Conservatives Blasting Obama For Saying We’re Not A Christian Nation
June 23rd, 2008, 4:55 PM EDT
Even though he used the modifier: “at least not ‘just’.”
And even though, guess what? We’re not a “Christian nation”.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmC3IevZiik]
And then he went on to say, “We are also a Jewish nation, a Muslim nation and a Buddhist nation and a Hundu nation and a nation of non-believers.”
Some “group” calling itself “The Coalition Against Anti-Christian Rhetoric” edited the speech to show Obama claiming we’re a Muslim nation. Here is what they did, versus the reality:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiaG2jBRv0E]
There is no web site for “Coalition Against Anti-Christian Rhetoric”, and no name attached to it. Why is no one taking responsibility for this fine piece of wizardry?
Selective listening with a mean purpose! Sad! But expected.
June 23rd, 2008 at 5:16 pm
I REALLY start to think that some of these conservatives,(usually the loudest), either don’t understand this country or REALLY DO hate it’s foundations!
They would be much more comfortable in Saudi Arabia.
But I mean Geeez:
Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba, said that the Bush administration “has committed war crimes”.
Lawrence Wilkerson, former chief of staff to Colin Powell, told Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) that over 100 detainees have died in U.S. custody, with up to 27 of these declared homicides.
And THIS is what the media is talking about?
June 23rd, 2008 at 5:46 pm
I agree that we’re a Christian and Jewish nation, but a Muslim nation we are not.
June 23rd, 2008 at 6:11 pm
WERE NOT A CHRISTIAN NATION! we are a religious free nation, THATS how we came about. read a history book.
June 23rd, 2008 at 6:36 pm
I remember this from Mad Magazine around the 2004 election and thought I would pass it along:
Republican campaign ad, if George W. Bush Ran Against Jesus:
Jesus of Nazareth says,
“Give to him who begs from you, and do not refuse him who would borrow from you”
JESUS FAVORS MORE GOVERNMENT HANDOUTS FOR WELFARE CHEATS
Jesus of Nazareth says,
“Do not judge, or you too will be judged.
JESUS IS SOFT ON CRIME
Jesus of Nazareth says,
‘Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.’”
JESUS WILL RAISE YOUR TAXES
Jesus of Nazareth says,
But I tell you not to resist an evildoer. On the contrary, whoever slaps you on the right cheek, turn the other to him as well.
CAN WE TRUST JESUS TO FIGHT THE WAR ON TERROR?
JESUS…
WRONG ON SOCIAL ISSUES,
WRONG ON CRIME,
WRONG ON DEFENSE,
WRONG FOR AMERICA!
June 23rd, 2008 at 6:39 pm
Most of our founders were Episcopalian, so as an Episcopalian myself I’m eminently well-qualified to inform you all that while we’re a largely Christian people, our “nation” is neither Christian nor Jewish, or anything else.
June 23rd, 2008 at 6:45 pm
Our tradition is that we’re a Christian nation with a secular government.
But as the war against religion continues on we’ll find we’re a secular nation with a tyrannical government. Freedom comes with faith in God.
Only a self-restraining self-regulating people can maintain Liberty.
June 23rd, 2008 at 7:07 pm
Chris~ the point of Obama’s statement is that we are a nation that is tolerant of other religions. Muslims are a minority, but they are as welcome as any other religious tradition.
I am absolutely DISGUSTED with the mystery group that put that video together. ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTED. It’s blatant lying.
June 23rd, 2008 at 7:08 pm
I heard his original speech, ( I didn’t realize that was the one they doctored.)
It was a great speech because he also pointed out, if we WERE a Christian nation, would it be James Dobson’s
or Al Sharpton’s brand?
What gospels would we adhere to?
( he made the point that we probably could NOT have the defense department if we followed the Sermon on the Mount.)
June 23rd, 2008 at 7:16 pm
Baby Jesus loves the US of A!
June 23rd, 2008 at 7:33 pm
sarcasm just doesn’t go through with typing sometimes…
June 23rd, 2008 at 7:34 pm
Obamas right on. We started out as a Christian Nation but today what a mess! women can get an abortion as easily as buying a pack of gum,same sex marriages, what in the hell is that all about? Little Children put on so called legal drugs when it’s the Parents that are all screwed-up.Wake up America before it’s too late!
June 23rd, 2008 at 7:40 pm
As far as I’m concerned Muslims and their religion of death is not wanted near me.
Why you dont look at Europe to see what happens when you allow too many to come in and form enclaves is not really a mystery, since the Leftist never gives a shit about the disastrous wake of their destructive ideas. Of course this is where you respond by ignoring everything I said and spew a litany of mistakes other people have made.. go ahead, change the subject, and bore us to death.
This is in the news today from UK
Extremists are winning the battle for the hearts and minds of Britain’s young Muslims, a disturbing police report warns. Increasing numbers have become so alienated from mainstream society that they could even lend their support to jihadi terrorism, the study claims.
They found that the radicalisation of young British Muslims was more widespread than previously feared, with “a disturbing proportion” expressing support for extremist elements.
There is tacit support for extremist violence within sections of the Muslim community. It concludes: “Increasing numbers of young Muslim people are becoming sufficiently disaffected with their lives in liberal-democratic-capitalist societies that they might be willing to support violent terrorism to articulate their disillusionment and disengagement.”
Across Britain, the security services have said they are tracking 2,000 individuals suspected of having links to terrorism, investigating 200 networks and monitoring 30 plots.
Professor Innes’s report warns that Islamist terror groups are increasingly operating away from traditional Muslim areas, and are seeking new ways to radicalise vulnerable young people. It comes as police investigate alleged terror plots in Exeter and Bristol.
Anti-terrorism detectives have remarked on the speed with which young people have been converted to extremism and become involved in operations.
=====
Or I could have posted about how women in Brussels avoid walking outside at night time because of the explosion of Muslim-perpetrated gang-rapes against European women, which also occur in Sweden, in Netherlands and in France.
Or this story, also from today
SANTA ANA, Calif. — A former inmate in a California state prison who became part of a domestic terrorist cell that planned to attack United States military operations, “infidels,” and Israeli and Jewish facilities in the Los Angeles area was sentenced Monday morning to 22 years in federal prison.
He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to levy war against the United States through terrorism and conspiracy to possess a firearm.
Authorities say the defendants were members of a radical Islamic organization known as Jam’iyyat Ul-Islam Is-Saheeh, which was run by James while incarcerated at California State Prison-Sacramento.
James admitted during his court appearance that he founded JIS in prison based on his interpretation of Islam, and that he preached targeting the U.S. government, Israel and Jewish people in retaliation for their policies regarding Muslims.
He said Muslims must be allowed to rule themselves under Islamic law and he described “Jihad as the only true anti-terrorism” act
========
I’ll close with this from Belgium.. All i got to say is you idiots who so cowardly complain about Christians yet are completely silent about this stuff (in fact you support it) should get what you deserve:
In a number of neighborhoods in Brussels there are less and less women on the street. Muslim girls are troubled if they don’t wear a headscarf. Ethnic Belgian women are jeered at and called whores if they dare show a piece of naked belly. “An atmosphere of intolerance prevails. Ethnic Belgian women tel me that they wear a scarf because then they aren’t bothered any more.”
State Secretary Brigitte Grouwels says that that’s an unacceptable situation. The women of Brussels will not tolerate it any more.
Safety on the street is one of the themes of the “women build Brussels” (Vrouwen bouwen aan Brussel) that Grouwels organized in 2005. The congress was about the participation of women in social life in the capital, but the fact the women in various neighborhoods can’t be themselves any more, is very important to Grouwels.
Q: Have you yourself been troubled?
A: Yes, and my daughter repeatedly, just as her friends. Those are young women dressed according to fashion, with small blouses and even a bit of naked belly. Immigrant girls are accosted if they don’t wear a headscarf, but also simply because they walk in the street, or if they dare laugh with each other. Take the Zuidlaan across from the South Station. In the past it was a completely mixed neighborhood, where many Belgians had a store. Now it’s a neighborhood where immigrant shops dominate, which are controlled by a specific type of men. They look from the cafes at everybody who passes by and intimidate women. Gradually they disappear from the street scene. An atmosphere of intolerance prevails. Women can’t dress like they would want. Well, we are fed up of being called a whore on the street and jeered at because we are not dressed according to the notions of certain men. It is discourteous and disrespectful behavior towards women.
Q: Who do those men say?
A: Remarks like you don’t belong here, how do you walk dressed, you’re a whore. It’s not only along the Zuidlaan but there it’s beginning to be noticeable that there are less and less women on the street. It happens just as well in Sint-Joost, in Molenbeek, in Schaarbeek, when they’re shopping on the Louizalaan and very frequently on the tram. Rspect is important in the culture of those men. Well, we demand respect for all women. It is a form of verbal abuse that is very disturbing. There are women who tell me if we put a cloth on our head, we’re not accosted any more. Well, that is a step too far.
Q: It’s the Belgians who must adapt to the immigrants?
A: So it is yes. Women must be able to walk about safely night and day. We haven’t fought 50 years for our liberation in order to be set back in time now. We don’t want that in any neighborhood in Brussels.
Q: Who are those men?
A: It’s particularly Moroccan youth, who think they have a right to impose their standards on girls. It also happen by the Turks, particularly in their community, but it’s just as unacceptable. They must also have the right to decide how they want to dress. If we want to show our naked bellies, those men have nothing to do with it.
Q: Were there no great rights in Brussels?
A: That is correct. But we must stay very alert. In the neighborhoods in France where the serious riots took place, you don’t see any more women on the street. The men think that they are the rulers in the street. Where we see that happening we must take action. It’s a sign that a neighborhood is going the wrong way, and there are neighborhoods that are going the wrong way in Brussels, in Molenbeek, Sint Joost, Kregem, Schaarbeek.
Q: Can you change something there with a congress?
A: Not immediately, but if we make it completely clear, all women together, that we don’t accept that and want respect, we’ll already be a step ahead. There are many immigrant women signed up. We come together to recognized our problems and to do something about it.”
Q: You’re a minister, you must do something more about it?
A: The final goal is an action plan for equal opportunities supported by women’s organizations. In Sint Joost the police promised that they will send out street educators who would speak to the boys about their behavior. We will support immigrant women’s groups, so that they can emancipate themselves. There I want to put in a lot of resources.
“Each day I get curses hurled at me a few times,” Congolese Ema (25), sitting at a bench next to the South Station, confirm Grouwels’ picture. “The offenders are mostly North Africans. Sometimes they say whore (pute) in your face, but often they curse you in Arabic, so that you don’t understand it”.
“I know the problem well, a colleague of mine has even got hit one time,” says Flemish Nathalie (31), “but much of the fear is in your head. I myself had bought an apartment in Sint-Joost-ten-Node (a municipality to the north of Brussels central, with a large immigrant population) and that is also known as a problematic neighborhood. But if you show that you know the way there, it goes best. In any case I don’t let it hold me back from going about in the evenings”.
Maaike (24), who had lived with her friend for a year in the area of the South Station, did feel restricted. “When I walked to my school in Anderlecht, I was continuously accosted on the way by groups of men on the street. By itself it was harmless, but after a month I’ve had it with it so much that for the rest of the year I took a bus.”
One time during the year she wore a skirt, and that was also the last time. “I wasn’t yet on the street and I was already called a whore. while it was quite a modest skirt, till even under the knees.” In the end the disapproving glances and remarks annoyed Maaike and her friend so much that they decided to move.
Is Brussels really the Bronx of Europe, or are the most notorious neighborhoods of the Belgian capital not worse off than the Schilderwijk in the Hague or Zuidoost in Amsterdam? That is hard to judge, because there is no concrete data about the number of women who feel threatened or intimidated. “Women who are verbally abused, can go to the police with their story, but they don’t keep data on it,” says Dirk De Backer, Brigitte Grouwels’ spokesperson. Moreover, he adds, people don’t complain so quickly about a few curses from a men on the street.
In the somewhat dingy area about the Annessens metro stop, on the Anderlecht-Brussels border, women without a headscarf seem to be in the minority. On her way down to the underground, Zoubida (41), herself a Moroccan, wants to say something about the behavior of some of the townspeople, on condition that her full name will not be published. “I’ve never been truly driven into a tight spot, but I avoid certain neighborhoods, and then too as much as possible,” she says while looking about nervously. “Molenbeek, Schaarbeek, and also our neighborhood. I take the metro, come here to the hospital and go immediately back home again.” Zoubida is a practicing Muslim, but doesn’t wear a headscarf on her colored blond hair. “Because my employee doesn’t support it, but also and especially because I don’t think it’s necessary. I’m a Muslim in my heart, raise my children on Muslim values, and that is the most important, I think. But some Moroccan Belgians think differently about it,” she sighs.
Zoubida also advices to take the metro quickly, since staying around and asking questions will cause problems. “Or did you bring somebody to protect you?”
Cousins Sabria and Nisrine, both 17, worry less. Arm in arm the girl go to catch up with the last exams before Christmas in their Dutch school. Their darker curls dance unhampered by a veil on their shoulders, both have on tight jeans and a black jacket. “Boys on the street have constant criticism if you don’t cover your hair,” confirms Nisrine. “As if girls with a headscarf are so much more respectable,” says her cousin with indignation. “Because we don’t wear it, they think that everything is allowed. They ask for your telephone number,or begin to pick on you just like that. If you than show that you don’t want it, they turn around like a leaf on the treat and suddenly you’re a slut.” Is there a neighborhood that the girls avoid? “Zwarte Vijvers” (a neighborhood in Molenbeek), they say in chorus. “There you’re not safe as a woman late at night”.
Somewhat further up the Anspachlaan, next to a branch of the Attijariwafa bank which serves Moroccans aboard, is Naima (18), who says she’s never been bothered. Does that have to do with the black headscarf on her hair? “Not at all.” Some men love short skirts, others not at all. In any case you can’t lump together all Moroccan men.
Four female Brussels parliament members blame Brigitte Grouwels for that. Without being acquainted with the problems they think that the State Secretary stigmatizes the whole Moroccan neighborhood and stimulates the feeling of insecurity. Grouwels emphasizes that she’s never said that all men or boys in certain neighborhoods acts with disrespect. “I simply want to make the problem discussable.” ‘Silence kills!’.
The State Secretary had meanwhile announced in the Brussels parliament a scientific study of violence and intimidation against women in the capital. Additionally there will be a report center where women can come with their complaints of verbal aggression.
June 23rd, 2008 at 8:01 pm
cite your source Vince, including a link.
June 23rd, 2008 at 10:02 pm
It would be helpful if you mentioned exactly _which_ Conservatives. Actually, yours is the first mention I’ve heard of this. Maybe I should take in fewer Liberal blogs, so I can avoid time wasted on distractions.
June 23rd, 2008 at 11:56 pm
We may not be having this discussion about relgious freedom in America if the first admendment was never passed. There was a time when OUR Founding Fathers had planend on having an established church or churches.
See Section V. of the link below to get all the details and a history lesson.
http://www.bethelbaptistky.com/library/churchhistory/baptistinamerica.html
This should shred new light on what some Founding Fathers thought of church and state with them wanting a established churches. So yes we a nation with a Christian heritage and I think Obama could not make his words out right again.
June 24th, 2008 at 12:45 am
It’s clear that Obama won the nomination with some help and he’s having problems. Wouldn’t it be a crying shame if Obama’s ego prevented him from actually taking office because he refused to give credit to the people behind his meteoric rise? If you had the keys to the White House within reach, why not pay for the best political minds to help you obtain it? Why not pay for those with a track record of success that helped Obama get where he is? Wouldn’t it be a shame to see Obama “Blow it?” The clock is ticking.
June 24th, 2008 at 2:17 am
Separation of church and state is a myth that has been propagated over and over again.
Now, should we have a state (national) church? Of course not, that’s the point of “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion….” Obviously if there’s a state church we infringe on that. The Founders had no problem with local or even individual state churches.
Tennessee is now Baptist!
The whole basis of the Declaration of Independence: our rights come from our Creator. If we get TOO pluralistic and stop recognizing that fact then we undermine the Divine claim to our rights and it all becomes an amoral nihilistic world of might makes right!
June 24th, 2008 at 2:23 am
flap,
When we see SO much immorality, amorality and nihilism from the religious AND the irreligious,
why is it assumed that morality requires religion?
If GW Bush is to be believed, a lot of Iraqis died because of God sanctioned might makes right!
While I believe that the separation of church and state is NOT a myth, but a noble ideal that protects both religion AND state from each other…
I think we ALSO often see the separation of church and GOD!
June 24th, 2008 at 7:33 am
Vince~ what’s your source for that quote, man? Why would I want to read something when I don’t know where it came from?
June 24th, 2008 at 11:58 am
“why is it assumed that morality requires religion?”
It is just an assumption, and you know what they say about assume.
If morality requires religion, why are the prisons full of Christians?
Christians make up about 80% of the population(84% if you include the pseudo Christians, cults and wierd sects). Yet they represent 93 +/- of the prison population.
Very few Atheists in prison, Atheists make up 9-14% of the population yet are only about 1% of prisoners.
Makes one think.
June 24th, 2008 at 2:42 pm
Sooner or later someone’s going to get the right software and enough processing power and we’ll see videos purporting to depict McCain or Obama having sex with children and animals and murdering elderly folks in nursing homes.
Frankly, I’m surprised no one’s created the Michele “whitey” clip yet. (I mean except for the faux comic version on YouTube.)
June 25th, 2008 at 2:04 am