MVWRX, do the reading before the talking. I will give you, or anybody for that matter, $1,000 if they will show me where at in the Constitution of the United States of America it gives the government the authority to separate church and state. Anybody?

 

Look, religion did not start with Christianity. Not even Judaism. If you remember your schooling right, the Romans and Greeks had gods. And they were mostly to explain phenomena. Before that, there were 'religions' that had witches and ghost type figures that explained why someones hair stood up or why lightening took down a big tree. At some point, some oportunistic people took control of the beliefs and made people think they were for morals. But really, it's a crutch to explain things they don't understand. Like I said earlier, the most morally good people I know are not religious and some of the most dispicable people I know are religious. Religion and morals are only tenuously connected in the minds of self-rightous religious people.

 

i would have to disagree. but this is America, and we can believe what we want to believe. that is the beauty of our great country!

 

I don't care where it says it, or who said it, or if it's law, or rumor. There SOULD NOT BE ANY CONNECTION according to logic and the mistakes of the past. If you believe that our government should be a religious entity, go try to take Israel back for the Christians and set up your little theistic dictatorship there.

The more pertinant question is: Where in the Constitution of the United States of America does it give the government the authority to include religion in their politics.

Go thump a bible somewhere else. Even our resident conservatives agree that the religious nuts on the right wing are just that...nuts.

 

im a religious nut on the wrong side! seriously though, IMO the only Christian state is heaven. Nowhere in my theology does it mention trying to take over a ruling institution and forcefully convert the citizens. in fact, it is the opposite

 

Yep, but don't think I (or anyone else here) said we should. I'm merely stating the obvious.... how Christianity relates to our county's foundation, and how our laws reflect such principles.

Where we go from here is really up to our current population, and like I said before, I predict it's downhill =).

 

On planet Earth, the U.S. is as close as you get.

After the Tsunami, churches and citizens of our country went there to spread Christianity to save their souls... not to merely give them sustaining resources.
Sure, some people did it for the tax write-off.

Diversity of religion is growing in the U.S., but why is it a culture of giving, when wealthy nations such as China didn't give a cent?

 

If a religion spreads shouldn't it be because of people gaining interest and finding out that they follow the same ideals? Why do people feel the need to spread personal following onto others?

 

Strongly, disagree with this statement. Go look into some European nations first before you make this statement.

Stop making such huge generilizations. A lot of the people just did it out of the good of their heart. Me included. I didn't do it as a tax write-off or to spread Christianity. They way you sound is like a vulture ready to pounce once he sees someone is in need. And then push your beliefs on them.

Im asuming you mean giving to the victims of the Tsunami. Well you are DEAD wrong. China gave, China $83m in government donations, plus $1.8m donated to the Chinese Red Cross. Now compared to the dollar amount of the US, it is not as big. But if you look at it by relief contributions by countries judged based on a country's GDP and per capita income. The US is 20 on the list and China is number 8.

So "A" for effort to mislead, and "F" for the right facts on the matter.

 

You don't care if it's a rumor or who says it?? What kind of a decision making process is that? You're probably lucky your parents weren't as emotionally guided as you, because you would've been either aborted or ejaculated into a toilet.

Ofcourse logic and mistakes of the past should be dealt with hand-in-hand. I quote, "If we do not learn from our past, we will be doomed to repeat it."

My theistic dictatorship? You think that just because I believe in God that all of the sudden I'm theistic? And as far as a dictatorship, if anybody here is pushing for that it would be you. I can tell by your abstract comments and redundant replies that you are very much a left wing liberal, so that alone tells all. Liberalism is only one step away from a socialistic and communistic way of government, which if you look at the Soviets, is very much a dictatorship. We conservatives are all the way on the other side of the scale!

Our entire Constitution was derived by Thomas Jefferson from the Israelites and the Anglo-Saxons. Everything that was ever written in there was, in one way or another, tied to Christianity and the ten commandments. The government was given no control to force religion and statehood together, because if that were the case, they would have the control to separate them. But our whole society was based on God, and we have every right to act upon that. The separation of state from church(NOT church from state) was clearly written by Thomas Jefferson where the comment origionated from in his letter to a Danbury Baptist pastor saying that 'Christianity should always be in government, but government should never be in Christianity." That was the high wall of seperation that has been misquoted for the last sixty years. In 1890 the Supreme Court made a finding that identified that our United States is in fact a Christian nation based on Christian principles that are founded on their lawgiver Jesus Christ.

 

Probably they don't want you to burn in hell? Give people the information, and they can make the call as individuals.

We all face our maker alone.

 

Is that how you see missionaries, or are you merely commenting on my presentation style?
Would you happen to have a credible source for this info, when the coutries made those donations, and how much was from individuals versus the governments themselves? At one point early on, I heard they hadn't made any noticeable contribution (from some radio news channel).

I guess that depends on you providing a credible source. I don't mind being wrong, but I'll stay tuned until we know for certain one way or another .

 

They will burn in hell if they don't spread religion?

 

Ummmmmmmmmmmmmm... no.

If you see someone who needs help, and you can help them, what do you do?
Many people will walk away, while others will stay and help. I'd like to think I'd do the latter.

I think it's more about helping others, than anything else.
I guess is has to do with the meaning of life... I'd rather not die having only been here merely taking up space.

 

So spreading their religion to others saves the people they are spreading it to from burning in hell?