We continue our look at the extremist statements that Cathie Adams, the new chair of the Texas Republican Party, has made over the years. Today we look at Adams’ alarming views about religious freedom in America. She seems to agree that Americans are free to worship as they choose, but she wants government to make it clear whose religious beliefs are better than all the others.
“(W)e must place our faith in the ONE true God, then humble ourselves, pray and seek Him and repent for our sins. Then God will forgive us and heal our land. Do you think that a jealous God will tolerate ‘religious pluralism’ and allow us to come to Him any way we please? Absolutely not!”
— October 1999 letter to Texas Eagle Forum activists
“While the first amendment provides for freedom of religion and speech, our nation’s Founders admonished us to fear God in order to receive His blessings. . . . The Dallas City Council’s invitation to a Wiccan witch to ‘pray’ mocked God.”
— November 2000 letter to TEF activists, criticizing the Dallas City Council for permitting a Wiccan to pray before the council
“Our duty and privilege as citizens of this greatest nation on earth . . . is to pray for our leaders and obey civil laws unless they contradict Bible laws.”
— December 1997 letter to TEF activists
I thought you folks might be interested in this. It was posted as a recommendation on the Oklahoma Mainstream Baptist website, and I expect it to sweep the Internet at some point. It occurs to me that FOX News is a major national soapbox for people like Cathie Adams, and it is okay as an American to protest the biased programming of that soapbox. It occurs to me that FOX News has a constitutional right to say and bias anything that it pleases. We should all defend that right and wish them the best in it, even if we disagree. However, to the best of my knowledge, they do not have a First Amendment assurance that there will be an audience for whatever they have to say. Here is the link:
http://www.turnofffox.com/
This is the sort of thinking that earns people like her the label of “zealot.” Yeah, yeah, Cathie, yours is the “ONE true God” and everybody else is wrong. Foist your beliefs on everybody else, no matter what it takes. Talk about jihad envy.
As a Christian, I am offended by Cathie and her dogma. My God is a loving God capable of great forgiveness of his fallible, imperfect children. The hell ,fire and brimstone of Adams’ Old Testament thinking died on the cross. Sadly, people like her and the rest of the far right, drive people away from accepting God and his Grace. Ironic isn’t it? And sad.
Ms Adams: You are so right. By establishing a de facto state religion there would no longer be any question about whose god we should follow. The state could then also provide an official interpretation of the Bible in case any questions arise and incorporate these views into federal law. Things could be so much simpler this way. Of course, we would also need to chose our “one” god from among those represented by Catholics, Mormons, Baptists, etc. My only question is whether this is Utopian or dystopian; or is it just plain stupid?
“Things could be so much simpler this way. Of course, we would also need to chose our “one” god from among those represented by Catholics, Mormons, Baptists, etc.”
Well, it looks like I’m moving to Minnesota, where Odin watches over all his…playthings, and lightning is his Word! Death in battle is the only way to go! ( Um, I’ll pass on that offer of virgins, thanks. )
Where’s my mead, woman?
Cathy D, when you say “The hell, fire and brimstone of Adams’ Old Testament thinking died on the cross,” what do you mean? Do you have any clue how antisemitic such a statement appears?
People like Cathie Adams drive people away, that’s for sure; I want no part of Cathie Adams’ religion. But people like you aren’t real magnetic either for people like me.
To root out “pluralism,” people like Cathie Adams seem hell-bent on bringing back the religious wars of medieval and Renaissance Europe: Catholics killing Protestants, Protestants killing Catholics, Protestants killing each other, and all of the above killing Jews. Ah, fun times….
There are these two heretic-types whose religious views I sometimes review…just to obtain a different perspective on folks, like Cathie Adams, who would choose those who’d lead us. Adams seems to suggest all of us should worship a god who intervenes miraculously in the affairs of, well, all of us. But there were these guys…Thomas Jefferson and James Madison…they rejected the notion of supernatural intervention. And darn it all, they too had suggestions for how we should govern those who would govern us all in religious matters. They went so far as to enshrine their beliefs in our foundational articles of governance. There’s a real miracle: enlightenment thinkers whose work still shields those of us who need a shield, 200 years and more, from people like Cathie Adams, who like Caliban in THE TEMPEST, would have peopled else this land with Cathie Adamses.
Trog: Be careful of Thor’s hammer or you might get a clap of thunder and a lighting bolt up your bum.
Charles, I sure don’t wanna get the clap, but if I do, I hope that lightning bolt has some penicillin inside.
There you go again guys, cracking me up.
Yep, if you die with a sword in your hand, Trog, you get a free pass to Valhalla where you’ll meet those 75 virgins.
Oh wait a minute,…. wrong religion.