Non-Christian - not my brother

@Arella Mae,

Quote:

If someone is a Christian then they consider others above themselves, ALL others.

Hogwash. That may be the company line, but I don't believe it.

And, we are not assuming anything. The governor started the conversation with his "Not my brother" statements. Have you heard an atheist make the statement that Christians are not part of the family of man?

1 Reply

@djjd62,

Quote:

i wouldn't have associated the christians with the KKK

You didn't have to. The cross was very much a part of their uniform.

I agree though, they are not Christians.

0 Replies

@IRFRANK,

I should have said they SHOULD consider others above themselves. He was not speaking in a sense that they were not his neighbors. He was merely saying they were not his brothers or sisters IN CHRIST. He didn't say a thing about anyone not being part of the family of man. I think people are reading way too much into this.

The simple fact is, he believes what he believes. Our constitution gives him the right to do that and state what he stated. Some people will understand what he meant and some won't. Obviously, some took offense and some don't. It's just a part of life.

0 Replies

@Finn dAbuzz,

Quote:

Based on what we have seen over the years, I really think worrying about a Christian theocracy is needless.

I wouldn't say it is needless. There is certainly some influence. I thought some of Bush's motivation to invade Iraq was from God. I gathered this from his statements, not my own thinking.

Every government that starts a war think's that God is on their side.

1 Reply

@joefromchicago,

Quote:

What's the problem? He's a Christian, speaking in a Christian church about Christian stuff. It's not as if the guy said that he wouldn't hire any non-Christians for state jobs. Even though he's a state official, he can still make personal affirmations of his own faith in his own way in his own place of worship. When a Catholic office-holder affirms every Sunday that "I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord," is that somehow an affront to Jews and Hindus and atheists?

I think it was the "You are NOT my brother." part that was the problem.

2 Replies

@IRFRANK,

IRFRANK wrote:

I think it was the "You are NOT my brother." part that was the problem.

Why is that a problem?

1 Reply

Because, as you so persistently ignore, Joe, he is the governor, and anything he says publicly has the force of the authority of his office behind it. All your blather about his beliefs and his right to them and his right to express them ignores that simple fact.

1 Reply

@joefromchicago,

Joe, it is a problem because I infer from that statement that he will show preferrential treatment to 'his brothers'. Is that not valid. I would have liked to have known that before the election, although I don't vote in Alabama.

This kind of thing comes up in our society all the time. Favoritism has been a major deal in the past. Consider the civil rights issue and the need for it. Maybe it depends upon which side of the fence you are on. It will probably always be a part of humanity. We always gravitate to like minded groups. It's just that our government should be as immune to that as possible. Isn't it about 'All Men are created equal' and women too for that matter?

3 Replies

@IRFRANK,

IRFRANK wrote:

Joe, it is a problem because I infer from that statement that he will show preferrential treatment to 'his brothers'. Is that not valid. I would have liked to have known that before the election, although I don't vote in Alabama.

Hence, it is none of your business.

IRFRANK wrote:

This kind of thing comes up in our society all the time. Favoritism has been a major deal in the past. Consider the civil rights issue and the need for it. Maybe it depends upon which side of the fence you are on. It will probably always be a part of humanity. We always gravitate to like minded groups. It's just that our government should be as immune to that as possible. Isn't it about 'All Men are created equal' and women too for that matter?

No one has ever been equal to anyone else; not even identical twins are equal.

David

0 Replies

@Setanta,

Setanta wrote:

Because, as you so persistently ignore, Joe, he is the governor, and anything he says publicly has the force of the authority of his office behind it. All your blather about his beliefs and his right to them and his right to express them ignores that simple fact.

No, I keep that firmly in mind throughout all of my blather. But it's a bit much to claim that everything he says has the force of the authority of his office behind it. He was clearly making a religious statement, not a political statement. And if he believes that non-Christians are not his siblings (whatever that means), then why shouldn't he state that? It's not like he's saying "non-Christians are second-class citizens, and I will treat them as such."

2 Replies

@IRFRANK,

IRFRANK wrote:

Joe, it is a problem because I infer from that statement that he will show preferrential treatment to 'his brothers'.

That is quite unwarranted.

0 Replies

@IRFRANK,

IRFRANK wrote:

Quote:
Based on what we have seen over the years, I really think worrying about a Christian theocracy is needless.

I wouldn't say it is needless. There is certainly some influence. I thought some of Bush's motivation to invade Iraq was from God. I gathered this from his statements, not my own thinking.

Every government that starts a war think's that God is on their side.

Stay vigilant then IRFRANK, because I won't worry about a theocracy for even a few seconds.

1 Reply

@Finn dAbuzz,

Quote:

Stay vigilant then IRFRANK, because I won't worry about a theocracy for even a few seconds.

Of course not. It's your theocracy of choice.

0 Replies

@IRFRANK,

IRFRANK wrote:

Joe, it is a problem because I infer from that statement that he will show preferrential treatment to 'his brothers'. Is that not valid. I would have liked to have known that before the election, although I don't vote in Alabama.

The people of Alabama did know that the man they were electing was very religious.

1 Reply

@engineer,

I would go further, and say he was elected, in part, because he is religious.

0 Replies

Now if we were to find a politian who was proven to be completely fair
and impartial, never, ever showing favortism to any group or person . . .

. . . THAT would shock me.

0 Replies

@joefromchicago,

You're attempting to apply logic to practical politics, which is foolish. Those who are fervently devout will make of this a statement backed by the power of his office, and that is why it is odious.

1 Reply

@Ragman,

Ragman wrote:

Elected politicians should not be making such statements - period!

Elected politicians have the right to practice their religion just like everybody else. And in any Christian denomination that believes in the Apostle's Creed, the governor would have stated nothing but a truism: "I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Christian Church, the communion of saints...." All the governor said is that if you have accepted Jesus Christ as your savior, he considers you his brother; and if you don't, he wants to consider you that way, too. It takes severe cultural ignorance about Christianity to construe this to mean "if you don't believe in Christ, you're not my brother."

Full disclosure: The author of this post is an Atheist who doesn't usually suffer faithheads gladly. But in this case, there's just nothing there to suffer from.

4 Replies

@Thomas,

Or in other words, I agree with joefromchicago---always an embarrassing situation for both of us.

2 Replies

@Setanta,

The fervently devout will make of it what they will. But then they'll do that regardless of what the governor says. As long as he's not saying something like "kill the unbelievers!" I don't see why that's a problem.

1 Reply

Non-Christian - not my brother

Related Topics

Quick Links

My Account

able2know