Abstract: Christian nation, you say?

Repeat anything loud enough and often enough, and it eventually slips into the category of information we refer to as “common knowledge.” Has the oft-repeated mantra of the Religious right: “America is a Christian nation” reached this status in the lexicon? More importantly, is America a Christian nation in the sense they mean it, that is, are our laws and our constitution based upon Christian principals? Did our founders perhaps assume that this was a Christian nation, leading them to leave all mention of Christ and Christianity out of the constitution believing it un-necessary?

A recent poll found that 55% of Americans believe that the constitution establishes a Christian nation, and when asked by Beliefnet, recent presidential candidate John McCain agreed, adding that other religions “must be tolerated.” Senator Richard Burr of North Carolina wrote: “An acknowledgement of God as the sovereign source of law, liberty and government is cited in several historical documents as the foundation of the establishment of our country, including the Declaration of Independence and the United States Code.”

On the other hand, no one can doubt that our constitution contains no mention of Jesus, Jehovah, or any other god or goddess, for that matter, in fact the only reference to the supernatural is to proclaim that there can be no religious tests for any office in the federal government. Also, the first amendment creates what Jefferson called “a wall of separation between church and state." In spite of this, spokesmen for the religious right, and the politicians who pander to them, are constantly probing the boundaries of our secular constitution with a bewildering array of legislation and legal action designed to impose their version of Christianity on the country as a whole.

We will explore three aspects of this still-burgeoning controversy: First of all, why do we have the constitution we have, and not something explicitly Christian, in other words, what were the founders intentions and, most importantly, why did they do what they did? Secondly, what was the context surrounding the creation of the constitution and the passage of the Bill of Rights i.e. where did the support come from, which constituencies supported and opposed these founding documents and how controversial were they. Finally, why is the understanding of this so important, and what must we do to assure that our freedom of religion and the separation of church and state is maintained in the face of mounting threats from the right.

Join us for this important meeting with a social hour and pot luck supper buffet afterwards. Please bring a dish to share, soft drinks provided, BYOB allowed.

Bio, Pete Soderman

Pete served in the Navy after high school (Vietnam, clash of ’66), and did his undergraduate work at Bridgeport Engineering Institute, in pursuit of a BSEE. After a couple of fits and false starts, he found himself in the infant minicomputer industry in 1969, an industry he served in many capacities until its demise in 1990. Starting as a design engineer, he migrated to field engineering and then to sales and marketing, working for three different companies, none of which exist anymore.

He moved to Wilmington in 1992, found employment with a PC networking firm, and subsequently formed his own company in 1994, which lasted until a serious health problem forced him to close the business in 1999. Since then, Pete has subsisted doing a variety of things, including Real Estate, Commodities Relocation Engineering, and most recently computer maintenance.

A lifelong non-believer and a student of history, Pete has a special interest in church-state issues, and has been an ardent letter-writer to the local newspaper, and a frequent poster to several religious and secular blogs. Pete is not an alarmist, but is one who can see where the religious right is obviously heading, and believes that knowledge of where we come from as a nation is key to maintaining our most precious liberties.

Highway cleanup, starting at Stuckeys truck stop on Hwy 421, just on the other side of the Isabelle Holmes bridge on Saturday the 13th of December beginning at 9 AM. We will provide gloves, vests & trash bags. Suggest you bring "grabbers" to pick up trash.

Usually takes us about 2 hours to complete the job, depending upon how many folks we have. Hope to see many of you there. We will meet in the parking lot of the truck stop just over the bridge which is North of downtown. From 3rd Street and Market, head north on 3rd(pass PPD). At stoplight where US 76 West sign is, turn left and cross the bridge. Stay to the right, and turn right at the first light ( 421.) The truck stop is immediately on your right. Park across from the store, and we will meet in the parking lot.

DON"T MISS THIS MEETING!

One of the greatest minds in Humanism will join us. Dr. Howard Radest will speak on "The Human Comedy [Images and Reflections." This talk will deal with the madness that we in Humanism see in our society and how to deal with it. Dr. Radest is uniquely qualifed as he has been in the humanist movement almost since its inception, has seen it evolve and is considered the preminent ethicist in our movement. Learn from one of the best.

Join us for this important meeting with a social hour and pot luck supper buffet afterwards. Please bring a dish to share, soft drinks provided, BYOB allowed.

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DR. HOWARD B. RADEST is Adjunct Professor of Philosophy at The University of South Carolina-Beaufort. He teaches medical ethics, comparative religion, and social and political philosophy. He is a consulting member of the SC Medical Assn Ethics Committee. He is consultant to the Center for Preparedness, School of Public Health, University of South Carolina. He is the Dean Emeritus of The Humanist Institute, a member of the National Council of Ethical Culture Leaders, and a former member of the Board of the Association for Moral Education. He is a member of the Highlands Institute for American Religious and Philosophic Thought. He serves on the Advisory Committee of the Appignani Center for Bioethics. He is a Senior Fellow of the Center for Inquiry.

From 1979-1991 he served as Director of The Ethical Culture Fieldston School in New York City. Prior to that he was Professor of Philosophy and Director of the School of American Studies at Ramapo College in New Jersey (1970-1979). He was Adjunct Professor of Philosophy at Fairleigh Dickenson University and at The Union Graduate School. He was Executive Director of The American Ethical Union (1963-1969) and Leader of the Ethical Culture Society of Bergen County, NJ (1956-1963).

Dr. Radest was the founder and first chair (1983-1991) of the University Seminar On Moral Education, Columbia University. He is a member of the Board of the North American Committee for Humanism (NACH). He served as Ethics Consultant to Hilton Head Hospital and was Chair of its Biomedical Ethics Committee . He served from 1978-88 as Co-Chair of The International Humanist and Ethical Union. He was member of the Mental Health Board of Bergen County (NJ) and of the Board of Managers of Bergen Pines County Hospital. He was Chair of the Bergen Country Health and Welfare Council and Vice President of the NJ State Welfare Council. He is on the editorial boards of The Humanist and Religious Humanism.

In addition to his numerous articles, his books are Toward Common Ground (Ungar, 1968), a history of the Ethical Culture Movement in the U.S., Can We Teach Ethics? (Praeger. 1989), The Devil and Secular Humanism (Praeger, 1990), Community Service, Encounter With Strangers (Praeger, 1993), Humanism With A Human Face (Praeger, 1996), Felix Adler: An Ethical Culture, (Peter Lang, Publishers, 1998), From Clinic To Classroom--Medical Ethics and Moral Education, (Praeger, 2000), Biomedical Ethics, editor, (Prometheus, 2007), Ethics and Public Health in a Time of Terror [The Center for Preparedness at the School of Public Health, University of South Carolina], Ethics and Catastrophe in a Time of Terrorism .

Dr. Radest received his B.A. at Columbia College, his M.A. in Philosophy and Psychology at The New School For Social Research and his Ph.D. in Philosophy at Columbia University. He is a member of the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities, He is a member of the Society For the Advancement of American Philosophy, of Phi Beta Kappa, received the Distinguished Service Award (1994) of The Humanist Institute, The Distinguished Service Award (1993) of the American Humanist Association, The Kuhmerker Award (1988) of The Moral Education Association, and was a Cornell Scholar and a Hillman Scholar. He is listed in Who’s Who and Who’s Who in Education.

Highway cleanup, starting at Stuckeys truck stop on Hwy 421, just on the other side of the Isabelle Holmes bridge on Saturday the 20th of September beginning at 9 AM. We will provide gloves, vests & trash bags. Suggest you bring "grabbers" to pick up trash.

Usually takes us about 2 hours to complete the job, depending upon how many folks we have. Hope to see many of you there. We will meet in the parking lot of the truck stop just over the bridge which is North of downtown. From 3rd Street and Market, head north on 3rd(pass PPD). At stoplight where US 76 West sign is, turn left and cross the bridge. Stay to the right, and turn right at the first light ( 421.) The truck stop is immediately on your right. Park across from the store, and we will meet in the parking lot.