During the past 6 years the republicans sure did a lot to reverse that…
With HH you sure mean headhunter instead of He… Hi…, dont you?
[quote]Ken Kaniff wrote:
And yes, libs (by creating a powerful government over the past 70 or so years) are evildoers.
HH
During the past 6 years the republicans sure did a lot to reverse that…
With HH you sure mean headhunter instead of He… Hi…, dont you?[/quote]
Mr. Bush is not a conservative and you are an idiot.
HH
[quote]ssn0 wrote:
MYTH 1: The US was founded on Christian principles.
TRUTH:
This is incorrect.
The Constitution never once mentions a deity, because the Founding Fathers wanted to keep their new country “religion-neutral.” Our Founding Fathers were an eclectic collection of Atheists, Deists, Christians, Freemasons and Agnostics.
George Washington, the Father of our country, and John Adams (Second President of the USA) CLEARLY stated in the 1796 Treaty of Tripoli: “The Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian Religion”.
G.W. rarely attended church and instead followed a popular 18th century philosophy called Deism a Star Wars-esque philosophy that believed in a cosmic energy or big-ass universal “Force.” The dictionary says that Deism is “a system of thought advocating natural religion based on human reason rather than revelation,” that had nothing to do with Christian principles.
James Madison, original mastermind of our Constitution, was an Atheist to the core who loved skewering Christianity. In 1785 he wrote, “What have been [Christianity’s] fruits? More or less in all places, pride and indolence in the Clergy, ignorance and servility in the laity; in both, superstition, bigotry and persecution.”
Thomas Jefferson, who sat down and authored The Declaration of Independence, rarely missed an opportunity to laugh at Christianity. In a letter to John Adams in 1823, he wrote: “The day will come when the mystical generation of Jesus…will be classed with the fable of the generation of Minerva in the brain of Jupiter.”
More ammo: In 1814, Tommy J. wrote about the Bible’s Old and New Testaments, “The whole history of these books is so defective and doubtful – evidence that parts have proceeded from an extraordinary man; and that other parts are of the fabric of very inferior minds.”
In fact, it was President Jefferson himself who first wrote (to a Baptist church group in 1802), “The First Amendment has erected a wall of separation between Church and State.” Therefore, when Jefferson talked about “Nature’s God,” the “Creator” and “divine Providence” in the Declaration that he wrote, he was being a hippie and referring to a general cosmic energy-- not the Christian God.
America is not a Christian nation. Period. Our Constitution derived from the post-Christian Enlightenment values of reason and truth…never from the paranoid yammerings of that otherwise compassionate cult leader who fucking died in the Middle Eastern desert 3000 years ago.
MYTH 2: US Conservatives tend to be patriotic, ethical Americans; liberals tend to hate America and are immoral.
TRUTH:
Liberals aren’t the traitors to America. In fact, conservatives who insist on sending American troops into the Iraqi slaughterhouse to watch some blood-n’-guts “towelhead” ass-kickin’ are the traitors. Most of them could care less about our troops, no more than Mao or Stalin cared about the safety of their own soldiers. In the neocons’ view, these young boys and girls are expendable test dummies. They’re dying for virtually nothing, so that the hicks in the Bush Admin can make good on their campaign promises to their buddies from the petroleum and infrastructure-rebuilding industries. By revving up the Arab threat, these MFs can scream “national security” and “freedom” as smokescreens, while getting their hands on a diminishing resource: Middle Eastern fossil fuels, which power everything from your lightbulbs and computer that you leave on all night, to your stupid gas-guzzler pickup truck.
Pro-war conservatives are the traitors to America. With only 29% of the public approving of Bush’s policies now, it took a full 5 years for America to finally wake up in bed next to this disgusting fact.
Do liberals hate America? No, in fact they care so much about the USA that they fight so aggressively to make it better. They’re not anti-American; they’re just anti-stupidity. Do liberals hate American policies? Sometimes, but only the self-destructive ones that threaten human rights, liberty, democracy, justice, inquiry, excellence and reason-- the values that our country was founded upon.
As for conservative moral superiority? Frauds. Think of the child-molesting priests, money-scamming televangelist preachers, Jack Abramoff’s friends in the Bush Admin, gay-hating Jesus lovers, the Christians who beat up the professor who opposed intelligent design, human rights violators like Lynndie England and her Abu Ghraib hick officer pals, Tommy “Scandal-icious” Delay, Scooter “Leaky” Libby, the entire K Street Project meant to hire only Republicans, FEMA’s Michael “Yer doin’ a heckuva job” Brownie, and so on.
Oh and by the way, conservative Red states have a divorce rate 27% higher than the liberal Blue states, the per capita rate of violent crime in Red states is 49 per 100,000 higher than in Blue states, the top 5 states with the highest rates of alcohol abuse are Red states, and the per capita rate of gonorrhea in Red states was 41 per 100,000 higher than in the Blue states. Time to unshelf the antibiotics for our “ethical,” “God-fearing” conservative friends with their “traditional family values.”
MYTH 3. The US has a liberal media.
TRUTH:
This is a paranoid Republican myth.
Reality check: the US media is a mix of liberal, centrist and conservative voices. Also, the US media is largely owned by 10 corporations who frequently push pro-conservative agendas to the American public. Evidence:
-
Even Republican Pat Buchanan confessed, “For heaven sakes, we kid about the liberal media, but every Republican on earth does that.” Neo-conservative pundit Bill Kristol also said, “I admit it: the liberal media were never that powerful, and the whole thing was often used as an excuse by conservatives for conservative failures.”
-
A 2005 study in the Quarterly Journal of Economics found that “coverage by public television and radio is conservative compared to the rest of the mainstream media.” Why? Partly because only four major corporate networks control American TV news-- up to 75% of the audience share. The “Big 10” media conglomerates who control the bulk of the entire US media are: AOL Time Warner, Disney, General Electric, News Corporation, Viacom, Vivendi, Sony, Bertelsmann, AT&T and Liberty Media. Yes, we have National Public Radio, but compare its public reach to that of Canada’s CBC and the United Kingdom’s BBC.
-
Eighty percent of all US newspapers are owned by corporate chains.
-
Liberals are virtually non-existent on talk radio stations nationwide. Rush and Dr. Laura, eat your hearts out.
-
Conservatives are very well accomodated for across FOX News, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Times, the New York Post, the American Spectator, the Weekly Standard, the Drudge Report, the National Review, etc. Even so-called “bastions of liberalism,” e.g. the NY Times, MSNBC, WashPost and NPR make a concerted effort to be “fair and balanced” by bringing in right-wing views like those of David Brooks, Joe Scarborough, Tucker Carlson, Charles Krauthammer and Cokie Roberts to have their say in these forums, respectively. This is in stark contrast to FOX News’ claims to unbiased objectivity, which were easily demolished by Robert Greenwald in 2004.
-
Contrary to what some paranoid Republicans claim, most journalists are centrists, not liberals. A representative sample of 141 US journalists and bureau chiefs were asked in 1998, “On social issues, how would you characterize your political orientation?” Answers: Left 30%, Center 57%, Right 9%, Other 5% . Next question, same sample: "On economic issues, how would you characterize your political orientation? " Answers: Left 11%, Center 64%, Right 19%, Other 5%. Also, look at the total number of think tank citations in major newspapers, radio and TV transcripts: Conservative TTs: 7792, Centrist TTs: 6361, Liberal TTs: 1152.
-
Eric Alterman summarizes a 1999 research study from the academic journal Communications Research: “Four scholars examined the use of the ‘liberal media’ argument and discovered a fourfold increase in the number of Americans telling pollsters that they discerned a liberal bias in their news. But a review of the media’s actual ideological content, collected and coded over a twelve-year period, offered no corroboration whatever for this view.”
MYTH 4. The US doesnt need improvement compared to other countries; it is the greatest country in the world.
TRUTH:
Wrong again. I’ll only cite the statistics here.
USA Ranking on Adult Literacy Scale: #9
(#1 Sweden and #2 Norway)- OECD
USA Ranking on Healthcare Quality Index: #37
(#1 France and #2 Italy)- World Health Organization 2003
USA Ranking of Student Reading Ability: #12
(#1 Finland and #2 South Korea)- OECD PISA 2003
USA Ranking of Student Problem Solving Ability: #26
(#1 South Korea and #2 Finland)- OECD PISA 2003
USA Ranking on Student Mathematics Ability: # 24
(#1 Hong Kong and #2 Finland)- OECD PISA 2003
USA Ranking of Student Science Ability: #19
(#1 Finland and #2 Japan)- OECD PISA 2003
USA Ranking on Women’s Rights Scale: #17
(#1 Sweden and #2 Norway)- World Economic Forum Report
USA Position on Timeline of Gay Rights Progress: # 6 (1997)
(#1 Sweden 1987 and #2 Norway 1993)- Vexen
USA Ranking on Life Expectancy: #29
(#1 Japan and #2 Hong Kong)- UN Human Development Report 2005
USA Ranking on Journalistic Press Freedom Index: #32
(#1 Finland, Iceland, Norway and the Netherlands tied)- Reporters Without Borders 2005
USA Ranking on Political Corruption Index: #17
(#1 Iceland and #2 Finland)- Transparency International 2005
USA Ranking on Quality of Life Survey: #13
(#1 Ireland and #2 Switzerland)- The Economist Magazine …Wikipedia “Celtic Tiger” if you still have your doubts.
USA Ranking on Environmental Sustainability Index: #45
(#1 Finland and #2 Norway)- Yale University ESI 2005
USA Ranking on Overall Currency Strength: #3 (US Dollar)
(#1 UK pound sterling and #2 European Union euro)- FTSE 2006…the dollar is now a liability, so many banks worldwide have planned to switch to euro
USA Ranking on Infant Mortality Rate: #32
(#1 Sweden and #2 Finland)- Save the Children Report 2006
USA Ranking on Human Development Index (GDP, education, etc.): #10
(#1 Norway and #2 Iceland)- UN Human Development Report 2005
So much for those “socialist” Europeans and those “backward” Asians, hm?
We can do better than this.
Miscellany:
*Only 18% of Americans own passports and bother to travel outside of the US.
- 85% of US soldiers in Iraq believe that they are there to get revenge for 9/11.
- New international student enrollment in US grad schools has decreased by 6%, because of xenophobic post-9/11 US visa restrictions, jacked-up tuition fees and better educational opportunities in the EU and Asia. So no, not everyone wants to come here anymore, because it’s become a land of incredibly limited opportunity, and we’ve lowered our educational standards.
MYTH 5: The US government loves to help other countries.
TRUTH:
This is a myth. The US government tends to be motivated by interests, not humanitarian principles.
Denmark gives the most amount of its GDP (1.01%) to developing countries; Norway gives 0.91%; the Netherlands give 0.79% and so on until the end of list, where the USA sits. Yes, America ranks DEAD LAST in foreign aid at a pathetic 0.1% of its GDP, compared to the other 21 nations listed as developed nations. The idea that the US government is a heroic bunch that runs around the world helping the poor and the disempowered is not backed up by the evidence. We have one of the stingiest governments on earth.
Most Americans believe the US spends 24% of its budget on aid to poor countries; the actual amount is well under a quarter of 1%. Our country also ranks #5 on asylum-seeker acceptance rates (#1 is Denmark and #2 is Canada).
For you self-congratulatory, redneck-inspired conservative fuckwads who will start to say, “B-b-b-but you’re anti-American! M-m-m-moonbat! G-g-g-god bless the USA!” I answer, “Go fuck yourself. We can do better.” Stop blindly believing everything your president tells you. Come back to us only when you start realizing that the $400 billion your president has allocated to his Roman Empire-style military overstretch could be better spent on correcting the sociopolitical and economic problems in the arenas that I’ve listed above.
For you liberal shit-heels who will start to say, “Yeah! Right on!” I answer, “Grow some fucking balls.” That goes for women and the LGBT community too, and don’t call me a sexist either: but I believe balls can be useful in situations like these. Instead, stop apologizing for being the “liberal elite,” and start championing un-abashed excellence in everything, not mediocrity. Help your reps and senators take back Congress, and stop dithering while the political tides are turning in your favor right now. The conservatives are terrified now; TAKE advantage of that. And don’t waste time trying to explain rational things to any homophobic Christians, or hyper-patriotic losers who wave and cheapen our American flag only for a self-esteem buzz, or those testosterone-filled, gullible, culturally-ignorant military recruiter robots who lack even a basic intelligence. THEY CANNOT BE REASONED WITH. They don’t understand statistics, elaborate charts, legislative proposals or complicated scientific explanations. Just let them go. Let them go.
In the meantime, stop being SHEEP and get up and do something before some bright and ambitious Chinese, Indian and the European students grow up to be international leaders and make your lazy, self-absorbed kids irrelevant on the world stage.
5 spike is a must, followed by a tall glass of grapefruit juice.
-ssn0[/quote]
Dude, you are and idiot and your ideas are so ignorant that I don’t want to even lower myself to address them.
But just to show you what a dork you are, in regards to your #1 stupid statement, take a look at the US Declaration of Independence: http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/document/index.htm
The word God and Creator are used in the first and second paragraph. So you are truly a retard to believe that the US was not founded by men who believed in God.
[quote]Lorisco wrote:
The word God and Creator are used in the first and second paragraph. So you are truly a retard to believe that the US was not founded by men who believed in God.
[/quote]
God/Creator do not equal Christ.
[quote]doogie wrote:
Lorisco wrote:
The word God and Creator are used in the first and second paragraph. So you are truly a retard to believe that the US was not founded by men who believed in God.
God/Creator do not equal Christ.[/quote]
Lorisco never said anything of the sort. The FFs simply took the Christianity of its citizens for granted. Hmmm… could that be why they didn’t let atheists in high positions, since atheists would not take oaths before God?
Now, where’s that excerpt from Nietzsche, where he talks about the scholars who must grind everything down, like a grist mill?
HH
[quote]Headhunter wrote:
Lorisco never said anything of the sort. The FFs simply took the Christianity of its citizens for granted. Hmmm… could that be why they didn’t let atheists in high positions, since atheists would not take oaths before God?
[/quote]
I’m looking through my copy of the Constitution, and I can’t find anything that says athiests can’t be in high positions. Care to point it out?
[quote]doogie wrote:
Headhunter wrote:
Lorisco never said anything of the sort. The FFs simply took the Christianity of its citizens for granted. Hmmm… could that be why they didn’t let atheists in high positions, since atheists would not take oaths before God?
http://home.aol.com/TestOath/21atheists.htm
I’m looking through my copy of the Constitution, and I can’t find anything that says athiests can’t be in high positions. Care to point it out?
[/quote]
[quote]Headhunter wrote:
doogie wrote:
Headhunter wrote:
Lorisco never said anything of the sort. The FFs simply took the Christianity of its citizens for granted. Hmmm… could that be why they didn’t let atheists in high positions, since atheists would not take oaths before God?
http://home.aol.com/TestOath/21atheists.htm
I’m looking through my copy of the Constitution, and I can’t find anything that says athiests can’t be in high positions. Care to point it out?
[/quote]
wow, there really where a lot of Christian self-righteous assholes.
The argument why an oath given by someone who believes in concepts based on nothing whatsoever should not count that much either, could and probably has been made one or two times allready.
[quote]Headhunter wrote:
doogie wrote:
Headhunter wrote:
Lorisco never said anything of the sort. The FFs simply took the Christianity of its citizens for granted. Hmmm… could that be why they didn’t let atheists in high positions, since atheists would not take oaths before God?
http://home.aol.com/TestOath/21atheists.htm
I’m looking through my copy of the Constitution, and I can’t find anything that says athiests can’t be in high positions. Care to point it out?
[/quote]
Teach, you know our country was founded in the late 1700s. Why are all the dates in your response either in the 1600s or 1800s?
Where is there any evidence that the FOUNDERS (you know, the guys who wrote the Constitution) didn’t want athiests to hold high positions? Not one is quoted (or even named) in that silly article.
[quote]doogie wrote:
Lorisco wrote:
The word God and Creator are used in the first and second paragraph. So you are truly a retard to believe that the US was not founded by men who believed in God.
God/Creator do not equal Christ.[/quote]
I don’t believe I stated that they did. My point was just that those who founded this country did believe in God. A belief in God is synonymous with religion, whether organized religion or not.
So the fact would be that this country was founded by religious men who believed in God.
Got it?
[quote]Lorisco wrote:
doogie wrote:
Lorisco wrote:
The word God and Creator are used in the first and second paragraph. So you are truly a retard to believe that the US was not founded by men who believed in God.
God/Creator do not equal Christ.
I don’t believe I stated that they did. My point was just that those who founded this country did believe in God. A belief in God is synonymous with religion, whether organized religion or not.
So the fact would be that this country was founded by religious men who believed in God.
Got it?
[/quote]
Satan is a God to some.
I don’t get why you don’t get that the whole disagreement–going back to the first MYTH in the original post–is that America is based on CHRISTIAN principles.
Got it?
[quote]doogie wrote:
Lorisco wrote:
doogie wrote:
Lorisco wrote:
The word God and Creator are used in the first and second paragraph. So you are truly a retard to believe that the US was not founded by men who believed in God.
God/Creator do not equal Christ.
I don’t believe I stated that they did. My point was just that those who founded this country did believe in God. A belief in God is synonymous with religion, whether organized religion or not.
So the fact would be that this country was founded by religious men who believed in God.
Got it?
Satan is a God to some.
I don’t get why you don’t get that the whole disagreement–going back to the first MYTH in the original post–is that America is based on CHRISTIAN principles.
Got it?[/quote]
You think the current laws, specifically the vice laws were put in effect by satan worshipers?
Come on doogie, you are really reaching with that one. What are you some kind of lawer or something?
I know the conflict is about if the country was founded by Christians. And the fact is that some were and some were not. However, when you look at the laws, what do you think? Why do or did most of the early laws coincide perfectly? So if they were not Christian, they sure did a good job of putting in laws that reflect Christian values.
Got it!
[quote]Lorisco wrote:
doogie wrote:
Lorisco wrote:
doogie wrote:
Lorisco wrote:
The word God and Creator are used in the first and second paragraph. So you are truly a retard to believe that the US was not founded by men who believed in God.
God/Creator do not equal Christ.
I don’t believe I stated that they did. My point was just that those who founded this country did believe in God. A belief in God is synonymous with religion, whether organized religion or not.
So the fact would be that this country was founded by religious men who believed in God.
Got it?
Satan is a God to some.
I don’t get why you don’t get that the whole disagreement–going back to the first MYTH in the original post–is that America is based on CHRISTIAN principles.
Got it?
You think the current laws, specifically the vice laws were put in effect by satan worshipers?
Come on doogie, you are really reaching with that one. What are you some kind of lawer or something?
I know the conflict is about if the country was founded by Christians. And the fact is that some were and some were not. However, when you look at the laws, what do you think? Why do or did most of the early laws coincide perfectly? So if they were not Christian, they sure did a good job of putting in laws that reflect Christian values.
Got it!
[/quote]
They are common sense laws.
How many of the 10 Commandments are laws?
Hint: only 20% are laws
[quote]Marmadogg wrote:
They are common sense laws.
How many of the 10 Commandments are laws?
Hint: only 20% are laws[/quote]
Common sense? If you think that you should visit the Brockback thread. Anti-sodomy laws don’t appear to be common sense to gays.
You don’t appear to know your bible son, let me enlighten you:
Ten Commandments:
-
"You shall have no other gods before me. (No law)
-
"You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand {generations} of those who love me and keep my commandments. (No law)
-
"You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name. (Covered by anti-obscenity laws)
-
"Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. 11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. (Some States have laws that require businesses to close on Sunday).
-
"Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you. (Children are legally under the jurisdiction of their parents until 18, unless emancipated. That means they must do [honor, agree, or follow] what their parents tell them).
-
"You shall not murder. (Covered by anti-murder laws)
-
"You shall not commit adultery. (Not a law, but if divorced the courts rule this as you broke the marriage agreement [law, covenant, etc] and you loose in court).
-
"You shall not steal. (Covered by anti-theft laws)
-
"You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor. (Covered by anti-perjury laws)
-
“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” (No Laws)
So here’s a clue Bro, it’s 70%, not 20%!
[quote]Lorisco wrote:
- "You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name. (Covered by anti-obscenity laws)[/quote]
WTF? What anti-obscenity law won’t let me misuse the name of God? Lying to prove your religious points doesn’t make a lot of sense.
There were no blue laws in the Constitution. That is the document written by the founding fathers. Because religious zealots later bastardized it doesn’t mean it was the original intent.
Kids don’t have to HONOR or AGREE with their parents. They don’t even have to follow them beyond going to school–which is a totally different law.
Common sense.
[quote]
7. "You shall not commit adultery. (Not a law, but if divorced the courts rule this as you broke the marriage agreement [law, covenant, etc] and you loose in court). [/quote]
Not in the Constitution–nothing to do with the original intent of the founding fathers.
Common sense.
You have to be kidding. Sometimes it’s hard to tell on the internet, but you can’t be serious.
Here the one MOST IMPORTANT truth you need to know…
When somebody tells you they have “the truth”, you should automatically assume they are lying. Period.
[quote]doogie wrote:
WTF? What anti-obscenity law won’t let me misuse the name of God? Lying to prove your religious points doesn’t make a lot of sense.
[/quote]
And you say you’re a teacher, right?
No wonder kids today haven’t a clue:
In the United States, the First Amendment guarantees a relatively unlimited right of free speech, although some US states still have blasphemy laws on the books. Chapter 272 of the Massachusetts General Laws states, for example:
Section 36. Whoever wilfully blasphemes the holy name of God by denying, cursing or contumeliously reproaching God, his creation, government or final judging of the world, or by cursing or contumeliously reproaching Jesus Christ or the Holy Ghost, or by cursing or contumeliously reproaching or exposing to contempt and ridicule, the holy word of God contained in the holy scriptures shall be punished by imprisonment in jail for not more than one year or by a fine of not more than three hundred dollars, and may also be bound to good behavior.
The history of Maryland’s blasphemy statutes suggests that even into the 1930s, the First Amendment was not recognized as preventing states from passing such laws. An 1879 codification of Maryland statutes prohibited blasphemy:
Art. 72, sec. 189If any person, by writing or speaking, shall blaspheme or curse God, or shall write or utter any profane words of and concerning our Saviour, Jesus Christ, or of and concerning the Trinity, or any of the persons thereof, he shall, on conviction, be fined not more than one hundred dollars, or imprisoned not more than six months, or both fined and imprisoned as aforesaid, at the discretion of the court.
According to the marginalia, this statute was adopted in 1819, and a similar law dates back to 1723. In 1904, the statute was still on the books at Art. 27, sec. 20, unaltered in text.[1]. As late as 1939, this statute was still the law of Maryland.[2] It is unclear from the statutes and notes when Maryland’s blasphemy statute was last prosecuted.
However, the US Supreme Court in Joseph Burstyn, Inc v Wilson 1952 held that the New York State blasphemy law was an unconstitutional prior restraint on freedom of speech. The court stated that “It is not the business of government in our nation to suppress real or imagined attacks upon a particular religious doctrine, whether they appear in publications, speeches or motion pictures.”
The last person to be jailed in the United States for blasphemy was Abner Kneeland in 1838, as decided by the Massachusetts case Commonwealth v. Kneeland.
So these laws were are some still are on the books. Now go away and STFU!
Yes, douchebag, I’m a teacher. As such, I recognize plagiarism when I see it:
You make baby Jesus cry:
http://www.triviumpursuit.com/articles/plagiarism.php
[quote]The deliberate plagiarizing of ideas is akin to the sin of kidnapping. In fact, that is exactly what the word “plagiarize” means–“kidnap.” “And he that stealeth a man, and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death.” (Exodus 21:16, compare Deuteronomy 24:7; 1st Timothy 1:10) When you take another man’s ideas, born of his own mind, and you use them as if they were your own children, you destroy another man’s house and leave him without his child. You steal the heritage which God has given that man. “Thou shalt not steal.” (Romans 13:9; Exodus 20:15; Leviticus 19:11; Deuteronomy 5:19;Matthew 19:18; Mark 10:19; Luke 18:20) You take away from him the reward for his own efforts of thought. “Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn.” “The laborer is worthy of his reward.” (1st Timothy 5:18; 1st Corinthians 9:9; Matthew 10:10; Luke 10:7; Leviticus 19:13; Deuteronomy 24:15; 25:4) So much did God consider intellectual property to be private property, that He even protected the copyright of His own revelations. “I am against the prophets, saith the Lord, that steal My words every one from his neighbor.” (Jeremiah 23:30) Only those prophets authorized by God may use God’s words. None others may borrow them to establish their own credibility.
The world may see plagiarism as a small thing of no consequence. But we should see plagiarism for what it truly is-- thievery in the sight of God.[/quote]
Beyond exposing yourself as a thief, what did you think your stolen quote proved? It says nothing about America being founded upon Christian principles. It just shows that there were (and still are) lots of stupid state laws on the books. Here’s a lot more from Mass. (most of which haven’t been repealed):
http://www.justafreak.com/law/massachusetts.shtml
At a wake, mourners may eat no more than three sandwiches.
Snoring is prohibited unless all bedroom windows are closed and securely locked.
An old ordinance declares goatees illegal unless you first pay a special license fee for the privilege of wearing one in public.
Taxi drivers are prohibited from making love in the front seat of their taxi during their shifts.
All men must carry a rifle to church on Sunday.
Hunting on Sundays is prohibited.
It is illegal to go to bed without first having a full bath.
A woman can not be on top in sexual activities.
No gorilla is allowed in the back seat of any car.
Tattooing and body piercing is illegal. (Repealed)
Children may smoke, but they may not purchase cigarettes.
Tomatoes may not be used in the production of clam chowder.
Quakers and witches are banned.
Bullets may not be used as currency.
Massachusetts liquor stores can only open on Sundays if they are in Berkshire, Essex, Franklin, Middlesex or Worcester counties and are within 10 miles of the Vermont or New Hampshire borders.
Alcoholic drink specials are illegal.
Public boxing matches are outlawed.
Shooting ranges may not set up targets that resemble human beings
Even in Mass. the last person prosecuted for blasphemy was in 1838. Well, God damn, it seems like it didn’t take them long to figure out that blasphemy laws were UNAMERICAN and aginst the original intent of the founding fathers.
Of course originally the Constitution was only applied to the Federal government. If it was applied to state laws from the get go, there wouldn’t have been any blasphemy laws on the books.
I suppose you weren’t able to find anything that supported AMERICA (not Mass.) being founded upon Christian principles.
[quote]Headhunter wrote:
The principles of Christian morality are a major part of the foundations of this country. This is what is meant, when the US is described as a Christian nation.
Considering all the other religions in the world, I’m glad I live in a nation founded upon Christian principles.
HH[/quote]
What Christian principles are those?
[quote]KombatAthlete wrote:
Headhunter wrote:
The principles of Christian morality are a major part of the foundations of this country. This is what is meant, when the US is described as a Christian nation.
Considering all the other religions in the world, I’m glad I live in a nation founded upon Christian principles.
HH
What Christian principles are those? [/quote]
Do unto others as you’d have done unto you. This is the foundation of our republic.