To suppose that any form of government will secure liberty or happiness without any virtue in the people, is a chimerical idea. ( James Madison )
I ran across this quote and thought to myself, hey, that is what I've been saying for a while now. I admit to not knowing the word Chimerical right off, had to think on that one and check it out in the dictionary. In case your vocabulary is a little rusty it means, a thing that is hoped or wished for but in fact is illusory or impossible to achieve. I would say pipe dreams in place of that word, still I like the word and more importantly agree with the sentiment. Those old guys were pretty smart weren't they ? I believe they were and it was a result of reading books and learning. That was followed by contemplation of what they had learned. Ever notice how those folks seldom quoted anyone else ? That is because they were expressing their own thoughts. Something I believe we need more of today. Seems to me all the " smart " folks do these days is quote other people and wave their degrees around as proof of how smart they feel they have become. You know completing a course of study with a passing grade doesn't mean you learned anything. It just means I can repeat back what someone else already knows.
It is the notion of virtue as the guiding force that interests me. Well, to me it isn't a notion at all but a reality. James Madison thought so too. Madison talked about the separation of church and state and the necessity of that. He said it was a necessity to prevent all the wars and bloodshed in Europe from happening here. I'd say he was correct about that. We did have a civil war but that was economics more than anything else. It wasn't religiously motivated. Both sides in that conflict where calling upon the same God to secure victory for their side ! That happened a lot in Europe too. It is true the Europeans did have the occasional dust up with the Muslims. Madison also said, “ Strongly guarded as is the separation between Religion and Government in the Constitution of the United States, the danger of encroachment by [Religious] Bodies, may be illustrated by precedents already furnished in history.” And that is what we can see happening today. Make no mistake about it, this Religion of Islam does wish to encroach upon the government, that is this Sharia Law we hear so much about. " Sharia, Islamic sharia or Islamic law is the religious legal system governing the members of the Islamic faith. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam, particularly the Quran and the Hadith. The term sharia comes from the Arabic language term sharīʿah, which means a body of moral and religious law derived from religious prophecy, as opposed to human legislation. " That is the definition if you goggle it. Notice it is a system of Law ! Notice it has nothing to do with what the people decide upon but everything to do with what a Prophet said. I'm certainly no expert on the laws that imposes upon the people, but I do know they are in stark contrast to the liberties we enjoy in America. And therein lies the problem.
Madison said it and so do I, virtue is the vital component in establishing liberty and happiness among people. Religion is not virtue. Virtue is high moral standards. And from where do we get those moral standards ? The founding fathers all agreed, we are endowed with them by the creator. That was one reason for not having a state religion ! The Torah and the Bible do not provide civil penalties for a failure to worship God. Nor do those texts promise any material rewards for the advancement of their teaching. Jews and Christians are not promised money, slaves, concubines and social status for defeating people of a different faith. That is the issue with this religion of Islam. They provide for all of those things in their Sharia law. That law cannot exist within our society. It really is that simple. The reason is obvious, Sharia law is contrary to the virtues we treasure so greatly in America. Religion should not be law ! It offends our sensibilities. In America we certainly don't shy away from making civil penalties for breaking the law, but it is Civil law that concerns us. The voice of the people, not the voice of a prophet !
Can you have Islam without Sharia law ? That I don't have enough knowledge about to say one way or the other. It just appears to me that you could not. Either you are listening to and following the Prophet, or you are not. Can you be a Christian and only believe part of what Jesus taught ? Note I said believe, not practice, as we all fall short in the practice department, few of us will reach the expert level. The difference again is in the penalty. Jews and Christians only have to answer to their God, the Muslims have to answer to a court here on earth for those moral infractions. I understand that is pretty general in nature, but I believe it boils the problem down some.
Muslims believe that God revealed books to His messengers as proof for mankind and as guidance for them. Among these books is the Qur'an, which God revealed to the Prophet Muhammad . God has guaranteed the Qur'an’s protection from any change. I learned that from an explanation of Islam's basic beliefs. The other five basic beliefs are pretty much the same as Christians and Jews believe. So there it is, if you removed the stuff the Prophet Mohamed wrote down as law that is what you would have, Christianity. But Mohamed made this religion they call Islam. So, if you don't believe Mohamed you don't believe in Islam.
Well that is my thinking anyway. This religion of Islam is also a system of government. And what did Madison say about that, To suppose that any form of government will secure liberty or happiness
without any virtue in the people, is a chimerical idea. Yup, I agree and do say that it is a pipedream to believe the two could co-exist in a free society. Fire and water both exist but cannot be intermingled. Is one superior to the other ? Doesn't really make any difference does it ? The point is they can't mix. There is only room for one form of government in our nation, or any nation for that matter. To recognize the legitimacy of any other " law " other than the one instituted by the people negates the legitimacy of our Constitution and Bill of Rights. Remember Muslims believe the Quran, which the prophet says is protected from change by God. Yes and there are some that say our Constitution should be changed and we the people can do that. You can't change the Quran ! A government that can not be changed ? Don't think I want that.
I ran across this quote and thought to myself, hey, that is what I've been saying for a while now. I admit to not knowing the word Chimerical right off, had to think on that one and check it out in the dictionary. In case your vocabulary is a little rusty it means, a thing that is hoped or wished for but in fact is illusory or impossible to achieve. I would say pipe dreams in place of that word, still I like the word and more importantly agree with the sentiment. Those old guys were pretty smart weren't they ? I believe they were and it was a result of reading books and learning. That was followed by contemplation of what they had learned. Ever notice how those folks seldom quoted anyone else ? That is because they were expressing their own thoughts. Something I believe we need more of today. Seems to me all the " smart " folks do these days is quote other people and wave their degrees around as proof of how smart they feel they have become. You know completing a course of study with a passing grade doesn't mean you learned anything. It just means I can repeat back what someone else already knows.
It is the notion of virtue as the guiding force that interests me. Well, to me it isn't a notion at all but a reality. James Madison thought so too. Madison talked about the separation of church and state and the necessity of that. He said it was a necessity to prevent all the wars and bloodshed in Europe from happening here. I'd say he was correct about that. We did have a civil war but that was economics more than anything else. It wasn't religiously motivated. Both sides in that conflict where calling upon the same God to secure victory for their side ! That happened a lot in Europe too. It is true the Europeans did have the occasional dust up with the Muslims. Madison also said, “ Strongly guarded as is the separation between Religion and Government in the Constitution of the United States, the danger of encroachment by [Religious] Bodies, may be illustrated by precedents already furnished in history.” And that is what we can see happening today. Make no mistake about it, this Religion of Islam does wish to encroach upon the government, that is this Sharia Law we hear so much about. " Sharia, Islamic sharia or Islamic law is the religious legal system governing the members of the Islamic faith. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam, particularly the Quran and the Hadith. The term sharia comes from the Arabic language term sharīʿah, which means a body of moral and religious law derived from religious prophecy, as opposed to human legislation. " That is the definition if you goggle it. Notice it is a system of Law ! Notice it has nothing to do with what the people decide upon but everything to do with what a Prophet said. I'm certainly no expert on the laws that imposes upon the people, but I do know they are in stark contrast to the liberties we enjoy in America. And therein lies the problem.
Madison said it and so do I, virtue is the vital component in establishing liberty and happiness among people. Religion is not virtue. Virtue is high moral standards. And from where do we get those moral standards ? The founding fathers all agreed, we are endowed with them by the creator. That was one reason for not having a state religion ! The Torah and the Bible do not provide civil penalties for a failure to worship God. Nor do those texts promise any material rewards for the advancement of their teaching. Jews and Christians are not promised money, slaves, concubines and social status for defeating people of a different faith. That is the issue with this religion of Islam. They provide for all of those things in their Sharia law. That law cannot exist within our society. It really is that simple. The reason is obvious, Sharia law is contrary to the virtues we treasure so greatly in America. Religion should not be law ! It offends our sensibilities. In America we certainly don't shy away from making civil penalties for breaking the law, but it is Civil law that concerns us. The voice of the people, not the voice of a prophet !
Can you have Islam without Sharia law ? That I don't have enough knowledge about to say one way or the other. It just appears to me that you could not. Either you are listening to and following the Prophet, or you are not. Can you be a Christian and only believe part of what Jesus taught ? Note I said believe, not practice, as we all fall short in the practice department, few of us will reach the expert level. The difference again is in the penalty. Jews and Christians only have to answer to their God, the Muslims have to answer to a court here on earth for those moral infractions. I understand that is pretty general in nature, but I believe it boils the problem down some.
Muslims believe that God revealed books to His messengers as proof for mankind and as guidance for them. Among these books is the Qur'an, which God revealed to the Prophet Muhammad . God has guaranteed the Qur'an’s protection from any change. I learned that from an explanation of Islam's basic beliefs. The other five basic beliefs are pretty much the same as Christians and Jews believe. So there it is, if you removed the stuff the Prophet Mohamed wrote down as law that is what you would have, Christianity. But Mohamed made this religion they call Islam. So, if you don't believe Mohamed you don't believe in Islam.
Well that is my thinking anyway. This religion of Islam is also a system of government. And what did Madison say about that, To suppose that any form of government will secure liberty or happiness
without any virtue in the people, is a chimerical idea. Yup, I agree and do say that it is a pipedream to believe the two could co-exist in a free society. Fire and water both exist but cannot be intermingled. Is one superior to the other ? Doesn't really make any difference does it ? The point is they can't mix. There is only room for one form of government in our nation, or any nation for that matter. To recognize the legitimacy of any other " law " other than the one instituted by the people negates the legitimacy of our Constitution and Bill of Rights. Remember Muslims believe the Quran, which the prophet says is protected from change by God. Yes and there are some that say our Constitution should be changed and we the people can do that. You can't change the Quran ! A government that can not be changed ? Don't think I want that.
No comments:
Post a Comment