Quote:
Originally Posted by evman150
One more thing I forgot to add.
Was anyone else offended by the Rehms' being offended by being called atheists? Like being an atheist is tantamount to being a criminal or something.
I for one am proud to be an atheist, proud to have not been baptized, proud to have never attended a church service in my life, proud to be a champion of skepticism and free thought over credulity and oppression.
Somewhere the US went wrong. Somewhere along the line Thomas Paine's ideals were lost forever to be replaced by George Bush's.
"I do not believe in the creed professed by the Jewish church, by the Roman church, by the Greek church, by the Turkish church, by the Protestant church, nor by any church that I know of. My own mind is my own church. All national institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian or Turkish, appear to me no other than human inventions, set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and profit."
-Thomas Paine
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Sadly, the days of enlightenment philosophers setting the rhetorical tone in the American political debate are long, long gone.
You wouldn't believe how many people down here think the U.S. was "founded on Christian principles." It's sad that a country with such a distinguished political and philosophical history has fallen on such hard times in terms of just basic
historical literacy.
I blame Fox News. Why? I just need someone to blame.