JFK: What the only 'Irish/Catholic' US President had to say ...

[doublethink]

On the "So-Called Religious Issue"

A speech given as JFK was running for the democratic nomination for the presidency 1960. A speech he gave to the greater Houston Ministerial Association ...

JFK's Speech on His Religion
Sept. 12, 1960


an excerpt.

I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute, where no Catholic prelate would tell the president (should he be Catholic) how to act, and no Protestant minister would tell his parishioners for whom to vote; where no church or church school is granted any public funds or political preference; and where no man is denied public office merely because his religion differs from the president who might appoint him or the people who might elect him.

I believe in an America that is officially neither Catholic, Protestant nor Jewish; where no public official either requests or accepts instructions on public policy from the Pope, the National Council of Churches or any other ecclesiastical source; where no religious body seeks to impose its will directly or indirectly upon the general populace or the public acts of its officials; and where religious liberty is so indivisible that an act against one church is treated as an act against all.

For while this year it may be a Catholic against whom the finger of suspicion is pointed, in other years it has been, and may someday be again, a Jew— or a Quaker or a Unitarian or a Baptist. It was Virginia's harassment of Baptist preachers, for example, that helped lead to Jefferson's statute of religious freedom. Today I may be the victim, but tomorrow it may be you — until the whole fabric of our harmonious society is ripped at a time of great national peril.

Finally, I believe in an America where religious intolerance will someday end; where all men and all churches are treated as equal; where every man has the same right to attend or not attend the church of his choice; where there is no Catholic vote, no anti-Catholic vote, no bloc voting of any kind; and where Catholics, Protestants and Jews, at both the lay and pastoral level, will refrain from those attitudes of disdain and division which have so often marred their works in the past, and promote instead the American ideal of brotherhood. -snip-

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=16920600

note: I see I should of posted this yesterday, but was out of town. Belated Happy St. Patric's Day DU! Peace.

[freshwest]

1. K & R for the separation of church and state and JFK's wise perspectives.

[doublethink]

2. Exactly.

After his speech ...

One inquisitor asked if Kennedy would have his friend Cardinal Cushing deliver a statement to the pope containing the candidate's remarks on the separation of church and state, so that the Vatican "may officially authorize such a belief for all Roman Catholics in the United States." Kennedy standing slightly stoop-shouldered with his hands grasping either side of the podium, replied that just as the clergy had no right to tell him what to do "in my sphere of public responsibility" he had no right to tell Cardinal Cushing to ask the Vatican "to take some action". His sincerity and his reasonableness won over the bulk of his audience. "We appreciate your forthright statement" on minister said. "May I say we have great admiration for you." As Kennedy prepared to leave, he quipped, "I am sure I have made no converts to my church" The ministers may not have been converted to Catholicism, but perhaps to Kennedy's campaign. They gave him a standing ovation. -snip-

From the book: 'Let Every Nation Know' Dallek/Golway, page 40

The Kennedy family in Vatican City 1939.

[freshwest]

4. This is what I brought up with; not as a believer, but that the line goes both ways, within reason.

Society was ordered so that government was respected to take care of certain human, scientific, educational and other needs, including regulation.

The minds of Americans have become so distorted by media pundits and political figures, that common sense and logical positions are in peril of being destroyed. People have forgotten about personal boundaries and respect for differences. The GOP has discarded all of them with their rightwing religion, a combination of militarism and corporatism.

The media encourages people to force others to their will, wrongly. I wonder when simply allowing the freedom of thinking about anything without being ridiculed or punished will not be as embattled as it is now. Polarization should only be used as a temporary focus in private thinking processes, not a permanent state of affairs to divide people.

[doublethink]

5. This ^^^

Very well stated, thank you.

[liberal_at_heart]

3. He was a great president and an eloquent speaker!