As an American who sometimes ruminates on the role of God in our society, I find the debate over the constitutionality of the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools interesting. I can’t separate whether I’m okay with the pledge because it does not violate constitutional separation of church and state or because I believe that it is in fact God’s authority that really provides inalienable rights. If it’s the former, then I don’t really have a problem. However, if it’s the lattter and “one nation under God” is fine with me personally, then I shouldn’t be okay with it as a government supported directive. What I found most interesting about this NYTimes article is the way in which religious groups fall on both sides of the debate.
Related Posts
The case against Abou El Fadl
I understand that in some “Progressive Muslim” circles it is almost blasphemous to criticise Khaled Abou El Fadl, but I am going to to do it anyway. Let me state first off that I think all Muslims and non-Muslims should read ” A Conference of the Books: The Search for Beauty in Islam”. It is a moving, well written, collection of essays that will forever change the way one thinks about Islam. I will read anything by El Fadl and consider him to be one of the foremost thinkers on Islam today. He is a great legal scholar and one…
Turkish Surprise
From The Atlantic (related article). Turkey, Istanbul
Ahl al-Kitâb
We’ve added a new typelist on the left bar today to recognize the Ahl al-Kitâb, People of the Book, very broadly defined. One of the things I’ve tried to argue for is that Muslim community cannot see itself or its issues in isolation. After a generous comment from the Velveteen Rabbi, I thought we should practice what we preach. We are actively seeking suggestions for Jewish, Christian, Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, etc., blogs that are attempting to grapple with or explain aspects of their faiths.
One thought on “One Nation Under God”
Comments are closed.
Hello. My name is Shelly. I am an apartment manager in Houston, TX. I know that many of my residents celebrated Navroz Mubarak on March 21st. Is it an Islamic holiday? I would like to find a calendar of other holidays so we can celebrate them as a community. Any information you have would be helpful as I am unable to ask them about their religion due to fair housing restrictions. My e-mail address is shelly.garrett@gmail.com