Who really cares about Separation of Church and State?
Time for a break from pistol-gate….
Who cares about Separation of Church and State? Um, I do and so do a lot of other other Americans.
Yep we have the dust up in Greece over a town board perceived to favor one deity over another. At issue is favoring a particular deity rather than a prayer itself. (Let me say that again for those who don’t get it - it is the mention of a specific deity - not saying the prayer)
But what happens when it pours over it the US Military? Remember General Boykin and his my God is bigger than your God rant?
Well - now we have Generals proselytizing while in uniform.
Coming at this as someone who served proudly in the active military officer for a number of years I have experienced this very thing. One of my commanders would quote bible passages periodically. I was not of his faith like some others in the unit so I needed to find other ways, for lack for a better word, to distinguish myself. It was uncomfortable. More importantly -
It was wrong then and it is wrong now.
Will these people have their careers hurt by it? I don’t know but they should. They violated the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ). They should be on their way out.
but… but.. I’m supposed to have a lunch break… you can’t post this now!
Back to work! True patriots never sleep. Or do lunch.
mmmmm noodles
I totally agree. This is both an issue of Separation of Church and state and also the rule of law. It seems that these generals (and Republicans) have contempt for both.
By the way, I am keeping you in my prayers.
As long as your prayers aren’t bigger than my prayers….
Not surprising, given the relatively conservative cast of the U.S. armed forces - certainly no worse than the effective evangelical takeover of the USAF Academy a few years ago, not that any of this is good.
I agree, however, that it is inappropriate - if you’re going to express your personal religious or political beliefs, you shouldn’t do it in uniform. Of course, given as how most top brass are going to retire soon they can pretty much do what they want. Unless they screw up massively (see Colonel
Brigadier GeneralJanis Karpinski & Abu Graib) or get scapegoated (see Admiral Kimmel & Pearl Harbor) the worst that happens is a reprimand. That’s deadly for a junior officer’s career, but meaningless for a senior officer about to retire.Thomas -
No one wants to leave the service under a cloud and that extends to generals. I don’t buy your argument about a reprimand. That is the first step to forcing people out.
Thanks for reminding us about the USAF Academy.
What’s the latest on the ACLU action against Greece? It’s been rather quiet…?
Does anyone really need to have it spelled out for them? If there is no separation of church and state then the US would just be another volitile hotbed of unrest like the Middle East.
I think it’s interesting that those on the “Christian Right” ( or wrong as the case may be) always go back to our “Christian” forefathers, who were not necessarily Christians, but were actually deitists. They also realized that separation of church and state was absolutely essential in preserving our constitution and our democratic government. We might want to, perhaps, check out “Letter to a Christian Nation” by Sam Harris. http://www.samharris.org/
Great point.
Great book……errr……letter.
I’ve been wanting to chime in, but had to do some research first. Have any of you heard about Rabbi Jeff Goldman? He was a chaplain in the US Army and left due to race/religion baiting by Christian Right there. Here’s a story link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/29/AR2005082901874_pf.html
Good question about the local ACLU. I don’t think they were ever thrilled about the Greece prayer issue. Originally, all their attorneys said it wasn’t a violation. They had to backpedal when one attorney returned from vacation and saw all the news coverage, incredulous at the decision.
Looks like another organization is involved, but not sure about status yet.
Read “Letter to a Christian Nation.” Another good book is “God is Not Great” by Christopher Hitchens.
That link doesn’t work. You can google Rabbi Jeff Goldman in the meantime.
IT works now…the link was attaching the period at the end.
[...] do? well, we have been over this before. There was this post, or this one, City News covered it, why it is wrong, Heck Greece even had a forum about [...]