Wednesday, March 05, 2003
DON'T KNOW NUTHIN' ABOUT HISTORY....
The mix of ignorance and partisanship seldom makes for cogent historical analysis in an elected official. Read on:
Threat of war spurs U.S. soul-searching
Mix of politics, religion is strong, Kaptur warns
By DAVID YONKE
BLADE RELIGION EDITOR
Before launching a military strike against Iraq, Americans should consider their own history to remember how powerful the mix of religion and politics can be, U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D., Toledo) said.
"If you think back to our founding as a country, we are a country of revolution," Miss Kaptur said in an interview this week.
She and the Rev. Jim Bacik, pastor of Toledo’s Corpus Christi University Parish, will speak at a workshop Friday for local Catholic leaders titled "Preaching and Teaching Peace in the Face of War."
When America "cast off monarchical Britain" in 1776, it involved the help of many religious people who had fled repression in other countries, the 11-term Toledo congressman said. Among the nontraditional American revolutionaries were the Green Mountain Boys, a patriot militia organized in 1770 in Bennington, Vt., to confront British forces, she said.
"One could say that Osama bin Laden and these non-nation-state fighters with religious purpose are very similar to those kind of atypical revolutionaries that helped to cast off the British crown," Miss Kaptur said.
Umm...Representative Kaptur, many of our major Founding Fathers were Deists, not Christians and the Green Mountain Boys were not motivated by religious zeal. Jefferson worked to disestablish the Church of England in Virginia as the state church. The era of the American revolution was in fact, far more secular than the late 17th century or the religious revival that would come in the 1840's and spur the Abolition, Women's Suffrage and Temperance movements. Please hire a recent graduate with a degree in History from a half-way decent university for your staff - they probably could use the job and you clearly need their advice.
The Green Mountain Boys are the American equivalent of al Qaida ??? ¶ 7:11 PM
The mix of ignorance and partisanship seldom makes for cogent historical analysis in an elected official. Read on:
Threat of war spurs U.S. soul-searching
Mix of politics, religion is strong, Kaptur warns
By DAVID YONKE
BLADE RELIGION EDITOR
Before launching a military strike against Iraq, Americans should consider their own history to remember how powerful the mix of religion and politics can be, U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D., Toledo) said.
"If you think back to our founding as a country, we are a country of revolution," Miss Kaptur said in an interview this week.
She and the Rev. Jim Bacik, pastor of Toledo’s Corpus Christi University Parish, will speak at a workshop Friday for local Catholic leaders titled "Preaching and Teaching Peace in the Face of War."
When America "cast off monarchical Britain" in 1776, it involved the help of many religious people who had fled repression in other countries, the 11-term Toledo congressman said. Among the nontraditional American revolutionaries were the Green Mountain Boys, a patriot militia organized in 1770 in Bennington, Vt., to confront British forces, she said.
"One could say that Osama bin Laden and these non-nation-state fighters with religious purpose are very similar to those kind of atypical revolutionaries that helped to cast off the British crown," Miss Kaptur said.
Umm...Representative Kaptur, many of our major Founding Fathers were Deists, not Christians and the Green Mountain Boys were not motivated by religious zeal. Jefferson worked to disestablish the Church of England in Virginia as the state church. The era of the American revolution was in fact, far more secular than the late 17th century or the religious revival that would come in the 1840's and spur the Abolition, Women's Suffrage and Temperance movements. Please hire a recent graduate with a degree in History from a half-way decent university for your staff - they probably could use the job and you clearly need their advice.
The Green Mountain Boys are the American equivalent of al Qaida ??? ¶ 7:11 PM
