[QUOTE=Lemur866]
Well, you got the wrong impression.
The only reason you hear complaints about inappropriate religious witnessing is because it doesn’t happen regularly. You just hear the complaints, not the 9,999,999 times someone doesn’t experience inappropriate religious witnessing.
[/QUOTE]
Really? In what part of the Bible Belt is Puget Sound located?
-Joe
[QUOTE=neorxnawange]
Reading through FDR’s fireside chats shows that he spoke openly about religion, asked for prayers, called on God, etc, on a regular basis. Some of these statements are far more openly religious than most modern politicans would dare. I’m no presidential historian, but I assume that speaking openly about religion is not a contemporary trend, though perhaps there was a brief lull in this behavior at certain times in American history.
[/QUOTE]
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.
[QUOTE=featherlou]
From an outsider looking in perspective, I was astonished when I started frequenting these boards at how much US Americans talk about religion. It seemed like all of you knew the religion of everyone you know, including doctors, dentists, and politicians. Hearing about how people try to force religion on other people in any situation (work, home, dentist’s office, whatever) was also shocking to me. I don’t know the religion of any people in my life other than my family and close friends; why on earth should I know the religion of my politicians or doctors? Why on earth would people make religious declarations all the time?
[/QUOTE]
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
[QUOTE=featherlou]
Why on earth would people make religious declarations all the time?
[/QUOTE]
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.
[QUOTE=xtisme]
<snip>
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
[/QUOTE]
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.
[QUOTE=featherlou]
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.
[/QUOTE]
You’re gonna hate the idea that Parliament has a daily prayer:
[QUOTE=featherlou]
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.
[/QUOTE]
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.
[QUOTE=Lemur866]
Well, you got the wrong impression.
The only reason you hear complaints about inappropriate religious witnessing is because it doesn’t happen regularly. You just hear the complaints, not the 9,999,999 times someone doesn’t experience inappropriate religious witnessing.
[/QUOTE]
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.
[QUOTE=Cisco]
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.
[/QUOTE]
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
[QUOTE=Merijeek]
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
[/QUOTE]
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.
[QUOTE=Cisco]
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.
[/QUOTE]
Hey, I ain’t disagreeing with you.
-Joe
[QUOTE=Cisco]
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.
[/QUOTE]
What? I went to public schools in Arkansas, fer cryin’ out loud and I never heard such a thing.
[QUOTE=Antinor01]
Senator Clinton is Methodist and Gov. Clinton is Baptist. I thought this was fairly widely known.
[/QUOTE]
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…
[QUOTE=Spoons]
You’re gonna hate the idea that Parliament has a daily prayer:
[/QUOTE]
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.
[QUOTE=Zoe]
If attendance is required, that is certainly illegal. Other than that, legality depends on who is in charge of the meeting and its purpose.
[/QUOTE]
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
[QUOTE=Zakalwe]
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…
[/QUOTE]
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.
[QUOTE=Cisco]
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.
[/QUOTE]
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.
[QUOTE=Justin_Bailey]
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.
[/QUOTE]
Oh, well if you’ve never heard of anything then it must be accurate. :rolleyes:
-Joe