I truly get it, I really do see why people turn to faith in order to find their moral compass... [View all]

[WCGreen]

Last edited Fri Feb 10, 2012, 06:07 PM - Edit history (1)

After all, it's all laid out there for people to follow.

(Now if all the people who claim to follow the teachings of their particular higher power, the world would be A LOT more peaceful, don't you think?)

And it doesn't bother me if candidates say that he/she bounces ideas off of god, or uses god as a moral dip stick, so to speak.

Having said that, after all their postering, I want people of religion to promise that they will put the needs of the country over the needs of their denomination,

In other words, plain words that they can understand, you are an American first and a ___________ second.

You must swear to recognize that we live in pluralistic society where all sorts of ideas, practices and worship routines come together to make us a country.

The only thing that ties us all together, and what makes us unique, is our system of government.

It's tough enough already to fit all the pieces together without purposely dividing people even more with the quirks of worship that have developed over the centuries.

The one true document that defines us is the Constitution. It isn't the Bible, the Torah, the Koran, the Big Book, the Moon Book...

So, I really want to zoom back to 1960 when people questioned then Senator John Kennedy if he would swear not to take his marching orders from the Vatican.

We all know what he said. He was an American first and a Roman Catholic second.

Candidates today get away with a lot. I have heard far too many candidates say they turned to god to make their decisions that their pastor is their guide. (Why is it right to have some mail order preacher as a moral guide but not the pope? JFK MUST have asked himself that question.)

What does that really mean? Especially to someone who knows some fundamentalists with really crazy ideas.

I want an American in the oval office. Preferably a democrat. I could care less if his/her moral compass points to god. After all, history is full of characters who shielded some awful behavior in the name of God.

Bottom line, I don't trust anyone who panders to believers just to get something they want.

I've seen it first hand when I ran for office.

I really think I would have done better as a politician if I went back to the family religion, Catholic, instead of looking toward the Unitarians for my spiritual guidance. (I actually overheard someone say she didn't trust Unitarians, they think too much.)

I just had to be true to myself.

It scares the bejeebies out of me that the GOP has a hard time separating P form D in their nickname.

Bottom line, I respect those who are true to their moral compass where ever iit comes from.

But as an American, it is my right to get my moral backbone from anywhere I see fit.

We are a country of laws, laws inspired many time by "God". But in the end, we are all just mortals who should really take a lesson from Icarus and not try to become a god. It's much better to be firmly attached to the bedrock of the Constitution, the higher power we all answer to in front of our peers.