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<DIV><FONT face=Tahoma>-----Original Message-----<BR><B>From:</B> Carl
Westberg<SPAN class=853273603-07112007><FONT face="ＭＳ Ｐゴシック"
color=#0000ff> </FONT></SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader lang=ja dir=ltr align=left><FONT
face=Tahoma><FONT face="ＭＳ Ｐゴシック" color=#0000ff></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV></FONT>While you're here, C.D., how about explaining your "trinitarian
test oath" thingie?<SPAN class=853273603-07112007><FONT face="ＭＳ Ｐゴシック"
color=#0000ff> </FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=853273603-07112007><FONT face="ＭＳ Ｐゴシック"
color=#0000ff></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=853273603-07112007><FONT face="ＭＳ Ｐゴシック" color=#0000ff><SPAN
class=853273603-07112007>I'm an old-fashioned kind of guy,
Carl.</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="ＭＳ Ｐゴシック" color=#0000ff></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="ＭＳ Ｐゴシック" color=#0000ff>The New Jersey Constitution of 1776
restricted public office to all but Protestants by its religious test/oath.
<BR>The Delaware Constitution of 1776 demanded an acceptance of the Trinity by
its religious test/oath. <BR>The Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776 had a
similar test/oath. <BR>The Maryland Constitution of 1776 had such a test/oath.
<BR>The North Carolina Constitution of 1776 had a test/oath that restricted
all but Protestants from public office. <BR>The Georgia Constitution of 1777
used an oath/test to screen out all but Protestants. <BR>The Vermont state
charter/constitution of 1777 echoed the Pennsylvania Constitution regarding a
test/oath. <BR>The South Carolina Constitution of 1778 had such a test/oath
allowing only Protestants to hold office. <BR>The Massachusetts Constitution
of 1780 and New Hampshire Constitution of 1784 restricted such office holders
to Protestants. <BR>Only Virginia and New York did not have such religious
tests/oaths during this time period. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="ＭＳ Ｐゴシック" color=#0000ff></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="ＭＳ Ｐゴシック" color=#0000ff>George Washington took his
presidential oath on a Bible and said, <SPAN
class=853273603-07112007>"</SPAN>I swear, so help me God.<SPAN
class=853273603-07112007>"</SPAN> No one flinched or protested that it was a
violation of the Constitution. The inauguration was followed by <SPAN
class=853273603-07112007>"</SPAN>divine services<SPAN
class=853273603-07112007>"</SPAN> that were held in St. Paul<SPAN
class=853273603-07112007>'</SPAN>s Chapel, <SPAN
class=853273603-07112007>"</SPAN>performed by the Chaplain of Congress.<SPAN
class=853273603-07112007>"</SPAN> While the <SPAN
class=853273603-07112007>federal </SPAN>Constitution does not require a
religious test oath, <SPAN class=853273603-07112007>it remains a fact
that </SPAN>an oath is required to uphold the Constitution, and if it<SPAN
class=853273603-07112007>'</SPAN>s not <SPAN
class=853273603-07112007>sworn before </SPAN>the God of the Bible, then
it<SPAN class=853273603-07112007>'</SPAN>s <SPAN
class=853273603-07112007>sworn before </SPAN>some other god or <SPAN
class=853273603-07112007>before </SPAN>the <SPAN
class=853273603-07112007>implicitly divinized </SPAN>State.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="ＭＳ Ｐゴシック" color=#0000ff></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=853273603-07112007><FONT face="ＭＳ Ｐゴシック" color=#0000ff>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.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=853273603-07112007><FONT face="ＭＳ Ｐゴシック"
color=#0000ff></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=853273603-07112007><FONT face="ＭＳ Ｐゴシック" color=#0000ff>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.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=853273603-07112007><FONT face="ＭＳ Ｐゴシック"
color=#0000ff></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=853273603-07112007><FONT face="ＭＳ Ｐゴシック" color=#0000ff>--
Chris</FONT></SPAN></SPAN></DIV></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>