Church and state

I received this e-mail from a friend of mine. My response is below (starting with "Dear XXXXX").

I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG, OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AND TO THE REPUBLIC, FOR WHICH IT STANDS, ONE NATION UNDER GOD, INDIVISIBLE, WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL!

I was asked to send this on if I agree or delete if I don't. It is said that 86% of Americans believe in God. Therefore I have a very hard time understanding why there is such a problem in having "In God! We Trust" on our money and having "God" in the Pledge of Allegiance. Why don't we just tell the 14% to Shut Up and BE QUIET!!!
If you agree, pass this on, if not delete. .

Dear XXXXXX,
I'd like to offer a competing viewpoint to the author of this message that you passed along.
The Pledge of Allegiance is a pledge to a country, not a God. Therefore, all references within that pledge must be couched in those terms. I certainly believe that The United States is a nation "under God." In fact, I think that can be said of all nations and all things.
What I and 86 percent of Americans believe is certainly important. And, thank God, we live in a country where we can believe in what we want, whether we are 86 percent, 14 percent or .000001 percent of the American population.
Yet, the Pledge, at its essence, is not about belief in God. It is about allegiance to country. Most of the time, the pledge is recited voluntarily. If an atheist in Rotary chooses to not say the pledge or to skip over the "under God" reference, I doubt that anyone would notice. And even if they did, I don't think any action would be taken.
It's when the pledge crosses over to a compulsory statement, that things change. When a student is required to say the Pledge, the term "under God" now becomes much more significant (as do other parts of the pledge).
Here's where I begin to have a problem. First, I find no Biblical basis for government-mandated articulations of faith. There are many names on this list whom I recognize that know more about the Bible than I ever will, so perhaps I'm in error here. Yet, even while confessing a woefully inadequate knowledge of specific Scriptures, my understanding of the general message of the New Testament doesn't involve coercion at all.
I have a theory on why Jesus did not use the government to advance his great message. He knew it could and almost certainly would backfire. Once religion is infused in even a democratic government by a religious majority, it's only a matter of time before the majority loses sway. We are seeing demographic evidence of that right now. As this great U.S. melting pot continues to bubble away, whites are finding themselves minority populations in large areas of the country. Can it be long until there are also communities in American where Christians are in the minority?
What then? If you find yourself in the 14 percent instead of the 86 percent will "shut up and be quiet" be an acceptable response to your protestations over "one nation, under Allah ..."?
My problem with the infusion of religion into government is not borne from a desire to protect government from religion, it's about protecting religion FROM government.
That is, I want people to understand that there is a case to be made for separation of church and state that has nothing to do with diminishing the role of religion, but rather seeks to protect and enhance religion.
Practically speaking, I also don't understand why some of these rather trivial inclusions of religion in government gather so much importance. Is seeing "in God we trust" on the dollar bill really a cornerstone of someone's faith? Is praying before a public school football game something that is essential to the faith lives of large groups of people?
Put another way, have we so filled the "non-public" parts of our lives with church activities, prayer time, studying God's word, living a life of discipleship and spreading the Good News that there is nothing left to do but also include religion in government life?
I, for one, would be utterly hypocritical to demand that more time for religion be included in government when I make such pitiful use of the "private" time accorded to me. Further, I don't have near enough "faith" in the government to be a responsible gatekeeper of religious artifacts, whether they be tangible or lyrical. I do have faith in God -- Father, Son and Holy Spirit -- and that certainly isn't going to be shaken by whether "under God" is included in a secular, patriotic pledge of allegiance to our great nation.
Finally, even if you think all of that is hokum, I would submit that there is not much Biblical support for "shut up and be quiet," even when it refers to the least among us or unbelievers. I haven't met many people who were converted because they were forced to say a pledge that included affirmation of a deity in which they didn't believe. And I doubt that the faith life of many Christians is significantly enhanced by the reciting of a Pledge or a transaction involving currency.
Anyway, rant over.
I guess if any of you have read this far, I'd like to say: there are some -- or, at least one -- in that 86 percent who still think religion is best left in the hands of individuals and churches and not the government.
Respectfully,
Skip Foster

Unbelievable -- Rita hits Cat 5

This satellite picture is scary.

Rita -- Katrina's evil sister?

Virtually every computer model now places Rita in the central Gulf of Mexico as a major category 3 or higher hurricane. The models have taken an ominous turn north in the past 24 hours. Here is the latest National Hurricane Center track. Of note, that track showed landfall in southern Texas yesterday -- look how far north it has moved.

Here is a spread of computer models, showing Rita's track.

It goes without saying that a further north/east shift in the models would be beyond alarming.

When my wife makes news ....

You may have noticed that my wife, Judge Dina Foster, was named Civitan Citizen of the Year on Tuesday.

You might wonder how we handle stories like that when there is an obvious conflict.

The short answer is: I butt out!

When we hear about something like that, I immediately remove myself from all decision-making on the story -- how it is written, how long the story is, where it is played and everything else about it.

In this case, our reporter on the story, Cassie Tarpley, reported to my boss, Publisher Jennie Lambert, who directed her on where the story should go in the paper (at the very bottom of 1A).

I happen to know this is consistent with coverage of other "citizens of the year." (I.e. last year's Lions club citizen of the year was at the top of 1A). Others have run on the Local front, depending on the news of the day.

Anyway, we keep that out of my hands and also have somebody that works over me make the call so the folks under me don't feel pressured.

The truth is, I would be much more likely to UNDERplay the story than overplay it, just to avoid any appearance of impropriety. I remember hating it when my dad refereed by youth league basketball games, because I knew he would be harder on me than anybody else, just so nobody would think he was playing favorites.

Ophelia -- oh no ....

Massive computer model disagreement on Tropical Storm Ophelia which is strengthening as it meanders off the east coast of Florida.

Most ominous a significant camp of computer models show Ophelia finally making its move late this week to the west, crossing the Fla. peninsula and moving into the Gulf.

Incredibly, the European model, during yesterday's runs, showed a direct hit on N. Oreleans.

That's still a long shot -- another model "camp" shows Ophelia making a loop off the coast, then moving into the Ga./S.C./N.C. coast.

The last camp has the storm curving off into the Atlantic and out to sea.

In any event, looks like a rainy few days for the east coast of Fla. Any interests from Texas to the Carolina coast should stay right on top of this storm.

Adopting Laurel, Miss.

Here is a front page column from today's Star. If you are interested in participating, please let me know.

The Star's Katrina coverage

Would love to hear suggestions on how we can better cover this story or simply some local story ideas you might have.

Gas shortages

We're starting to hear reports of service stations running out of gas. Please post your reports of shortages and higher prices.

Katrina ....

Sorry to have been away.

The full extent of Katrina's damage is just starting to come into focus. The pictures are unbelievable.

I also am infuriated by the reports of looting. Some looters have told reporters: "We're getting back at what society owes us."

Nauseating.

Skip speaks

I'll be talking to a group of local Democrats Thursday night. Looking forward to sharing The Star's editorial philosophy. I think some Democrats will be surprised to hear some common ground between liberterians and liberals. I'll let you know how it goes.

Eye on the tropics

If you are going to the coast next week, keep an eye on Irene. As you can see from this map, the National Hurrican Center, which for days had been forecasting Irene to turn out to sea, has made a dramatic change and now has the storm staying on a west northwesterly track, which could threaten the S.C./N.C. coasts. Stay tuned.

More on the 505th

Here is my column from today which the staff talked me into running on the front page.

God Bless the 505th

Took my two young boys to Kings Mountain this morning to send off the 505th Engineer Combat Batallion of the National Guard. Folks lined Kings Street to wave goodbye and wave American flags and give support.

It was brutal, emotionally.

We read the statistics all the time, but until you see fathers says goodbye to their children, wives say goodbye to their husbands ..

As the buses passed by, you could see the range of emotions. Some wore huge grins at the site of children and adults offering support.

For others on that bus, whom I could briefly see as it moved past, the emotions were too much and the tears flowed.

My 7-year-old looked up at me and said. "They could die, couldn't they Dad?"

Yes, son, they could.

God Bless them one and all.

Need some help

We are talking in the newsroom about our "blurbs" as we call them. Basically these are announcements of local events, happenings, etc.

We are trying to strike a balance between honoring the wishes of the people submitting the blurgs and honoring the wishes of readers.

Here is an example of what we currently publish:

Cleveland County Memorial Library will host ghost story writer Nancy Roberts Monday, July 25, at 7 p.m. The event is free of charge for adults and school-age children, but tickets need to be picked up at the library.
After her presentation Ms. Roberts will be available for a book signing. Books will be provided for purchase and light refreshments will be served. This event is co-sponsored by the Friends of the Library.
Ms. Roberts is the author of more than 25 books about the supernatural, including "Civil War Ghost Stories and Legends," "Blackbeard and other Pirates of the Atlantic Coast" and "Haunted Houses: Chilling Tales from American Homes."
A storyteller dedicated to inspiring students to read, she has performed at seminars, on radio and television and at hundreds of schools and libraries across the South. If you have questions, please call Dolores Ashworth at (704) 487-9069, ext. 237.


Now, here is what we are proposing to do to shorten blurbs like this one:

Ghost stories
Author and teller of ghost stories Nancy Roberts will be at Cleveland County Memorial Library on Monday, July 25, at 7 p.m. After a presentation, she will sign books, which will be available for purchase. Light refreshments will be served. The event is free of charge for adults and school-age children, but tickets need to be picked up at the library. The event is co-sponsored by Friends of the Library. Contact: Dolores Ashworth, (704) 487-9069, ext. 237.


Advantages to longer blurb
1) Tells everything the person who submitted it wants
2) Gives more complete information to readers

Advantages to shorter blurb
1) Respects that readers are pressed for time and gives them basic info quickly
2) Takes up less space which means we can run blurbs "farther out" from the event and more often.


Which do you prefer? Comments?

Thanks!

A nauseating bumper sticker

Generally, I like bumper stickers that push the envelope a little -- nothing worse than one that is boring.

But this bumper sticker I found to be offensive and insulting:

WORK HARD
Millions of us on welfare are counting on you.


Ugh.

Think regulations don't cost jobs?

Here is The Star' s editorial from Sunday.

Silence from Shelby on this issue can only mean that the city thinks its acceptable for jobs to be lost so that the government has more control over the taxicab industry.

Another nice column on eminent domain

This column in the L.A. Times (of all places) makes the excellent point that, often, these city projects that entail seizing property end up being money losers. Hmmmm, that sounds familiar to me for some reason -- a city in a money-losing venture. Oh well, it will come to me ...

Car safety concern

Has anybody read anything about the dangers of the easy opening van side doors, popularize by the Honda Odyssey? We were scared out of our wits to find that our 3-year-old had opened the van door and climbed in while we were all outside playing/working in the yard. As you probably know, if you can just pull the handle back, the door will open.

After disciplining him and explaining it to him, we vowed to lock the car doors everytime we came home.

Time to reduce scope of the federal judiciary?

In this column, John Leo argues that federal judges, includings the Supremes, have literally changed the face of the American republic through legislating, rather than interpreting the law.

I think a case can be made that this new judicial activism as thrown out of whack the checks and balances on which our republic was built.

What could be done about that, I wonder?

Anybody ready for football?

As those of you who know me are well aware, I'm a huge Florida State football fan. I just found out that I'll be headed to Tallahassee for the Oct. 29 "revenge" game against Maryland.

College football starts in 8 weeks!