Don’t Elect Somebody this Ignorant of American History or the Constitution
Here’s a video of John Huckabee McCain claiming not only that America is a Christian nation, but he is also (apparently) implying that Barack Hussein Obama is Muslim.
Huckabee McCain is also saying that only Christians are qualified to be president. If Obama really were Muslim, McCain is saying that would disqualify him outright.
In fact, it’s even worse than that. Notice McCain says he wants someone who has a “solid grounding” in Christianity. He’s implying that even if Obama isn’t Muslim, he’s not a true Christian, because he’s been contaminated by his exposure to Islam.
Do we want such a massive religious bigot in the White House?
(via Atheist Media Blog)
June 8th, 2008 at 9:56 pm
It seems that the good senator is unaware that the words “In God We Trust” on our money and the addition of the words “one nation under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance were incorporated in the 1950s, during Eisenhower’s administration. This was essentially a reaction to Washington’s Communism paranoia which was rampant at that time. (Think Senator Joe McCarthy and his committee.)
Our Founding Fathers were extremely careful to avoid this type of language in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. I think that it would do the senator some good if he actually read these documents and stopped parroting the bullshit that he’s heard from the religious right. Could be that this is a combination of his ignorance of US history and the contents of these documents and a bit of pandering to the Christian right.
June 9th, 2008 at 2:03 am
You forget though Frizz…the vast majority of the American population remains ignorant of this fact…and he is speaking to precisely that majority.
June 9th, 2008 at 6:30 am
Right, Sarah. In fact, I’ve read where there were a great many Christians in the 1800s that were pissed that the USA had never (or not often, anyway) had a Chrtistian president (remember that most of the “founding fathers” were deists). Now, it seems, most in the USA have retconned our history and made every president evah BFFs with Jeezeous. So, of COURSE all future presidents have to be Christians too, because anybody else is a TERRRRRRRist!
June 9th, 2008 at 9:20 am
I fear the answer to that question, if you polled most Americans, would actually be, “Yes!!!!!!! (as long as he’s Xtian).”
:(
June 9th, 2008 at 9:34 am
It’s just another indicator of the terrible state of education in this country that such a large percentage of Americans can hear such a statement and not immediately think “hey, wait just a minute there! What’s this bullshit?”
McPain is pandering to the same people who want to get ID into schools and pollute what’s left of the educational system with their delusional ideas. Once inside, they won’t stop at rewriting biology textbooks. Oh, no - they’ll edit the history books too. Before you know it, kids in public schools will be hearing how Jeeezus himself drafted the Constitution.
June 9th, 2008 at 10:04 am
edlisb, the majority of Muslims in Islamic countries would like to see you dead, according to several recent polls. Quite possibly, the majority of North Koreans would, too. Does that make them right?
The problem with the percentage of Americans agreeing with McCain’s statements is that they’re revealing an appalling state of ignorance. When a majority of Americans are not even aware of the facts concerning their country’s founding, it’s a problem. When so many people are willing to believe blatant falsehoods just because the person promoting them belongs to a certain political party, it’s a problem. We have seen the results of allowing this kind of “majority” to have their way for the last eight years. Do you really want four more years of ignorance-caused disaster in the White House?
June 9th, 2008 at 10:21 am
edilsb - The majority were okay with Jim Crow. The majority were okay with women not being allowed to vote. The majority is not always right.
Despite that, can we not, as free thinkers, be upset that the majority are so closed minded when it comes to religion? Why are we not allowed to disagree? Why are we not allowed to cast our vote in a way that furthers our cause?
It also may come as a shock to you (based on your vote), that we, AMERICANS, are actually allowed to NOT SUPPORT an elected official, even if the majority elected them. (Although in 2000, W was appointed by SCOTUS, NOT by majority election, and in 2004 there were so many voting irregularities it made me sick to my stomach.)
June 9th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
We are not blaming one source here edilsb, HOWEVER if the main man looks bad, it reflects on EVERYONE. The president has always and will always be the scapegoat, because he is the one that everyone recognizes and knows the name and face of (Makes it easier to use a Death Note on them ;P). No one is going to go through every single member of the government branches and remember who they are, what their arguments are and who they support.
If we have a stupid hat on, it draws attention to itself and not so much the rest of the outfit because it is at the top and in the most noticeable place.
Hon, we KNOW they are ignorant, because they don’t even know that we were never founded on religious bases. We have the proof, as previously discussed here on this site, that people in this country are ignorant of basic science, political standings, economics, etc.
And we oppose ALL religious rule, not just Christians; however, in this country, it is the cross that is held the highest. If Islam were the majority of this country, then most of the articles on this site would be against them. It’s simple logic.
For your information: I AM NOT ALLOWED TO VOTE YET! I am sixteen and have no control over the polls for another two years, by which time, the election will be LONG over. Right now, I cannot ‘make a difference’ like you say and vote for the candidate of my choice so I raise my voice against a candidate’s ignorance in hope that the message can be spread. Not all of us are fortunate enough to have any sort of authority over the government.
Even if I could vote though and my party was out-voted…that doesn’t mean we have no right to try and change things (Not the election, but have so sort of control over the current residing party). That is like saying ‘Ok we needed your vote…but since you aren’t of our party, you have no right to have any say in what goes on in the future of your country and its government! Goodbye!’
And in a sense, this is ‘voting irregularities’ because people are being LIED to! It’s like with the women’s suffrage movement where the wordplay caused people to ‘vote against it’ because who wanted to vote for women ’suffering’ as the word implied. A fair vote is when the people know everything there is to know about their candidates, their stances on various political issues, etc.
Yes, it’s impossible, but we can still work towards it in every way.
June 9th, 2008 at 1:29 pm
Two words you may not have heard of: veto, fillibuster.
Except that you said “obvious sarcasm” to “can’t anyone else have been to blame…” so that must mean that you were being sarcastic when you were suggesting the new center-left (not liberal by any stretch) majority is to blame, which means you think that it’s actually the fault of the Republicans, like me… so I guess you actually agree with me, even through your sarcasm? Parsing error…
June 9th, 2008 at 1:34 pm
The first amendment (for now) still gives us that right to make blanket statements, should we choose. It may not be that way if McCain appoints a few SCOTUS justices, but for now it’s still legal. As for moving to Saudi Arabia… Uh… What makes you think atheists and agnostics are compatible with Muslims?
What straw man said that Saudi Arabia is the pinnacle of governing perfection?
June 9th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
I will once the right stops trying to exclude everybody from voting.
June 9th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
Sarah,
You just made my day. I was beginning to lose hope for the future of the US and the world, but you, at only 16, show such great understanding and clarity of thought that my hope is renewed. What we need is more people in your generation to follow your path to truth.
I’m 73 years old and was born during the Great Depression. For many years most people had very little material wealth but we had an abundance of privacy and personal freedom. Now, the steady erosion of our privacy and freedom causes me great pain. I fear most for my grandchildren and great grandchildren. So, Sarah, keep up the good fight. The future of the world is in the hands of you and others in your generation.
June 9th, 2008 at 2:44 pm
I bow to edslib’s mastery of the ad hominem attack.
Frizz - I agree. Sarah has been nothing but an amazing contribution to this site. I was shocked when I learned her age. I know I was nowhere NEAR that level of intelligence and maturity when I was 16.
I’m no 73 (a mere 31!), but I am embarrassed at the world we’re leaving Sarah’s generation and the one to follow.
June 9th, 2008 at 3:34 pm
Frizz: Thank you, although I cannot say the same thing about…well about 98% of the students at my school (The school itself is vair progressive and all the teachers are wonderful…but the students themselves are mostly kids that got kicked out of other schools and no other district will now accept them…so the school’s resources are vastly wasted).
During the Great Depression…wow…that is…wow…We haven’t even covered the Cold War in our history lesson and I can’t say I’ve met (let alone talked to) anyone who has actually lived through all of the events we’ve been learning in class. Most of the adults I’ve met like to treat me like a five year old and pat me on the head and they don’t really talk much about those experiences…It’s really depressing because I want to study humans, their experiences, and history (The closest fit I can find for myself so far has been anthropology), and it would be amazing to hear personal stories and get to talk with someone and ask them questions about their life. I’ve read plenty of historical novels and seen a lot of movies based on people’s lives throughout history…but it’s completely different to talk to them and be able to question their reasonings and dive deeper into their meaning.
I mean heck…you’ve been alive to witness such a compacted progression of history! That astounds me! I’m sure that going through all that wasn’t pleasant…I wasn’t there so I wouldn’t know, but from an outsider’s perspective let me say that I envy you.
Heh…sorry, I’m a history nut so I guess I got a little carried away.
Still…I wish that some of my classmates could talk with people like you…they have lost appreciation for all the things that you and your generation have fought for. I remember my mom telling me a while back that so many girls my age were moving back towards pre-women’s lib because they themselves hadn’t had to fight that and go through the days when a women couldn’t wear jeans or work in the same office as a man. I was shocked hearing that, but after taking a look around…I realized that in a sense it was true. We were born into these rights and so they just seemed natural and the whole ‘fighting for one’s rights’ seemed so abstract and so retro in a sense. They aren’t facing the problems themselves so they overlook them and it’s sad…because I was like them too until my dad came out about his addiction and my world went topsy turvy. It’s kind of scary how fast we can be swept into something and forget what it used to be like.
That’s mostly why I fight. I don’t want to grow into a world that is fine and dandy with things the way they are because there will always be someone else suffering in the world that doesn’t need to be in pain. Even if we improve things one person at a time…I will still have the motivation to keep fighting for my rights and freedom. That’s just how I see things.
Parrot: Well unfortunately my generation so far is hardly…Well let’s just say the future does not look bright here. From my experiences, kids my age think they can just get through life without lifting a finger…we’ve really been spoiled by you guys ;P and while in some cases it’s a good thing…it’s also a negative effect because most people hardly understand the technology and systems that they use every day. Luckily, my classes are pretty open minded, but they are what I call ‘blind liberals’. These are the kinds of kids that edslib is constantly calling us on the Bay. They whine about the world being shit (Ignoring all the good in it) and then give a pathetic and vair childish solution to everyone’s problems. They don’t realize that if it was that simple, it would have already been done and debating with them is vair annoying.
Trust me…while the older generations have helped it along, we are pretty much digging our own grave. I forget if I’ve mentioned it before, but I tutor after school and I’ve had to deal with Juniors who cannot divide eleven by two. Worst of it is: there is no motivation for them…they just don’t care because they are not forced to try harder and they themselves are not driven. I dunno…I’ve never had that problem because I’ve always wanted to be the best and I’ve never taken kindly to being left behind or stumped (Riddles and math problems are my worst enemy) so I’ve driven myself into a search for answers.
Without any fuel (Whether it’s ethanol based or oil) how can even the best race car driver get off the starting line?
June 9th, 2008 at 5:32 pm
Sarah,
Your frustration with being treated like a little kid and not having elders or peers with whom you can discuss things at your level is quite understandable. Believe it or not, I too have difficulty at my age finding someone with which to have an intelligent discussion. That’s one reason why I frequent intelligent and interesting blogs.
Since you’re such a history buff and haven’t been able to talk to people who have lived through The Great Depression, WWII, the Korean War, Vietnam War, etc., I am more than willing to answer your questions and try to give you some insight into how life was during these times. Since people of my generation very rarely are asked how things were and how they lived during their earlier years, I think that anyone of us would be glad to talk to you. In fact, I think that we would feel honored that someone from your generation thinks that our history is important and is interested in hearing about it.
While I am certainly heartened by your intelligence and drive, I’m a bit disappointed to learn that such a large percentage of the kids in your school are as you described. Hopefully they are just slow-starters and will change in the future.
I’ve asked Ron Britton, the blog administrator, to send you my email address if you request it. Just click on the “contact” link at the side of the page.
June 9th, 2008 at 10:10 pm
Frizz: Still…it would be nice having the age to back up my words…seeing as my words are usually meaningless otherwise. However, finding a blog where people don’t just spew out the same crap over and over is hard to find. I’ve actually learned a lot from this site about a lot of different scientific and political advances that I hadn’t even heard of before from just randomly clicking through the articles here.
I’d say more like a wannabe-buff ^^; I’m not exactly as well rounded with history as I want to be at the moment. There is only a little to be gained from my classes (We spent too much time on the Spanish Conquest at the beginning of the year and so we had to skip a lot…and we didn’t get to spend a lot of time on each subject due to lack of time) and then a summer of watching nothing but the History Channel.
Really? No one has ever asked? That’s…kind of sad. I remember we really got into the Depression too (Moreso the aftermath with the New Deal and we even got a field trip out of it where we went across town and looked for all the roads and sidewalks that had the official seal pressed into it) after we read ‘The Grapes of Wrath’. Personal experiences though are so much more human than just looking at pictures of people going through it. I would really love to hear your stories!
My school only has 170 students but from experience with middle school and talking with the kids in the same district through Facebook and Myspace…they act as if nothing affects them and if something doesn’t affect them, why bother with it? I’ve heard a lot of newscasters call us the ‘Trophy Generation’ and it really does fit us well. Minimum work is expected from us for a big reward and. I’m not sure about slow starting…but maybe once high school is over and they realize the chance they missed, maybe that will encourage them to start over. After all, come August, us Juniors will be getting prepped by the teachers for the Pre SAT and then later on in the year the official SAT. I bet that will be a wake up call for at least some of them.
I doubt I could email you tonight, but I’ll glean the email from Ron later and send something along tomorrow ^^ Thank you so much!
June 10th, 2008 at 2:21 am
edilsb:
“Yet another attempt at compromise that many Christian leaders have come up with at first seems reasonable, but it is rotten to the core. It goes like this: “We just want equal time.”
Wrong! We don’t want “equal time” with baby-killers, condom pushers, New Agers, and sodomite recruiters. We do not want them to have any access to public schools. We won’t tolerate their having a single minute to expose our children or anyone else’s children to their godless agenda. Planned Parenthood, Queer nation and their cohorts form hell have no right to give the time of day to children in school and fill their unsuspecting minds with filth. We don’t want equal time, because we want them to have no time.
We will not put the flawless, eternal Word of God on the same par with godless laws, or the ungodly lies of men and demons. God’s Law is supreme and will abide forever. man’s rebellious thoughts are as chaff for the fire.”
~ Randall Terry
“I know this is painful for the ladies to hear, but if you get married, you have accepted the headship of a man, your husband. Christ is the head of the household and the husband is the head of the wife, and that’s the way it is, period.”
“The feminist agenda is not about equal rights for women. It is about a socialist, anti-family political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism, and become lesbians.”
“When I said during my presidential bid that I would only bring Christians and Jews into the government, I hit a firestorm. “What do you mean?” the media challenged me. “You’re not going to bring atheists into the government? How dare you maintain that those who believe in the Judeo-Christian values are better qualified to govern America than Hindus and Muslims?” My simple answer is, “Yes, they are.”
~ Pat Robertson
“Someone must not be afraid to say, ‘moral perversion is wrong.’ If we do not act now, homosexuals will ‘own’ America! If you and I do not speak up now, this homosexual steamroller will literally crush all decent men, women, and children who get in its way … and our nation will pay a terrible price!”
~ Jerry Falwell
-edilsb, those are the sort of “insideous people who are trying to destroy democracy.”
June 10th, 2008 at 6:15 am
Give the rest of them time, Sarah. Not everybody is such an early bloomer. The same exact things were said about the Gen X’ers (my brothers) and the Gen Y’ers (me, I suppose). Eventually we grow up and make something of ourselves — eventually!
The “next generation” is perpetually the lazy generation compared to the previous generation. But that’s only because every previous generation seems to have to walk 12 miles to school in the snow, up-hill both ways.
June 10th, 2008 at 6:31 am
edilsb - it doesn’t matter what I post here, you won’t believe it. You even admitted it. So I will keep this brief: push-polling, overly “fuzzy” matches on convict names versus eligible voters, inadaquette resources at high-turnout polling locations, lying poll workers, campaign associates overseeing election fairness, etc…
No, that time you were not straw manning really, but were instead mostly just asserting proof by verbosity. I’ll be happy to provide links if anybody is interested (even edilsb). i just hesitate to dig them up when edilsb admitted to not caring nor believing anything I link to. lol
June 10th, 2008 at 6:32 am
edilsb - (regarding erosion of freedom) Did you miss when the PATRIOT Act was signed into law?
June 10th, 2008 at 11:15 am
Parrot: I don’t know…I think only about ten kids in my class even want to go to college. I dunno…I hope you’re right though because I can’t say that I have much hope for us.
XD I’ve heard that so many times from my late grandfather and my mom…XD
June 10th, 2008 at 2:27 pm
Sarah - I’m a college dropout.
June 10th, 2008 at 2:28 pm
BTW i felt the same way about my peers back in HS. Who knows what will ultimately happen, of course. But I guess I’m remaining hopefuly because EVERY generation is critized about being lazier than the previous one. That’s just part of becoming an old fogie.
June 10th, 2008 at 4:08 pm
I guess I’m an old fogey at 16 then ;P
June 10th, 2008 at 5:09 pm
Sarah,
You said, “…it would be nice having the age to back up my words…seeing as my words are usually meaningless otherwise.” Not so!!! Increasing age is no guarantee that a person’s words become more meaningful. Sometimes knowledge and wisdom increase with age, sometimes not. How much knowledge and wisdom a person gains and how rapidly, varies from person to person, depending on any number of factors, including their innate intelligence, social influences, psychological influences during their formative years, etc., and just plain chance.
You are a very intelligent young person with drive and a desire to make the world a better place. So, never put yourself down. You’ve got to let yourself develop at your own pace. Don’t worry if all the pieces to the puzzle don’t fall into place right away, things begin to sort themselves out with time. I’m 73 and I still don’t know what I want to do when I grow up.
You’ll always meet people who know a lot more than you, and you’ll also meet people who know a lot less than you. But as the Greek philosopher Socrates said, “To thine own self be true.” Just accept yourself as the individual you are and don’t sweat what other people think of you. You’ll find that you’ll be much happier and the consequences won’t be anyway near as dire as you think. As an illustration, sometime I’ll tell you about my experience when I attended my 50 year high school graduation reunion.
Contact Ron Britton by clicking on the contact link on the Bay of Fundie web page and ask Ron to send you my email address. He said he’d send it to you once you request it.
Got to run now. Talk to you later.
June 10th, 2008 at 5:21 pm
edilsb: Wow, so because it’s not affecting my freedoms-therefore I shouldn’t give a fuck about!
Off topic, but the same could be said about legalizing the right for peculiars to marry.
June 10th, 2008 at 5:47 pm
Oh, and also
http://tinyurl.com/74uzx
June 10th, 2008 at 7:48 pm
Bob, you just made me spit out my tea XD
June 10th, 2008 at 10:11 pm
And I about jumped out of my chair with that link!
Nice music though
June 11th, 2008 at 5:49 am
I wasn’t aware that if a human rights violation doesn’t happen to me, then it doesn’t really happen nor matter. Weird.
June 11th, 2008 at 6:36 am
Sorry guys.Do I owe anyone a new keyboard?
June 11th, 2008 at 9:35 am
Just goes to show you how low the repubs will stoop,and how ignorant they think the American public is as a whole.We’re not all sold on everything he says.
June 11th, 2008 at 2:02 pm
Decrepit Old Fool ( http://www.decrepitoldfool.com/index.php ) has posted a video of Obama’s take on this same subject. My respect and admiration for Obama’s intelligence and reasonableness grows daily.