for Government and Religion12/22/2008 c1 Don-Jam
I can see what your saying, what the Consitution or the law say is one thing, what governments and poepol do is something eles. Good Work.
I can see what your saying, what the Consitution or the law say is one thing, what governments and poepol do is something eles. Good Work.
9/19/2006 c1 
4Wolf Queen 001
Actually, the Consitution was written in 1786, and the first through tenth ammendments added in 1791, but that's hardly the point of this essay...
Anyway, this is very interesting... And in fact, you could probably expand this to include the Scope's trial about teaching Creationism over Evolution in schools... or was it the other way around?
However, I think that in some cases (like the Mormons) that sort of violence took place because of traditional customs of the time. It seems that whenever we don't like something, or when something new pops up, we try to destroy it or change it into something more innocuous. I don't deny that we have done some pretty hypocritical stuff early on in our existence, and heck, we're still hypocritical even today - which is kind of sad when you think about it.
In fact, you could take our very morals into question - not just the 1st ammendment, but our ideas of equality. It took us nearly 100 years to abolish slavery, and even then, we were treating African Americans like scum way up into the 1960s and beyond. So really, it's not too surprising that this sort of religious action took place... I mean, don't get me wrong. I still love my country and always will; it's just that I'm not afraid to deny some of the known evils we've committed - though I think every nation is guilty of that of some point. It probably shouldn't be, but it is.
But speaking of religious tolerance, look what we did to the Native Americans? Now I know we kicked them out because of land and other issues (which was wrong on so many levels, especially the way we went about doing it), but look at the religious aspect of it, too. Isn't it true that if they wanted to assimilate into our culture they'd have to convert to Christianity or something? I'm not sure, I could be totally wrong on that. But either way, that aspect of it is still there.
Anyway, I should stop rambling now... Heheh. This has gone on too long.
4Wolf Queen 001Actually, the Consitution was written in 1786, and the first through tenth ammendments added in 1791, but that's hardly the point of this essay...
Anyway, this is very interesting... And in fact, you could probably expand this to include the Scope's trial about teaching Creationism over Evolution in schools... or was it the other way around?
However, I think that in some cases (like the Mormons) that sort of violence took place because of traditional customs of the time. It seems that whenever we don't like something, or when something new pops up, we try to destroy it or change it into something more innocuous. I don't deny that we have done some pretty hypocritical stuff early on in our existence, and heck, we're still hypocritical even today - which is kind of sad when you think about it.
In fact, you could take our very morals into question - not just the 1st ammendment, but our ideas of equality. It took us nearly 100 years to abolish slavery, and even then, we were treating African Americans like scum way up into the 1960s and beyond. So really, it's not too surprising that this sort of religious action took place... I mean, don't get me wrong. I still love my country and always will; it's just that I'm not afraid to deny some of the known evils we've committed - though I think every nation is guilty of that of some point. It probably shouldn't be, but it is.
But speaking of religious tolerance, look what we did to the Native Americans? Now I know we kicked them out because of land and other issues (which was wrong on so many levels, especially the way we went about doing it), but look at the religious aspect of it, too. Isn't it true that if they wanted to assimilate into our culture they'd have to convert to Christianity or something? I'm not sure, I could be totally wrong on that. But either way, that aspect of it is still there.
Anyway, I should stop rambling now... Heheh. This has gone on too long.
9/16/2006 c1 6Arrows
So true! Was this an essay for school? If so, I think it would have been more effective had you pointed to modern examples of the U.S. Constitution ignoring religious freedom. For example, back in the 50s, children who were Jehovah's Witnesses were forced via a court decision to stand and recite the pledge with the rest of their classmates, even though doing so was clearly against their religious beliefs :)
6ArrowsSo true! Was this an essay for school? If so, I think it would have been more effective had you pointed to modern examples of the U.S. Constitution ignoring religious freedom. For example, back in the 50s, children who were Jehovah's Witnesses were forced via a court decision to stand and recite the pledge with the rest of their classmates, even though doing so was clearly against their religious beliefs :)