Central Europe that cover nearly the entire Holocene and have used them for the purpose of dating artefacts, historical buildings, antique artwork and furniture.

Right wingers have suggested the fall of the Roman empire occurred because  Romans became weak on defence or the citizenry was apathetic. They were wrong!

source: http://www.sciencemag.org/content/early/2011/01/12/science.1197175

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DECEMBER 27, 2010

By IANTHE JEANNE DUGAN

Facing budget gaps and an aversion to (new government) debt . . ., states and local governments are slapping residents with an array of new fees—and some are applying them to nonprofits.

That marks a sharp departure from long-standing tax exemptions mandated by state law or adopted on the theory that churches, schools and charitable organizations work alongside governments to provide services to the community . . . (and are therefore exempt form from such fees.)

The issue is on display in Houston, where some flood-prone roads are in such disrepair that signs warn drivers, "Turn around, don't drown."

Houston's taxpayers in November narrowly voted to adopt a "drainage fee" to raise at least $125 million a year toward the cost of improving roads and storm-water systems.

The city will charge fees to property owners, and it won't grant exceptions to churches, schools and charities.

The city has been tightening its budget. "We're cutting up the city's credit cards," says Mayor Annise Parker. "Everyone who contributes to drainage issues has to share in the cost of correcting those issues."

A number of groups—including schools, businesses, churches and senior citizens—are demanding exemptions. "We'll defeat this," says David Welch, of the Houston Area Pastor's Council, who plans to lobby state legislators in January.

This is really a tax. It is the first time that churches would not be exempt from property taxes. Some opponents have filed suit claiming the ballot wording was misleading.

At a group called the National Council of Nonprofits, Tim Delaney, chief executive, says:

Governments are taking their public burdens and putting them on the backs of nonprofits, at a time when the demand for our services is skyrocketing.

Some cities are charging religious groups property taxes on buildings no longer used for worship. Other localities are soliciting voluntary contributions. Albany, N.Y., recently passed an ordinance asking schools, hospitals and other nonprofits to contribute to city services.

In Minneapolis, residents recently began paying a street-light fee that also applies to nonprofits . . .

Drainage fees that apply to nonprofits have been adopted by cities that include Richmond, Va.; Lafayette, Ind.; and Verona, Wis.

Such fees are emerging now because the federal government has been cracking down on how cities handle the rain that rolls off roofs, parking lots, and other impervious surfaces, sometimes causing floods and ripping up roads.

The runoff can collect debris, oil and other pollutants and ultimately drag it all into the nation's waterways.

. . . In 2010, municipalities accused of violations paid $5.3 billion in repairs, a nearly four-fold increase from 2009. Those settlements ranged from Kansas City, Mo., with $2.5 billion in fixes, to Revere, Mass., which agreed to spend $50 million on repairs.

The American Society of Civil Engineers estimates that cities and towns need to spend more than $250 billion over the next five years fixing crumbling storm systems.

Rightardia thinks these fees make perfect sense, particularly for churches that have abused their tax exempt status for years while preaching right wing politics from the pulpit. The Catholic church is an example of a church that holds huge real estate assets in the US.

"the Catholic Church is worth well over $100 Billion Dollars"
http://www.fadetoblack.com/dearf2b/1999/may99/ipo.htm

"the Catholic Church is worth about 93 BILLION dollars in both cash
and property"
http://www.christianityexposed.com/Library/Essays/Root-Of-Evil.htm

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China Daily: Descendents of Romans in China?

China Daily: Updated: 2010-11-20 08:31

LANZHOU - Anthropologists are looking into the possibility that some European-looking Chinese in Northwest China are the descendants of a lost army from the Roman Empire.

Experts at the newly established Italian Studies Center at Lanzhou University in Gansu province will conduct excavations on a section of the Silk Road, a 7,000-kilometer trade route that linked Asia and Europe more than 2,000 years ago, to see if a legion of Roman soldiers settled in China, said Yuan Honggeng, head of the center.

"We hope to prove the legend by digging and discovering more evidence of China's early contact with the Roman Empire," said Yuan.

Before Marco Polo's travels to China in the 13th century, the only known contact between the two empires was a visit by Roman diplomats in 166 AD.

Chinese archeologists were therefore surprised in the 1990s to find the remains of an ancient fortification in Liqian, a remote town in Yongchang county on the edge of a desert area, that was strikingly similar to Roman defense structures.

They were even more astonished to find Western-looking people with green, deep-set eyes, long hooked noses and blond hair.

Though the villagers said they had never traveled outside the county, they worshipped bulls and their favorite game was similar to the ancient Romans' bull-fighting dance.

DNA tests in 2005 confirmed some of the villagers were indeed of Caucasian origin, leading many experts to conclude they are descendants of an ancient Roman army headed by general Marcus Crassus.

In 53 BC, Crassus was defeated and beheaded by the Parthians, a tribe occupying what is now Iran, putting an end to Rome's eastward expansion.

But a 6,000-strong army led by Crassus' eldest son apparently escaped and was never found again.

Though some anthropologists are convinced the Caucasian-looking villagers in Yongchang county are the descendants of the soldiers, others are not so certain.

"The county is on the Silk Road, so there were many chances for trans-national marriages," said Yang Gongle, a professor at Beijing Normal University. "The 'foreign' origin of the Yongchang villagers, as proven by the DNA tests, does not necessarily mean they are of ancient Roman origin."

Xie Xiaodong, a geneticist from Lanzhou University, also sounded a skeptical note.

"Even if they are descendants of Romans, it doesn't mean they are necessarily from that Roman army," Xie said.

Their mysterious identity has brought wealth and fame to some of the villagers.

Cai Junnian of Yongchang

Cai Junnian has yellow wavy hair, a hooked nose and green eyes. A DNA test in 2005 confirmed he is of 56 percent European origin. It made him famous almost overnight.

Reporters, filmmakers, historians and geneticists from around the world pursued him. He was invited to meetings with the Italian consul in Shanghai and even appeared in a documentary shot by an Italian TV company last year.

His friends all call him Cai Luoma, which means Cai the Roman.

Cai's fellow villager Luo Ying looks even more European. He has been hired by a Shanghai firm as their "image ambassador".

The Northern part of Italy has a lot descendants of Goths and other Germanic tribes.  Lombardy was settled by the Lombards, a tribe from Denmark. 

Many Italians in the northern part of the country are blond and blue-eyed. Bull cults were common in Rome, but the worship of bulls was also common in Greek and other nationalities around the Mediterranean. 

Alexander the Great was blond and blue eyed and his army fought battles in what today is Iran and India.

Rightardia suspects National Geographic will run a special on the people of Yongchang one day,

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Examiner.com: Pope Benedict is a world class ignoramus

Darth Benedict XVI

Pope Benedict began a State Visit to the United Kingdom and immediately showed himself to be ignorant of both historical knowledge and common sense. One advisor, Cardinal Walter Kasper, was removed from the trip after saying the UK as a "third world nation" that was being controlled by  "a new and aggressive atheism,"

Benedict managed to insult Britons, non-believers, and rational thinkers around the world.

Standing next to the Queen, the Pope delivered a highly-politicized speech to a Royal family that had ties to the Nazis during World War 2. The Pope used this speech to warn Britain about "aggressive forms of secularism" and "atheist extremism" in society. He recalled the Nazis "As we reflect on the sobering lessons of the atheist extremism of the Twentieth Century."

In a few short sentences, Benedict threw down a gauntlet by linking the atrocities committed by Nazi Germany with atheism. Although the Nazis had no real love for Catholics, Nazi Germany was a religious state. 

The Nazis drew upon both Christianity and Pagan influences. Nazi paraphernelia proudly proclaimed Gott mit uns (God with us).

The Nazis painted Teutonic Crosses on their aircraft. Nazi propaganda routinely referred to political enemies as atheists and Hitler was raised Roman Catholic. Some historians believed that Hitler wanted to start a new German Nazi religion.

Pope Pius XII's (1876-1958) actions during the Holocaust remain controversial. For much of the war, he maintained a public front of indifference and remained silent while German atrocities were committed.

He refused pleas for help on the grounds of neutrality, while making statements condemning injustices in general. Privately, he sheltered a small number of Jews and spoke to a few select officials, encouraging them to hide Jews.

Not only did the Pope Benedict buy into the lie that the Nazis were atheists, but apparently he has forgotten the history of an organization he was part of, both as a member of the Hitler Jugend (Youth) and as a member of an anti-aircraft gun crew.


Benedict did not stop there, however. He continued to state that "the exclusion of God, religion and virtue from public life leads ultimately to a truncated vision of man and of society and thus to a reductive vision of the person and his destiny. "

He wants to maintain "those traditional values and cultural expressions that more aggressive forms of secularism no longer value or even tolerate."

One can only wonder what traditional values and cultural expressions the Pope thinks are in danger of no longer being tolerated. Does that list include the continued molestation of children?

source: http://www.examiner.com/atheism-in-columbus/pope-decries-secularism-links-atheists-to-nazis


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Pope Benedict XVI: Female priests are the same as pedophiles

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BBC News: Vatican upset that Belgian police investagate chruch officials for pedophilia

Last updated at 18:22 GMT, Sunday, 27 June 2010 19:22 UK

Pope Benedict has led Vatican criticism of raids by Belgian police investigating alleged child sex abuse, calling them "deplorable".

Several buildings were searched in raids that targeted a retired archbishop and the graves of two prelates.

Altar boy receiving special communion

Belgium's justice minister has responded to the criticism robustly. Stefaan De Clerck defended the police action, in a series of TV interviews on Sunday, saying the investigation is legitimate and normal procedures were followed.

"The bishops were treated completely normally during the raid on the archdiocese and it is false to say that they received no food or drink," he said.

Pope Benedict

Mr De Clerck said the Vatican's reaction was excessive and was based on false information.

Prosecutors said the action concerned alleged "abuse of minors committed by a certain number of church figures".

Geoffrey Robertson, a well known human rights lawyer and United Nations jurist, wants to see Pope Benedict put on trial for protecting predator priests.

He alleges that the same conduct reflected Vatican policy as approved by Cardinal Ratzinger (as the pope then was) as late as November 2002."Robertson wrote:

Sexual assaults were regarded as sins that were subject to church tribunals, and guilty priests were sent on a 'pious pilgrimage' while oaths of confidentiality were extracted from their victims." 

The New York Times also reported  that as a Cardinal, Ratzinger seemed to be resisting efforts to defrock a priest who molested children, waiting six long years before any action was taken.

See the complete story at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/europe/10427935.stm and http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0410/judge-calls-prosecution-pope-benedict/

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Politics Daily: Catholic Bishops tell Congress to Ditch the Politics, Pass Health Care

01/27/10

Well, praise the Lord! The Catholic church has been a one hit wonder for so long with its anti-abortion stance, it's good to see it get off its pulpit to address a far bigger issue. 
 
In a strongly worded appeal that will test their political influence, especially with their pro-life and Republican allies, the Catholic bishops of the United States have told Congress to put politics aside and focus on the "moral imperative" of passing universal health care.

"The health care debate, with all its political and ideological conflict, seems to have lost its central moral focus and policy priority, which is to ensure that affordable, quality, life-giving care is available to all," the three bishops who are leading the lobbying effort for the Catholic hierarchy write in a letter sent Tuesday to all 535 senators and representatives. "Now is not the time to abandon this task, but rather to set aside partisan divisions and special interest pressures to find ways to enact genuine reform."

In a bow to Scott Brown's stunning victory in the Massachusetts senate race, which gave Republicans enough votes to block health care reform, the bishops write: "Although political contexts have changed, the moral and policy failure that leaves tens of millions of our sisters and brothers without access to health care still remains."

Passing legislation to provide universal, affordable health has been a longtime goal of the Catholic bishops, and in their letter to Congress, they reiterate that they consider health care "a basic human right." They have even called health care reform a "pro-life issue," although their own line in the sand against any hint of federal funding of abortion coverage and for strong conscience protections for hospitals and health care workers arguably delayed the negotiations until Brown's victory seemed to seal the reform's fate.

Besides abortion funding, the Catholic hierarchy is also concerned that health care reform be affordable for everyone, especially poor and working class Americans, and that it allow immigrants to buy insurance even if reform does not cover all immigrants regardless of status, as the bishops would prefer.

The authors of the letter reflect that three-fold concern. They are Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, head of pro-life efforts for the hierarchy; Bishop William Murphy of Rockville Centre, New York, their chief spokesman on domestic issues; and Bishop John Wester of Salt Lake City, their spokesman on behalf of immigrants.

"Providing affordable and accessible health care that clearly reflects these fundamental principles is a public good, moral imperative and urgent national priority," the bishops write. "The moral measure of any health care reform proposal is whether it offers affordable and accessible health care to all, beginning with those most in need. This can be a matter of life or death, of dignity or deprivation."

The bishops say the current bills would still leave 18 to 23 million people uncovered, and say they have other objections related to conscience protections and abortion funding. But the bishops are also hoping something can be salvaged.

See the rest of the story at http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/01/27/catholic-bishops-to-congress-ditch-the-politics-pass-health-ca/

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Republican Historical Revisionist Lie Number 1

Republicans have tried to portray their fascists brothers and sisters in Nazi Germany as godless socialists. Let's start with the godless part first.

Evidence of the alleged pro-Nazi sympathies of wartime pope, Pius XII is in the church's official annals,

For many scholars, though, he is at worst the Devil incarnate, "Hitler's Pope", and at best a coward who refused to speak out against the extermination of Jews, gypsies and homosexuals in gas chambers, even when he had compelling evidence that it was happening, lest his words attract Nazi aggression.

The Vatican's response to all such accusations is to issue a blanket denial, insisting that it was neutral throughout the conflict.

In the late 1990s, the Vatican allowed the British writer, John Cornwell, limited access to its papers about Pius XII. A cradle Catholic, ex-seminarian and the author of a book which conclusively refuted allegations that Pope John Paul I had been murdered, the church believed Cornwell could be trusted.

When Cornwell's book, Hitler's Pope, was published in 1999, it alleged that Pius was seemingly prepared to put up with any Nazi atrocity because he saw Hitler as a bulwark against the advance across Europe of godless communism from Russia. To paraphrase more recent politicians, the deaths of 6 million Jews was a price worth paying to protect the Catholic church.

Do you want more proof that the Nazis were fuelled by religion? This is the symbol they painted on their war planes:

What was the highest homor of the Nazis? that would be the Iron Cross they pinned on their soldier's chests.

Religion has always been associated with the right wing. This is why the association with C Streeters, evangelicals and fundamentalists with the GOP is alarming. It is not a coincidence either that evangelical church leaders sanctioned the Iraq War while mainstream churches including the Catholic Church refused to declare the Iraq War 'a just war.'

source: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/religion-rome-and-the-reich-the-vaticans-other-dirty-secret-479043.html

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Al Haaretz: Holocaust-denying bishop appeals large fine in Germany

The Roman Catholic Church collaborated with the Nazis during World War 2

An ultraconservative British bishop was fined 12,000 euro $16,822 in Germany for denying the Holocaust. He is appealing the fine, his lawyer said Tuesday.

Matthias Lossmann said that the bishop, Richard Williamson, objected to the fine, which means there will be a trial. A spokesman for the Regensburg court that issued the fine, Thomas Koch, said the court is currently examining the appeal, a routine procedure.

The court last month issued an order of punishment against Williamson for incitement, in connection with an interview that he gave to Swedish television in which he questioned that Jews were killed in the Holocaust.

The interview was conducted in the German city of Regensburg in November 2008. An order of punishment is a German legal tool that does not involve trial but is equivalent to a conviction if accepted by the defendant.

Williamson has told German media that he tried to prevent the interview from being broadcast in Germany, which could bolster his case if it goes to trial. Williamson was excommunicated from the Catholic Church in 1988 as a direct and immediate consequence of, his unauthorized consecration as a bishop by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre.

The Holy See lifted the excommunication in January 2009. However, after reports accusing him of Holocaust denial attracted widespread media coverage, the Vatican declared that "in order to be admitted to episcopal functions within the Church, (he) will have to take his distance, in an absolutely unequivocal and public fashion, from his Holocaust position.

Wishing to heal the rift with traditionalist Catholics, Pope Benedict lifted the excommunications of the four bishops Lefebvre had consecrated. The decision stirred widespread outrage, particularly in Germany, where the interview was conducted and where Holocaust denial is illegal and punishable by imprisonment of up to five years.

On 4 February 2009, German prosecutors announced the launch of a criminal investigation into the statements.

Williamson sent the Pope a letter expressing his regret about the problems that he had caused, but did not retract his statements.

On 4 February 2009 the Vatican Secretariat of State issued a note stating that Williamson would have to distance himself unequivocally and publicly from the opinions that he had expressed before he would be permitted to act as a bishop within the Church.

Williamson responded that he would do so only after looking at the historical evidence for himself. On 26 February, he formally apologized for the offense that had been caused by his comments, but did not indicate that he had changed his views.

The Vatican rejected his apology, stating that he needed to "unequivocally and publicly" withdraw his comments.

Williamson was subsequently forbidden from speaking out publicly about historical or political matters.

Williamson was sacked as the head of the seminary of in La Reja, Argentina and Bishop Fellay stated said that if Williamson again denied the Holocaust, he would be excluded from the Society.

On February 19, 2009, the government of Argentina gave him 10 days to leave the country voluntarily or he would be expelled. Interior minister Florencio Randazzo said that the irregular presence in the country of someone who had "deeply offended Argentine society and humanity with anti-semitic statements" was "intolerable".

It is clear the Pope made a huge mistake of lifting the excommunication. The Pope is apparently not infallible.

The evidence is also overwhelming that Pius XII and Paul VI collaborated with Nazis before, during and after the Second World War. Even now the Vatican and Franciscan Order holds concentration camp loot at its repositories in Rome and Switzerland. See details at vaticanbankclaims.com

Dr. Jonathan Levy—South Carolina, United States

 

source: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1127202.html

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Williamson_%28bishop%29

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Religious irony

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Steve Kangas FAQ: Did The Founders intended the U.S. to be a Christian republic?

Editor's Note:  In the last article Rightardia wrote on the separation of church and state, it was pointed that God, Christianity and Jesus are not mentioned in the Constitution or the Articles of Confederation. President John Adams also signed the Treaty of Tripoli that was ratified by the US Senate. It stated the US was not a Christian nation. There is also a legal doctrine on the separation of church and state that is based on more than 50 federal and Supreme Court cases. This article reflects the views of Steve Kangas on the Founders intents on religion.

Myth: The Founders intended the U.S. to be a Christian republic.

Fact: If the Founders had wanted a Christian republic, they would have made one.



Summary

If the Founders had intended this to be a Christian Republic, they would not have separated Church and State in the constitution. Besides, many of the founders were Deists or atheists, not Christians; it would have been impossible for them to intend a Christian Republic.



Argument

The First Amendment states:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…"

Article VI, Section 3 of the constitution also states:

"The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial officers, both of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial officers, both of the United States, and of the several States, shall be bound by oath or affirmation to support this Constitution; but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States."

By now virtually everyone knows the argument that making the United States a Christian republic would violate the First Amendment rights of Hindus, Buddhists, Taoists, atheists, agnostics, etc. But fewer people realize that it would also violate the First Amendment rights of Christians as well. Which of the 2,500 Christian denominations would we choose as the Christian orthodoxy upon which to base the republic? Seventh-day Adventists and Catholics are complete opposites to each other, and, in fact, are sworn enemies. Thus, a Christian Republic would certainly involve a small minority forcing its views on the majority.

Be that as it may, did the Founders actually intend for Christianity to play a greater role in our society than it has? Prior to the constitution, 11 of 13 states had religious qualifications for public office. These were limited to Christians only, and sometimes even Protestants only. However, the Constitutional Convention voted down such qualifications, creating the separation of church and state that we find in the First Amendment today. If this is not proof of the Founders intentions, then what is?

One should remember that the Founders lived in the 18th century, just as the horrors of the Inquisition were winding down. Anyone who overly opposed the Roman Catholic Church was arrested by the Inquisition as a heretic. They were tortured until they confessed their guilt, then handed over to the state for execution. The state, in full partnership with the church, would then prove its loyalty by carrying out the execution. Those Founders who were Christians were Protestants, and had they lived in Europe they would have been persecuted by the Inquisition. It was this identification with "heretics" that compelled them to build "a wall of separation between Church and State."

This famous phrase was coined by Thomas Jefferson in his letter to the Danbury Baptists:

"Believing that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legislative powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their Legislature should 'make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,' thus building a wall of separation between Church and State." -- Thomas Jefferson to Danbury Baptists, 1802.

Some Christians have tried to argue that this wall is "one-way," that the state may not interfere with religion, but religion may interfere with the state. However, this is an impossibility, since by definition any control that a denomination achieves over the state will automatically become state infringement on the religious rights of others.

Besides, many of the Founders were hardly Christians. There were several Deists, most prominent among them Thomas Jefferson. Deism rejected formal or organized religion, including Christianity; it taught that people should depend on human reasoning, not revealed truths, to discern what is true in the world. Deism rejected the divinity of Jesus and ascribed his miracles and resurrection to "mysticisms, fancies and falsehoods" (Jefferson's words).

Another standout is Benjamin Franklin. The body of his work strongly suggests that he was an atheist. Like most atheist politicians since, Franklin was not so impolitic as to broadcast this fact. He sometimes evoked Providence or God in his speeches, ever mindful of his Christian audiences. But anyone familiar with Franklin's writings knows of his true philosophy towards religion.

Thus, the fact that not all the Founders were Christians, and that they actually removed a widespread Christian qualification for office in the U.S. constitution, proves that the Founders did not intend this to be a Christian republic.


Source: http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/L-christianrepublic.htm


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Separation_of_church_and_state_in_the_United_States


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Bones discovered in Rome tomb likely belong to St. Paul

RIA Novosti RIA Novosti 

11:4629/06/2009

THE VATICAN, June 29 (RIA Novosti) - Scientific tests conducted on what are believed to be the remains of Apostle Paul "seem to confirm" that they belong to the saint, Pope Benedict XVI has said.

Speaking at a ceremony on Sunday to mark the end of the Year of St. Paul, Pope Benedict said, carbon dating tests conducted on bone fragments found in a sarcophagus under the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls in Rome, confirmed that they date from the first or second century.

He said a tiny hole had been drilled in the sarcophagus, which for about 2,000 years is believed to be the tomb of the saint apostle, and "traces of a precious linen cloth, purple in color, laminated with pure gold, and a blue colored textile with filaments of linen" were revealed.

"This seems to confirm the unanimous and uncontested tradition that they are the mortal remains of the Apostle Paul," Benedict said.

The discovery in the tomb came after the Vatican newspaper announced on Saturday that a fresco featuring the thin face of a bearded man with large eyes, and face on a red background surrounded with a yellow circle - the classic image of St. Paul - had been found in excavations of the Catacomb of Santa Tecla.

It is believed to be the oldest known icon of St. Paul dating from the late fourth century, L'Osservatore Romano said.

St. Paul, who called himself the Apostle to the Gentiles, was along with St. Peter the most notable of early Christian missionaries.

According to tradition, Paul was beheaded, while Peter was crucified, in the first century during the persecution of early Christians by Roman emperors.

Monday is the feast of St. Peter and Paul, a major holiday for the Roman Catholic Church.

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