The Treaty of Tripoli, Ratified Unanimously by Congress in 1796
Read Article 11, and if you can't read, let me fill you in on what it says:
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 Mussulmen [Muslims]; and, as the said States never entered into any war, or act of hostility against any Mahometan 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.
Yeah...suck on that. It seems that the Founding Fathers NOT ONLY wanted to make sure that it was unquestionably clear that the United States WERE NOT founded as a nation with a specific religious affiliation (i.e. I don't care if the Bible says that marriage is between a man and a hunk of cheese, you can't use it as an argument against gay marriage because we were not founded as a Christian nation); but these Founding Fathers also had the psychic foresight to make sure that we also should NEVER use religious differences, specifically those between our country and nations founded on Islam, as a reason to disturb or impede their way of life, just as they shouldn't use those to obstruct ours.
Now, let me state this on record: I am not an atheist, nor do I have any hatred for organized religions OF ANY KIND. I was born and raised Methodist, but I don't practice any specific religion as a personal choice. I did see the Dalai Lama speak last October as part of the Interfaith Summit on Happiness at Emory University in Atlanta (expect an entirely separate post about how life-changing that was), and if you told me that you would shoot my cats if I didn't declare a religious affiliation, I would align my beliefs more with Buddhism than anything else. However, my reasons for not going to church or actively practicing a specific religion are two-fold: one, I honestly find it difficult to have blind faith in God without some kind of concrete proof; and two, I refuse to align myself with any kind of religious faith that is so horribly distorted by any group of people who seek to act upon their own disgusting prejudices, while using that religion as their justification so they don't have to take accountability for their own pathetic and evil methods of suppression (I'm looking at you, Westboro Baptist Church).
The fact is, I don't care what you believe, and I absolutely support your right to believe in it. In fact, I will stand next to you and argue for your right to believe whatever the fuck you want. However, I will not support, endorse, or even stand idly by and watch you use those religious beliefs as a way to moderate how people live their lives. These new "witch trials" that were sparked by New York Representative Peter King's sad little delusion that all Muslims are terrorists, or know terrorists, or think about being terrorists and therefore must be tried for crimes that they might (but probably won't) commit, is the frightening result of our nation's inability to live and let live. Think of it this way: King wants to bring all of the Muslims in New York in for questioning because there were a few completely sick and evil individuals who committed a massive act of terrorism in the name of their religion. How is that any different from the United States Military bringing every single Christian (or anyone who has even been to a Christian church, because you never know) for questioning because of the offensive and terrorist-like acts of the Westboro Baptist Church (and yes, I will use the word "terrorism," because if picketing a FUNERAL and using a family's pain and mourning as a platform for your absolutely FUCKED UP beliefs definitely qualifies a terrorist act).
Yes, the Treaty of Tripoli is no longer considered to be an active law in our country (though, side note, it was officially made a law on June 10, 1797, which just happens to be the same month and day as MY birthday, thank you), but the truth of this treaty is undeniable: our founding fathers had their shit together. The United States were founded upon "unalienable" rights, not "rights that might vary depending on the current political and religious powerhouses currently dominating the country." Our government and our society cannot pick and choose only the parts of history that serve to advance their personal agenda, but yet we continue to allow this to happen over and over because everyone in Washington D.C. is far too concerned with being politically-correct and maintaining "freedom of speech" to step in and say, "okay, that's a little fucked up." Freedom of speech is fine...freedom to harass and intimidate people into buying into your conservative and inhumane political agenda under the guise of "religion" is different. You can say whatever you want, but keep your religious and social beliefs out of my government.
I want to end this on a quote from Chicago's (my hometown) outgoing mayor, Richard M. Daley, which he said in response to a question regarding how he thinks we need to restore the nation. Is it blunt? Yes. It is dead-on accurate? Yes yes yes. America...man up, grow a pair, and stop placating every single whiny bitch religious and social group because you don't want to offend anyone. My mom always says, you know it's a compromise when both parties leave unhappy. Well, I'm pissed as hell right now, so let's see you concede something too, m'kay? Thanks.
“I think we have to have confidence. We have become a country of whiners...We started whining about the Japanese – ‘The Japanese are going to take us over! We thought we defeated them in the Second World War, rebuilt it – they’re taking us over in the 1970s. What’s going to happen to America? They’re going to own our country! That’s it! We’re all out of jobs! Then we start whining about the Mexicans. ‘We’re losing all the manufacturing to Mexico! Look what’s taking place! We cannot compete, we can’t do this! We can’t do this!’ Now we forgot about the Mexicans. Now we’re whining about the Chinese and the Indians. We’re a country of whiners. That’s what we are...We should have enough confidence that we can compete with people if we all sacrifice a little bit for the common good."~Andrea
Well said! I like how government twist and cherry picks things to make it work in their favor!
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