Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Not necessarily Indivisible
In my mind, the recent 'Civil Forum" featuring presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain was an exercise in total absurdity. Each candidate was asked to explain his religious beliefs to an Evangelical audience that was primed to listen to only what they wanted to hear and they were rewarded, more or less, by both candidates, but particularly by McCain. I don't believe any American citizen should be required to reveal his inner faith, or lack thereof, to anyone in order to gain political leverage or to please any particular religious sect. This was an Evangelical show all the way and any inference to the contrary would be as phoney as a three dollar bill. Where would such a "forum" leave a candidate, for instance, who happened to be of the Jewish faith? Let's not be naive about this, there are religious groups in this country who want to exercise and maintain control of this country based implicitly upon their own narrow concepts of what is right and wrong,
and I, for one, deplore the whole idea of a democratic nation such as ours being led by secular groups who consider it their God-given right to do so. I'm not opposed to any particular religion as long as the constitutionally-mandated separation of church and state remains inviolate. There are those who would revoke this amendment in a heart beat. The main focus of this so called 'Civic forum' was on abortion and same sex marriage, neither topic having anything to do with the running of a country. I believe such matters should be dealt with on a local level and not be a federal issue. We have enough on our plate, including the threat of more armed conflict and a floundering economy. Why prime the pump with problems that may never be resolved by zealots with set-in-cement agendas.
George Morin
Auburn, Ga.
and I, for one, deplore the whole idea of a democratic nation such as ours being led by secular groups who consider it their God-given right to do so. I'm not opposed to any particular religion as long as the constitutionally-mandated separation of church and state remains inviolate. There are those who would revoke this amendment in a heart beat. The main focus of this so called 'Civic forum' was on abortion and same sex marriage, neither topic having anything to do with the running of a country. I believe such matters should be dealt with on a local level and not be a federal issue. We have enough on our plate, including the threat of more armed conflict and a floundering economy. Why prime the pump with problems that may never be resolved by zealots with set-in-cement agendas.
George Morin
Auburn, Ga.
