Kansas Gov. Brownback: Stand Your Ground

"Americans United for separation of church and state is a nonpartisan organization dedicated to preserving church-state separation to ensure religious freedom for all Americans."

Americans United is crying "foul" to Kansas Governor Sam Brownback's "promotion of a fundamentalist prayer event" (a ReignDown USA rally):

Said Vickie Sandell Stangl, president of the Great Plains Chapter of Americans United, "The governor is really overstepping his constitutional bounds. He was elected to serve as governor of our state, not our state pastor-in-chief." (source)

The "separation of church and state," commonly believed to mean the prohibition of religious discourse in the public forum, is in fact a perversion of what Thomas Jefferson wrote in a letter to the Danbury Baptist Association in 1802. His statement to indicate the protection of the church from government interference has been completely flipped on its head to mean no religion in public discourse at all.

Few people know that the US Congress commissioned the publication of the first English Bible in the US to be used in its schools, which clearly does not support this interpretation of what Jefferson said in this letter. Nowhere in the Constitution or Declaration of Independence is there a calling for the "separation of church and state," but instead it says that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion," meaning that they will not set up one denomination in particular as the official state religion of America (such as the Church of England), and "shall make no law...prohibiting the free exercise thereof."

According to Americans United, "Leaders of the fundamentalist movement want to tear down the wall of separation between religion and government and impose their religious viewpoint on all Americans."  Well, there never was a "wall" in the way you have interpreted it.

So Governor Brownback, continue to demonstrate the faith of our Founding Fathers--they would have wanted it that way.  God bless the State of Kansas.

Governor Brownback's Proclamation


TO THE PEOPLE OF KANSAS, GREETINGS:

WHEREAS, the State of Kansas will host the national simulcast of REIGNDOWN USA in Topeka on December 8, 2012, bringing thousands here from across the country; and

WHEREAS, people from across America will join the millions from around the world on TV simulcast live from MacLennan Park, in the heart of America; and

WHEREAS, the first REIGNDOWN celebration was held 2008 in Washington DC, on the Capitol Grounds, introduced by proclamation of the President of the United States of America, with millions participating on site, on TV, and by computer; and WHEREAS, regional REIGNDOWN events continued until the need was seen for the gathering to be held in the heart of our Nation; and

WHEREAS, many of our families have slid into poverty, endangering out next generation of citizens, our lands are parched by drought, our quality jobs are scarce, business and industry are struggling to expand, and many of our people have fallen into despair; and

WHEREAS, our Nation’s greatest leaders have called on a merciful God for favor during troubled times, such as:

“We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven; we have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity; we have grown in numbers, wealth and power as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God.”- Abraham Lincoln, 1863.

“The propitious [favorable] smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained.” – George Washington 1789.

“I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that his justice cannot sleep forever.” Thomas Jefferson 1787; and

WHEREAS, we collectively repent of distancing ourselves from God and ask for His mercy on us:

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Sam Brownback, GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF KANSAS, do hereby proclaim December 8th 2012, as a Day of Restoration in Kansas and ask every citizen of our state to join in asking a Holy God to bring healing and restoration – help in mending broken lives, bringing peace to our families, our communities, and this land.

DONE: At the Capitol in Topeka under the Great Seal of the State this 23rd day of November, A.D. 2012

(source)

--Against All Enemies

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Of Whom, Or What, Are They Afraid?

Of Whom, Or What, Are They Afraid?
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet

You know, for people who profess not to believe in a god, or even in the existence of God, some of these non-religious people sure seem to be frightened of SOMETHING.

Hardly a week goes by that we do not see evidence of their near overwhelming fear. 

In America, non-religious are free to, uh, do whatever it is they do instead of worshiping a deity. Apparently, that sort of lifestyle in not, well, very fulfilling.  How else to explain their seeming need to interfere with the choice of other Americans to worship the deity of their choice.

Now, I know they use the excuse of being concerned over the lack, in many situations,  of separation between church and state.  But, in my opinion, that is simply a "cover." 

As I see it, atheists simply USE the so-called constitutional declaration that church and state should never meet, let alone come it contact.

Let's be clear.  The US Constitution does not declare a separation of church and state.  Nowhere in that esteemed document does the language come anywhere near saying that.  What the constitution does state, and clearly, is that the state cannot establish a "state" religion.  It also guarantees Americans the right to worship as they please without interference by the state, or anyone else.

THAT amendment is violated time and again, by the state and others, who seem to have missed it, entirely, in their reading of the constitution.

In recent decades there has been a definite up-tick in atheists demanding that religious symbols be removed from public view.   They have adopted the time-honored "victimhood" ruse used so often and so  successfully by minority groups in America. 

But here's the thing:  The non-religious community in America is under absolutely NO THREAT from the religious community in America.  Neither are they being threatened by any state of the union -- and certainly not from the US government.

So what are they afraid of?  Why do they so obviously feel threatened?  Clearly, they present as threatened and/or afraid.

What else are we to surmise when the sight of a cross, a Star of David, a Christmas creche, a carving of the Ten Commandments, whether on state owned property or the top of a mountain, well off the beaten path, causes them to freak out?.  Why does a notation on America's paper money, proclaiming that America trusts in God, frighten them so much.  Those symbols may well be emblematic of religion but they are also well known signs of civility and a reasonably well-behaved society. 

In my opinion, the anti-religion folk's reaction to all these things is rooted in guilt.  It is as if they are proclaiming, if I have no god, then neither should you. 

I think their self-determination that there is no God, that God does not exist, goes so against the wiring of the human mind that, deep down, they know they are disconnected from the remainder of humanity.  Suddenly, they are alone -- alone in the universe -- and they are afraid. 

When human beings live in a state of protracted fear, they tend to lash out, even when there is no threat.  Innately, they know they are wrong.  They know they are not in accord with the human universe and that "apartness" makes them afraid.  So they lash out.

When a simple religious symbol such as a cross, or a Star of David becomes such an affront to them, their reaction is due, I believe,  to deep rooted guilt -- and they are truly afraid.

Therefore all these things, these symbols, must not be seen.  They must be kept from public view, so that they, the non-religious, the anti-religious, cannot view them. They are all reminders of their decision to separate themselves from all of mankind, to be alone in a world, indeed, in a universe that NEEDS the existence of a Supreme Being.

To make their existence even more bitter is the knowledge that they will forever be cut off from, not just their fellow humans but, on the off chance that there is a God, they will be forever cut off from Him , as well.

They are a community set apart, by their own choosing, and they are angry, even furious that we don't see their obvious intellectual supremacy over those of us who choose to put our faith in a being we insist is there and to whom we are, in the end,  answerable.  They refuse to accept "faith" as real even though their belief in no god is the very definition of faith.  They are very sensitive and when challenged become very defensive because, deep down they really DO understand that they might be wrong. 

They are a pitiful lot.  They don't "belong" (in the sense of being a part of) in a society of human beings who recognize man's inability to save himself from his own tendency to create havoc and disorder.  They separate themselves from a society, which has a yearning for a creator who cares for his creation and provides solace when the rigors of this life overwhelm us.

When the inevitable storms of life come, the people of faith have an anchor and a safe harbor.  The non-religious, the anti-religious, and those who deny the existence of God, don't have that.  They resent the fact that they don't --  even though it is the direct result of a choice they, themselves, made.

Those who recognize no more powerful being than themselves have only their intellect to depend upon.  Maybe I'm not as smart as they are -- but I'm smart enough to know that I am not the most intelligent being in existence.

In my faith, we are taught to love "those who spitefully use us."  It is a difficult thing to do as we are so often spitefully used today. 

Finally, to those who deny the existence of God and who resent those of us who are betting our souls that He does exist, we ask you to ponder this:  What if YOU are WRONG?  I mean, you were smart enough to determine that God does not exist.  Surely you are smart enough to figure out what comes next -- if you are wrong.  Don't you?

J. D. Longstreet