Last week, on Fareed Zakaria GPS, Bernard Lewis illuminated a vital fact that plays a large part in our Middle East relations; or the lack thereof. In the Middle East, political power comes from Allah. (God, in the West.)
I will now illuminate another vital fact. America is a theocracy.
Perhaps we no longer teach Constitutional Pre-History. Hence: The Pilgrims, English, went to Holland seeking religious freedom. When they saw that their English children were becoming Dutch children, the Pilgrims set sail for the new world. There, they established a religious colony.
Early American Literature was, for the most part, written by Protestant Ministers. (Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) and so on.)
Therefore, by extension, a very brief refresher:
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one
people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with
another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and
equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle
them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they
should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created
equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable
Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
We the People of
the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish
Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence,
promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to
ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution
for the United States of America.
By this, our right to govern ourselves was declared a right endowed by our creator.
Our power comes from God.
Now, as time passes and we become more affluent, we've moved away from the Spirit and the Letter of our early establishment of law. This law is now a law that we "do ordain and establish" for ourselves by the Constitution which we've written and continue to write.
The first third of the very first Amendment to our Constitution--necessary for its ratification--reads: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;
Yet, Congress opens with a prayer.
Now, we can debate the issue, however, that does not help us with our Middle East relations. In the Arab World, power from Allah is not subject to opinion and debate.
This, among other things in the news, prompted me to write the article, "Our Middle East Muddling" http://slimviews.blogspot.com/2012/03/our-middle-east-muddling.html
A quotations adapted from the Bobby Wolff Bridge Column: "Some people use the Bible the way a drunkard uses a streetlamp. More for support than illumination."
Perhaps this article and the link provided will provide some illumination.
Sincerest regards,
Slim
Copyright (c) 2012 Slim Fairview
All rights reserved.
Slimviews is an unsponsored, unsupported, sometimes unsupportable, non-profit, and--alas--unprofitable web log by Slim Fairview.
