H. Res. 847 disturbs me greatly. It’s not a long bill at all so you really should give it a read, three minutes max. The crux of the bill is surmised at the end with this:
[be it] Resolved, That the House of Representatives—
(1) recognizes the Christian faith as one of the great religions of the world;
(2) expresses continued support for Christians in the United States and worldwide;
(3) acknowledges the international religious and historical importance of Christmas and the Christian faith;
(4) acknowledges and supports the role played by Christians and Christianity in the founding of the United States and in the formation of the western civilization;
(5) rejects bigotry and persecution directed against Christians, both in the United States and worldwide; and
(6) expresses its deepest respect to American Christians and Christians throughout the world.
Pardon me, but I don’t want the government “approving” or even “supporting” my religion. Stay out, stay out, stay out.
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Dude… there is no place for this sort of thing in government. Especially our government. Amendment 1 of the Constitution handles Freedom of Religion. That’s more than enough religiosity from the Federal government as far as I am concerned. I’m with you, I don’t want the government approving or endorsing my religion.
What’s even scarier is that the resolution passed the house by 85%.
And there’s significantly more democrats who voted “aye.” So much for conservative values.
I guess I’m not sure what the big deal is. There has never been complete separation of (Christian) church and (American) state. I testified in court once and had make a vow to God to tell the truth in a statement that could have come from a Christian theology text. Governmental sessions open with prayer. The Senate has a chaplain. Why all the fuss over res. 487? Is it right? Maybe not. Is it deeply-entrenched tradition? Absolutely. And that’s what this is all about. Not so much endorsing a particular religion as posturing for the voting public, many of whom believe in God in at least a quasi-Christian. Besides, it’s a modest statement (i.e. the Christian faith as “one” great religion, implying there are others.)
Well, that’s exactly what it is, tradition and posturing. I’m sure that they’re not excluding others. My concern is that they’re focusing on this at all.
I think something like this is necessary, considering the government has been overstepping its bounds to remove expressions of Christianity within the public square, schools, etc. — especially in capitulation to the outrageous actions of activists like the ACLU. What’s sad isn’t that this resolution exists, but rather that there’s even a need for it to exist!
Is this for real?
You mean the Resolution? Yes. Or do you mean my reaction to the resolution? Yes.
sounds to me like you aren’t so concerned with separation of church and state as much as you are with Christianity or any other religion which you don’t agree with.
Separation of church and state is widely misinterpreted and was originally meant only to keep the “state” from setting up one established religion as the only acceptable religion and to keep government from legislating the affairs of a religion.
I also don’t remember you posting anything when the same bill was introduced last month to recognize Islam and Ramadan
@Dr J: I’m a Christian Minister by vocation. Can you provide links to the other bills? I ask because I’d love to include those links in my original post. I didn’t link that bill regarding Islam because I simply was not aware that it existed. Like I said, however, I’d love to see that bill as well.
@Ben: here is the link http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=hr110-635
Citizen of Heaven first, United States second.
Thanks man, I appreciate you linking that. I absolutely agree