Originally posted by rwingettSo its OK to not be perfect so long as they don't believe in God or is believing in God and having faith OK to be a public servant so long as you do your job well?
Obviously nobody is perfect. But impartiality is the standard that should be aspired to for public servants.
Originally posted by rwingettSo I was right my faith in God is your devil. Naturally you cannot blame God because you refuse to say he exists so you blame me. I knew it, its all my fault!! :'(
[b]I don't believe god causes anything to run amok. I believe that all things that run amok have natural causes. People who pretend to 'know' the word of god are frequently that cause. So god is not my devil. You are.
Originally posted by whodeyThere obviously are, and have been, many public servants who believe in god. John F. Kennedy was one. Consider his quote below compared to some of the garbage Huckabee has spewed forth:
So its OK to not be perfect so long as they don't believe in God or is believing in God and having faith OK to be a public servant so long as you do your job well?
I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute--where no Catholic prelate would tell the President (should he be Catholic) how to act, and no Protestant minister would tell his parishioners for whom to vote--where no church or church school is granted any public funds or political preference--and where no man is denied public office merely because his religion differs from the President who might appoint him or the people who might elect him.
Originally posted by DoctorScribblesMuch of the US, and the world for that matter, is lacking even the most basic of moral and ethical principles beyond those that serve the individual or immediate herd's own needs. The moral compass of society is spinning uncontrolled. We profess to have individuality, to be free and, yet, we often look to our leaders, prominent figures, the 1 percenters to tell us, guide us in what to think, believe, what is moral and ethical.
The sort of tradition and bigotry that puts gays in jail certainly is.
And in general, I would say that tradition and bigotry are both incompatible with proper moral deliberation since they both involve willful irrationality.
Only by forsaking the will of others and developing/learning morals and ethics from first pricipals can we be free.
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Originally posted by rwingettOf course there are different opinions as to what qualifies a seperation of church and state. For example, is it a violation of the seperation of church and state to politically be proactive in opposing certain ideologies and beliefs that are opposite your own such as abortion? Some would say yes and other would say no. However, my definition of a violation of church and state would be for the state to adopt a parituclar religion and/or sponser only a pariticual religion in preference to all other religions. It has nothing to do with being politically active to try and sway a pariticular government to inact legislation that is more in line with your particular belief system and/or morals. I can't speak for Huckabee nor do I follow him, however, from what he has said I get the impression that perhaps he only wants the US to adopt legislation that mirrors his own morals rather than attempthing to cause the US to endorse a particular religoin. For example, one could amend the constitution so that the unborn are given the rights of those that have already been born. This would not be a violation of church and state in my opinion and nor would it be a violation of the Constitution. After all, the Constitution allows such changes to take place so long as you are not endorsing a particular religion. In fact, there are many religions that would probably endorse such a postion as well as perhaps those who are atheists. On the other hand, if he were to pass legislation that causes the state to abide by the teachings of a particular religion or vice versa no matter the issue at hand then it would be a violation of church and state.
There obviously are, and have been, many public servants who believe in god. John F. Kennedy was one. Consider his quote below compared to some of the garbage Huckabee has spewed forth:
I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute--where no Catholic prelate would tell the President (should he be Catholic) how to act, an ...[text shortened]... religion differs from the President who might appoint him or the people who might elect him.
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Originally posted by AThousandYoungAs a society we are free to have a voice in how our government inacts legislation. To do otherwise would be negligent. How then would those who are religious not speak out against legislating prositution, drug abuse ect? However, it is far different than adopting the Ten Commandments or the Bible or sharia law to live by. For example, our laws already mirror most of the Ten Commandments such as thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal etc, however, our laws do not endorse nor adopt the Ten Commandments as a voice of authority over the law of government. In fact, to drive home this point the Ten
They force their religious rules on others...kind of the Christian version of Sharia. No homosexuality, no drugs, no prostitution, no this, no that...
Commandments are not even allowed to sit our court rooms in the US anymore. That is the difference between allowing the morals of a society to reflect its own morals through its governement and a society that allows its morals to be dictated to through the state via a particular religion.
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Originally posted by Hand of HecateI have to agree with you on one point. As human beings we have a tendency to adopt the morals of those that we percieve as being in authority over us. It is simply the way we are wired. For example, before slavery was outlawed by in large the majority of people endorsed it as "OK". However, now that it has been outlawed for a very long time the thought of it seems repugnant to most. The same can be said of abortion. At one time the thought of it seemed immoral to most before it was made legal but now most say it is "OK" after being made legal for a number of years.
Much of the US, and the world for that matter, is lacking even the most basic of moral and ethical principles beyond those that serve the individual or immediate herd's own needs. The moral compass of society is spinning uncontrolled. We profess to have individuality, to be free and, yet, we often look to our leaders, prominent figures, the 1 percen ...[text shortened]... e will of others and developing/learning morals and ethics from first pricipals can we be free.
Now as for you last comment you lost me. How does one forsake others and learn morals from first principals so that we can be free? That sounds more like just talk than something that is real to me.