"Including none at all" 16 Jan 2010 Just when I start to get cynical about Obama’s agenda, he proclaims this: Long before our Nation’s independence, weary settlers sought refuge on our shores to escape religious persecution on other continents. Recognizing their strife and toil, it was the genius of America’s forefathers to protect our freedom of religion, including the freedom to practice none at all. And then he proclaims this “a critical foundation for [America’s] liberty”. God bless him. Or is it a cynical move to appeal to the light and dark skinned black community? Politics Race and politics Religion
Politics Now for the downside of the elections 5 Nov 200818 Sep 2017 The antigay marriage measures in Arizona and Florida passed, and it looks like the Californian one will also pass. I cannot see how anyone can justify refusing a large minority the rights afforded the majority. There’s a name for that. I reiterate my modest proposal. Read More
Evolution Nationalism and evolution 3 Dec 2007 Way back in the 1910s, when human evolution was poorly known, some trickster, probably Charles Dawson, its discoverer, set up a hoax: Piltdown man. This was enthusiastically accepted by many British experts because it made Britain, and in particular, England, a leading locale in human evolution. This was the era… Read More
Censorship The lies of the internet censors: Your. Filter. Won’t. Work. 16 Dec 2008 The title is the title of a nice essay at Crikey. I especially like this: Bernadette McMenamin of ChildWise, you’ve crossed the line, defaming everyone who’s protested the government’s plans. “Most of these people are not fully aware of the facts and secondly, those who are aware are, in effect,… Read More
Long before our Nation’s independence, weary settlers sought refuge on our shores to escape religious persecution on other continents. There may have been some early settlers who fled religious persecution but not many. That’s a great myth. One set of my ancestors were Dutch settlers in the Hudson valley. They were members of the Dutch Reform Church – the same church they belonged to in the Netherlands. Another set were “Puritans” who settled in Connecticut. They belonged to the same Protestant churches that they left in England and the relatives they left behind suffered no obvious persecution – indeed, they took over the government during the civil war! As far as I can tell, my “Puritan” ancestors were more interested in setting up their own system of religious persecution in the new world than in fleeing persecution in England. Settlers in other parts of the 13 colonies included large numbers of Catholics from England and Protestants from Germany and I don’t think it’s fair to claim that they were motivated to emigrate because of religious persecution.
Could you explain your last question? How is it a “cynical move to appeal to the light and dark skinned black community”?