The Religious Wrong Strikes Missouri
By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Legislation, ReligionUnbelievable.
A couple Missouri lawmakers have put forth a resolution that would declare Christianity the “majority religion” of the state.
From KMOV:
Missouri legislators in Jefferson City considered a bill that would name Christianity the state’s official “majority” religion.[...]
The resolution would recognize “a Christian god,” and it would not protect minority religions, but “protect the majority’s right to express their religious beliefs.
The resolution also recognizes that, “a greater power exists,” and only Christianity receives what the resolution calls, “justified recognition.”
State representative David Sater of Cassville in southwestern Missouri, sponsored the resolution, but he has refused to talk about it on camera or over the phone.
As many of you know, Missouri is where I live and have lived for pretty much my entire life. It’s also widely known as the “Show-Me” state.
In that spirit, I’d like for the sponsor of this bill, Rep. David Sater, and the co-sponsor, Rep. Barney Joe Fisher, to show me exactly how this resolution is going to help Missouri. And guys, I want details…quickly.
Thankfully, some religious leaders in the state are pretty upset by this blatant attempt to mix church and state:
Some religious leaders on Friday blasted a proposed Missouri House resolution that supports prayer in schools and recognizes a “Christian God,” saying legislators are pushing Christianity as a state religion.“It’s an atrocity,” said the Rev. Timothy L. Carson, senior minister at Webster Groves Christian Church. “Thomas Jefferson would be rolling in his grave. It’s indicative of a movement within one segment of activist Christianity that wants to dominate the rest with their views.”
One note here, I believe the KMOV story that I cited in the first quote got the facts mixed up. This isn’t a bill. It’s a resolution. The difference is a bill could become law, while a resolution is more of a politically charged statement that bears the approval of at least some of the legislature, therefore giving this idea legitimacy.
However, I think this guy sums it up the best…
The Rev. David M. Greenhaw, president of Eden Theological Seminary in St. Louis, said he found the resolution “offensive as a Christian. I don’t want the state defining my Christianity.”
Exactly.
This entry was posted on Sunday, March 5th, 2006 and is filed under Legislation, Religion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
March 5th, 2006 at 9:23 pm
Fellow Missouri resident.
Seperation of church and state must stand.
State indorsed religion is offensive.
Who do these people think they are? GOD
March 5th, 2006 at 10:57 pm
Separation of Church and State.
Period.
I’m an agnostic, and as such, I do not subscribe to any organized religion. My big question, however, is why any state would feel the need to declare a “state religion,” no matter what religion that might be. What, exactly, is the point to be made? This very much reminds me of the Middle East situation where Islam is considered to be the official religion of certain countries. At least as far as those middle eastern countries are concerned, this type of declaration is generally accompanied by a total enmeshment between religious ideologies and government policies. Starting to sound familiar?
March 5th, 2006 at 11:32 pm
Exactly. I don’t understand how this right-wingers can’t see the irony of their actions. We keep em separate for a reason.
March 6th, 2006 at 7:27 am
I’d much rather Christianity be the silent majority, not the “look at me, I’m the majority, so toe the line!” majority.
We don’t need no stinking state recognition.
Freedom of religion is one of the things which makes our country sane.
March 6th, 2006 at 9:16 am
Over the weekend I wondered whether secularism can survive over the long haul in America. Evidently the Christian right is also smelling blood in the water.
March 6th, 2006 at 10:12 am
Well, Joshua…it better. Otherwise millions of our best and brightest are going to leave.
March 6th, 2006 at 10:12 am
Change it a little bit and see what you think of it:
“Missouri legislators in Jefferson City considered a bill that would name Caucasians the state’s official ‘majority’ race.
“The resolution would recognize ‘a Caucasian majority,’ and it would not protect minority races, but ‘protect the majority’s right to express its racial unity.’”
Majorities do not need support of this nature — precisely because they are the majority. The number of incidents of idiotic interference with Christians’ right to practice their religion is far less than the number of incidents of idiotic interferences with non-Christian religions. No one is going to shut down a Catholic church for violating liquor laws because wine is part of its ceremonies. So what does this resolution accomplish, other than to rub in the noses of non-Christians the fact that they are a minority surrounded by an increasingly intolerant majority?
I’m glad to see there are at least some Christian ministers lining up against this particular bit of idiocy.
March 6th, 2006 at 1:37 pm
The problem is that interference with Chirstian practices by non-Christians gets more press than intereference of non-Christian activities by Christians. Thanks to the media, the majority of people in this country is convinced that there is a war on Christianity. And the Left doesn’t do much to dispel this notion. On just about any message board, like Democratic Underground, Christian-bashing is rampant despite TOS rules that state that no religion bashing will be tolerated. People who try to defend Christianity are flamed, if not outright banned.
Big tent, my fanny.
March 6th, 2006 at 1:56 pm
SilverSeraphim…I would simply state that those who would viciously flame Christians in the blogosphere do not represent the majority of Dems in this country. They simply have more time on their hands than most and choose to use it to express their frustration in a way that reflects very poorly on them. But don’t make the mistake of extending that out into the rest of the party. Sure, Dems don’t want to see the religious right have such undue and unchecked influence over the policies of this country. But that doesn’t mean the leaders of the Dem party aren’t extremely faithful people who would fight tooth and nail to secure people’s right to practice their faith free from the watch of the government.
March 7th, 2006 at 2:49 pm
The Church of Jesus Christ the Nuclear Physicist will eventually rule the world. Let’s just keep playing with those little atoms and stuff. We will be bowing before radiation signs on every corner at noon EST everyday. The Church board will be made up of leaders from the US, Russia, Iran, India, China, and Pakistan just for the diversity. Secret meetings will be held all over the US to remember when we had the right to vote …. and a former nation called Korea. Ain’t clairvoyence fun?
Missouri needs a spanking from all who can read, write and VOTE!!!