In a [previous entry][scared] I used the word “scary” to describe how I feel after the election. Some commenters questioned that choice of words. A letter to the editor in [my local paper][advocate] this morning made me beyond scared. I’m terrified:
[advocate]:http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/opinion/letters/
[scared]:http://www.momathome.com/viewfromhome/life/conversations_with_my_daughter.php
The press and the Democratic Party erred in assuming this election centered on security, the economy and various social issues. Of greater importance to many of us were the moral issues:
Will the “right” to kill preborn children continue unabated?
Will marriage continue to be defined in law as the sacred union of one man and one woman?
Will helpless, frozen embryos be sacrificed in the name of medical research?
The struggle engulfing our country is a spiritual one. This election determined the course of our country: Would we acknowledge America’s Christian foundation, drawing our moral values from the Bible and electing leaders who would draw near to God and seek his face as they embrace the numerous responsibilities placed upon them? Or would we continue into a moral abyss which declares that truth is relative, and those who embrace it have phobias because they are intolerant of the immorality and lawlessness created by relativism?
This isn’t just one right-winger’s opinion. A few months ago, I would have laughed this letter off. Not now. This line of thinking got Bush re-elected.
My morality doesn’t come from the Bible. It comes from a place deep inside that I can’t describe, and I shouldn’t have to. I respect the laws of our country, and I respect myself. I see “God” when I help a family navigate the maze of special education or when my children tell me they love me. I see “God” when someone is having a bad day and I say or do something that makes them smile. I don’t see “God” when I read text on a page, and I’m struggling to come to terms with that. Maybe one day I’ll find a more traditional spiritual center again, and maybe I won’t. I know that 90%+ of this country is Christian, and that’s fine. I’m not afraid of being different. The older I get, the more I embrace what makes me different and I thought I lived in the right country for that.
A leader’s faith should be his guide, not the end result. America used to be about “freedom.” Now as someone who is questioning exactly what God is, I don’t know what America is about. I should be able to say I don’t believe in everything the Bible says. I should be able to say without fear that I don’t believe we are one nation “under God.” But I can’t. And that’s scary.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Judi,
I used the same word on my blog (scary) and for many of the same reasons…you’ve put so eloquently into words what I’ve been trying to say all along…I completely agree with the statement “a leader’s faith should be his guide.”
For some odd reason, I keep thinking about history class and how America “came into being” in the first place when I think about this election…
As someone recently commented on a blog somewhere, it’s the red states that voted for Bush, the blue for Kerry. It’s the blue states that have the biggest targets, and are most likely to get attacked by terrorists. It’s the blue states that cringe in fear when the president tells terrorists to “bring it on”. The red states have nothing to worry about – why not vote for Bush?
Yes, but the letter writer lives here in Connecticut…a “blue” state! Not only that, but Kerry won in this county (Fairfield, CT) by only 353 votes!! (50%/49% with the other 1% going for Nader and other candidates) I would feel better if I believed that it was so close due to the fact that this county has some of the richest folks in the country and they were voting with the tax cut. That I can live with and reason with, even if I don’t agree.
Those of us screaming out in favor of religious freedom and against discrimination ARE STANDING ON A SHAKY BRIDGE. We may control the media, so we think we’re more influential and popular than we really are. We’ve been issued a wake-up call.
I’m not sure if it’s logical, but Bush’s emphasis on his religion and his push for the involvement of religion in government-sponsored affairs makes me worried because I’m not Christian. I’m certainly not a religious Jew, but even as a non-religious one I feel threatened when the right pushes school prayer or claims that Christian values should be the foundation of our government or legal system.
That’s one thing that does scare me — that the concept of separation of church and state, which is required for a state to support a multitude of religions without government interference, is threatened by the election of a leader who believes that his religion and his alone should guide the country.
Well, I’m scared too. 90% of the country is Christian, and I’m not among them, and that’s always been fine with me, but now some of those 90% have gotten the idea that this is a “Christian nation”, an idiotic idea that has absolutely nothing to do with the foundation of this country or the desires of the people who started it. Those people are destroying everything that is good about this country, and the current administration is helping them.
There were a lot of other very good reasons to vote against Bush (and there was no good reason to vote for him) but that was a big one.
Wow, where do I start!
First of all, the country is consider by almost all experts to be a post-Christian society. So, the thought that 80-90% of the country are Christians is wrong. 80% of the country believe in a deity of some kind, but they aren’t Christians.
The foundations of the country were in fact Christian! The Pilgrims didn’t come to America only for freedom of religion (they had that where they were in Holland), instead, they came to found a Christian nation, one that was to be a “City on a Hill.” But please, don’t take my word for it, instead, read the writings of Govenor Bradford or James Winthrop. (That’s specifically for you Jeremy, and I’ll be happy to provide original text.)
Moving on to the foundations of the republic, the vast majority of signers of the Declaration were strong Christians as well (Franklin and Jefferson being the two main deists among the group – and still – what contributors they were! In fact, did you know that Franklin, a deist who never did acknowledge to belief in any type of Christian doctrine was the one who originally proposed that the day be started with prayer to seek the hand of Divine Providence?) In fact, the whole structure of the republic was based on the fact that the people that it was to govern were a religious and moral people. I believe it was George Washington who said that, but I need to look it up to be absolutely sure.
You are right in saying that a person’s faith should guide them. And whatever that faith is, it does. If you’re Christian, religious Jew, secular humanist, agnostic or whatever, those beliefs guide you and you bring them into whatever public forum that you enter. And, you should. The framers of the Consitution believed that as well. They also believed that if someone didn’t believe as they did, they had every right not to. That hasn’t changed. I know no Christian that wants to force his or her religion down someone’s throat (and if they do, they should re-evaluate their position, it wouldn’t be Biblical). So Judi, to even say that you can’t say that you don’t believe what the Bible says and you’re scared of it is silly. If anything, there is religious persecution in the US and it’s against Christianity.
Someone above said they feel afraid when the right pushes school prayer. To the best of my knowledge, they haven’t. What they fight for is the RIGHT to be able to pray in school. And that right has been upheld time after time in local, state, district and the Supreme courts of our land. And it should be. Just like anyone should be able to wear an Ozzy Ozzborne shirt to school, or voice their opinion about anything – so should someone who believes as a Christian, Jew, Muslim or whatever be able to pray to their God without the state interfering. THAT is what the separation of church and state is about (incidentially – a “wall of separation” is a phrase never used in the Declaration, Constitution or any other document of it’s kind. It was a phrase, used by Jefferson to a minister friend). And why were the colonists and founders so concerned about the church and state? Because in England, the state mandated which church you could go to and worship at. It was the Church of England or nothing, and if you didn’t like it, off with your head! That was what the framers and their forefathers were concerned with. So Eric, if your perception of Bush is correct (which it isn’t, the programs he has instituted work with all faiths – not only Christian) then you should be concerned, but from everything I’ve seen, he is more concerned with the Constitution being upheld than forcing his belief on anyone. (By the way, Bill Clinton quoted from the Bible more often than George Bush does).
“One nation under God.” Why is that somehow scary? It actually has a lot of historical precident. Personally, I don’t give a fig really. I was added in the 50’s (1954 I believe) to the pledge. Feel free to take it out.
Whew.
As Judi knows, I’m not a huge fan of this President, and I’m concerned about what he is going to do as well. There is a lot of his policy that I don’t like. But, I still feel better with him in office than Kerry.
In either case, I didn’t think it was scary. I’m not running to Canada. This country is a great country. It is a testement, a true city on a hill as a representative republic (if you want straight democracy – think the French Revloution and you’ve got it) that allows all its constituents to play a part in governing.
GO USA!