It is so very difficult to find agreement of opinion within the electorate, or here, on the board. But here is one that would approach 100%:
George Washington was the personification of the American vision.
Based on the above, the Court's decision in the Hobby Lobby case may very well indicate if, or how far, America has strayed.
1. " Sometime before June, if things go true to form, President Obama is going to issue a warning to the Supreme Court to look after its reputation and refrain from outlawing the birth-control mandate of ObamaCare. He tried that stunt the last time ObamaCare was before the Nine, and Chief Justice Roberts switched his vote.
2. [Fear] is the word at the heart of perhaps the most famous utterance on religious freedom in American history George Washingtons letter to the Jews.
3. ..... the case against the birth-control mandate of ObamaCare is being brought by two families of religious Christians the Greens and the Hahns who are just the sort of pious persons Washington welcomed to the new republic.
4. All possess alike liberty of conscience and immunities of citizenship, the president wrote. No longer, he added, was toleration spoken of as if it were the indulgence of one class of people that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights..... happily, the Government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction,
5. And then came the famous words: May the children of the stock of Abraham who dwell in this land continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other inhabitants while every one shall sit in safety under his own vine and fig tree and there shall be none to make him afraid.
6. .... that sentence which echoes Micah 4:4 in the Hebrew Bible for years. Its not an unconditional welcome: Washington prays that the Jews merit as well as enjoy good will. But neither is it limited to the Jews: The prayer to be able to sit in safety is sought for every one so that there shall be none to make him afraid.
There is that word afraid.
7. David Green, owner of Hobby Lobby, has spent a lifetime building a company that may be forced to choose between its religion and millions of dollars in fines, or even dissolution.
The same must be true of Norman Hahn, whose family owns Conestoga Wood Specialties. They are Mennonites, whose ancestors were driven all over, and even out of, Europe rather than give up on their religious principles.
8. How can Washingtons prayer not encompass such families? They are not asking anyone to be denied birth control or abortion-type drugs. But they fear Gods judgment if they take part, and they clearly fear being forced to take part.
9. Is there going to be no place in the American system for them and, incidentally, for the Orthodox Jews who have filed amici briefs on their side of the case?
10. President Washington ended his letter to the Jews with a prayer that seems as apt now as it was then:
May the father of all mercies scatter light, and not darkness, upon our paths, and make us all in our several vocations useful here, and in His own due time and way everlastingly happy.
ObamaCare, fear & George Washington?s letter to the Jews | New York Post
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances
George Washington was the personification of the American vision.
Based on the above, the Court's decision in the Hobby Lobby case may very well indicate if, or how far, America has strayed.
1. " Sometime before June, if things go true to form, President Obama is going to issue a warning to the Supreme Court to look after its reputation and refrain from outlawing the birth-control mandate of ObamaCare. He tried that stunt the last time ObamaCare was before the Nine, and Chief Justice Roberts switched his vote.
2. [Fear] is the word at the heart of perhaps the most famous utterance on religious freedom in American history George Washingtons letter to the Jews.
3. ..... the case against the birth-control mandate of ObamaCare is being brought by two families of religious Christians the Greens and the Hahns who are just the sort of pious persons Washington welcomed to the new republic.
4. All possess alike liberty of conscience and immunities of citizenship, the president wrote. No longer, he added, was toleration spoken of as if it were the indulgence of one class of people that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights..... happily, the Government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction,
5. And then came the famous words: May the children of the stock of Abraham who dwell in this land continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other inhabitants while every one shall sit in safety under his own vine and fig tree and there shall be none to make him afraid.
6. .... that sentence which echoes Micah 4:4 in the Hebrew Bible for years. Its not an unconditional welcome: Washington prays that the Jews merit as well as enjoy good will. But neither is it limited to the Jews: The prayer to be able to sit in safety is sought for every one so that there shall be none to make him afraid.
There is that word afraid.
7. David Green, owner of Hobby Lobby, has spent a lifetime building a company that may be forced to choose between its religion and millions of dollars in fines, or even dissolution.
The same must be true of Norman Hahn, whose family owns Conestoga Wood Specialties. They are Mennonites, whose ancestors were driven all over, and even out of, Europe rather than give up on their religious principles.
8. How can Washingtons prayer not encompass such families? They are not asking anyone to be denied birth control or abortion-type drugs. But they fear Gods judgment if they take part, and they clearly fear being forced to take part.
9. Is there going to be no place in the American system for them and, incidentally, for the Orthodox Jews who have filed amici briefs on their side of the case?
10. President Washington ended his letter to the Jews with a prayer that seems as apt now as it was then:
May the father of all mercies scatter light, and not darkness, upon our paths, and make us all in our several vocations useful here, and in His own due time and way everlastingly happy.
ObamaCare, fear & George Washington?s letter to the Jews | New York Post
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances
