Celebrate Peace On Mother Earth!!!!!!!!

Karuk Medicine Woman, Teacher, and Peacemaker Has This To Share~~~~

This is the first piece I have read in ages that hits the nail on the head for me! No offense to anyone practicing any religion, and to those that are trying to make Native American spirituality into some new funky religion – freedom of religion doesn’t mean free to be some form of Christianity or other! There is no end to the fighting over who is the best Christian, and whether you say debts or trespasses.  It is all just someone trying to get between you and your spiritual self!  Read on!

Fellow Americans.  This nation is changing for the better.

I recently watched the documentary "Religulous" by Bill Maher.  WATCH IT!  Sadly, it was mostly what I already knew about how religion is mankind's most stifling, destructive and murderous invention.  Our country based on religious freedom was nearly taken over by religious fanatics bent on turning this nation into a "Christian" version of Iran.  Thank God this frightening trend toward irrational faith based politics is waning.

I get SOOOO many "God Bless America" emails.  Never mind that I don't ask for them.  They're just blindly "forwared" without regard to truth.  These emails are often offensive to me, to say the least, and if I ever dare to respond and offer my opinion, then I somehow become the offender for having the gall to voice my opinion.  Sadly, embarassingly, that seems to be part and parcel for our culture.  What a waste of cyberspace and time these emails are.  They are so assumptive, judgemental, arrogant and exclusive!  TOTALLY UN-CHRISTIAN BEHAVIOR!  Those who forward such unsubstantiated and opiniated garbage are no better than any other spammer trying to push their crap through cyberspace.  Sadly, I doubt MY email will make it to even one tenth of the people that the other religious cyber trash makes it to.  But you never know!  I dare you to forward this……even if you dare to DISAGREE!

Now before anyone gets all in a tizzy and suggests that I believe that God should be "removed" from our PERSONAL lives, believe me, that is not my suggestion.  However, I do firmly and strongly believe that ALL religion should be removed from our politics and thereby our government and the institutions that it supports-across the board.  At home, or at church please feel free to believe what you want, and to teach your children how you chose.  But don't force my children to believe in or practice your faith any more than you would want ME to teach your children what I believe!  Why is THAT so difficult to accept or comprehend!?

What my personal spiritual beliefs are, are absolutely none of anyones else's business.  Likewise, yours are not my business either.  Keep your religion and your own spirituality personal.  It makes your professed faith much more believable and respectable.  It's also humble, which according to the Bible is a good thing.

I love this country.  I love it so much, that it pains me greatly to see how the Republican party was hijacked by the uncompromising, unforgiving, unapologetic, unyielding religious wacko fundamentalists, otherwise known as "Christians".  If Jesus does exist, I pray he enters their hearts and steers them back on the path of his teachings and tell them to stay the hell out of politics.  They have brought this country to its intellectual knees.  Hopefully the damage done by the religious "Right" (especially over the last eight years) can be undone.  Only with time.

In light of those many annoying, unsolicited and ALWAYS erroneous, emails that I receive that portray this truly great nation as a "Nation founded on Christianity," I offer the actual words (below) of some of the more prominent Founding Fathers. These words should not be taken lightly when arguing the point of the true intent of the founders of this great country.  These are not "heresay" nor are they taken "out of context."  These words were actually written and/or spoken by some of the most prominent men that assumed the responsibility of creating a democratic nation based on The Rule of Law.  Not fanatical ideology, superstition or myth, but Natural Law.  A new Nation NOT based on religion, but separate from it.

This country was NOT FOUNDED on Christianity, neither does it explicitly condemn it or any other religion!  But "the Founding Fathers" certainly did NOT "prefer" any one religion over any other in the context of the Country's founding.  Our Democracy was and is not based on ANY RELIGION or spiritual belief.  In fact , it is OPEN to them all, as long as they don’t' try to control people through political means!  Thank GOD for that!

Anyway, here are the quotes:

"The Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian Religion."  George Washington

"During fifteen centuries has the legal establishment of Christianity been on trial.  What has been its fruits?  More or less, in all places, pride and indolences in the clergy, ignorance and servility in the laity in both, superstition, bigotry and persecution." -James Madison

"Lighthouses are more useful than churches."  Benjamin Franklin

"This would be the best of all possible worlds if there were no religion in it." John Adams

"Christianity is the most perverted system that ever shone on man."  Thomas Jefferson

"As I understand the Christian religion, it was, and is, a revelation.  But how it has happened that millions of fables, tales, legends have been blended with both Jewish and Christian revelation that have made them the most bloody religion that ever existed."
-John Adams

"Shake off all fears of servile prejudices, under which weak minds are servilely crouched. Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call on her tribunal for every fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear."  -Thomas Jefferson

"The purpose of separation of church and state is to keep forever from these shores the ceaseless strife that has soaked the soil of Europe with blood for centuries." - James Madison

My own two cents:

Remember, only two, sometimes three, of the Ten Commandments are actual laws anywhere in this country.  So why would anyone see the absolute "NEED" to put ALL TEN in a courthouse?!  Ridiculous.  Unless Congress passes ALL of the other seven into law.  It's not likely that " You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor." to come up for debate in Congress anytime soon.