One good thing – or bad depending on your point of view – of being a former journalist is I get lots of emails that I would not normally get. I always wanted as much information from as many sources as possible because you never know if something will trigger a story. Sometimes I get the ugly, false and outright racist emails that are floating around smearing Sen. Barack Obama. This one is typical. Although this is a new smear, it plays on the same old prejudices that are now being whipped up by opponents of Sen. Obama.
Can you pick witch(sic) name doesn't belong ?
1.. George Washington, 1789-1797
2.. John Adams, 1797-1801
3.. Thomas Jefferson, 1801-1809
4.. James Madison, 1809-1817
5.. James Monroe, 1817-1825
6.. John Quincy Adams, 1825-1829
7.. Andrew Jackson, 1829-1837
8.. Martin Van Buren, 1837-1841
9.. William Henry Harrison, 1841
10.. John Tyler, 1841-1845
11.. James Knox Polk, 1845-1849
12.. Zachary Taylor, 1849-1850
13.. Millard Fillmore, 1850-1853
14.. Franklin Pierce, 1853-1857
15.. James Buchanan, 1857-1861
16.. Abraham Lincoln, 1861-1865
17.. Andrew Johnson, 1865-1869
18.. Ulysses Simpson Grant, 1869-1877
19.. Rutherford Birchard Hayes, 1877-1881
20.. James Abram Garfield, 1881
21.. Chester Alan Arthur, 1881-1885
22.. Grover Cleveland, 1885-1889
23.. Benjamin Harrison, 1889-1893
24.. Grover Cleveland, 1893-1897
25.. William McKinley, 1897-1901
26.. Theodore Roosevelt, 1901-1909
27.. William Howard Taft, 1909-1913
28.. Woodrow Wilson, 1913-1921
29.. Warren Gamaliel Harding, 1921-1923
30.. Calvin Coolidge, 1923-1929
31.. Herbert Clark Hoover, 1929-1933
32.. Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 1933-1945
33.. Harry S. Truman, 1945-1953
34.. Dwight David Eisenhower 1953-1961
35.. John Fitzgerald Kennedy, 1961-1963
36.. Lyndon Baines Johnson, 1963-1969
37.. Richard Milhous Nixon, 1969-1974
38.. Gerald Rudolph Ford, 1974-1977
39.. James Earl Carter, Jr., 1977-1981
40.. Ronald Wilson Reagan, 1981-1989
41.. George Herbert Walker Bush, 1989-1993
42.. William Jefferson Clinton, 1993-2001
43.. George Walker Bush, 2001-
44.. Barack Hussein Obama, Jr
And he says he is not a Muslim????? Please think about America: "IN GOD WE TRUST'S! Future.........or it will be, America: "IN ALLAH WE TRUST" Will his oath be taken on a Bible? or on the Koran? Will he say, One Nation Under GOD? or will he say, One Nation Under Allah?
America was created by our forefathers UNDER GOD! NOT ALLAH!
The answer is clear to me: Number 43 does not belong. There's no sense in defending Sen. Obama against the charges of being a Muslim because it does not, or should not matter. However, it seems ironic that he was hammered because of the views of his Christian minister, but in the same breath he's now called a Muslim.
I'm far from a religious expert, but the notion pushed by the rightwing that the U.S. was founded by Christians as a Christian nation does not ring true. I seem to recall early settlers fled here for religious freedom, and that includes freedom from religion. I have also read that the early presidents and founders were generally Deists or Unitarians, believing in some form of impersonal Providence but rejecting the exact teachings of the Christian church. I have also read that no where in the U.S. Constitution - other than the 1st Amendment that bars establishing a state religion - Christianity, God or Jesus are not mentioned anywhere.
PS. The national motto is "In God we Trust."
11 comments:
I, like you, am not an expert on religion in America. But my reading mirrors your comments. Many of the best known founding fathers had a strong belief in a Supreme Being or a Creator. They also thought that faith and liberty were both essential facets of a democracy. Personally, although they admired Jesus as a teacher, many had doubts about his divinity. Some were quite dismissive of the concept of the Holy Trinity.
And even though many came here for religious freedom, it doesn't mean they were any less dogmatic about their own religion. The founding fathers realized this. They had seen the damaged caused by a church-dominated state, and they wanted to avoid it, despite the fact that most were quite reverent in their personal beliefs.
Most thought you were wrong if you didn't believe in God, but they thought the nation's freedom was stronger if you were allowed to think that way.
Thanks for your input. I agree with you.
did you say that you were a journalist? Aren't journalists expected to know the English language? "Witch" does not have the same meaning as "which". The founding fathers didn't want a state religion. You can bring your beliefs into government, but government cannot dictate your beliefs.
Yes, I did say I was a former journalist, and yes, they are expected to know the English language. And yes, there is a difference between "witch" and "which,” but I don’t see where I used any of those words in this post. I agree with you that the founding fathers didn't want a state religion, and you can bring your beliefs into government but government cannot dictate your beliefs.
*gasp*
You wrote "witch" instead of "which".
You disgusting perverter of the English language and the QWERTY keyboard.
Prior to your list of Presidents and the one wannabe President you have the line "can you pick witch one doesn't belong"
That's not my list of presidents; it's the right-winger's forwarding this trashy smear across the internet. I didn't notice it because it didn't write it. I'll fix it.
Geez why would you bother to copy an e-mail from a wingnut? Oh well it's your blog so I guess you can put any garbage on that you choose.
Simple, to show people the kind of discriminatory garbage and lies that are being used against Sen. Obama instead of a real campaign. That's just the tip of the iceberg. I will post more in the future. And just think: I'm a liberal Democrat. Can you imagine the vile garbage independents and Republicans are receiving?
I'm independent leaning towards Obama. I don't see any independent garbage. I don't see much right wing garbage either. But I don't go to fringe sites from either side. The jury is still out on your blog. I just found it a couple of days ago.
I’m not talking about blogs. I’m talking about emails. The garbage I posted came to my email inbox, meaning someone chose to forward it to me. Most people who know me, know I’m a liberal and an Obama supporter, so I rarely see this disgusting trash. My point is people who are Republicans and non-Democrats must see a lot more of this stuff that’s even more vile.
I read lots of blogs, even the rightwing sites to see how they are spinning things. I’m a liberal and that’s how I report and see the world. I make no bones about it. If you see this as a “fringe” site I can’t help that. I see things from a liberal point of view, but I don’t make things up.
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