Really? In what part of the Bible Belt is Puget Sound located?
-Joe
Yes, this is correct. There may have been a bit of lull in speaking openly about religion for a few decades, but what we are seeing now is more typical of how things have been. In fact, you will probably find more invocations of religion in the past than what we currently hear.
Let’s also not forget that the last great social movement in the US, the civil rights actions of the 50s and 60s, was largely rooted in the African-American Churches.
Senators Clinton and Obama were forced into making a show of being churchy. Chris Mathews called Hillary a “she-devil,” and it’s hard to avoid hearing somebody claim that Barack is a Muslim.
Why do Europeans all have bad teeth, hairy arm pits and are all card carrying socialists??
I don’t know what alternative reality US you have heard about, but no one has ever tried to force religion on ME…nor do I know or care what religious denomination my doctors, dentist or politicians (or the trash man, the dog catcher or the local prostitutes) are.
As for people making ‘religious declarations all the time’…POLITICIANS make them, to be sure. Most normal citizens don’t do that however. You may have noticed that politicians tend to speak out of both sides of their mouths…even in vaunted EUROPE! Yup…happens even there, so I’ve heard.
As to the OP…I don’t know if religious invocations by politicians are anything new in the US. They put ‘In God We Trust’ on our currency for, um, gods sake ( 
). I think it’s mainly just a manner of speech in the US to invoke Gods (whatever) in political speechifying.
-XT
Your Prime Minister is Stephen Harper, who ends all his speeches with “God bless you, and God bless Canada”. This seems to be a case of the pot calling the kettle religious.
I thought I made it clear in my post that I was talking about my impressions from this board, which is populated by a majority of US Americans.
Captain Amazing, I didn’t know Harper was doing that, and it embarrasses me that he is. If it were up to me, no politician would ever do that; as representatives of the State, they have no business blessing anything.
You’re gonna hate the idea that Parliament has a daily prayer:
Considering the fact that this board is populated by people who love to put down religion anytime it pops up in public in any form, that’s not surprising.
But you can continue to ignore the people who tell you that real life in America is nothing like what this board represents as far as religion goes.
I usually only hear such cluelessness out of people from California or the PNW. Religion is indeed “everywhere” in many parts of the country and especially the south. How often did your school teachers in liberal-secular fantasyland scrap at least part of the lesson plan to talk about the bible? For me it was quite often, and I went to public school.
Any time there’s a big meeting at my girlfriend’s school, it starts with a prayer.
Politicians, when sticking a “vote for me!” pamphlet in their door, put which church they attend on it.
California ain’t exactly a perfect cross-section of the rest of the country, folks.
-Joe
I didn’t say the whole state is this or that. My entire extended family is from California and happens to be mostly Christian, so I know it’s not a religious vacuum. The urban and coastal areas, however, are much more secular than the average of the country as a whole. Usually when I hear, “aww, heck, America ain’t all that religious, I’ve never had someone try to force their beliefs on me!” it’s from someone from those areas or the PNW.
Hey, I ain’t disagreeing with you.
-Joe
What? I went to public schools in Arkansas, fer cryin’ out loud and I never heard such a thing.
It’s generally appropriate to refer to a person by the title of the highest former office held. It’s President Clinton.
FWIW, if you’re trying to be cute, Mr. Senator Clinton would have been funnier…
Oh, crap.
Those gender cliches are just hilarious, aren’t they? Nothing is funnier than ridiculing a woman by masculinizing her.
Nope. The Constitution prohibits the religious issue from being relevant. I can understand Hitchens not knowing that. But I would expect you to have better arguments than his references to “the mad cult” of Mormonism.
That has been illegal for a very long time. It took a while to get it across to school officials, but you shouldn’t have had any problem in recent years. If you did, I congratulate you on the fortune you earned on your lawsuit.
If attendance is required, that is certainly illegal. Other than that, legality depends on who is in charge of the meeting and its purpose.
When there’s a district-wide all-employee meeting held by the superintendant, does that sound mandatory? This isn’t some special case, it’s typical Mississippi.
I know one principal outside Baton Rouge who has a prayer every morning. His school board is quite proud and completely backs his “If someone has a problem with it they can find another school” stance.
-Joe
Etiquette dictates that “President” is not used as a courtesy title, there being only one President of the United States at a time. Rather, former US Presidents are referred to by their highest previous title. (You would refer to George Washington as “General Washington,” were you introducing him to someone at a party.)
Journalistic standards are different, and require that an individual be identified clearly and recognizably. “President” and “former President” are often used as unambiguous identifiers for former officeholders.
Internet message boards being neither polite social occasions nor journalistic correspondence, usage on the SDMB may follow either standard, or none at all.
I have never heard of such a thing. And since I don’t think you can prove otherwise I repeat that the belief that religion is everywhere is a fantasy by the paranoid, the ultra-religious and the anti-religious.
Oh, well if you’ve never heard of anything then it must be accurate. :rolleyes:
-Joe