tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13399254.post115956409020344418..comments2024-02-14T11:04:27.663-05:00Comments on Free and Responsible Search: God of Our (Founding) FathersDoug Muderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04666144843949850394noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13399254.post-1164646189368558702006-11-27T11:49:00.000-05:002006-11-27T11:49:00.000-05:00(2) If we do have a higher purpose, can we express...(2) If we do have a higher purpose, can we express that purpose in any common language, symbols, ceremonies, or images? How can we affirm it, celebrate it, and pass it on to our descendants?<BR/><BR/>Well as far as images and symbols go I do have a bit of a soft-spot for <A HREF="http://home.pacific.net.au/~ahw/eye_bill.jpg" REL="nofollow">the obverse</A><BR/> of the <A HREF="http://www.greatseal.com" REL="nofollow">Great Seal of the United States of America</A> that is displayed on the back of every Almighty Dollar bill. . . Unitarians or at least Unitarian fellow travellers like Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams had a hand in designing it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13399254.post-1161238719105559922006-10-19T02:18:00.000-04:002006-10-19T02:18:00.000-04:00I like what you've written here, and I am happy to...I like what you've written here, and I am happy to learn of the public/private religion idea, but my hopes that present-day Americans can understand this and deal with each other peacefully, generously, and trustfully are dimming. I have just been listening to the (Air America)radio, and the guy is asking why a woman shouldn't be able to serve in combat IF she can pass all the same physical tests the men are required to pass. The callers who are saying women can't pass those tests and shouldn't be able to be in combat, can't seem to understand his "hypothetical": he says, yes but, if she COULD pass the tests and lift and carry and haul and climb just as well as a man, shouldn't she be able to fight alongside men? And they just don't seem to be able to get the idea of a hypothetical. They keep saying that a woman couldn't do that. He's very frustrated. So am I.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13399254.post-1161186449929822432006-10-18T11:47:00.000-04:002006-10-18T11:47:00.000-04:00:Some of the Founders seem to have intentionally c...:Some of the Founders seem to have intentionally clouded their public statements about religion. Ben Franklin, for example, can be presented as an atheist, a Deist, or a devout Christian depending on which of his writings you choose to quote. At least one recent book, Benjamin Franklin Unmasked by Louis Menand, claims that Franklin engineered this vague and contradictory image for himself. Meacham refers to ""the elusive, shape-shifting Franklin." And John Adams (who served with Franklin as American representatives in Paris) wrote: "The Catholics thought him almost a Catholic. The Church of England claimed him as one of them. The Presbyterians thought him half a Presbyterian, and the Friends believed him a wet Quaker."<BR/><BR/>Not surprisingly the Unitarian*Universalists aka U*Us have tried to claim Benjamin Franklin as <A HREF="http://www.famousuus.com/bios/benjamin_franklin.htm" REL="nofollow">one of them</A>, along with Thomas Jefferson and other "famous U*Us". I dare say that Benjamin Franklin reminds me of some of the U*U clergy I know who seem to have intentionally clouded their public statements about religion. . . There are a fair number of U*Us, clergy and otherwise who, for example, can be presented as an atheist, a Deist, or a devout Christian depending on which of their writings you choose to quote. . .Robin Edgarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06208142626285495635noreply@blogger.com