Comments on: Texas is at it again http://mid-riffs.com/2010/02/texas-is-at-it-again/ a view from mid-America Fri, 08 Apr 2011 15:16:29 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1 By: Philip Neri http://mid-riffs.com/2010/02/texas-is-at-it-again/comment-page-1/#comment-23542 Philip Neri Thu, 18 Feb 2010 15:40:04 +0000 http://mid-riffs.com/?p=2376#comment-23542 Thanks for the post, Stuart. The Woodlief rant points out something I'd not much considered before: the attempt to write Christianity into the American Founding is largely one done by conservative white Protestants, as a matter of fact. Liberal Protestants are less uneasy with accepting our nation's secular roots, and Catholics feel little inclination to baptize American history since anti-Catholicism has been long enough a perennial prejudice in America. This is slightly off-topic, but efforts like McLeroy's are better understood with a knowledge of the historical and spiritual roots from which he's advocating. Thanks for the post, Stuart. The Woodlief rant points out something I’d not much considered before: the attempt to write Christianity into the American Founding is largely one done by conservative white Protestants, as a matter of fact. Liberal Protestants are less uneasy with accepting our nation’s secular roots, and Catholics feel little inclination to baptize American history since anti-Catholicism has been long enough a perennial prejudice in America.

This is slightly off-topic, but efforts like McLeroy’s are better understood with a knowledge of the historical and spiritual roots from which he’s advocating.

]]> By: Stuart Buck http://mid-riffs.com/2010/02/texas-is-at-it-again/comment-page-1/#comment-23527 Stuart Buck Wed, 17 Feb 2010 19:44:49 +0000 http://mid-riffs.com/?p=2376#comment-23527 I liked Tony Woodlief's scathing take on this; no one is spared: http://tonywoodlief.com/?p=2124 I liked Tony Woodlief’s scathing take on this; no one is spared: http://tonywoodlief.com/?p=2124

]]> By: Philip Neri http://mid-riffs.com/2010/02/texas-is-at-it-again/comment-page-1/#comment-23525 Philip Neri Wed, 17 Feb 2010 17:46:16 +0000 http://mid-riffs.com/?p=2376#comment-23525 Was America indeed "a nation intended to be emphatically Christian" as McLeroy (McLovin?) claims? Sunday attendance rates were not any higher, perhaps even lower, than they are at present. While language in the founding documents refers to a Creator, such language is entirely consistent with a stripped-down Deism, not a full-fleshed Christianity. The necessity of morals in a republican scheme of government was emphasized, but the role of religion in these documents can be interpreted as instrumental at best. It seems to me that the founders were not aiming at a Christian republic, but rather at a secular republic buttressed by the positive externalities of Christianity. This half-baked history bothers me. Attempts by fundamentalists to baptize the American founding and history only infuriate the people with whom they should be seeking common ground, and they endanger their own spiritual integrity by draping a flag over the Cross. It is best for Christians and non-Christians alike if these sort of people (who are in fact a subset of practicing Christianity in the US) will acknowledge that their kingdom is not of this world while also seeking to serve all by the model of Christ. Was America indeed “a nation intended to be emphatically Christian” as McLeroy (McLovin?) claims? Sunday attendance rates were not any higher, perhaps even lower, than they are at present. While language in the founding documents refers to a Creator, such language is entirely consistent with a stripped-down Deism, not a full-fleshed Christianity. The necessity of morals in a republican scheme of government was emphasized, but the role of religion in these documents can be interpreted as instrumental at best. It seems to me that the founders were not aiming at a Christian republic, but rather at a secular republic buttressed by the positive externalities of Christianity.
This half-baked history bothers me. Attempts by fundamentalists to baptize the American founding and history only infuriate the people with whom they should be seeking common ground, and they endanger their own spiritual integrity by draping a flag over the Cross. It is best for Christians and non-Christians alike if these sort of people (who are in fact a subset of practicing Christianity in the US) will acknowledge that their kingdom is not of this world while also seeking to serve all by the model of Christ.

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