Hypocrisy?

www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-29388150

A good post for a Sunday

This eye-opening map was created by the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies.

If you’d like to see state-by-state breakdowns of exactly how many believers each faith has, the ASARB has the maps for you.

Something to think about when you want to go imposing your religion on others.

I find it interesting the places where Islam is the second largest religion.

See also:

• Statistics on Religion in America Report -- Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life

Prayer Decision Follow Up

The High Court decision regarding the Bideford Council's institutionalised prayer has come under criticism from Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury who said the Christian faith is facing "gradual marginalisation".

Indeed, we have an established Church which has shown openness and welcomed Jews and Muslims over the Centuries. In fact, it has shown great tolerance for Catholics as well, and sometimes even fellow protestants.

Great tolerance was shown for the Jews of Lincoln and York.

And the Tudors demonstrated great tolerance for dissent in matters of faith.

And well,we know about Medieval tolerance for the Muslim faith. Fortunately, most of Britains Muslims have only arrived recently.

The beauty of having government and religion intertwined is shown throughout British (and Scottish) history--as well as most of European History. So much so that the nascent United States was secular nation founded upon religious freedom.

As the Vicar of Bray pointed out:

In good King Charles's golden days,
When loyalty had no harm in't,
A zealous High Churchman I was,
And so I gained preferment.
To teach my flock I never missed:
Kings were by God appointed;
And they are damned who dare resist
Or touch the Lord's anointed.

And this is law I will maintain
Until my dying day, sir,
That whatsoever King shall reign,
I'll be Vicar of Bray, sir.

When Royal James obtained the Throne,
And Popery grew in fashion,
The Penal Law I hooted down,
And read the Declaration;
The Church of Rome I found would fit
Full well my constitution;
And I had been a Jesuit
But for the Revolution.

And this is law I will maintain
Until my dying day, sir,
That whatsoever King shall reign,
I'll be Vicar of Bray, sir.

When William, our deliverer, came
To heal the nation's grievance,
Then I turned cat-in-pan again,
And swore to him allegiance
Old principles I did revoke,
Set conscience at a distance,
Passive obedience was a joke,
A jest was non-resistance.

And this is law I will maintain
Until my dying day, sir,
That whatsoever King shall reign,
I'll be Vicar of Bray, sir.

When glorious Anne became our Queen,
The Church of England's glory,
Another face of things was seen,
And I became a Tory.
Occasional Conformist Face!
I damned such moderation;
And thought the Church in danger was
By such prevarication.

And this is law I will maintain
Until my dying day, sir,
That whatsoever King shall reign,
I'll be Vicar of Bray, sir.

When George in pudding-time came o'er
And moderate men looked big, sir,
My principles I changed once more,
And so became a Whig, sir;
And thus preferment I procured
From our Faith's great Defender;
And almost every day abjured
The Pope and the Pretender.

And this is law I will maintain
Until my dying day, sir,
That whatsoever King shall reign,
I'll be Vicar of Bray, sir.

The illustrious House of Hanover,
And Protestant Succession,
By these I lustily will swear
While they can keep possession
For in my faith and loyalty
I never once will falter,
But George my King shall ever be,
Except the times do alter.

And this is law I will maintain
Until my dying day, sir,
That whatsoever King shall reign,
I'll be Vicar of Bray, sir.

Alas, the US would prefer to follow the path of tolerance as shown by its European Cousins rather than that created by the founders.

Town council prayer ruling

Despite being a christian Nation and having an official religion, the British Court of Aphttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifpeals has ruled that the Bideford Town Council is violating the law by requiring prayer during a town council meeting!

Mr Justice Ouseley ruled the prayers were not lawful under section 111 of the Local Government Act 1972; However, he pointed out that prayers could be said as long as councillors were not formally summoned to attend.

Mr Justice Ouseley ruled the prayers as practised by Bideford Town Council had been unlawful because there was no statutory power permitting them to continue.

The NSS, which said prayers had no place in "a secular environment concerned with civic business", argued the "inappropriate" ritual breached articles 9 and 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which protect an individual's right to freedom of conscience, and not to face discrimination.

Now, why can't the US get it's act together as a truly secular society?

Meet Haym Solomon

It's amusing that Jews get short shrift in US history, especially since they were highly important in promoting North American independence. By 1776 and the War of Independence, around 2,000 Jews lived in America, most of them Sephardic Jews of Spanish and Portuguese origin. They played a significant role in the struggle for independence, including fighting the British, with Francis Salvador being the first Jew to die, and playing a key role in financing the revolution, with the most important of the financiers being Haym Solomon. Others, like David Salisbury Franksan, despite loyal service in both the Continental Army and the American diplomatic corps, suffered from his association as aide-de-camp for General Benedict Arnold.

Born in Lissa, Poland, in 1740, Salomon (sometimes written as Solomon and Solomons in period documents) spent several years moving around western Europe and England, developing fluency in several languages that served him well for the remainder of his life. When he reached New York City in 1772, he swiftly established himself as a successful merchant and dealer in foreign securities. He struck up an acquaintance with Alexander MacDougall, leader of the New York Sons of Liberty. At that point, Salomon became active in the patriot cause. When war broke out in 1776, Salomon got a contract to supply American troops in central New York. In 1777, he married Rachel Franks, whose brother Isaac was a lieutenant colonel on George Washington's staff. Their ketubah resides at the American Jewish Historical Society.

In the wake of a fire that destroyed much of New York City, British occupation forces arrested and imprisoned Salomon. He gained release because the British hoped to use his language skills to communicate with their German mercenaries. Instead, Salomon covertly encouraged the Hessians to desert. Arrested again in early 1778, Salomon had his property confiscated. A drum-head court martial sentenced him to hang. Salomon escaped probably with the help of other Sons of Liberty and fled penniless to Philadelphia. His wife and child joined him soon afterward.

In Philadelphia, Salomon resumed his brokerage business. The French Minister appointed him paymaster general of the French forces fighting for the American cause. The Dutch, and Spanish governments also engaged him to sell the securities that supported their loans to the Continental Congress.

Salomon arrived in Philadelphia as the Continental Congress was struggling to raise money to support the war. Congress had no powers of direct taxation and had to rely on requests for money directed to the states, which were mostly refused. The government had no choice but to borrow money and was ultimately bailed out only by loans from the French and Dutch governments.

In 1781, Congress established the Office of Finance to save the United States from fiscal ruin. Salomon allied himself with Superintendent of Finance William Morris and became one of the most effective brokers of bills of exchange to meet federal government expenses. Morris established the Bank of North America and proceeded to finance the Yorktown campaign of Washington and Rochambeau. Morris relied on public-spirited financiers like Salomon to subscribe to the bank, find purchasers for government bills of exchange, and lend their own money to the government. Salomon also personally advanced funds to members of the Continental Congress and other federal officers, charging interest and commissions well below the market rates. James Madison confessed that "I have for some time ... been a pensioner on the favour of Haym Salomon, a Jew broker."

While supporting the national cause, Salomon also played a prominent role in the Philadelphia and national Jewish community affairs. He served as a member of he governing council of Philadelphia's Congregation Mikveh Israel. He was treasurer of Philadelphia's society for indigent travelers, and participated in the nation's first known rabbinic court of arbitration. Salomon helped lead the successful fight to repeal the test oath which barred Jews and other non-Christians from holding public office in Pennsylvania.

He operated within the context of a society, and an age, that considered all Jews as Shylocks and money grubbers. In 1784, writing as "A Jew Broker,' Salomon protested charges that Jewish merchants were profiteering. Salomon thought it unjust that such charges were "cast so indiscriminately on the Jews of this city at large . . . for the faults of a few." His impassioned defence of his fellow Jews brought him national approbation.

Within five years of his arrival in Philadelphia, Salomon advanced from penniless fugitive to respected businessman, philanthropist and defender of his people. He risked his fortune, pledged his good name and credit on behalf of the Revolution, and stood up for religious liberty. Despite financial setbacks at the end of his life, Salomon's name is forever linked to the idealism and success of the American Revolution, and to the contributions Jews have made to the cause of American freedom.

President George Washington remembered the Jewish contribution when he wrote to the Sephardic congregation of Newport, Rhode Island, in a letter dated August 17, 1790: "May the children of the stock of Abraham who dwell in the land continue to merit and enjoy the goodwill of the other inhabitants. While everyone shall sit safely under his own vine and fig-tree and there shall be none to make him afraid."

Unfortunately,time has not been kind to the Jews of the United States. There are those who argue that the United States "is a Christian Nation" and that one must be a Christian to be a good American (I saw that sentiment written in the guest book of an Exhibit on Jews in the Civil War that was held in Ford's Theatre). There is the rise of the religious right that seeks to establish religion in US society contrary to the First Amendment.

Instead of recognising that the US was founded by those of many different faiths, some would eradicate the Constitution's prohibition on religious tests found in Article VI. One doesn't need to be Jewish or Muslim, as Mitt Romney and other Mormons can attest. These people of other, religions than of the mainstream love that the US is a secular nation, that is it has no established religion.

See also
Laurens R. Schwartz, Jews and the American Revolution: Haym Salomon and Others (Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co., 1987).

Prayer in School

Fat White Man's Comment and a Story I mention in another previous post on my blog, Oi Vey!, reminds me of a piece of art I would like to make called prayer in School.

You see, I have no problem with prayer in school. The problem does lie in the fact that the US is religiously neutral. This means that one can’t favour one religion or sect over another.

So, I imagine that prayer in school would have an orthodox Jewish kid davening, a Moslem kneeling toward Mecca, a Hare Krishna, a Catholic saying the rosary, a flagellant, a Pentecostal speaking in tongues, a dervish, a snake handler, a Santeria adherent, and so forth. The ideal picture would have loads of the world’s faiths practising in their own unique ways.

It would be quite a raucous and busy scene!

That’s how I imagine prayer in School!

Three reasons the US government has no business involving itself with relgion

1. No religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States (Article VI).
2. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,
3. or prohibiting the free exercise thereof (First Amendment).
   

I wish US politicians would say that their religion was their own business and stop pandering to the religious right giving these three reasons.

Roe and Heller

Very little of the criticism this page receives addresses the most valid point of criticism which is how can I be upset about DC v. Heller, but not Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973)? But that also works the other way, How can you like Heller-McDonald, but not Roe v. Wade?

There is a simple non-legal answer which is that the most blatant form of tyranny is when a government interferes with a woman’s personal choice to have a child. This is a matter between a woman, her doctor, and her significant other with no place for government interference.

I am amazed at how many people want “gun rights” and freedom from government interference, yet balk at abortion. Also, it is amazing that people can call themselves “pro-life”, yet have no problem with shooting and killing someone. Or even capital punishment.

I mentioned use-benefit analysis in another post and personally, I find abortion to be far more of a right to be protected than some illusory “gun right”.

That said, I have several legal grounds to dislike Heller.

The first is that it is poorly written and does not stand scrutiny. Anyone who has read my posts can see that there are multiple lines of attack of this POS written by a committee.

Secondly, Scalia has had to violate everything he claims to believe in regarding judicial practise. The most egregious of these being that Scalia’s dissent in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, 505 U.S. 833 (1992) acknowledged that abortion rights are of “great importance to many women”, but asserted that it is not a liberty protected by the Constitution, because the Constitution does not mention it!

In fact, reading Planned Parenthood v. Casey makes me even more curious as to how Scalia could deign to find a right of self-defence in the Second Amendment.

Scalia does everything that he expresses disgust in in his Planned Parenthood dissent.

The issue is whether it is a liberty protected by the Constitution of the United States. I am sure it is not. I reach that conclusion not because of anything so exalted as my views concerning the “concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life.” Ibid. Rather, I reach it for the same reason I reach the conclusion that bigamy is not constitutionally protected–because of two simple facts: (1) the Constitution says absolutely nothing about it, and (2) the longstanding traditions of American society have permitted it to be legally proscribed.

Roe v. Wade on the other hand, has some legal basis to support it. The Supreme Court rested its conclusions in Roe on a previously recognized constitutional right to privacy emanating from the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Justice Blackmun said that the “right of privacy, whether it be founded in the Fourteenth Amendment’s concept of personal liberty and restrictions upon state action, as we feel it is, or, as the District Court determined, in the Ninth Amendment’s reservation of rights to the people, is broad enough to encompass a woman’s decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy.”

I am of the school that the decision is correct, but for the wrong reason. The First Amendment States that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof”.

I extend this right to include exercising personal beliefs concerning the beginning of life. The morality of abortion is grounded in the precise belief of the nature of the fetus in Christianity, Judaism, Humanism as well as other religions and ethical systems,. There is a general consensus that when the foetus becomes a human person, then abortions should be severely limited. The question is when does life begin? But that is an ethical decision. Most would confine abortions at the stage when the foetus is viable to situations that threaten the life of the pregnant woman; a very few would eliminate access to abortions totally. The problem that generates so much controversy is that no consensus exists in society over the point, between conception and birth, when personhood begins.

Jewish beliefs and practice concerning abortion do not neatly match either the “pro-life” nor the “pro-choice” points of view. The general principles of modern-day Judaism are that:

• The fetus has great value because it is potentially a human life. It gains “full human status at birth only.”
• Abortions are not permitted on the grounds of genetic imperfections of the fetus.
• Abortions are permitted to save the mother’s life or health.
• With the exception of some Orthodox authorities, Judaism supports abortion access for women.
• ”…each case must be decided individually by a rabbi well-versed in Jewish law.”

Islam allows for abortion in cases where the mother’s life is threatened.

Sikhism has no problem with abortion.

Additionally, while the “right to an abortion” may not be specifically mentioned in the Constitution, it is a personal choice relating to health, personal finances, beliefs and other issues that government has no right to intrude upon.

As I said in my use-benefit analysis post, there are some things which are beneficial to society, of which prevention of unwanted children is one.

At this point, I have to reiterate another point I have made in my posts, that the Heller decision did not invalidate gun control laws. The problem is that Scalia did not give any idea of the scope of his new right.

The problem is that there are loads of knee-jerk RKBA people out there who follow rather than think. They are told that there is an individual right enshrined in this decision and then say this is about time. They do not analyse what has been written or think about the implications.

Next post in this series, Wedge issues.