Arguing With Idiots II

I received a letter from a rather distraught and illiterate military member about the North Carolina billboard campaign that is a roller coaster of crazy.

To whom it may consern,
I am a US Marine & today i stumbled across your anti-American website. I use that term because it seems corrosive to the very thing your trying to claim part of. So you are wanting to change the national anthem & dollar because you have no relegious beliefs. The people who designed those, the creator of those items also are the ones who created America, defended her, & gave you the protection to be able to complain about it. To slander thier work seems anti-patriotic. They were smart enough to create the a governing system that lasts till this day and felt it important to put "ONE NATION UNDER GOD" in thier work. Words that acknowledge the founding fathers who came for religious freedom, words that bond those who've fought for her. "There has never been an athiest in a fight hole" is a saying I've heard my whole carrier and to this day remains true. I have yet to see any human in an extreme time of need/combat not ask for help from a none physicly presence being, a god. I would fight to my death to defend my country and honor her the way my forefathers made her. I'm proud of what they've created. On a physcological perspective believing in God is not wrong, its inspiration. If your beliefs are correct then we are all doomed and theres nothing worth fight for, worth dying for. Anarchy would be the only logical solution and in that world I know even you would pray for protection, a group bounded by a stronger moral belief. I belief in there being a purpose for life, a greater existance. A savior called God. Please quit attacking my country and the beliefs of those willing to defend her.

God Speed & Semper Fi
T DeBruhl USMC
p.s. how can u be proud or put work into claiming you feel theres no meaning to life.

Now for the response from Jim.

Dear Mr. DeBruhl,

I've decided to respond to the email you sent to my good friend William Warren. You see, he has fielded so much of this kind of email that I've chosen to step in to help him answer some of the concerns you have expressed.

First, I am very proud of the United States and daily express my gratitude that I live in a country where I am free to choose how and what I believe. I am so proud of this country that I've studied its history closely. It would appear that I've studied that history a bit more closely than you have. If you had studied it, you'd know that the folks who came to this country to escape religious persecution weren't trying to avoid atheism or Islam. They were trying to escape the persecution brought upon them by Christians who didn't care for their particular brand of Christianity. It is for this reason that the Founding Fathers were so dead set against the establishment of a state religion. It was so important that when they framed the Constitution (which you have sworn an oath to protect), they made it the first of the Bill of Rights.

Those Founding Fathers weren't the God fearing Christians so many historical revisionists would paint them to be. In fact, Thomas Jefferson, the author of the Declaration of Independence wrote the Jefferson Bible, a version that removed the miracles and divinity of Jesus Christ, leaving only what he considered the correct moral lessons of Christ. In a letter to John Adams written on April 11, 1823, he wrote, “And the day will come when the mystical generation of Jesus, by the supreme being as his father in the womb of a virgin will be classed with the fable of the generation of Minerve in the brain of Jupiter.”

Jefferson wasn't alone in his disbelief. Thomas Paine wrote, “As to the book called the bible, it is blasphemy to call it the Word of God. It is a book of lies and contradictions and a history of bad times and bad men.” And Benjamin Franklin wrote, “When a religion is good, I conceive it will support itself; and when it does not support itself, and God does not care to support it, so that its professors are obliged to call for the help of the civil power, 'tis a sign, I apprehend, of its being a bad one.” He also said, “Lighthouses are more useful than churches.”

Probably most damning to the idea of the United States being a Christian nation comes from the Treaty of Tripoli, signed on November 4, 1796 and ratified on June 10, 1797. In Article XI, it states, “As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion...” This was signed by then president John Adams.

That's it for the history lesson.

Now for civics. The United States Constitution is a remarkable document guaranteeing the liberty and rights of all of its citizens; not just the ones you like or agree with but all of them. If you can't bring yourself to embrace this concept, you are unworthy to wear the uniform of any of the armed forces of this country.

When I was in the Air Force and took my oath, I swore to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.” I'm sure your oath contained something similar. That Constitution is a double edged sword, my friend. It defends everyone's rights to believe as they choose to believe or even if they choose not to believe.

If you choose to live in a country where one religion dictates everyone's lives, you might have a problem. You see, we're currently at war with at least one of those countries so you'd have to switch sides... and religions. Do you think this war is about anything other than religious ideologies?

Despite my disagreeing with your particular religious followings, I do want to express gratitude for the service that you and those serving with you provide to this country. It is my sincere hope that you are safe and secure as you guard the safety and security of those at home and abroad.

Yours faithfully,

Jim Craig
Former sergeant, USAF

PS Please forgive me for not addressing you by rank but you omitted it in your original email to Mr. Warren.

Well Said, Jim.