I am in agreement with the following statement, “This country was founded as a Christian nation,” Fitschen said, “[and] there is religious pluralism, but we don’t need to lie about the past.” yes we don’t need to lie or hide our past, whatever it was, and it ought to bring humility to us.
One of the ways I see out of the battle of religions is to Grandfather the old monuments and not install any new ones.
We are not the same society that we were two hundred years ago. Women vote now, they are not treated as a chattel any more; the African Americans have rights they did not have before. We are progressing from 18th Century civility to current day civility; we are a lot more law abiding citizens than we were two hundred years ago.
There is a lot more we need to catch up with.
We are not a homogenous society any more, thank God for that, our society in America reflects God’s creation; every one has a space and we need to honor that. We are a pluralistic society as God has expressed in his creation of the nature and the cosmos. As Americans, we are diverse in culture, faith, ethnicity, race and language. This is the ideal America, a beacon to the world to look up to.
Excluding religious symbols in public places is the right thing to do, they have been perceived as symbols of exclusivism. As as a religious people, we need to fall the barriers between us and every one else from the public square, let every one feel included.
Religion is a private relationship with one’s God . Let that remain in private domain. Our civility should honor and respect every one’s way of life, whether some one asks for it or not.
Mike Ghouse
http://www.foundationforpluralism.com/
Ten Commandments monument upheld by US Circuit Court
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Journal/newsofinterest.aspx?id=75891
A federal appeals court has upheld the constitutionality of a Ten Commandments display in Everett, Washington.
The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the display does not have a solely religious purpose.
The six-foot granite monument, inscribed with the Ten Commandments, sits near the Old City Hall in Everett and was donated to the city by the local chapter of the Fraternal Order of Eagles in 1959. No one complained about it for over 30 years. Then in 2003, an Everett resident filed a lawsuit with the free legal assistance of Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AUSCS).
Steven W. Fitschen, president of the National Legal Foundation, said such cases show the true agenda of liberal groups like the AUSCS and others. “This country was founded as a Christian nation,” Fitschen said, “[and] there is religious pluralism, but we don’t need to lie about the past.”Americans, he insisted, should not have to abandon their religious heritage in order to appease someone’s political agenda.
www.onenewsnow.com, 3/28/2008;
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com, 3/28/2008