Asked and answered as they say but for those of you who are challenged or playing dumb just to instigate the form of the brief benediction should be that of the majority.
So .... is it your position then, that before any governmental or public function of the State, someone (
assumedly a person holding a position of authority in government) should poll the assembled attendees of the gathering, as to their particular faith .....
in order to determine what flavor of benediction might be appropriate ....
thereby inserting nose of government into personal matters of conscience ?
Is that the bit of
genius you are proposing ?
Let us say for the sake of argument, the majority are Christians - should we then poll further to determine what form the blessing or devotion should be, according to majority rule, Trinitarian .....
or Non-trinitarian ?
At a fully or primarily Jewish event it shouldn't be a Christian or Muslim prayer. At a primarily Muslim event it shouldn't be a Jewish prayer. At a Greek event one would expect the Greek Orthodox Church to be designated. One short benediction geared toward the primary group. Common sense.
Well, apparently common sense is truly lacking ...... since you see, the subject of discussion is not "Jewish", "Christian", "Muslim", or "Greek Orthodox" events ....
these are governmental or state events ....
You know what the real irony is here ?
It was the New Light evangelicals - people like such as Isaac_Backus and John Leland (both Baptists) - who joined forces with Deists and skeptics - such as James Madison and Thomas Jefferson to fight for a complete separation of church and state.
Issac Backus was considered a leading orator of the "pulpit of the American Revolution" .... who published a sermon called "An Appeal to the Public for Religious Liberty, Against the Oppressions of the Present Day" in 1773 that articulated his desire for religious liberty and a separation of church and state .... in it Backus stated:
"Now who can hear Christ declare, that his kingdom is, not of this world, and yet believe that this blending of church and state together can be pleasing to him?"
Leland in his "A Chronicle of His Time in Virginia" stated:
"The notion of a Christian commonwealth should be exploded forever ... Government should protect every man in thinking and speaking freely, and see that one does not abuse another. The liberty I contend for is more than toleration. The very idea of toleration is despicable; it supposes that some have a pre-eminence above the rest to grant indulgence, whereas all should be equally free, Jews, Turks, Pagans and Christians."
They got it ....
those who followed (much) later, clearly not so much ....
shouldn't they just be amused and entertained?
