a tidbit from a website i just learned about called evangelical outpost. don't know how long i'll read from it, but this caught my eye.
"Count me amongst the good hearted people who have a very low view of civil religion. Many of my fellow Christians appear to have forgotten that it was the influential political theorist Jean-Jacques Rousseau who coined the phrase “civil religion” in his “On the Social Contract” (1762). Rousseau developed the concept not as an “acknowledgement of God and His blessings on this land” but as a way to keep the Christian “rebels” allegiance aligned to the state rather than to their religion."
booyakasha! respect!
3 comments:
I don't understand. Do you agree with this statement or disagree or have some other take on it?
i agree with it. the greater point of the article deals with the pledge of allegiance, specifically the words "under G-d" in it. anyhow, i don't believe we need such wording, nor do i feel that most americans are affirming any belief by saying those two words. as you know, these words were put into the pledge 50 years after it's original penning. when introduced, these words helped differentiate the u.s. from the soviets who were officially godless. now, they do not differentiate or unify our country. they divide, and therefore their inclusion should be evalutated.
further, rousseau was pointing out that initially christians were not friends of the state. they didn't serve in military, didn't pay tribute to local gods, and on. if you find ways to transfer their allegiance to state over religion, you've won. or at least you have them on your side.
if you venture over to the website the more extensive article spells it all out in much more detail. i felt this singular quote gave a good description of my feeling, although i also find the last two paragraphs of it spectacular.
ed
That's helpful. I read the rest of the article and was still unclear what you meant, but now I see where you are at.
Post a Comment