POLLAL

The Fourth of July is our celebration of The Declaration of Independence, which demolished the power of a King and made certain rights inalienable (yes, that's right, they are yours by birth, defacto, and they are NOT granted to you by any government).

The Declaration of Independence was a philosophical continuation of the Magna Carta, and a final nail in the coffin of the "Divine Right of Kings".

Unfortunately, Neo-Conservatives now constantly pound away at the notion in the press that this country was founded on Christian values. Well, please be sure to point out their dangerous ignorance next time.

The 1796 treaty with Tripoli states that the United States was "in no sense founded on the Christian religion", was written under the presidency of George Washington and signed under the presidency of John Adams.

In case there is further confusion regarding the views of the Founding Fathers on "Christian Values":

"Millions of innocent men, women and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined and imprisoned; yet we have not advanced one inch towards uniformity." -Thomas Jefferson, Notes on Virginia, 1782

"Christianity neither is, nor ever was a part of the common law." -Thomas Jefferson, letter to Dr. Thomas Cooper, February 10, 1814

"I almost shudder at the thought of alluding to the most fatal example of the abuses of grief which the history of mankind has preserved -- the Cross. Consider what calamities that engine of grief has produced!"

-John Adams (letter to Thomas Jefferson, Sept. 3, 1816)

"Of all the systems of religion that ever were invented, there is no more derogatory to the Almighty, more unedifiying to man, more repugnant to reason, and more contradictory to itself than this thing called Christianity." -Thomas Paine (The Age of Reason)

"All national institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian or Turkish, appear to me no other than human inventions, set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and profit." -Thomas Paine (The Age of Reason)

"What influence, in fact, have ecclesiastical establishments had on society? In some instances they have been seen to erect a spiritual tyranny on the ruins of the civil authority; on many instances they have been seen upholding the thrones of political tyranny; in no instance have they been the guardians of the liberties of the people. Rulers who wish to subvert the public liberty may have found an established clergy convenient auxiliaries. A just government, instituted to secure and perpetuate it, needs them not."

-James Madison (from Memorial and Remonstrance against Religious Assessments, 1785)

While the Founder Fathers were not atheist, they were certainly not Christian. They subscribed to Diesm, aka "The Religion of NATURE and REASON".

Unfortunately, the deliberate dumbing down of the American citizen via state education and "infotainment" has not only obscured the truth of the Founder's intentions, but has removed reasoning and critical thinking from the general public.

A google search for "Bill of Rights" and "Under Attack" yields 95,700 entries... Fight for your rights today, just as we had to 232 years ago today.

Happy 4th!

And while we're at it, next time a Christian tells you that Hitler and the Nazis were atheists, please enlighten them with the facts.

It is particularly interesting to note the beliefs of Joseph Goebbels, Reich Minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda for Hitler's Nazi party:

"Christ is the genius of love, as such the most diametrical opposite of Judaism, which is the incarnation of hate. The Jew is a non-race among the races of the earth.... Christ is the first great enemy of the Jews.... that is why Judaism had to get rid of him. For he was shaking the very foundations of its future international power. The Jew is the lie personified. When he crucified Christ, he crucified everlasting truth for the first time in history."

-Joseph Goebbels, Michael: Ein deutsches Schicksl in Tagebuchblattern (Munich, 1929)

"When today a clique accuses us of having anti-Christian opinions, I believe that the first Christian, Christ himself, would discover more of his teaching in our actions than in this theological hair-splitting."

-Joseph Goebbels, Evangelisches Zentralarchiv in Berlin, 2 March 1934: Hamburg

"We have a feeling that Germany has been transformed into a great house of God, including all classes, professions and creeds, where the Führer as our mediator stood before the throne of the Almighty."

-Joseph Goebbels, in a broadcast, 19 April 1936

...and Hermann Göring, second in command of the Third Reich:

"Although he himself [Hitler] was a Catholic, he wished the Protestant Church to have a stronger position in Germany, since Germany was two-thirds Protestant." -Hermann Göring (Trial of The Major War Criminals Before the International Military Tribunal, Nuremberg, 1945, Vol.9)

...and Heinrich Himmler. head of the Schutzstaffel (SS):

"In ideological training I forbid every attack against Christ as a person, since such attacks or insults that Christ was a Jew are unworthy of us and certainly untrue historically."

-Heinrich Himmler, Bundesarchiv Berlin-Zehlendorf, 28 June 1937: Berlin