Sequita Bean
Sadly, in America patriotism is decided based upon support of the military and a love of Jesus Christ. Anyone who disagrees probably has never lived in America or is one of those people who are quick to call a person un-American if they don’t support the military or love Jesus Christ. Imagine the dismay of the troops stationed at the Newport News, Virginia base when they were allegedly punished for skipping the commanding general’s “Spiritual Fitness Concert.” The May concert featured Christian rock group BarlowGirl and 200 men were told by a sergeant that they could either attend the concert or stay in their barracks.
About a hundred men stayed behind and were put on lock-down instead of being released to their personal time. Some of the soldiers were reportedly told not to use their cell phones or personal computers and were forced to clean up the barracks. While disturbing, this story is not surprising. The military has long been forcing Christianity on soldiers despite it being against army policy. For too long these acts of ignorance have been going on, but luckily someone had the guts to report it. Now the army is investigating the incident, but no repercussions for the episode have been reported. Before long this situation will be swept under the rug never to be brought up again and therefore the military will continue forcing Christianity on soldiers.
America is supposedly the land of the free, but how free is America when it comes to religion? Three things are true about religion in America: Our president cannot under any circumstances be anything but Christian/Catholic, “In God we trust” will never be removed from our currency and for religious reasons, several states will continue to ban abortion, same sex marriage and stem cell research.
Seeing the disparity of the people in religion ruled countries such as Iraq and Pakistan, one would think that Americans would reject the ideology of a Christian run nation. In the past, those who have spoken up about it have been accused of being anti-patriotic and un-American. The holier-than-thou pompous attitude of American bible huggers is sickening. For America to be the richest most powerful nation in the world, we are so far behind socially compared to other nations. The Christian undertone in American politics keeps us from being progressive and other nations continue to hate America because of it—thus igniting terrorism and wars.
It also makes America look very prejudiced. There is no reason why in 2010 there are still millions of Americans fighting for the basic human right to marry whomever they want. There is no reason why anyone should be protesting a Muslim community center being built in New York City. There is also no reason why our president is constantly accused of being a Muslim, as if it is a bad thing.
Americans and immigrants alike should be permitted to worship who they want, when they want despite scrutiny from others. This country was built on freedom, but yet it is so hard to find here. Forcing people to worship Jesus? Now that is truly un-American.
Disagree! This is what America is about. If you don’t like it get out.
“There is also no reason why our president is constantly accused of being a Muslim, as if it is a bad thing.”
True, his being a Muslim is not a bad thing. Individuals are allowed to hold their own beliefs. The problem would be if he IS Muslim, and LIED about it to get elected. Religion, to me, is irrelevant as a Presidential qualification, but character and integrity are at the top of that list.
If you’re willing to compromise your beliefs to pander to a group who’s favor you need, ie. the Christian majority, that demonstrates a complete lack of character and integrity, which, to me, would completely disqualify a president in my opinion.
Also, has anyone noticed that Sequita’s article this week regarding sex tapes takes a position that is strangely in line with the religious right’s views in the matter? Seems ironic following an article like this which could be said to malign the religious right, eh?
Also, on the topic of abortion, I have to recount this awesome t-shirt I saw the other day. It had a picture of an unborn fetus, with the caption:
“Hey hippies, pretend I’m a tree and save ME”
This is a perfect illustration of zealotry on both sides. The liberal left holds the earth as sacred and worth saving, while the conservative right views all human life as sacred and worth saving. And neither side will most likely ever compromise on this.
[...] Bias in Higher Education? An example. Posted on August 30, 2010 by ramv36 Religious America Has to Stop [...]
To Robert M. comments on the topic of abortion:
AMEN.
Robert M are you confused? I didn’t see her reference religion at all in the other article. Why can’t her views be her own, why do they have to be religious views? I think that’s the problem Ms. Bean was trying to address in this article.