A Thanksgiving prayer

[antron]

And what can be done about it? Or more specifically, what, which is in your power and mine, can be done about it? Please don't think I'm trying to troll you, it's just that doing something to solve a problem is better than simply arguing about it.

how about re-electing someone who said this:

Whatever we once were, we are no longer a Christian nation — at least, not just; we are also a Jewish nation, a Muslim nation, a Buddhist nation, a Hindu nation, and a nation of nonbelievers. And even if we did have only Christians in our midst, if we expelled every non-Christian from the United States of America, whose Christianity would we teach in the schools? Would we go with James Dobson's, or Al Sharpton's? Which passages of Scripture should guide our public policy? Should we go with Leviticus, which suggests slavery is ok and that eating shellfish is abomination? How about Deuteronomy, which suggests stoning your child if he strays from the faith? Or should we just stick to the Sermon on the Mount - a passage that is so radical that it's doubtful that our own Defense Department would survive its application? So before we get carried away, let's read our bibles. Folks haven't been reading their bibles.

[Specineff]

Well, he has to pander to both the bible thumpers and the reasonable believers. Last time I checked, no one is forcing me to read the bible or agree that a certain deity is the right one under penalty of death, so it's not like we have it too bad nowadays, all things considered.

[shmuppyLove]

If I started a kickstarter for you to write a book, would you do it?

I'd be happy with a 'quote-a-day' calendar

[antron]

Well, he has to pander to both the bible thumpers and the reasonable believers. Last time I checked, no one is forcing me to read the bible or agree that a certain deity is the right one under penalty of death, so it's not like we have it too bad nowadays, all things considered.

Read what's written on the money in your wallet. Also, do you have the option to work and be paid on Dec. 25? Got any kids in public school pledging allegiance to a nation under a certain god? I find the speech to be a pretty fucking big deal, and secular liberals like myself hoped it would go very unnoticed (for the time being). Of course it didn't, but it's not like you can argue with him. The best they could do was take him out of context.

It gives me hope now that he doesn't have to face another election, that he will say more real shit like this to wake people the fuck up.

[Specineff]

Read what's written on the money in your wallet.

Better than "Long live the king". The eye on the pyramid is not really a christian symbol, but I have no problem with it being there for as long as it's been. Some of the Founding Fathers were deists: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deism

Also, do you have the option to work and be paid on Dec. 25?

Yes. But even if I didn't, a day off from work is a day off from work, Saturnalia or not. Same as if I was living in France: I'm not French, I only know of the Revolution from history class, but I'd still enjoy not having to work on Bastille Day and respect that for them it's a holiday.

Got any kids in public school pledging allegiance to a nation under a certain god?

No, but even if it mentioned the Flying Spaghetti Monster, Xenu, or nothing at all, the spirit of the pledge remains. It's not like they're going to get burned at the stake if the school drops the "under God", or that a giant, white-robed Richard Dawkins is going to condemn them to a hell full of science if they are made to say it, right? (All right, that was a bit of trolling, but I said it to provide contrast)

I find the speech to be a pretty fucking big deal, and secular liberals like myself hoped it would go very unnoticed (for the time being). Of course it didn't, but it's not like you can argue with him. The best they could do was take him out of context.

It gives me hope now that he doesn't have to face another election, that he will say more real shit like this to wake people the fuck up.

Dude, politics is the art of pretending to stroke other people's egos while actually stroking one's. (No innuendo intended.) What can we expect nowadays from the place that brought forth the Watergate Scandal, the Iran-contra affair and other embarrasing snafus?

[antron]

Fair enough. I really don't let it bother me as much as it may seem, but I would prefer if this country would stop pretending that it has an official religion.

I only really seen one thing that I found truly outrageous, and that was during a naturalization swearing in ceremony. The video of the president (Obama) said god about 5 times, and then the new citizens were forced to say "so help me god" at the end of the promise. All of this after they were tested on constitution, where they had to know that there was no established religion.

Oh, forgot to say that a vast majority of these new citizens were from India and China, lands whose primary religions are not very compatible with a monotheistic god.

[GaijinPunch]

If I started a kickstarter for you to write a book, would you do it?

I'd be happy with a 'quote-a-day' calendar

Squaring away dough now for either.

Also, do you have the option to work and be paid on Dec. 25?

My office works every Xmas.