2003-01-16 - 1:39 p.m.

This is an e-mail i recently recieved from a certain annoying freshman at my school:

>>One of the programs that I was watching tonight said that 86% of Americans believe in God. Therefore I have a very hard time understanding why there is such a mess about having "In God We Trust" on our money and having God in the pledge of Allegiance. Could it be that we just don't take action and tell the 14% to shut up and sit down????

>>If you agree, pass this on, if not delete.

and this was my response:

>>[Girl at my school] wrote a very good article on this subject for [school newspaper] a while back explaining the opposing viewpoint. She explains that it's a very subtle matter of freedom of religion. True, it doesn't encroach upon anyone's freedom to be an atheist, but for many people freedom of religion in this country is manifested in small ways like being able to choose when, how, and if to acknowledge God. You may want to look at it.

>>I also think 14% is a large percentage of Americans to just dismiss offhand. That's seven times the number of Jews in America, and I would be willing to bet that a lot of people interested in freedom of religion would be offended at someone telling all Jews to sit down and shut up.

>>The thing that bothered me most about this e-mail, however, is that you would want to tell a group of people to "sit down and shut up" based upon their religious beliefs at all. I think it's an incredibly insensitive as well as anti-patriotic statement because every person in America is entitled to voice their opinion. This is one of the things that people in America cherish most of all: that even a minority consisting of one person can make a difference, perhaps not in public policy, but in their own life, by giving voice to what they personally believe to be right.

>>I realize that you did not mean this e-mail to be offensive, but it could be construed as such, even by people who might agree with you on the subject. If you truly want to make a difference, you might want to write something yourself explaining your views a bit more eloquently, instead of forwarding a crudely worded and non-inclusive e-mail.

***************************************

yeah. go me.

one step forward - one step back