Tag Archive for ‘First Amendment’
Highlights in the History of a Christian Nation
In a recent Fox News colloquy, former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin explained America’s religious traditions to Bill O’Reilly. Discussing the National Day of Prayer in May 2010, both underscored their belief that America is a “Christian Nation,” founded upon Judeo-Christian principles and the Ten Commandments. Speaking of the Founders and the nation’s founding documents, Palin [...]
Don’t Know Much About Ben Franklin
Today is the birthday of America’s first international celebrity and most consistently interesting Founding Father. Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston on January 17, 1706. With little formal education, he became a writer, printer, philanthropist, philosopher, political leader and scientist. Franklin, alongside Thomas Jefferson, was probably the best example of the American Enlightenment Man. And, [...]
Myths of Christmas (3): Who started the “War on Christmas?”
During the past few years, the so-called “War on Christmas” has been a staple of conservative broadcasters and the religious right. Their basic idea: Christmas is under attack by Grinchy atheists and secular humanists who want to remove any vestige of Christianity from the public space. Any criticism of public space devoted to religious displays [...]
A Lady and a Penguin — Not a “Dirty Story”
Generally, we don’t associate the iconic Penguin Books with “dirty books.” And neither did a British jury. On November 2, 1960, Penguin won a landmark British publishing case when Lady Chatterley’s Lover was deemed “not obscene” by a jury of three women and nine men. Penguin had published the novel, written in 1928, to mark [...]
Of Columbus Day and Crosses
“It’s the — the cross is the — is the most common symbol of — of — of the resting place of the dead.” Those were the words of Associate Justice Antonin Scalia during a Supreme Court questioning session. The case involves a cross honoring veterans that has been placed on federal lands. The fuller [...]
TODAY in HISTORY: Roger Williams and San Francisco
It is one of those curious coincidences of American history. But on this date–October 9th– Roger Williams, a dissident preacher, was “banned from Boston” (in 1635) and Junipero Serra dedicated Mission Dolores in what would become San Francisco (in 1776). Separated by more than century and a continent, they might seem like unconnected events. But [...]
TODAY IN HISTORY: The “Monkey Trial”
It was the “trial of the century.” On July 10, 1925, a courtroom in Tennessee was center stage in a contest pitting two courtroom titans against each other, arguing science versus religion on a grand scale, with the full cooperation of an enthusiastic pack of journalists more interested in a spectacle. Imagine that! In real [...]
