Fightdirecto
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Aylee
quote:
ORIGINAL: slvemike4u
Rick Santurom's rise in the Republican nomination process is,for me troubling,seeing how his campaign is based in large part on his adherence to his own stated religious views.
So are we to be a Nation with a secular government are or we heading towards government by a near theocratic President?
Without reading the replies: What did JFK have to say about this?
This question was asked fifty years ago. Why are you asking it again?
JFK answered the question this way:
quote:
I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute--where no Catholic prelate would tell the President (should he be Catholic) how to act, and no Protestant minister would tell his parishioners for whom to vote--where no church or church school is granted any public funds or political preference--and where no man is denied public office merely because his religion differs from the President who might appoint him or the people who might elect him...
Whatever issue may come before me as President--on birth control, divorce, censorship, gambling or any other subject--I will make my decision in accordance with these views, in accordance with what my conscience tells me to be the national interest, and without regard to outside religious pressures or dictates. And no power or threat of punishment could cause me to decide otherwise.
But if the time should ever come--and I do not concede any conflict to be even remotely possible--when my office would require me to either violate my conscience or violate the national interest, then I would resign the office; and I hope any conscientious public servant would do the same.
And Santorum answered the same question this way:
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During a symposium exploring Catholic statesmanship on Dec. 4, 2010, likely 2012 presidential candidate Rick Santorum rejected President John F. Kennedy’s advocacy of an absolute separation of church and state...
Describing Kennedy’s famous 1960 speech in which he aimed to dispel suspicions about the role the Pope might play in his administration, Santorum said that “Kennedy chose not just to dispel fear, he chose to expel faith.”
“The idea of strict or absolute separation of church and state is not and never was the American model...Kennedy took words written to protect religion from the government and used them to shield the government from religion...Kennedy and his modern day disciples would resolve any conflict between religion and politics by relegating faith to the closet.”
Why do we again ask Santorum the question asked of JFK in 1960?
Because, unlike JFK who answered the question as an American first and a Roman Catholic second, Santorum is answering the question as a Roman Catholic first and an American second.
And the majority of Americans who are not Roman Catholics would prefer a President who thinks of being an American before he thinks of himself (or herself) as being of a specific religious faith or no faith at all. His priorities do not bode well for the country if put in a position of executive power.
< Message edited by Fightdirecto -- 2/19/2012 5:34:26 PM >
_____________________________
"I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.””
- Ellie Wiesel
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RE: Are we a secular Nation...or not. - 
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