Pat Todd continues to be among those who miss the point regarding
getting God out of the public square.
Individual rights and the separation of church and state are
always "divisive" to those who reject the foundations of our liberty.
So be it. Name calling won't silence true Americans who believe in
the founding principles of our country.
"Under God" does not belong in our pledge. And it is un-American
to think that it does belong there.
Only ignorance or dishonesty could lead a person to conclude that
America is a "Christian nation." But, more than this, America is not
only not a "Christian nation" it is the anti-Christian nation.
Christianity is founded on altruism. Altruism is the doctrine that
only those acts that benefit others are moral -- service to others is
the heart of a moral life. Helping an elderly woman cross the street
is a moral act. Being on time for work every day isn't. Donating to a
charity is moral. Saving for a down payment on a house isn't.
America is founded upon "life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness" -- one's own life, one's own liberty, and one's own
happiness. The moral man is the man who pursues and earns his own way
in life. He lives for, and only for, himself. This is egoism --
rational egoism.
Christianity is founded on the philosophy of poverty. Jesus
counseled men to give all of their wealth away and prepare for the
Kingdom of Heaven. All rich men are morally suspect: "It is easier
for camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man
enter heaven." Marxism is simply a secular form of the Christian
ethics.
America is founded upon the pursuit of honestly produced wealth.
Getting rich is the American dream and virtue. Both the Virginia and
Plymouth colonies were founded by private companies whose purpose was
to generate monetary profits. Settlers came primarily for economic
freedom. Religion was not an issue. Capitalism is the American
system.
Christianity is based upon faith in the supernatural. Faith is
believing in the absence of evidence. We know by God's word; we
understand by his grace. Christianity looks to a world in the
hereafter for solace. It looks to prayer to solve problems. Down on
bended knee is the posture of a Christian.
America is based upon reason and nature, and looks to action and
science to solve problems This is grounded in the Enlightenment's
respect for man's intellect and, correspondingly, the wholesale
dismissal of faith and revelation. "Reason is the only oracle of
