MSimon wrote:And it is not just Europe - it is America too. This is a Congress critter no less:
http://www.mrctv.org/videos/indiana-con ... -madrassas
It fits in right well with those fools who think Christianity should be taught in public schools. Or at the very least prayer. You open that door and these crap mongers will drive a caravan of trucks through it.
That particular door was open till the 1960s. Nearly two hundred years of that door being opened with nary a problem such as you suggest.
You yourself know very well how long that door was opened because you detailed your mother's persecution at the hands of school officials attempting to "Christianize" her.
Do not now come along and pretend that it wasn't a consistent part of U.S. History since before the Nation was founded. Indeed, during much of our history, many of the public schools were even founded and ran by clergy, with explicitly Christian instruction.
The Notion that a State has a right to impose whatever religion it sees fit was also baked into the cake as demonstrated by the fact that many states had done so prior, and continued to do so after, the creation and ratification of our governing document.
State Religions were not inconsistent with the U.S. Constitution. You may not like it, but that is the truth.
MSimon wrote:
Our Christian Democrats think they have the best of intentions forgetting that they are setting precedent. So let me tell my Christian Democrats how it feels to be Jewish and forced to attend "prayer meetings" in the public schools. Terrible. By age 5 or 7 I had lost all respect for our Christian Democrat friends. I carry vestiges of that disrespect today. Can you tell?
And here you even admit that it was legal and a common practice during your child hood. So what's this about letting the door open? It was ALWAYS open. It is only a recent phenomena that people have been working to close it.
Now whether or not it was a good policy or not is a separate question. It has obviously left a lot of animosity among people for whom it was an outrage, and I have little doubt that the persistent animosity among Jews towards Republicans is mostly the result of their legacy of Christian persecution through the public school system, because the Republicans have so much support from the evangelical types.
It's a payback for past injuries. Unfortunately, it also happens to be a cut off your nose to spite your face sort of thing. The funny thing is, the orthodox have forgiven and vote Republican routinely. They know what is the bigger priority in this long standing conflict with socialism.
MSimon wrote:
So let me ask: what is the point of making enemies by not giving consideration to others who may feel differently about "the One True Religion".
Easy enough to understand. Those people at that time felt that the only thing which mattered was that they spread "the word." No other consequence was important to them because they simply lacked the ability to see any significance in it. (As you seemingly do with my China argument.)
MSimon wrote:
I don't like being sold anything at the point of a gun. Is ObamaCare waking you fools up? If not why?
You want people to come to you? Best that they come willingly. As far as my understanding of Christianity goes Jesus never said - "if they won't accept my message put them to the sword." he said "high tail it out of there and go find a more receptive place."
Now be a real Christian and apply that message to all phases of living. Set an example. Give up your love for government guns lest the guns someday be applied to you.
Government, is by definition, those people who decide things with guns. As George Will is fond of saying: "The first duty of government is to establish and maintain a monopoly on the use of violence."
Government guns are going to be the means by which laws are enforced. Give up the notion that it will be done in any other fashion because that is the very heart and soul of what is government.
The onus is upon us to make sure that the laws which are backed up with government guns are fair and just laws, and in the best interest of society.