Guardian, " we don't do God".

[dand]

In Britain, flaunting God is a political liability, in America it is a political necessity. Unless Kerry sorts out the God problem quickly, he will probably lose.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/weekend/story/0,3605,1261979,00.html

[pinkpops]

1. "posturing little monkey"

good one

[calico1]

2. I agree with the author

but I think this only applies to Bush's base, and Kerry isn't going to get votes from any of them.

[izzie]

4. I am with you on this.

I think all this church stuff is really scary. They are terrorist in their own ways. It is a funny Christian group so in love with Bush and all this killing and world power. I think of them almost like a cult but they sure have got a lot of power. That is the scary part.

[jackofhearts]

3. I don't like how Kerry is currently handling this...

He is playing to the christian fascists. He should be pointing out that nowhere in our constitution does it say we are under some obligation toward bible based laws. He should be pointing out that if the bible has become our source of law just who's interpretation of this book do we use?

I don't question his faith. What I question is how has the christian fascists managed to make it mandatory that you invoke God and the bible in Amerikan politics. This nation was NOT built on that...quite the contrary. And why are the dems not fighting this slide towards a christian taliban?

[Manix]

5. It's a difficult one for me, as I dislike pandering to religious fundies,

but I understand the practical politics of getting elected in America.
I wish we were more enlightened about this.

[dand]

6. We seem very primitive compared to the rest of the world,

like we are just evolving from the dark ages. Thanks for your response manix.

[KoKo]

7. It wasn't that way until Ronald Reagan. The only time relgion played

a big part was with Jack Kennedy, where people were worried that his religion would dominate his Presidency.

Once the Right Wing Fundamentalists started thumping the Bible about "prayer in schools" religion started to dominate politics. Another thing to blame the Repugs for.

Now religion must play a part? I had hoped Kerry, a New Englander, wouldn't pander to the RW Religious in the Bible Belt.

[DemBones DemBones]

8. If you remember, when JFK was elected in 1960 we still had

prayer and Bible reading in the schools. It was, IIRC, 1962 when the Supreme Court ruled it was unconstitutional. It was definitely well into Kennedy's presidency so probably no one had a clue it would happen back in 1960 or it might have been an election issue.

Think back to when we were kids and schools mixed Christian and secular holiday symbols (Santa and nativity scenes, for example) and every day began with the Pledge of Allegiance, Bible reading, and a prayer. All of us who remember those days know that it all became automatic and it's hard to say whether any of it had a positive impact on us. But it seems to many people that we were better off in those days so they think of prayer in the schools as some sort of magic bullet to stop whatever they're afraid of (their kids doing drugs, perhaps.) I think that a lot of people who aren't particularly religious want a sort of civic religion and feel confidence in someone if they perceive him as agreeing with them.

For those reasons, I think Kerry does need to talk about his faith. He can certainly talk about his respect for diversity of belief and nonbelief and his conviction that separation of church and state is essential for our country, while communicating that he is a churchgoer who tries to live a moral life -- but does not believe God will tell him what to do as president!

[KoKo]

9. You are correct, and it didn't become an issue until it was taken away.

I forget the name of the woman who sued to get religion out schools...I think it was an ACLU case? So, once it was gone, it became an issue used by the Repugs.

However, I still don't like our Politicians pandering to the RW about this. It just keeps the issue as a hot button. I hope that Kerry will begin to turn the tone of discussion away from wearing "religion on your sleeve." It's just gone too far.

America was much more homogenous back when folks could celebrate relgious belief in the schools. I can feel nostalgic about it, but know that with so much religious diversity in our population, we can never bring it back the way it was.

[Grins]

10. Madalyn Murray O'Hair

The woman who brought an end to state sponsored school prayer in the 1963 Supreme Court case MURRAY v. CURLETT.

Sad what happened to her. Kidnapped by someone on her staff, along with two of her children. All found dead years later.

Had another son, William, that turned hard-core Christian nut case and attacked her. Have not dug very deep, but it appears that William had a daughter, Robyn, (with who?) who was later adopted by Madalyn and lived with her and William's brother Jon. Last I heard, William is the chairman of the conservative Religious Freedom Coalition in Washington, D.C.

OK. S'plain this one to me: How is William a good "Christian" when he gives up his daughter - to an atheist?

UPDATE: Been digging around. Looks like Robyn is the daughter of Jon, not William. Both slain with Madalyn.

<http://www.angelfire.com/ca6/sandiegoatheist/articles/Madyln_Murray.htm>