Don't Panic, But Do Mind Your Own Business!

(As an aside: Why doesn't Mr. Reynolds' column run in the same order as everyone else's? I always preferred it that way, but still. We all do develop habits. :))

Well, DMZ, I wouldn't dismiss the founding document of our nation so lightly, ...that's a statement of founding principles, though not the excuse for Dominionist Christianity they claim it is... they choose to rewrite 'Endowed by their creator with unalienable rights' to mean, 'They said Creator, they must have meant Christians of a stripe that didn't really exist yet can alienate people from these rights whenever they want.'

That's not what that means.

It may not be legal code, but it is founding principle, a whole lot more than is any claim human rights can be abridged by anyone who convinces enough people 'God Sez So.'

JMR:

Is there some special kind of water that you right-wing Christians drink that makes it impossible for you to know or understand our history? Chuck Colson committed the same anti-historical error just last week.

Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are addressed only in the Declaration of Independence, and that document has nothing whatever to do with the law of the United States. It addressed only independence from England, was not produced by any representative body of the people, and it wasn't ratiefied by anyone or anything. The only set of principles under which we the people consent to be governed in the Constitution of the Unites States. Nothing else. BTW, assuming you know what they were, the Articles of Confederation don't have anything to do with U.S. law either.

Also, rights are human created. God has nothing to do with them and is irrelevant to any consideration of rights and powers. I am an atheist, but I have exactly the same rights that you do. Those rights are granted and guaranteed by the Constitution, nothing else.

"Only one team will protect innocent human life at all stages of development, and only one even pretends to limit the scope and power of government. Only one team lacks messianic pretense, so dangerous in this time. Both teams have promise, but only one has the humility to limit their promises.

As a result, based on my hopes and not my fears, based on optimism and not anger, I will be voting for Senator John McCain and Governor Sarah Palin.

If your philosophical arguments are as poorly thought out and erroneous as you column, i fear for the students you teach. From your snide "That one" (how original!) to your outright outrageous assertion that Obama -Biden are suffering from messianic pretense, this column is just another in a long sad line of Republican garbage disguised as a professional writing attempt.

Limit the power and scope of the government? Where have you been that lat 8 years as the republican Party has expanded the governments scope and intrusive powers into our everyday lives? And McCain voted 90% of the time with Bush. You aren't voting for them out of your hope and your optimism. you voting for them based on your blindness and ignorance.

I mean, hey, after how many years of trying to use their Bible to horn government into the very most personal and probably disappointingly-non-titillating places in *my* life in order to justify injustice in property and probate law, after 'sincerely having concerns' about the thinnest accusations around one of our most upstanding citizens....

....*Now* they say 'Let's mind our own business?'

Really?

Really?

Come on.

I mean, you don't have to look very far back right here on On Faith to see these *very conservative preachers* trumpring the ultimate God-given favor upon all these GOP policies of unrestrained capitalism, mere months ago...

Skipping nary a beat, they'd have you believe that all of a sudden, it wasn't a 'Christian nation' but one run by non-Christians all along.

Who's been consistent, here?

"As regards fear, the Obama campaign is indulging a little bit of fear tactics on taxes and healthcare, "

That's not so much 'indulging fear' as actually presenting the math, to counter blind accusations 'Obama will raise your taxes' ....when that's not true.

That's actually saying, 'This is what MCCain actually promises to do. Here is how this will add up'

Fear? Well, I'd be afraid of it. But it's not blind or deceptive fear. It's not the same as the fearmongering about 'fining joe the plumber' that mccain lied to our faces three times about despite knowing better...

It's about what the unadvertised portions of McCain's ideology-based plan actually *say they will do to us.*

See?

It's actually what the man says he's going to do. ...He just claims it's about something else.

Don't be fooled. When the GOP loses a sense of 'right and might' their next step is to say, 'We're all the same kind of bums here in Washington. Vote for me anyway.'

ONE PRETENDS TO LIMIT SCOPE AND POWER OF GOVERNMENT.
HOWEVER REagan spent more than teh entire 200 years before him
BUsh/ Cheny , of course cut what would make Americans and infrastructure stronger and did teh war lining the pockets of a few for oil while bankrupting USA dollar and soul.
here in CA IN CHURCHES the FAR right is preaching Armageddon is on schedule and mccain sings about bombing human beings.
THE DIFFEReNCE IS GOP Action -not words HAS BEEN Towards A 2 CLASS SOCIETY SUPPORTING THE MILITARY and Defense Industry and with extremist fundamentalist Palin added in who yesterday said she liKED NH, in the northwest !?
AS SHE PROMISED THE PORK BARREL STATE OF ALASKA THEY WILL CONTINUE TO TAKE IN $500 MORE PER PERSON THAN THEY GIVE OUT.

we cant continue to pay for gop lies that have already bankrputed America dollar and soul.

THE RIGHT HAS ALREADY TRAMPLED MUCH OF THE CONSTITUTION AND RIGHTS TO PRIVaCY AND MORE ..

FACISM WRAPPED IN A FLAG ISN'T FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY.

i wont be wearing a pin looks like a flag ill be voting to Take it Back to All the People

Obama/Biden

- your favorite
homeless multi disabled vet

So, anyway, *now* you say 'Mind your own business. Never mind that just happens to be when big corruption on Religious right candidates who spent half the year smearing.... just happens to be getting noticed...

"In this crisis, most of us should resolutely mind our own business, act charitably toward neighbors in need"

Bold words from someone representing a Religious Right establishment trying to tell everyone me getting joint property rights with my beloved was a bigger concern than the Religious-right-endorsed agendas I warned you could come to no good end.

I'm sure yer Jesus will love you for spending all that time coming after me, and acknowledge there was nothing you could do about the previous administrations you insistently voted for on the grounds anything else might not marginalize me enough.

As I said all along,
Bon appetit.

Lets say, John, that you are looking at a map. You see a continent with five states, each drawn in its own color, say, red, green, blue, brown and yellow. Those states have borders, citizens, laws and governments.

Suppose, now, we remove the boundaries of the states and mix the citizens of those states, so that citizens of every state live everywhere, geographically.
The states, their governments and their laws still exist, but are not defined geographically anymore. The states are now defined as groups of people who are citizens of a particular state.
What is required to make this work, if anything?

Lets say, John, that you are looking at a map. You see a continent with five states, each drawn in its own color, say, red, green, blue, brown and yellow. Those states have borders, citizens, laws and governments.

Suppose, now, we remove the boundaries of the states and mix the citizens of those states, so that citizens of every state live everywhere, geographically.
The states, their governments and their laws still exist, but are not defined geographically anymore. The states are now defined a group of people who are citizens of a particular state.
What is required to make this work, if anything?

Mr. Reynolds:

While I find most of your "column" insightful, wise and useful, I find your conclusion to be less well informed and inconsistent with your key words of advise. I ask you to revisit your choice with more honesty and Christian rigor.

Though I agree that the protection of innocent life is a very high priority for govenment, I don't think that there is any evidence that Mr. McCain would take better care of innocent soldiers (minimizing harm by keeping them out of foolish wars) or the falsely accused sitting on death row, or those in the nation whose life and physical health are being eaten away by poverty.

Furthermore, there is very little basis for your implications that Mr. Obama believes that Government power should be unlimited, or believes that he is a messiah, or that he is actually less humble than Mr. McCain. Obama is simply setting the bar higher for what our country can acheive, stating the goals of equality, compassion and charity that we all know are right for all of our people(do unto others as you would have them do unto you)and struggling to develop a more just and benficial balance of opportunities and rewards.

As regards fear, the Obama campaign is indulging a little bit of fear tactics on taxes and healthcare, but it is the McCain/Palin campaign, and Republicans in general, who are raising the specter of "Arabs", socialists, etc. to stir up fear,racism and hatred.

Measured against Jesus's commandment(s) to "Love God with all your heart and mind and love your neibhbor as yourself" I would say that Mr. Obama fares at least as well as Mr. McCain, and in fact more so by challenging all of us to walk the walk: to give up the "us and them" mentality and put love for our neighbors into action. That is not false messianicism, it is following Christ's teaching.