Quote# 85413
[President Newt Gingrich intends to establish a "Religious Freedom Commission" to oppose separation of church and state.]
Every time America has strayed from the proposition that all men are created by God, and that they are therefore equal, great suffering and turmoil has ensued.
Likewise, every time government oversteps its bounds and exerts control over an individual’s right to freedom of religion and freedom of conscience, or otherwise attempts to usurp his ability to discover truth for himself, it must lie to do so.
A government that prohibits an individual from praying or reading the Bible or displaying religious symbols in public is telling the lie that our Founders intended only certain types of religious expression to be protected.
A government that systematically erodes the people’s ability to make laws based on moral or religious judgment is lying about American history, the rule of law, and the American practice of self-government.
A government that tries to eliminate the concept “under God” from our Pledge of Allegiance as well as our entire political philosophy is lying not only about America’s religious heritage but about the nature of human freedom itself[...]
Today, there are ongoing efforts to remove the constitutional protections of faith and the faithful from our system of government, and to eliminate any public acknowledgment that our liberties come from God. No one should be fooled into believing that this was the intention of our Founding Fathers, nor that doing so will yield anything but a corrupt, despotic government.
The choice before us is whether to accept such a society, or to reaffirm and reassert the truth within our families, our workplaces, and our communities that the cause of human freedom can only be realized in a society that protects, supports, and defends the fundamental rights of freedom of religion and freedom of conscience.
We believe that a presidential commission on religious freedom can play a crucial role in helping our nation’s leaders focus effectively on restoring our ‘noble inheritance’ of religious freedom, which was ‘bought by the toils, and sufferings’ of our ancestors and is simply indispensable to the fulfillment of America’s promise.
Newt Gingrich,
Scribd 92 Comments [12/29/2011 4:22:23 AM]
Fundie Index: 85
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#1361581
TGRwulf
Where to start?
Citation needed, history revisionist, treaty of tripoli, and more.
12/29/2011 8:47:02 AM
#1361582
Panz
Ya know, if I remember right, during the more religious days of the US we mistreated and slaughtered indians and had slaves and had the worst war in American history which freed them, but they were still treated like slime. It wasn't till the modern era when liberalism and less god came around that blacks were given their rights and indians were given apologies for the past 400 years and given rights
12/29/2011 8:47:07 AM
#1361587
Philbert McAdamia
@ The Jamo
Pffft. Nobody is disallowing you to pray or read the bible. Go for your life. The only thing you're disallowed to do is to force other people to read it and force them to agree with its teachings.
Which part don't you understand?
[X] A. All the above.
And then some.
----------------------------------------------
President Newt Gingrich = WRONG!
12/29/2011 8:57:17 AM
#1361593
KittyKaboom
So 'religious freedom' is defined in Gingrich's mind as 'christians having even greater ability to establish themselves as the state-sanctioned religion, thereby granting them even greater ability to restrict and deny rights to (and generally shit all over) people of other religions?
Thank you, Newt. Thank you so, so much for your honesty and complete lack of insight. Now everyone knows what you're about. Without a single word of derision from your competition you have gone Suicide Blonde on your own campaign. On behalf of my Pagan brothers and sisters, Buddhists, Hindus and our non-believing brothers and sisters everywhere, I thank you. Your bloviating, hateful, misogynist ass will never leave it's greasy impression on the leather seat in the oval office.
I salute you, sir. And once again, I thank you.
12/29/2011 9:14:43 AM
#1361595
Thinking Allowed
Translation: We're gonna build a strawman and declare war on it.
12/29/2011 9:24:34 AM
#1361596
Noneofyourbusiness
This guy wishes he could run a HCUA.
12/29/2011 9:35:18 AM
#1361600
The ORIGINAL Pledge did not have the words Under God in it. Those were added in the early 1960s as a response to communism.
Read the constitution about religious freedoms. If a school kid wants to take a minute before an exam and offer up a prayer even if its "OH God why didnt I study !!" thats fine, noone will stop them.
Its when a teacher (government employee) tries to force students to offer up a prayer that problems start. Imagine a Baptist forced to say "Holy Mary mother of god, pray for me! "
Do you want laws banning abortion, birth control, skimpy underwear, flavored body oils, massagers, fluffy handcuffs and restraints ? The catholic church would pass laws in a minute to take the fun out of non-procreative sex.
12/29/2011 9:38:00 AM
#1361605
Osiris
Well there goes religious freedom. Look I'm going to explain this to you conservatards in very simply language. It's unfortunate I don't have a pop-up book with Jesus because that seems to be the only form of written language you understand.
If the government promotes on religion, like Christianity, that has a stated goal of converting and wiping out all other faiths, like Christianity, then that means that every other religion is under attack by the government. The only way the government can protect everyone's religion is that if it doesn't take any religion's side. That means the government can't be seen as promoting any religion at all, so that's why sectarian holiday displays on public property are not allowed. The government cannot, should not, and will not stop you from putting a pageantry display on your front lawn, because that's private property and you can do whatever you want with it. At the same time that also means the government can't stop other people from celebrating or not celebrating their holiday of choice on their private property.
12/29/2011 9:43:28 AM
#1361616
Reynardine
DARVO: Deny, Attack, Reverse Victim and Oppressor. Every abuser does it.
12/29/2011 10:11:44 AM
#1361626
Headache
305+ million people and this IDIOT is one of the front-runners for the GOP nomination for President?
12/29/2011 10:55:12 AM
#1361627
freako104
Uhh Newt the separation of church and state is far more ensuring of religious freedom. Combiining the two would limit the freedom, theocracies don't work
12/29/2011 10:55:47 AM
#1361628
= POPE =
Q: So Newt, what are some of the biggest problems this country is facing?
A: Look at the pretty monkey!
"We believe that a presidential commission on religious freedom can play a crucial role in helping our nation’s leaders focus effectively on restoring our ‘noble inheritance’..."
Would that be the Royal, "we"?
"Noble inheritance", the likes of Cotton Mather, and "decency laws" that prohibit interracial marriage?
Please hurry up and die so we can move on.
12/29/2011 10:56:24 AM
#1361633
J. James
All men being equal is not a religious concept. Read the bible, there's a fuckton of racism there. No, that's more of a scientific fact- we are all indistinguishable homo sapiens, save for a few minor, superficial quirks like skin color and eye folds.
As for separation of church and state, it's there for a fucking reason. If you mess with it, it will turn back and BITE YOU IN YOUR VOLUMINOUS ASS, Newt. Imagine this scenario- mandatory prayer in school is reinstated! Yay Christianity! Oh wait- there's a teacher somewhere forcing children to face east and pray to Allah!! NOOOOOOOOO-
12/29/2011 11:08:36 AM
#1361642
John
Newt should pay close attention to what happened in Albemarle County, VA. There, two kids wanted to send home an announcement of a vacation Bible school in school "backpack mail". The school refused, so Jerry Falwell and his Liberty Council took up the fight under the guise of "religious freedom" and forced the school to allow it. Then along came some Unitarians and insisted the kids take home announcement of their December holidays program, which included pagan rituals. The parents hit the roof. I understand the school has now discontinued "backpack mail" entirely.
12/29/2011 11:29:07 AM
#1361646
whoanelly
And holy shit, this guy is the frontrunner.
I never thought I'd say this ever, but Mitt Romney for the republican nomination, please.
(OR even better, Jon Huntsman. I'd rather Obama over both of them, but at least Huntsman is sane, has foreign policy experience, and wants to break up the big banks.)
12/29/2011 11:39:47 AM
#1361647
Flah
"Today, there are ongoing efforts to remove the constitutional protections of faith and the faithful from our system of government, and to eliminate any public acknowledgment that our liberties come from God. No one should be fooled into believing that this was the intention of our Founding Fathers, nor that doing so will yield anything but a corrupt, despotic government. "
Because, as we all know, there has never been any corrupt despotic government in all of history that acknowledged and actively encouraged worship of God. Nope, never happened. Ever.
12/29/2011 11:40:24 AM
#1361651
derpmaster
@ #1361642/John
Saw that on the Atheist Experience. Classic.
12/29/2011 11:51:14 AM
#1361652
lisamariefan
The sad and ironic thing about people of Newt's ilk is that they're opposed to Sharia law, but for all the wrong reasons.
12/29/2011 11:53:23 AM
#1361654
Anon-e-moose
A simple one-line statement can completely annihilate Salamander's tl;dr:
The last time we had Church & State indivisible, people were burned at the stake.
12/29/2011 12:07:47 PM
#1361655
Karana
Your baseless assumption that 'rights' come from some supernatural sky fairy makes everything that follows just as stupid.
12/29/2011 12:17:54 PM
#1361661
Arctic Knight
"A government that prohibits an individual from praying or reading the Bible or displaying religious symbols in public...."
Lucky for you, the US does not prohibit individuals from praying or reading their Bibles, or displaying their own religious symbols in public.
"A government that systematically erodes the people’s ability to make laws based on moral or religious judgment...."
Making laws based on one groups religious views is unconstitutional as it discriminates against other groups' religious views.
12/29/2011 12:56:49 PM
#1361662
aaa
Oh hey, another plead for the simpletons to vote him.
12/29/2011 1:27:52 PM
#1361663
bluejaysfan
"Religious freedom." Yeah right!
12/29/2011 1:30:08 PM
#1361665
Reckoner
I don't think Newt lives in the same universe as the rest of us.
12/29/2011 1:35:38 PM
#1361667
Mayhem
A Religious Freedom Commission? Are you fucking kidding me?
12/29/2011 1:56:07 PM
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