This is Not a Christian Nation
I am an American.
My name is not Jimmy Johnson, it is not Virgil Goode and it is not John McCain. But I am an American. No more, no less than any of these people.
My name is Cenk Uygur. And I am proud of it. It might sound a little different to your ear, but it doesn't make it any less American. That's the whole point of the country. If I wanted to live in a place where your race, ethnicity or religion mattered, there were plenty of other countries to choose from. I chose to be an American because I believed we were all equals in the eyes of the law.
Apparently, 42 United States Congressmen are not so sure. The House passed a resolution today celebrating the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The point of the resolution was to show that we are an open country and that a Muslim-American is equal to any other American. That we are all to be celebrated as Americans. Forty-two representatives couldn't get themselves to agree.
These Congressmen did not vote for the resolution, they voted "present" instead. Is this a silent protest? What are they protesting? Do they disagree that we should celebrate all of the cultures in the country? Do they disagree that we should have Muslims in the country at all?
One of them, Rep. Virgil Goode (R-VA) has already said that on the record -- and refuses to apologize. He said we should have less Muslims in Congress and less Muslims in the country at all. His colleagues didn't see fit to correct him. Moveon takes out a newspaper ad questioning one general and Congress goes ballistic. A US Congressman says we should discriminate against a whole group of US citizens and not a peep.
When John McCain said he wanted a Christian president earlier in the week, I didn't pay much attention to it. I think we overemphasize gaffes on the campaign trail. I care how these people are going to lead the country, not how many errors they make while speaking 24/7 on the campaign trail.
By the way, how did a media so obsessed with verbal blunders decide that George W. Bush was the right man for the job - twice? We were told John Kerry misspoke too often. What a topsy-turvy world we live in.
So, I didn't want to get caught up in this game. At this point, I am unfortunately used to people deriding people of the Muslim faith in America anyway. It has become an ugly reality of our country. It's so common that it's taken for granted now.
A couple of days ago, Ann Coulter was on the Today show and she said the real problem with Senator McCain's comment was that he later said he would vote for a Muslim if he agreed with him. How dare he? Doesn't he realize that a patriotic American would never vote for a Muslim? They are the enemy. They are less than other Americans. They are not equal. This is a Christian nation!
You see, that's what bothers me. I am not a religious Muslim at all. In fact, I am agnostic. I don't participate in Ramadan. I don't need a resolution celebrating it. But once you bring it up for a vote, to purposely not vote for it is a clear sign. It is not a slip of the tongue or a miscommunication in the midst of a hectic campaign schedule. It is a deliberate act meant to send a message. And that's what I do care about. It is a sign that we are not welcome.
You think these bigoted, xenophobic Congressmen care whether we practice the tenets of Islam, or how religious we are or what our actual beliefs might be. Of course, not. They just look at us and say those people are not of us.
Well, whether you like it or not, we are Americans. And I will not bow my head. I will not accept being classified as a second class citizen. I will not let you spit on my people and act like we are beneath you because of our ethnicity.
We had Naomi Wolf on our show last week and she was making a point that once the government starts depriving US citizens with names like Yaser Hamdi of their constitutional rights, soon they will come after people with names like Chris Robinson. She meant well by it and she is right. But think about what that says to me. My name is Cenk Uygur. Why shouldn't other Americans be concerned until they come for Chris Robinson? Shouldn't they care if they come for Cenk Uygur, too?
We had Senator John Danforth on the show this week and he said he was disappointed by John McCain's comments. The former Republican Senator and Episcopal priest stated emphatically that we are not a Christian nation. We are a nation that brings all different beliefs together and mixing our government with a specific religion corrupts the government and the religion.
He is right. And think about what it says to all the rest of us when people feel perfectly free to go on television and declare that this is a Christian nation. They are putting out a huge sign saying -- You Are Not Welcome Here. This country is for Christians!
Read the constitution. Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and George Washington did not agree. They were careful to point out that this is not a Christian nation. That unlike every other country in the world at the time, they were going to make America a nation that had free exercise of religion -- any and all religions. They were not going to let any religion rule the country or identify its inhabitants.
Read the constitution. You're wrong. It specifically says that all religions are welcome. The whole point of the country was to escape from religious persecution. No one religion can force its views on all of us, even if that religion is Christianity.
Read the constitution. I am an American. And under no circumstances am I going to let you take that away from me.
This is not a stand to protect me, my religion or my ethnicity. This is a stand to protect the idea of America. This country was supposed to bring all of us together. It was supposed to establish the idea that we are all equals. I still believe in that dream, and I will fight for it. I am an American.
Follow Cenk Uygur on Twitter: www.twitter.com/TheYoungTurks
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Well said. At times it is hard to understand Republicans. They act so tribal. Many of their statements around religion and race (the immigration issue) have an "us versus them" context.
I am bald. But I don't get sense of us versus them with people who are fully haired. So some classification are important and some our not. Clearly, one of the Republican tactics is to foster the us versus them mentality. In some cases the politicians believe it, but I think, most of the time they just exploit the tribal nature of their base.
The beauty of our country is we are respected as citizens, human beings, equally. That was the goal of our constitution. It is not a tribal value.
John From Colorado
"I am bald. But I don't get sense of us versus them with people who are fully haired. So some classification are important and some our not."
Lol - Speak for yourself bald man. It's time to start an anti-blad-man pogrom! Hairy people rule, bald people suck!
sorry, I've obviously had 5 too many cups of coffee today.
You haven't seen the ads on TV where the bald guy goes go from looking unhappy and low in self-esteem (eyes cast downward, ashamed frown) to looking handsome (face more brightly lit, eyes level with camera, big smile)? With a much younger girlfriend by his side?
I find these ads hilarious--I mean, only ED ads can beat them for lack of subtlety.
If hair equals virility, then those Geico cavemen must get all the dates.
Great Post.
A thought about "religion":
If its about 'love' and forgiveness, it is a religion.
If its about hate or anger or fear or judgment it is not a religion.
Religion means to re-align ourselves to love and forgiveness.
Remember that America.
from: "Treaty of Peace and Friendship, Signed at Tripoli November 4, 1796"
. . . .
ARTICLE 11.
As the government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion,-as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion or tranquility of Musselmen,-and as the said States never have entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mehomitan nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries.
(Source:The Avalon Project at Yale Law School)
. . . .
This was ratified by the U.S. Senate in 1797 during the presidency of John Adams, the second U.S. President who rejected the Trinity, the deity of Christ, and became a Unitarian.
Doesn't get much more "Founding Father" than that.
Right. And don't forgot Jefferson, who had his own special copy of the bible.
He basically removed all references to anything supernatural and kept the result on his shelf.
After all, there are some reasonable rules (some, not all) in The Good Book. Common sense stuff about not killing, lying, etc.
you found a small nugget in a treaty, while ignoring all the more important evidence, it's like weighing a bb and a bowling ball and concluding the bb weighs more.You have to have more than that to convince me. The simple fact is that most of the Founding Fathers believed in God. Since all had background in the God of the Bible you must assume that's the God they are talking about. Not the sun god or Allah etc. As a culture we are a Christian nation, but definately not by law.
I wouldn't get too worked up over it, it's just blather for the unwashed. They're no more Christians than you or I, it's the twin gods of money and power they worship.
Historically, that's what christianity is all about. Don't be fooled, being a christian has absolutely nothing to do with anything a guy named Jesus did or said.
Let's make sure to arrest some more Rasta's, then pretend freedom of religion is "sacred," and we would all die to defend our great American culture.
the problem with religion is that it is a chronic, viral plaque and must CONSTANTLY be kept in check. It's like any other infection that you never quite get rid of but you just have to keep it in check. by its very nature in consumes and contaminates. and left unchecked, by the people uninfected, it will indeed grow like a black mold over everything.
I've heard an analogy to religion vs state arguement that because it's humerous and visual stayed with me.
The seperation of church and state wasn't meant to protect the state from religion but to protect religion from the state. think of religion as a popicle, and the state is a pile of manure. mixing the two, your popcicle won't harm the pile of manure, but it's going to ruin your popcicle.
I've heard an analogy to religion vs state arguement that because it's humerous and visual stayed with me.
The seperation of church and state wasn't meant to protect the state from religion but to protect religion from the state. think of religion as a popicle, and the state is a pile of manure. Mixing the two, your popcicle won't harm the pile of manure, but it's going to ruin your popcicle.
Then why did the Founding Fathers believe in religious freedom, I wonder? Maybe they wanted religion to consume and contaminate our land....
from my perspective as an ethnic Korean (I don't like to mention the American nationality part these days), it seems to me that the United States is an Anglo-Protestant country, and the rest of us are just living here, like guests.
(like Matt Damon says in The Good Shepherd)
JFK and RFK? assassinated. MLK? assassinated. why? because they thought America was their country too.
Mr. Uygar,
Well written and passionate column. It is an embarrasment the purposely offensive "present" vote those hateful members of Congress felt obliged to spew at Muslims. Your statement about Americans was inspiring. Only this weekend many of my community (LGBT), faced ENDA discussions and certain Democrats wanting to strip Transgender People from non discrimination in Housing and Employment.
The smallness, mealiness, and appeasement is BENEATH a great country America should be.
"Well, whether you like it or not, we are Americans. And I will not bow my head. I will not accept being classified as a second class citizen. I will not let you spit on my people and act like we are beneath you because of our ethnicity."
And that is the American spirit in a nutshell! Beautiful article--thank you.
And you've gotten the point of state/church separation exactly right--it's all about the "free exercise of religion - any and all religions." The Constitution's official position is not secular or religious, but gloriously neutral.
Those Congressmen did a shameful, un-American thing (but, sadly, a typical neocon thing), and I can't think of anything more American than calling them on it.
Americans like yourself make me proud to be one, too.
I don't think Congress has any business passing a resolution honoring any religious holiday. Anything other than complete separation of church and state is a slippery slope.
I feel that, as long as Congress doesn't invent any religious holidays, it isn't doing anything wrong by acknowledging a few.
And it's my understanding that Easter and Christmas are ancient celebrations of nature. With or without our culture's trimmings. And both are totally secular holidays by now, save for the fact that Santa Claus appears to have been based on the tradition of the gift-bearing Christ Child (Krist Kindel, a.k.a. Kris Kringle) AND, believe it or not, the Norse fire god with the white beard and red suit (and a fondness for chimneys) named Thor.
But don't think many people are picking up on Krist Kindel or Thor....
book...I agree...but then again, I sure like having the Christmas holiday off from work..
but a question...would having a full month of a religious "holiday"..give a muslim the right to sue an employer if they couldn't take the whole friggin month off? (see a slippery slope)..so, I guess they'd just left the whole thing alone...
I know jews can take Yom Kippur off...but come on..a whole month.. please clarify...
Cenk, Cenk....You are definitely the man; you have more brains than most of these lefties combined, but don't you realize that there ARE no Muslims in the US? Just like there are no homosexuals in Iran. People are very heterogeneously distributed you see. Those women you see wearing the hijabs? They are really just Episcopalians having a bit of fun at our expense. They know we are terrified of Muslims and will hide under our desks for fear of being suicide bombed whenever we see them. They laugh hysterically behind our backs after we freak out. As an added bonus they get to practice wearing their Mardi Gras and Halloween costumes without anyone poking fun at them; everyone is too terrified to insult them for fear that Ahmedinejad will fire thousands of ICBM's at us and blow us all to Hell if we do.
Let's face it Cenk, America today is fascist and they are in a crusade against the moslems as the israeli plan is taking shape to reshape the middle east. As for ahmadinejad, he didnt say they didnt have any, he said they did'nt have the same problem as we have here, such as gay rights, parade and so on. Shame on the translator and the media who knowiling tried to diverge people's attention from all the truth that he talked about against this administration's wrong poilies. Iran can be our best friend, if we are smart about it!
Now that Cenk is done with the low-hanging fruit, let's try something more difficult.
I'm sure he would oppose a Christian theocracy. But, doesn't the immigration of large numbers of Muslims to the U.S. bring us closer to the creation of a theocracy or having elements of a Muslim theocracy? Haven't Muslim leaders said they'd like to establish Sharia law in the U.S.? Wasn't Sharia law only barely blocked as a valid alternative in Canada just recently?
You mean it's not a theocracy now? (Neo-conservative, not Christian, obviously.)
"...doesn't the immigration of large numbers of Muslims to the U.S. bring us closer to the creation of a theocracy or having elements of a Muslim theocracy?"
No.
That would require sufficient Muslim voting to elect a crooked president who will pack the federal courts with compliant judges who interpret the law according to their religious biases. So far, that's reserved for pseudo-Christians.
Does anyone even believe in the constitution in this government any longer? I sincerely doubt it.
Thanks for an excellent post. I am of no religion even though my parents tried to stick me in a pigeonhole. Philosophy proved to be a bigger draw for my mind, and the one I like best has spawned two religions, neither of which has a dime's worth of Christianity in it. Oh, nothing except for the fact that each has a variation of what we know as the Golden Rule.
Cenk - Check out this book, it should be required reading for everyone. www.whywellwin.com
There's a line in _National_Treasure_ that I absolutely love. One of the characters, when he notices another's accent, says, "I thought you were [an] American." She says, "I am, I just wasn't born here." The writer is really someone who understands that which made America great.
The Declaration-of-Independence mentions god once and creator once. The US Constitution never mentions god at all. In particular, there is NO "so help me god" in the president's oath of office. Exactly how much can an oath be changed before it is no longer considered the same oath?
And about those oaths:
Matthew_Chapter_5:
5:33: "Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, "You shall not
swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord.'
5:34: But I say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is God's
throne;
5:35: nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the
city of the great King.
5:36: Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white
or black.
5:37: But let your "Yes' be "Yes,' and your "No,' "No.' For whatever is more
than these is from the evil one.
Perhaps this explains the behavior of our representatives. Their oaths bind them to satan.
I think back to the whine-fest over the Rep who wanted to take his oath with the koran. I don't know if it has anything similar to Matthew, but if not then he would be the only one NOT sinning.
And to think that these lying, hypocritical subhuman bastards are swearing their oath on the very same book that tells them not to. Pretty convincing proof that they don't read the thing.
E Pleb Neesta
GODISNOWHERE
Blessed are the cheese makers.
If HPV vaccination promotes promiscuity, then confession promotes sin.
Don't say Iraq war, say Bush's War.
NEVER say surge, always say Bush's escalation.
Don't let them control the language.
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