The Cairo Speech: Church and State
This letter appeared in the Roxboro Courier-Times July 15, 2009. Three responses follow.
To the editor:
Enemy appeasing speech
(from city resident)
I read Obama's Cairo speech and was sickened. Let me share a few quotes and paraphrased excerpts, realizing most are unaware of its contents.
Obama mentioned that John Adams, our second president, said the U.S. had no enmity against Muslims. We didn't in 1796; we hadn't been attacked on our land yet, but Americans and others were experiencing attacks elsewhere that continues until today.
Obama made the point that Thomas Jefferson had a copy of the Koran (Muslim Bible) in his personal library. I have lots of books even one on world religions but I do not practice them.
Obama said, "I am a Christian." A true follower of Jesus Christ uplifts Christ, not other gods. John 14:6 -- Jesus said unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father, BUT BY ME.
Obama said "...since our founding, American Muslims have enriched the U.S."
Don't be misled by the play on words. There are no founding American Muslims. I have no doubt there are peaceable Muslims, but some well known terrorists ARE Muslim.
Obama's speech mas misleading, contradicting and insulting to America and its heritage. Why is our president in Africa praising Muslims?
It's time to be biblically and historically correct not politically correct. My objective is not to stir ignorant prejudices or sling hateful words but to bring awareness to this destructive path we're on and to inspire individuals to read his speeches, know American history and to study our Christian heritage. Don't let a wolf in sheep's clothing deceive you. Find the truth for yourself. If you want to stay a free, Christian nation instead of a Muslim, bondaged one, WAKE UP!
Obama said, "And when the first Muslim-American was recently elected to congress, he took the oath to defend our constitution using the same holy Koran..." That should have never been allowed. Our constitution was based on the Holy Bible, not Koran. We cannot take a Holy Bible into some public places but yet someone can be sworn into a government office on the Koran. Unbelievable!
The Holy Bible and prayer was taken out of our schools yet Islam is being taught in our colleges and prisons; even being promoted by our president. Search resources other than our convenient, liberal, biased media. Try 680 AM, American Family Association and Onenewsnow.com. Educate yourselves now or perhaps never. When your freedom of speech is gone it will be too late.
No doubt we had problems before Obama, but there has been a forceful attack waged in our fundamentals since he took office.
There isn't space to discuss numerous other concerns such as out of control spending.
Obama is bringing change, a change to rock the foundation of America. We're being destroyed from within.
Do you follow blindly, hire illegals, neglect your kids, spend what you don't have, ignore our country's decline, deny our loving God?
My hope is not in Obama, thank God!
Published July 29, 2009 (from me):
To the Editor
"Liberty and Justice for All"
______________ writes (July 15): “...no doubt there are peaceable Muslims,” and President Obama’s Cairo speech agrees. These are the people who are praised, and they are key in the struggle against terrorists who claim Islam.
To the violent, the President sternly warned: “We will...relentlessly confront violent extremists who pose a grave threat to our security.... Their actions are irreconcilable with the rights of human beings...and with Islam.”
I would like to invite those disturbed by the speech to see it as expressing the spirit of our founders in matters of religion.
After the long history of religious wars in Europe and the Holy Land, and Colonial laws like those that imprisoned Baptist preachers or made it a capital offense to miss church for three Sundays (!), the founders sought to guarantee freedom of religion through “a wall of separation between Church & State,” as Jefferson and others expressed it. I believe this harmonizes with Jesus’ saying, “Render to Caesar that which is Caesar’s, and to God that which is God’s.”
Our Constitution mentions religion twice: “...no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States” (Article VI) and “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof” (the First Amendment).
Both would support Rep. Ellison’s decision to take the oath of office “to support and defend the Constitution” while using the book of his faith, the Koran. (Personally, I am thankful the Constitution allows me to “Affirm” rather than to swear on anything. I keep thinking of Jesus’ words “Do not swear on anything....but let your ‘Aye’ be ‘Aye’ and your ‘Nay,’ ‘Nay’“! [Mtt.5])
By the same Constitutional guarantee, no Christian can be prohibited from maintaining the “No one comes to the Father but by me” in John’s Gospel.
The 1797 Treaty with Tripoli of Barbary, Article 11, begins, “As the government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion, -- as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion or tranquility of Musselmen [Muslims]....” It passed unanimously. George Washington wrote, “...we shall welcome to a participation of all our rights and privileges... Mohometans, Jews or Christians of any sect, or they may be atheists.”
Islam’s genuine values are “pluralism, freedom, justice, human rights, and above all, democracy,” says Resa Aslan in “No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam.” Just as we do not hold Christianity responsible for terrorists in the “Christian Identity” movement (which the Southern Poverty Law Center and others repeatedly warn against), so I believe we need not be distressed, but see the spirit of our founders at work when an American president, who is Christian, seeks allies among people of all faiths who want to work for liberty and justice for all.
Two more letters appeared August 1. I was reassured that two other people in this little community were perturbed enough to write!
To the Editor:
Comment on Cairo speech
(from Vickie Shull)
I would like to make a somewhat different statement regarding President Obama's Cairo speech. When we reach out to others, we open the door to understanding and peace, when we seek the "likeness" and build upon that rather than the differences we have hope.
Religious fanaticism has a long ugly history, regardless of the particular faith it is something that has led to wars and great human abuses. There are countless examples of such abuses within the Christian faith as well as others. During the Spanish inquisition many slaughters occurred in the name of Jesus, something I'm sure that Jesus would not approve of.
Today we are seeing a rise of such fanatics from within the Christian community as well as the Muslim community. Fanaticism is based on fear, rather than faith; by reaching out, and trying to understand one another we can squelch the rise of hatred. Just recently a man calling himself a Christian walked into a church and killed a doctor during a worship service. Another killed a guard at the holocaust museum, these were not Christian acts, and I certainly would hope that the world does not view my faith through such acts.
The Sept. 11, 2001 attack was committed by a group of radical extremists that do not represent the whole of the Muslim world any more than those who participated in the Spanish inquisition, the slaughter of man worshiping in his church, represent true Christianity.
President Obama addressed this in his Cairo speech rather eloquently:
Violent extremists have exploited these tensions in a small but potent minority of Muslims.
The attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 and the continued efforts of these extremists to engage in violence against civilians has led some in my country to view Islam are inevitable hostile not only to America and Western countries, but also to human rights. All this has bred more fear and more mistrust.
So long as our relationship is defined by our differences, we will empower those who sow hatred rather than peace, those who promote conflict rather than the cooperation that can help all of our people achieve justice and prosperity. And this cycle of suspicions and discord must end.
The president also stated, "The first issue that we have to confront is violent extremism in all of it's forms."
Our founding fathers made sure that we have religious freedom. Article 6 of the Constitution states, "but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to office or public trust under the United States."
The first amendment clearly prohibits the establishment of a state religion, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."
I have always held the ideal that if I am to secure my freedoms, I must also protect those of others. This is a country of "freedom of religion: not established religion, and is our God given right to worship as we see fit. There are many marvelous Christians, Jews, Muslims and many other people of faith in our country. My God teaches me to fear not, hate not, but to love one another..
To the Editor:
For benefit of humanity
(from Grady Cozart)
I've heard just about enough from the Christian Republican Whiner's Committee. Although there have been others recently that have been getting on my nerves, this time I'm referring specifically to Jane Clayton's letter in the July 15 C-T.
So let me get this straight. Because some Muslims are terrorists we're suppose to hate all of them? That's the same prejudiced and ignorant religious mentality that has brought us the Spanish Inquisition, the Crusades, World War II, and the World Trade Center attacks. Yes, more people have died in the name of God than for any other reason.
Did it ever occur to you that maybe Obama is trying to unite people of all faiths, or lack thereof, for the benefit of all humanity? I find it ironic that Christians are persecuting Obama much as Jews had persecuted Jesus.
Obama didn't say "founding American Muslims," you did. What you don't realize is that most of our founding fathers, including Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and George Washington, were not Christian, they were Deists. I'll let you look that up. Many of them despised Christianity because of its desire to suppress the rights of others. Biblically and historically correct? Perhaps you should read your Bible and a few other history books. The U.S. is not a Christian nation as you would have us believe, but an amalgamation of all religions as well as atheists/agnostics. No part of our Constitution is based on the Bible or any other religious ideals.
You said that swearing on the Koran "should never have been allowed." By your own words you deny others their constitutional right to freedom of religion. Apparently you haven't been denied your rights of religious freedom or free speech.
The Whiner's committee says that Obama is running up a national deficit for our grandchildren, while ignoring the fact that it was Christian Republican President George W. Bush that got us into the mess we're in today. The deficit was actually declining under Democrat Bill Clinton.
You speak against following blindly, yet that's exactly what you are doing when you speak of your "loving God." This it the same God who, according to the Bible, murders innocent children, endorses slavery and women's subjugation, as well as witnessing, and causing, the world's atrocities for thousands of years and doing nothing to stop them.
Without fear and magic there would be no religion. It's time we stopped making decisions based on fear and ignorance and started using logic and reason. Yes, we do need wake up...to reality not based on a book of absurdities, atrocities and superstition. It's time to we stopped believing in the talking snake.
~~~~~~~~~
Shorter Version of my letter
"Liberty and Justice for All"
A July 15 letter raised important issues of church, state, and Islam.
Jefferson and others argued that our new government needed a “wall of separation between Church & State.” I believe this harmonizes with Jesus’ word: “Render to Caesar that which is Caesar’s and to God that which is God’s.”
Our Constitution mentions religion twice: “...no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States” (Article VI) and “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof” (the First Amendment).
Both would support Rep. Ellison’s decision to take the oath of office “to support and defend the Constitution” while using the book of his faith, the Koran. And both protect the freedom -- in Washington's phrase -- of "Mohometans, Jews or Christians of any sect, or they may be atheists,” no matter who is in the majority.
Islam’s genuine values are “pluralism, freedom, justice, human rights, and above all, democracy” says Resa Aslan in “No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam.”
These are the values President Obama praised in the Cairo speech. Conversely, to the violent he warned: “We will...relentlessly confront violent extremists who pose a grave threat to our security.... Their actions are irreconcilable with the rights of human beings...and with Islam.”
I believe we see the spirit of our founders at work when an American president, who is Christian, seeks allies among people of all faiths who want to work for liberty and justice for all.
To the editor:
Enemy appeasing speech
(from city resident)
I read Obama's Cairo speech and was sickened. Let me share a few quotes and paraphrased excerpts, realizing most are unaware of its contents.
Obama mentioned that John Adams, our second president, said the U.S. had no enmity against Muslims. We didn't in 1796; we hadn't been attacked on our land yet, but Americans and others were experiencing attacks elsewhere that continues until today.
Obama made the point that Thomas Jefferson had a copy of the Koran (Muslim Bible) in his personal library. I have lots of books even one on world religions but I do not practice them.
Obama said, "I am a Christian." A true follower of Jesus Christ uplifts Christ, not other gods. John 14:6 -- Jesus said unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father, BUT BY ME.
Obama said "...since our founding, American Muslims have enriched the U.S."
Don't be misled by the play on words. There are no founding American Muslims. I have no doubt there are peaceable Muslims, but some well known terrorists ARE Muslim.
Obama's speech mas misleading, contradicting and insulting to America and its heritage. Why is our president in Africa praising Muslims?
It's time to be biblically and historically correct not politically correct. My objective is not to stir ignorant prejudices or sling hateful words but to bring awareness to this destructive path we're on and to inspire individuals to read his speeches, know American history and to study our Christian heritage. Don't let a wolf in sheep's clothing deceive you. Find the truth for yourself. If you want to stay a free, Christian nation instead of a Muslim, bondaged one, WAKE UP!
Obama said, "And when the first Muslim-American was recently elected to congress, he took the oath to defend our constitution using the same holy Koran..." That should have never been allowed. Our constitution was based on the Holy Bible, not Koran. We cannot take a Holy Bible into some public places but yet someone can be sworn into a government office on the Koran. Unbelievable!
The Holy Bible and prayer was taken out of our schools yet Islam is being taught in our colleges and prisons; even being promoted by our president. Search resources other than our convenient, liberal, biased media. Try 680 AM, American Family Association and Onenewsnow.com. Educate yourselves now or perhaps never. When your freedom of speech is gone it will be too late.
No doubt we had problems before Obama, but there has been a forceful attack waged in our fundamentals since he took office.
There isn't space to discuss numerous other concerns such as out of control spending.
Obama is bringing change, a change to rock the foundation of America. We're being destroyed from within.
Do you follow blindly, hire illegals, neglect your kids, spend what you don't have, ignore our country's decline, deny our loving God?
My hope is not in Obama, thank God!
Published July 29, 2009 (from me):
To the Editor
"Liberty and Justice for All"
______________ writes (July 15): “...no doubt there are peaceable Muslims,” and President Obama’s Cairo speech agrees. These are the people who are praised, and they are key in the struggle against terrorists who claim Islam.
To the violent, the President sternly warned: “We will...relentlessly confront violent extremists who pose a grave threat to our security.... Their actions are irreconcilable with the rights of human beings...and with Islam.”
I would like to invite those disturbed by the speech to see it as expressing the spirit of our founders in matters of religion.
After the long history of religious wars in Europe and the Holy Land, and Colonial laws like those that imprisoned Baptist preachers or made it a capital offense to miss church for three Sundays (!), the founders sought to guarantee freedom of religion through “a wall of separation between Church & State,” as Jefferson and others expressed it. I believe this harmonizes with Jesus’ saying, “Render to Caesar that which is Caesar’s, and to God that which is God’s.”
Our Constitution mentions religion twice: “...no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States” (Article VI) and “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof” (the First Amendment).
Both would support Rep. Ellison’s decision to take the oath of office “to support and defend the Constitution” while using the book of his faith, the Koran. (Personally, I am thankful the Constitution allows me to “Affirm” rather than to swear on anything. I keep thinking of Jesus’ words “Do not swear on anything....but let your ‘Aye’ be ‘Aye’ and your ‘Nay,’ ‘Nay’“! [Mtt.5])
By the same Constitutional guarantee, no Christian can be prohibited from maintaining the “No one comes to the Father but by me” in John’s Gospel.
The 1797 Treaty with Tripoli of Barbary, Article 11, begins, “As the government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion, -- as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion or tranquility of Musselmen [Muslims]....” It passed unanimously. George Washington wrote, “...we shall welcome to a participation of all our rights and privileges... Mohometans, Jews or Christians of any sect, or they may be atheists.”
Islam’s genuine values are “pluralism, freedom, justice, human rights, and above all, democracy,” says Resa Aslan in “No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam.” Just as we do not hold Christianity responsible for terrorists in the “Christian Identity” movement (which the Southern Poverty Law Center and others repeatedly warn against), so I believe we need not be distressed, but see the spirit of our founders at work when an American president, who is Christian, seeks allies among people of all faiths who want to work for liberty and justice for all.
Two more letters appeared August 1. I was reassured that two other people in this little community were perturbed enough to write!
To the Editor:
Comment on Cairo speech
(from Vickie Shull)
I would like to make a somewhat different statement regarding President Obama's Cairo speech. When we reach out to others, we open the door to understanding and peace, when we seek the "likeness" and build upon that rather than the differences we have hope.
Religious fanaticism has a long ugly history, regardless of the particular faith it is something that has led to wars and great human abuses. There are countless examples of such abuses within the Christian faith as well as others. During the Spanish inquisition many slaughters occurred in the name of Jesus, something I'm sure that Jesus would not approve of.
Today we are seeing a rise of such fanatics from within the Christian community as well as the Muslim community. Fanaticism is based on fear, rather than faith; by reaching out, and trying to understand one another we can squelch the rise of hatred. Just recently a man calling himself a Christian walked into a church and killed a doctor during a worship service. Another killed a guard at the holocaust museum, these were not Christian acts, and I certainly would hope that the world does not view my faith through such acts.
The Sept. 11, 2001 attack was committed by a group of radical extremists that do not represent the whole of the Muslim world any more than those who participated in the Spanish inquisition, the slaughter of man worshiping in his church, represent true Christianity.
President Obama addressed this in his Cairo speech rather eloquently:
Violent extremists have exploited these tensions in a small but potent minority of Muslims.
The attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 and the continued efforts of these extremists to engage in violence against civilians has led some in my country to view Islam are inevitable hostile not only to America and Western countries, but also to human rights. All this has bred more fear and more mistrust.
So long as our relationship is defined by our differences, we will empower those who sow hatred rather than peace, those who promote conflict rather than the cooperation that can help all of our people achieve justice and prosperity. And this cycle of suspicions and discord must end.
The president also stated, "The first issue that we have to confront is violent extremism in all of it's forms."
Our founding fathers made sure that we have religious freedom. Article 6 of the Constitution states, "but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to office or public trust under the United States."
The first amendment clearly prohibits the establishment of a state religion, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."
I have always held the ideal that if I am to secure my freedoms, I must also protect those of others. This is a country of "freedom of religion: not established religion, and is our God given right to worship as we see fit. There are many marvelous Christians, Jews, Muslims and many other people of faith in our country. My God teaches me to fear not, hate not, but to love one another..
To the Editor:
For benefit of humanity
(from Grady Cozart)
I've heard just about enough from the Christian Republican Whiner's Committee. Although there have been others recently that have been getting on my nerves, this time I'm referring specifically to Jane Clayton's letter in the July 15 C-T.
So let me get this straight. Because some Muslims are terrorists we're suppose to hate all of them? That's the same prejudiced and ignorant religious mentality that has brought us the Spanish Inquisition, the Crusades, World War II, and the World Trade Center attacks. Yes, more people have died in the name of God than for any other reason.
Did it ever occur to you that maybe Obama is trying to unite people of all faiths, or lack thereof, for the benefit of all humanity? I find it ironic that Christians are persecuting Obama much as Jews had persecuted Jesus.
Obama didn't say "founding American Muslims," you did. What you don't realize is that most of our founding fathers, including Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and George Washington, were not Christian, they were Deists. I'll let you look that up. Many of them despised Christianity because of its desire to suppress the rights of others. Biblically and historically correct? Perhaps you should read your Bible and a few other history books. The U.S. is not a Christian nation as you would have us believe, but an amalgamation of all religions as well as atheists/agnostics. No part of our Constitution is based on the Bible or any other religious ideals.
You said that swearing on the Koran "should never have been allowed." By your own words you deny others their constitutional right to freedom of religion. Apparently you haven't been denied your rights of religious freedom or free speech.
The Whiner's committee says that Obama is running up a national deficit for our grandchildren, while ignoring the fact that it was Christian Republican President George W. Bush that got us into the mess we're in today. The deficit was actually declining under Democrat Bill Clinton.
You speak against following blindly, yet that's exactly what you are doing when you speak of your "loving God." This it the same God who, according to the Bible, murders innocent children, endorses slavery and women's subjugation, as well as witnessing, and causing, the world's atrocities for thousands of years and doing nothing to stop them.
Without fear and magic there would be no religion. It's time we stopped making decisions based on fear and ignorance and started using logic and reason. Yes, we do need wake up...to reality not based on a book of absurdities, atrocities and superstition. It's time to we stopped believing in the talking snake.
~~~~~~~~~
Shorter Version of my letter
"Liberty and Justice for All"
A July 15 letter raised important issues of church, state, and Islam.
Jefferson and others argued that our new government needed a “wall of separation between Church & State.” I believe this harmonizes with Jesus’ word: “Render to Caesar that which is Caesar’s and to God that which is God’s.”
Our Constitution mentions religion twice: “...no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States” (Article VI) and “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof” (the First Amendment).
Both would support Rep. Ellison’s decision to take the oath of office “to support and defend the Constitution” while using the book of his faith, the Koran. And both protect the freedom -- in Washington's phrase -- of "Mohometans, Jews or Christians of any sect, or they may be atheists,” no matter who is in the majority.
Islam’s genuine values are “pluralism, freedom, justice, human rights, and above all, democracy” says Resa Aslan in “No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam.”
These are the values President Obama praised in the Cairo speech. Conversely, to the violent he warned: “We will...relentlessly confront violent extremists who pose a grave threat to our security.... Their actions are irreconcilable with the rights of human beings...and with Islam.”
I believe we see the spirit of our founders at work when an American president, who is Christian, seeks allies among people of all faiths who want to work for liberty and justice for all.
Labels: Cairo speech, Christian nation, Church and State, Islam, Muslims
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