Reply #73: Washington did take his oath on a bible

[Zomby Woof]

Many presidents, even in recent history, have used his bible to take the oath. That didn't make him a frothing evangelistic-style christian, of course. Personally, I think the oath should be administered on a copy of the Constitution. But that being said, Washington did use a bible, both times he was sworn in.

Without a doubt, chuckles was spewing the usual wingnut talking points about church and state. My red flags go up when I see the 1st amendment guarantee of religious freedom expressed as a one-way street. It was a dead giveaway when he said that its purpose was not to keep god out of government. D'oh! James Madison expressed this two-way principle (and elsewhere, Jefferson aptly coined it as a "wall") in greater detail in his writings, including the Federalist Papers. (I wonder how many right-wingers have read those? Probably not very many - and they are definitely at the core of our "founding documents" - kind of like an instruction manual for the Constitution).

I suppose he would cite the Declaration of Independence's "Creator" as "evidence" of Jebus being found in our original documents. Jefferson, as we all SHOULD know, was a deist, who professed no particular religious creed. His creator was a detached architect - a cog in nature's wheel. He cited that our rights were granted by nature's 'god', not the Judeo-Chrustian variety.

Chuckles needs to be reminded, just because something has always been done a certain way, doesn't means it's always right. "Heritage" can be used as a veil to cover a multitude, of um, (pardon the religious metaphor) sins.

I would also like to remind him that the republic's original (and best) motto is "E Pluribus Unum" - 'Out of Many, One'. Appropriately Latin, to reflect our REAL 'heritage' - that of the Roman Republic.