# Tom DeLay: "God Wrote the Constitution" **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 22, 2014, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-delay-god-wrote-the-constitution/689027 "2014-05-22T20:11:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2014, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-delay-god-wrote-the-constitution/689027/21 "2014-05-22T23:11:03Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > One? > > The most common number of presidential deaths in a year is of course zero. But one’s the second most common amount. There have been three years - 1826, 1862, and 1901 - that had two presidents die. No year has had more than two. Hint: **Skammer** ’s reference to a missing comma was not irrelevant. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2014, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-delay-god-wrote-the-constitution/689027/22 "2014-05-22T23:12:19Z")
Whole lotta whooshing sounds 'round this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2014, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-delay-god-wrote-the-constitution/689027/23 "2014-05-22T23:29:49Z")
> [@bup](#): > > Thus God was in favor of the “3/5 of a human” compromise, and every other imperfection in the original document. > > Yep. He had a bad morning. Just like that bender he was on when he wrote Leviticus. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2014, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-delay-god-wrote-the-constitution/689027/24 "2014-05-22T23:51:30Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > In CCD we were taught that God wrote the bible. In CCR it was revealed that Willy and the Poorboys are playin’ and if you should bring a nickel then you certainly should tap your feet. ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2014, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-delay-god-wrote-the-constitution/689027/25 "2014-05-22T23:57:20Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > God, this fucking idiot gets on my everlovin’ nerves. Tom DeLay, that paradigm of logic, has now stated that [“God wrote the Constitution.”](http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/Tom-DeLay-God-wrote-the-Constitution-5256148.php) In the spirit of fighting ignorance and all that, you might want to acquaint yourself with the concepts of things being done “literally” and “figuratively.” I’m not religionist, but :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2014, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-delay-god-wrote-the-constitution/689027/26 "2014-05-23T00:03:28Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > Whole lotta whooshing sounds 'round this thread. That’s the risk you take when you talk about Tom DeLay. His force-field of clueless obtuseness is so powerful it can spread even via internet discussion. He probably made me misspell something in this post, too. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2014, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-delay-god-wrote-the-constitution/689027/27 "2014-05-23T00:09:16Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > In the spirit of fighting ignorance and all that, you might want to acquaint yourself with the concepts of things being done “literally” and “figuratively.” > > I’m not religionist, but :rolleyes: From the article. > [@](#): > > The Sugar Land Republican made news this week when he voiced his concern that the government is becoming secular because “ **we stopped realizing that God created this nation, that he wrote the Constitution, that it’s based on biblical principles** ” during a recent television appearance with San Antonio Pastor Matt Hagee. I fail to see where he used the terms “literally” and “figuratively.” He seemed to be rather direct about it. ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2014, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-delay-god-wrote-the-constitution/689027/28 "2014-05-23T00:16:30Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > From the article. > > I fail to see where he used the terms “literally” and “figuratively.” He seemed to be rather direct about it. I didn’t claim the words were used. I read the same thing you read. They (neither) clearly weren’t. But that doesn’t mean something isn’t _meant_ figuratively as opposed to literally. Really, this particular problem with Delay is ridiculous. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2014, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-delay-god-wrote-the-constitution/689027/29 "2014-05-23T00:47:01Z")
> [@Tom DeLay](#): > > we stopped realizing that God created this nation, that he wrote the Constitution, that it’s based on biblical principles And what fucking biblical principles would those be? [The sovereignty of the people?](http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+13%3A1-7&version=NIV) [Democracy?](http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Samuel%209&version=NIV) [Free exercise of religion?](http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy+13&version=NIV)[The abolition of slavery?](http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Colossians+3%3A22-25&version=NIV) [Women’s suffrage?](http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Timothy+2%3A11-15&version=NIV) ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2014, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-delay-god-wrote-the-constitution/689027/30 "2014-05-23T00:53:43Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > I didn’t claim the words were used. I read the same thing you read. They (neither) clearly weren’t. But that doesn’t mean something isn’t _meant_ figuratively as opposed to literally. > > Really, this particular problem with Delay is ridiculous. I think you’re the one who’s missing the point here. Nobody is seriously suggesting that DeLay literally believes that the Constitution miraculously appeared as a divinely authored document without human intervention. But the purpose of his figurative assertion that “God wrote the constitution” is precisely to distort the Constitution’s framing as a result of deliberate choices by human beings explicitly trying to **avoid** claims of divine authority. The Constitution nowhere mentions God and explicitly rejects all religious criteria as qualifications for officeholders. That is, its authors consciously chose to present it as a common basis of **secular** laws for **all** Americans, **irrespective** of what they individually believed about divine authority. I’m not denying that many of the nation’s founders cherished deeply felt personal religious views or that many of them sincerely believed that religious institutions and faith were vital to the spiritual health of their new national society. _But they explicitly rejected religious institutions and faith as a template for formulating the LAWS of their new national society._ DeLay’s revisionist claims are dishonestly attempting to ignore or deny all that the Constitution fundamentally means as a basis for a religiously pluralistic and free society. That’s why we are **figuratively** mocking him for scriptural literalism. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2014, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-delay-god-wrote-the-constitution/689027/31 "2014-05-23T01:05:43Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > In the spirit of fighting ignorance and all that, you might want to acquaint yourself with the concepts of things being done “literally” and “figuratively.” > > I’m not religionist, but :rolleyes: His words were, “we stopped realizing that God created this nation, that he wrote the Constitution, that it’s based on biblical principles.” [But](http://www.thenation.com/article/our-godless-constitution), [it isn’t](http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/The_United_States_as_a_Christian_nation). ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2014, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-delay-god-wrote-the-constitution/689027/32 "2014-05-23T02:47:41Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > Did he draft the amendments? Why not get it right the first time? Well, he did need two testaments. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2014, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-delay-god-wrote-the-constitution/689027/33 "2014-05-23T03:21:47Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Well, he did need two testaments. Don’t we all? Oh, testa_ments_. Never mind. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2014, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-delay-god-wrote-the-constitution/689027/34 "2014-05-23T03:27:26Z")
Actually, of course, the American polity is based ideologically and ontologically on [the Holy Word of GodZILLA](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=723604) (2014). Oh no, they say he’s got to go go go Godzilla! Oh no, there goes Tokyo go go Godzilla! ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2014, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-delay-god-wrote-the-constitution/689027/35 "2014-05-23T03:51:29Z")
That’s it. I am so fucking sick of the lies that stem from religion. This is why I am more than ever against allowing religion to exist in the USA. It simply doesn’t belong here. Religion is the biggest setback of humanity, the worst stories ever told. I am serious when I say if someone is as religious as any of the reblican nutcases CLAIM to be religious, they simply should not be allowed to run for office, vote, or have children without making child services show up a couple times a week to make sure they haven’t been poisoned by absolute holy horseshit. Every failing in any society today, in 2014 for fucks sake, is entirely because of religion. Sorry, but that’s it. I never hear any other type of argument against SSM, bigotry. healthcare, etc, unless that fucking evil book is involved. I never hear an argument FOR war and bigotry that also doesn’t stem from the buybull which should only be used to wipe thine own ass when blessed with diarrhea. Every page of the Stupid Republican Idea thread has a wannabe religious fuckwad quoted on every single page! And these assholes speak from a pulpit and get elected that way. The ONLY idea from society I can’t blame religion for is animal rights, which happens to be a nice idea. WOW! Not from shit bible = good idea? Who knew? Maybe we should remind the retarded believers that every time they save an animal, they make Noah, God, Jesus cry. Lets remember how the fictitious Yaweh refused to communicate with Noah after the ark landed until a bull was sacrificed. Real loving shithead right there. Worst hero of any fiction. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2014, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-delay-god-wrote-the-constitution/689027/36 "2014-05-23T04:03:24Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > I didn’t claim the words were used. I read the same thing you read. They (neither) clearly weren’t. But that doesn’t mean something isn’t _meant_ figuratively as opposed to literally. > > Really, this particular problem with Delay is ridiculous. Many religious people prevaricate between the figurative and the literal. It’s a technique, and not an honourable one. Their allegations about their deity’s supposed interventions and pronouncements are as literal as is required to give them authority, but as figurative as is required to explain away what is ridiculous or inconvenient. I would ordinarily see the sense in not taking someone literally when they are speaking figuratively, but those who dance between the two as suits them don’t deserve a pass. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2014, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-delay-god-wrote-the-constitution/689027/37 "2014-05-23T04:05:31Z")
I doubt **magellan01** would cut Obama any comparable slack for use of “figurative” language. Delay remarks are ludicrous, literally or figuratively. ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2014, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-delay-god-wrote-the-constitution/689027/38 "2014-05-23T04:15:48Z")
> [@Knorf](#): > > I doubt **magellan01** would cut Obama any comparable slack for use of “figurative” language. > > Delay remarks are ludicrous, literally or figuratively. Exactly. The god he speaks of is not real, so not honest and literal remarks. Figuratively? God inspired/wrote/gave us the constitution? Still not a help from DeLayLay. (That’s his rap name!) And all this from a convicted criminal/preacher. God’s strongest presence is definitely in an all male prison. Any ex-con is released with a reverand’s preaching license. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2014, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-delay-god-wrote-the-constitution/689027/39 "2014-05-23T04:40:27Z")
> [@Locrian](#): > > That’s it. I am so fucking sick of the lies that stem from religion. This is why I am more than ever against allowing religion to exist in the USA. It simply doesn’t belong here. It is sad to see somebody presumably quite a bit smarter than Tom DeLay fall into the same sort of errors that DeLay is propagating. The point of religious freedom with separation of church and state is that _THE GOVERNMENT MAY NOT DETERMINE OR DECREE WHAT TYPE(S) OF BELIEF ARE “ALLOWED” TO EXIST HERE_. I’m a lifelong atheist myself, but I sure as hell don’t want you making the rules about “permissible” religious belief any more than I want Tom DeLay making them. > [@Locrian](#): > > Every failing in any society today, in 2014 for fucks sake, is entirely because of religion. Sorry, but that’s it. I never hear any other type of argument against SSM, bigotry. healthcare, etc, unless that fucking evil book is involved. :dubious: You must not get out much if you haven’t heard of the numerous atrocities committed by, say, Maoist guerrilla and terrorist groups like Shining Path and the Naxalites, who are definitely not pro-religion. (Of course, if you adhere to a certain kind of “New Atheist” pretzel logic that says non-theistic or anti-theistic ideologies such as Maoism or Marxism count as religions because they’re, you know, ideologies, then you’ve pretty much broadened the concept of “religon” beyond useful meaning.) > [@Locrian](#): > > The ONLY idea from society I can’t blame religion for is animal rights, which happens to be a nice idea. WOW! Not from shit bible = good idea? Who knew? Maybe we should remind the retarded believers that every time they save an animal, they make Noah, God, Jesus cry. […] > > The god he speaks of is not real, so not honest and literal remarks. Figuratively? God inspired/wrote/gave us the constitution? Still not a help from DeLayLay. (That’s his rap name!) Posting when drunk is really never a good idea. ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2014, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-delay-god-wrote-the-constitution/689027/40 "2014-05-23T04:43:50Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > In the spirit of fighting ignorance and all that, you might want to acquaint yourself with the concepts of things being done “literally” and “figuratively.” > > I’m not religionist, but :rolleyes: Doesn’t the latest dickinary (Websters?) list the two as synonyms? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-delay-god-wrote-the-constitution/689027.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-delay-god-wrote-the-constitution/689027.md?page=3)