Sunday, September 21, 2003

Chuckie Watch 5: "America the Apostate"

Why is it that self-appointed guardians of Patriotic Correctness like CHARLIE DANIELS are ready to trash the patriotism of anyone who criticizes a war they're cheering for, but have no hesitation about making the most sweeping condemnations of America themselves?

Chuckie is at it in his Soapbox column of 09/19/03, which he titles "America the Apostate." It's really a pretty whacked-out rant about how God's gone git us because America is so mired in sin that total destruction is all we deserve.

Am I exaggerrating? "Sodom and Gomorra were totally destroyed for their rampant sins. ... Why will America be any different?" This is what you call a "fire and brimstone" message.

What sins are bothering Chuckie? Well, let's see, there's separation of church and state, a gay Episcopal bishop, homosexuality in general, revisionist history, "new age", abortion, the if-it-feels-good-do-it attitude, and "man's own brilliance." Mentioning Thomas Jefferson and George Washington, Chuckie also says the Founders' generation wanted the government to be thoroughly religious:

So did our forefathers, the framers of the Constitution intend for us to do away with the Judeo Christian principles on which this country was founded? There is not one shred of evidence in any of our federal papers which say so.

Actually, Chuckie, America's first confrontation with Muslim terrorists (the Barbary pirates) was resolved under the Administration of President Washington and Secretary of State Jefferson with the Barbary Treaties. Article 11 of the Treaty of Tripoli of 1797 says [emphasis mine]:

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 Musselmen [Muslims],-and as the said States never have entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mehomitan [Muslim] 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.

Sorry, Chuckie. Washington and Jefferson didn't see things your way.

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