“Confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Judge Neil Gorsuch begin today. Democratic progressives like Senator Chuck Schumer have made it clear that they will do everything within their power to stop his confirmation. The atheist progressives in this nation want to strip God and all references to Him out of our society. They want to marginalize Christians to the point of making them second class citizens, forcing them into the shadows and penalizing them if they don’t go there. This past election was about the Supreme Court—and the issue facing us today is not wiretaps, it’s not Russia, it’s still about the Supreme Court. If approved, Gorsuch will add a needed conservative voice on America’s highest court. Will you join me in praying for Judge Gorsuch and for the Senate as they go through the confirmation process this week?” – Franklin Graham, Facebook Post 3/20/17
You gotta love Franklin Graham’s unwavering determination to blanket the religious right agenda across this nation. What I love is he how he portrays his sect as a beaten down, powerless group fighting for every last moral crumb out there. He, they, are going to save the soul of America whether we like it or not. It is a compelling but false portrayal of a group whose corporate and governmental influence has no equal in this country.
The First Amendment of the Constitution states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion…”. Given all the Christian symbols, words and references that seem to encircle and intertwine not only our country but our government, and even our currency have you ever wondered if we do in fact have freedom of religion? If it were up to the Franklin Graham’s of world we wouldn’t.
In 1947, the U.S. Supreme Court wrote; “The “establishment of religion” clause of the First Amendment means at least this: Neither a state nor the Federal Government can set up a church. Neither can pass laws which aid one religion, aid all religions, or prefer one religion to another . . . in the words of Jefferson, the [First Amendment] clause against establishment of religion by law was intended to erect ‘a wall of separation between church and State’ . . . That wall must be kept high and impregnable. We could not approve the slightest breach.” Donald Trump says he is “great” at building walls, maybe this is one he would be willing to tackle as well.
Now I don’t blame Franklin for pushing his brand of religion on us. Some Christians believe it is their duty, their God-given right to try to cram their faith down as many throats as they can. For many, proselytism is the Great Commission of Jesus; “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” They truly believe their own salvation is tied to how many souls they can save along the way and they don’t care how they get them or whose toes they step on.
Yes the “atheist progressives in this nation want to strip God and all references to Him out of our society.” The question we all need to ask ourselves is this, given our First Amendment rights what is God’s place in our society? What is Brahma’s place in our society? Allah’s? Buddha’s? Tao’s? Again, I don’t blame Franklin. I am not a fan of his but I don’t blame him. But can you imagine a Hindu, a Muslim or how about a Catholic that was as “in your face” as Franklin is pressing his flavor of faith on the rest of us? Or better still, trying to influence who our President nominates for the Supreme Court? Think about it.
The one thing this post did confirm for me, something that I always knew, Franklin didn’t and did support the election of Donald Trump for one reason and one reason only; “This past election was about the Supreme Court”. Franklin couldn’t justify or walk around the fact that Donald Trump was a thrice married adulterer who likes to grope women and whose god is the almighty dollar rather than the God of Abraham. But that’s okay, he would nominate someone who could repeal same-sex marriage, Roe v. Wade, and reestablish the “moral code given to us by the Word of God.” But whose God?
Ends and Beginnings 
excellent post. One of the first things that occurred to me as I started reading was “but they don’t want a moderate on the supreme Court, they want another Scalia”. If a moderate would have been sufficient then Merrick Garland, a middle of the road constitutionalist would have been confirmed. Instead they far right insisted upon complete obstructionism and refused even a hearing to confirm. Now we have another far righter Christian being looked upon for the court..and his most telling statement from several years back was “Roe V Wade was incorrect”. Their brand of Christianity stops at women’s wombs. Scary.
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If millions believe in God that will be hard to eradicate by anyone.
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Your comments related to other faiths is the one that, to me, carries the most weight. Why should the Hindu, the Muslim, the Taoists, the atheists, the agnostics (even the Wiccas) be “forced” into a Christian-based society? Believers will say that’s not what’s happening, yet they will scream to high heavens about “Sharia Law” becoming part of the U.S. (Of course, none of us would want that, but I’m just trying to make a point.) THEY want to be the controlling faith. Period. And tough Sh__ to anyone else.
A news article I read this AM quotes Gorsuch as saying he will make his decisions based on the LAW, not his personal beliefs. Yeah, right.
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He is no robot, flesh, blood & feelings just like you and I. So far, based on what I have heard, we could have gotten a lot worse nominee.
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True enough. But as one news source said, the candidate Obama offered was not all that much “different” in how he would approach cases that came before the SC. It’s just that he didn’t profess to be a “lover of Jesus” — which, as we know, is all-important to Franklin and the rest of the hard right.
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