religious crackpots in public life

[Joanna Sheldon]

At 10:18 09-07-00 -0400, Ken M. wrote:
>On Sat, 8 Jul 2000 13:25:52 -0400 Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com> wrote:
>
>> Hmm, not exactly. You can't proclaim specific denominations from the
WH, but 
>appeals to the God of your choice are part of the legitimizing boilerplate
of 
>political discourse. I think every State  of the Union address since
Reagan's 
>first has ended with some variant  of "God bless America." And it says "In
God 
>We Trust" on our money, joining our twin national passions of piety and the 
>dollar.
>
>Sure sure, in the rhetoric, but not officially. 

As an atheist I'm offended even by "in God We Trust" and always refused to
say the pledge of allegiance because it was not only stupid but required me
to say the words "one nation, under God".  But the non-denominational
nature of officially recognized religiosity in the US (which is what the
founding daddies were aiming for) is something to be valued (even if it
does, as someone here suggested, contribute to the hysteria over religion
in the country).  By way of contrast, the Australian Parliament opens every
day with The Lord's Prayer.  Horrifies me.  As does the German practice of
hanging crucifixes on the walls in courts of law.  

BTW, does anyone know what happened in the case of the southern judge who
wanted to hang a copy of the ten commandments in his courtroom?

Cheers,
Joanna

www.overlookhouse.com