[HANASHIR:8112] Fw: They're Baaaack!

[shirona <shirona...>]

Off topic... but important!


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Sent: Monday, January 29, 2001 7:01 PM
Subject: They're Baaaack!


>
> > From the Op-Ed page of the LA Times.
> >
> > Wednesday, January 24, 2001
> > Bush Starts Off by Defying the the Constitution
> >
> >
> > By ALAN M. DERSHOWITZ
> >
> >      The very first act of the new Bush administration was to have a
> > Protestant Evangelist minister officially dedicate the inauguration to
> Jesus
> >
> > Christ, who he declared to be "our savior." Invoking "the Father, the
Son,
> > the Lord Jesus Christ" and "the Holy Spirit," Billy Graham's son, the
man
> > selected by President George W. Bush to bless his presidency, excluded
the
> > tens of millions of Americans who are Muslims, Jews, Buddhists,
> Shintoists,
> > Unitarians, agnostics and atheists from his blessing by his
> particularistic
> > and parochial language.
> >      The plain message conveyed by the new administration is that George
> W.
> > Bush's America is a Christian nation, and that non-Christians are
welcome
> > into the tent so long as they agree to accept their status as a
tolerated
> > minority rather than as fully equal citizens. In effect, Bush is saying:
> > "This is our home, and in our home we pray to Jesus as our savior. If
you
> > want to be a guest in our home, you must accept the way we pray."
> >      But the United States is neither a Christian nation nor the
exclusive
> > home of any particular religious group. Non-Christians are not guests.
We
> > are
> > as much hosts as any Mayflower-descendant Protestant. It is our home as
> well
> >
> > as theirs. And in a home with so many owners, there can be no official
> > sectarian prayer. That is what the 1st Amendment is all about, and the
> first
> >
> > act by the new administration was in defiance of our Constitution.
> >      This was surely not the first time in our long history that Jesus
has
> > been invoked at an official governmental assembly. But we are a
different
> > and
> > more religiously diverse nation than we were in years past. There are
now
> > many more Muslims, Jews, Buddhists and others who do not accept Jesus as
> > their savior. It is permissible in the U.S. to reject any particular
> > theology. Indeed, that is part of our glorious diversity. What is not
> > acceptable is for a presidential inauguration to exclude millions of
> > citizens
> > from its opening ceremony by dedicating it to a particular religious
> > "savior."
> >      Our first president, George Washington, wrote to the tiny Jewish
> > community in Rhode Island that in this new nation, we will no longer
speak
> > of
> > mere "toleration," because toleration implies that minorities enjoy
their
> > inherent rights "by the indulgence" of the majority. President Bush
should
> > read that letter and show it to the Rev. Franklin Graham, who told the
> media
> >
> > on the day before the inauguration that his prayer "will be for unity";
> > instead, it was for the Trinity. Uniting for Jesus may be Graham's
> > definition
> > of unity, but it is as un-American as if a rabbi giving the official
> prayer
> > had prayed for the arrival of the "true Messiah," thus insulting the
> > millions
> > of Christians who believe Jesus is the true Messiah.
> >      Inaugurations are not the appropriate setting for theological
> > proclamations of who is, and who is not, the true Messiah. Perhaps at
Bob
> > Jones University it is appropriate for an honorary degree recipient to
> > declare Jesus to be the only king of the United States, but the steps of
> the
> >
> > Capitol should not be confused with the lectern of a denominational
> church.
> >      The inauguration ended with another Protestant minister inviting
all
> > who
> > agree that Jesus is "the Christ" to say, "Amen" (ironically, a word that
> > originated in Jewish prayer or, alternatively, originally a Jewish
acronym
> > for "God, the King, forever.") Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.), along
with
> > many others who do not believe that Jesus is the Messiah, was put in the
> > position of either denying his own faith or remaining silent while
others
> > around him all said, "Amen." This is precisely the position in which
young
> > public school students are placed when "voluntary" prayer is conducted
at
> > school events. If they join in prayer that is inconsistent with their
> > religious beliefs, they have been coerced into violating their
conscience.
> > If
> > they leave or refuse to join, they stand out as different among their
> peers.
> >
> > No student should be put in that position by their public schools at an
> > assembly, just as no public official should be placed in that situation
by
> > their government at an inauguration.
> >      If George W. Bush wants all Americans to accept him as their
> president,
> >
> > he made an inauspicious beginning by sandwiching his unity speech
between
> > two
> > divisive, sectarian and inappropriate prayers.
> >
> > - - -
> >
> > Alan M. Dershowitz Is a Professor at Harvard Law School
> >
> >
> > Copyright 2000 Los Angeles Times
> > ------- End of forwarded message -------
> > Carol Hartman, Administrator
> > Faculty and Student Concerns
> > Department of English
> > Murray Hall
> > College Avenue Campus
> > (732)932-7589 (phone) (732)932-1150 (fax)
> >
>
>

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