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Greetings:<br><br>
I think that conservative evangelical theologian Carl Henry, author of
the largest work of systematic theology in American history, got it right
when he declared that the Bible grants rights only to God and strict
duties to his created men and women, whom he owns, according to John
Locke, because he has mixed his labor with the dust of the earth to
create them. We should all admire Locke, but this was one holler
that got by his otherwise thoroughly liberal mind.<br><br>
So much for biblical foundations for the American Constitution or any
other liberal democratic state for that matter.<br><br>
Nick Gier, proud theistic humanist along with many other founding
American thinkers<br><br>
At 01:09 PM 8/26/2007, you wrote:<br>
I don't see where separation of power is a Christian concept. I
don't think <br>
the Bible addresses such issues as inalienable rights, or freedom of
speech <br>
or the freedom of religion (for all). If such directives exist and
are <br>
recognized as Christian theology I'm glad to admit being wrong, but after
<br>
years of Sunday School and church, I don't recognize them as Christian
<br>
principles I've been taught or heard. Of course I grew up Anglican
and <br>
Episcopalian.<br><br>
I don't think Christianity forms the basis for our Constitution.
I'm <br>
certainly willing to consider examples from the Bible that prove me
wrong, <br>
if they can be provided. And I certainly don't see God standing
between us <br>
and those interpreting away the rights recognized in the
Constitution. When <br>
I think God agrees with me, I certainly hope for that outcome...<br><br>
Sunil<br><br>
<br>
>From: Donovan Arnold <donovanjarnold2005@yahoo.com><br>
>To: nickgier@adelphia.net, Paul Rumelhart
<godshatter@yahoo.com><br>
>CC: vision2020@moscow.com<br>
>Subject: Re: [Vision2020] and speaking of religion in public
places<br>
>Date: Sun, 26 Aug 2007 12:53:29 -0700 (PDT)<br>
><br>
>Nick Gier and his cronies just don't understand what Sali is
saying.<br>
><br>
> The principles of our Constitution are etched from the
rock of <br>
>Christianity. You cannot remove the rock without removing its
authority. <br>
>The Constitution is meaningless if it doesn't have Christianity as a
bases <br>
>of its authority, derived only because of Christianity.<br>
><br>
> Who says all men are equal? Who says you have
unalienable rights? Who <br>
>says you have the right to freedom of speech, freedom of religion,
freedom <br>
>from unfair trial?<br>
><br>
> Those rights are not granted to men by men, they are
granted to men by <br>
>God, the Christian God. And that is what gives the US Constitution
its <br>
>authority, its greatness, and truthfulness. Otherwise, the
Constitution was <br>
>written, and the rights granted us within, are not real rights, or
moral <br>
>principles of God's justice, but in fact, just something a bunch fat
<br>
>balding rich guys wearing white wigs came up with on a hot sweaty day
in <br>
>July at the turn of the 18th century hiding from the British
authorities.<br>
><br>
> I believe certain rights are given to us by God, and
that many of those <br>
>rights are engraved into the Constitution. If you don't believe this
too, <br>
>then the only thing giving the Constitution, and your rights are men,
men <br>
>who decide arbitrarily what rights you have and don't have at any
time or <br>
>place. It makes the Constitution a document that is enforceable only
by the <br>
>threat of a gun and the will of the powerful men that yield it.<br>
><br>
> Best,<br>
><br>
> Donovan<br>
><br>
><br>
<x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
<font size=2>"Truth is the summit of being; justice is the
application of it to human affairs."<br>
--Ralph Waldo Emerson<br><br>
"Abstract truth has no value unless it incarnates in human beings
who represent it, by proving their readiness to die for it."<br>
--Mohandas Gandhi<br><br>
"Modern physics has taught us that the nature of any system cannot
be discovered by dividing it into its component parts and studying each
part by itself. . . .We must keep our attention fixed on the whole and on
the interconnection between the parts. The same is true of our
intellectual life. It is impossible to make a clear cut between science,
religion, and art. The whole is never equal simply to the sum of its
various parts." --Ma</font><font size=1>x Planck<br><br>
</font>Nicholas F. Gier<br>
Professor Emeritus, Department of Philosophy, University of Idaho<br>
1037 Colt Rd., Moscow, ID 83843<br>
<a href="http://www.class.uidaho.edu/ngier/home.htm" eudora="autourl">
www.class.uidaho.edu/ngier/home.htm<br>
</a>208-882-9212/FAX 885-8950<br>
President, Idaho Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO<br>
<a href="http://users.adelphia.net/~nickgier/ift.htm" eudora="autourl">
http://users.adelphia.net/~nickgier/ift.htm<br><br>
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