The Seperation of Church and State
Sometimes
I have a difficult time comprehending peoples rationale. This was
never much of an issue to me until shortly after moving to Florida and
the beginning of our current century. Not sure if that had anything to
do with it, but judging by how much things have changed since then, it
may have.
The first situation I had a hard time comprehending was the fact that “I hate George Bush” bumper stickers began to appear the day after the 2000 election, the man hadn’t even been declared the winner yet and already people were hating him. I had never seen that before, not that soon after an election. I’ve known for a long time that politicians aren’t very civil, but some had just reached a new low, and as I was beginning to realize, we hadn't seen anything yet.
We had just moved to Sarasota Florida and as a result were looking for a social life as well as various other activities to participate in. Having an interest in politics I became interested in attending a local meeting for the separation of church and state. It seemed like a fairly neutral topic, one that would attract people from both sides of the political spectrum. I could see nothing liberal or conservative about it.
To me, the separation of church and state simply means the state cannot force us to practice a certain religion. It means we keep the state out of religion, but we don’t keep God out of government. Our country was founded on Judeo-Christian values and most, if not all of the founding fathers professed a belief in God or a Supreme Being.
In fact the Declaration of Independence clearly states that “We are endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights”, how plain does it have to be? I was soon to learn that not everyone thinks like I do.
The meeting began peaceful enough, the moderator even made reference that there may be some conservatives in the crowd and an effort should be made to be courteous to their opinions. What? You can’t be a conservative and believe in the separation of church and state? I thought the issue in itself was a pretty conservative idea.
The meeting went down hill soon after that and basically turned into a hate George Bush rally.I was informed that I couldn’t possibly believe in the separation of church and state and be a conservative. Whatever happened to the so-called open minded liberals? I soon discovered they are only open minded if you agree with them.
I had never observed so much hatred to anyone or a philosophy as I did at that meeting, I even tried to reason with people individually after the meeting adjourned, when they found out I was a conservative , they would have nothing to do with me. After that, the term “open minded liberal” took on an entirely different meaning.
If anything this meeting reinforced my conservative beliefs and I began to realize there was a huge political divide in this country and it was only getting larger, this new found liberalism was going to have a profound effect on our country and it wasn’t going to be good.
Interesting? Now you can follow me on Kindle.
The first situation I had a hard time comprehending was the fact that “I hate George Bush” bumper stickers began to appear the day after the 2000 election, the man hadn’t even been declared the winner yet and already people were hating him. I had never seen that before, not that soon after an election. I’ve known for a long time that politicians aren’t very civil, but some had just reached a new low, and as I was beginning to realize, we hadn't seen anything yet.
We had just moved to Sarasota Florida and as a result were looking for a social life as well as various other activities to participate in. Having an interest in politics I became interested in attending a local meeting for the separation of church and state. It seemed like a fairly neutral topic, one that would attract people from both sides of the political spectrum. I could see nothing liberal or conservative about it.
To me, the separation of church and state simply means the state cannot force us to practice a certain religion. It means we keep the state out of religion, but we don’t keep God out of government. Our country was founded on Judeo-Christian values and most, if not all of the founding fathers professed a belief in God or a Supreme Being.
In fact the Declaration of Independence clearly states that “We are endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights”, how plain does it have to be? I was soon to learn that not everyone thinks like I do.
The meeting began peaceful enough, the moderator even made reference that there may be some conservatives in the crowd and an effort should be made to be courteous to their opinions. What? You can’t be a conservative and believe in the separation of church and state? I thought the issue in itself was a pretty conservative idea.
The meeting went down hill soon after that and basically turned into a hate George Bush rally.I was informed that I couldn’t possibly believe in the separation of church and state and be a conservative. Whatever happened to the so-called open minded liberals? I soon discovered they are only open minded if you agree with them.
I had never observed so much hatred to anyone or a philosophy as I did at that meeting, I even tried to reason with people individually after the meeting adjourned, when they found out I was a conservative , they would have nothing to do with me. After that, the term “open minded liberal” took on an entirely different meaning.
If anything this meeting reinforced my conservative beliefs and I began to realize there was a huge political divide in this country and it was only getting larger, this new found liberalism was going to have a profound effect on our country and it wasn’t going to be good.
Interesting? Now you can follow me on Kindle.
Posted by The Florida Hoosier at 2/1/2012 7:10 AM 
Categories: Our Government
Tags: common sense conservative values liberal government interference Bush hate speech
Categories: Our Government
Tags: common sense conservative values liberal government interference Bush hate speech
This is very interesting...I think there is a very real danger in defining ones self as democrat, liberal, conservative, etc. It's seems like a game of telephone where everyone you asked their answer would be different. I think it comes down to making an informed educated opinion on each subject or thing that comes up. http://creative-ideas4you.blogspot.com/2012/03/conservative-liberal-democrat.html
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These days the boundaries between the parties have changed, in today's world, Kennedy or Reagan would have a hard time getting elected. We need to get back to the basic values this country was founded on. The only way that will ever happen is if we as a country some how get a more informed electorate, one who isn't always looking for a handout and have the interests of the country in mine rather than their own self interests.
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