[Vision2020] Grandaddy Gary on How to Put the Fun Back inFundamentalism

[Christopher Witmer]

-----Original Message-----
From: Carl Westberg 

 
While you're here, C.D., how about explaining your "trinitarian test oath"
thingie? 
 
I'm an old-fashioned kind of guy, Carl.
 
The New Jersey Constitution of 1776 restricted public office to all but
Protestants by its religious test/oath. 
The Delaware Constitution of 1776 demanded an acceptance of the Trinity by
its religious test/oath. 
The Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776 had a similar test/oath. 
The Maryland Constitution of 1776 had such a test/oath. 
The North Carolina Constitution of 1776 had a test/oath that restricted all
but Protestants from public office. 
The Georgia Constitution of 1777 used an oath/test to screen out all but
Protestants. 
The Vermont state charter/constitution of 1777 echoed the Pennsylvania
Constitution regarding a test/oath. 
The South Carolina Constitution of 1778 had such a test/oath allowing only
Protestants to hold office. 
The Massachusetts Constitution of 1780 and New Hampshire Constitution of
1784 restricted such office holders to Protestants. 
Only Virginia and New York did not have such religious tests/oaths during
this time period. 
 
George Washington took his presidential oath on a Bible and said, "I swear,
so help me God." No one flinched or protested that it was a violation of the
Constitution. The inauguration was followed by "divine services" that were
held in St. Paul's Chapel, "performed by the Chaplain of Congress." While
the federal Constitution does not require a religious test oath, it remains
a fact that an oath is required to uphold the Constitution, and if it's not
sworn before the God of the Bible, then it's sworn before some other god or
before the implicitly divinized State.
 
A person who favors a Trinitarian test oath is acknowledging that the
ultimate foundation and preserver of both individual freedom and order in
society is the Triune God. I don't expect anyone who lacks faith in the
Triune God to favor a Trinitarian test oath because that would involve
self-disfranchisement. But history shows (to those willing to take the
trouble to study history) that the Trinitarian faith goes hand in hand with
both individual freedom and social order. So I'm not the least bit shy about
favoring Trinitarian tests. From my perspective they are greatly to be
preferred to the de facto anti-Trinitarian tests that we are currently stuck
with. It's not a question of whether they are desirable, but only a question
of how they are to be adopted. It should be obvious that Trinitarian test
oaths will never be adopted until the great bulk of society has already been
converted to a sincere Christian faith. Grassroots evangelism and education,
one person at a time, is how society is transformed, and after society has
become largely Christian, then Trinitarian test oaths will likely be
re-adopted.
 
Carl, you seem to find my views on this subject to be quite alarming, but
right now this subject is not even on my own radar screen, let alone anyone
else's. If you go to Google and do a search on the phrase in quotes
"trinitarian test oath" you'll see that's the case. Right now the main
thrust of political activity ought to be to oppose the steady encroachment
of government totalitarianism in our lives. These totalitarian encroachments
are largely the result of America's loss of Trinitiarian faith, although
probably most people who are alarmed at the growth of totalitarianism are
not in a position to see how these two phenomena are deeply interconnected.
In any case, you'll see some strange bedfellows in Ron Paul's camp, you can
be sure of that. Everyone who has had it up to here with the follies of the
Republicrats and the Demicans, everyone who has had it up to here with
empire building and never-ending warfare against invisible enemies like
"drugs" and "terror," everyone who has had it up to here with waking up in
the morning and wondering whether we're all characters in "1984" or "Brave
New World" or "Fahrenheit 451" will be pushing for Ron Paul and the ideas
that he represents. That's why both my atheist friends and my Bible-thumping
friends are coming together in support of Ron Paul. In the long run, we have
huge differences, but in the short run we can bury the hatchet and cooperate
in throwing the bums out. Trinitarian test oath? Sure, someday. Not likely
in my lifetime, however.
 
-- Chris

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