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It has come to my attention that it is the intention of the United States Postal Service to honor Mother Teresa with a stamp of her very own. Again this brings us to the topic of the separation of church and state. Do you think that the government should be promoting or honoring a religious figure? Mother Teresa is a face of the Catholic Church. Doesn't the First Amendment protect the people from government, as well as protect government from the people? Shouldn't the government remain STRICTLY neutral on ALL matters of religion including stamps? What do you think the reaction would be should the USPS put out a stamp commemorating the prophet Mohammad and honoring his role in the Islamic world? If it's good for the goose it's good for the gander…right?
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Mother Theresa was an amazing humanitarian, no matter what her religious beliefs were.
The fact she happened to be a nun shouldnt play into that at all. It's not because she's a
nun that she is being honored, it's for all the great work she did in her lifetime working
with the poor in India. Not because she did anything special for the Catholic Religion.
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I think it's much ado about nothing. If you don't like a particular visage on a stamp, then don't buy that particular stamp. There is nothing wrong with recognizing people for their contributions to society whether they are Catholic, Muslim, or what have you. I would think they would list her as a humanitarian as opposed to Catholic anyway, so their is no merging of the church and state in this instance as you claim.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L…..t_of_peopl…e_United_States
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I think honoring someone on a stamp has nothing to do with the separation of church and state. If we can have Elvis on a stamp – well heck, I think Mother Theresa is far more deserving to be honored. She was the picture of grace, compassion and humility. While she may have chosen to have that manifest through a spiritual path, I don't believe that means that she should be excluded from a stamp.
I also think that we need to stop pretending that we separate church and state in this country. We don't. Many refer to the US as a Christian nation. We confer churches non-profit status. Many candidates run on a moral platform that they, themselves, link to God. Our Congress tries to legislate morality. The separation between church and state exists in name only, and only when it is convenient and doesn't get in the way of someone's political agenda to do so.
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if it was the pope or archbishop of canterbury i would be upset, but this is a woman who chose to work amongst the poorest of the poor, the castes considered truly untouchable. anything that can bring their plight to the attention of the world can only be a good thing imho.
"We are the music makers... and we are the dreamers of dreams." - Willy Wonka (Gene Wilder)
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I think honoring someone on a stamp has nothing to do with the separation of church and state. If we can have Elvis on a stamp – well heck, I think Mother Theresa is far more deserving to be honored. She was the picture of grace, compassion and humility. While she may have chosen to have that manifest through a spiritual path, I don't believe that means that she should be excluded from a stamp.
I also think that we need to stop pretending that we separate church and state in this country. We don't. Many refer to the US as a Christian nation. We confer churches non-profit status. Many candidates run on a moral platform that they, themselves, link to God. Our Congress tries to legislate morality. The separation between church and state exists in name only, and only when it is convenient and doesn't get in the way of someone's political agenda to do so.
Elvis is not a religious figure by any stretch of the imagination, apples and oranges there Wham,sorry.
As for pretending that church and state are separate? Who's pretending? By far, the majority of the people in the country have been bamboozled into believing this is a xtian nation and it isn't. Churches should NOT have tax exemption at all. They are business, BIG business. Political candidates HAVE to run on a platform that links to god because they know there is no chance of them getting elected otherwise. Sad fact in this country; if an atheist ran for presidency he/she would never get elected. In some states, an atheist CAN'T even run for office. Fair, huh?
FACT: MT is a symbol for Catholics all over the world, she should not be on our stamps. (And not a particularly great symbol either, but I digress.)
As PP stated, this country would not stand by and let mohammed be plastered on a stamp, you'd hear about all kinds of grassroots efforts with xtians organizing sit-ins at post offices around the country.
So in a sense, Sithy is right, it's much ado about noting, the solution is simple:DON'T DO IT.
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BA, I'm a little confussed. You say that this isnt a mostly Christian
Country, then turn around and say a candidate couldnt be elected
if they didnt have a platform that links to God.
How does it go both ways? or do only Christians vote?
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So in a sense, Sithy is right, it's much ado about noting, the solution is simple:DON'T DO IT.
Our "much ado about nothings" are very different in this case.
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I think it's much ado about nothing. If you don't like a particular visage on a stamp, then don't buy that particular stamp. There is nothing wrong with recognizing people for their contributions to society whether they are Catholic, Muslim, or what have you. I would think they would list her as a humanitarian as opposed to Catholic anyway, so their is no merging of the church and state in this instance as you claim.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L…..t_of_peopl…e_United_States
I agree.
After looking at the list, most are all Americans.
My only thing is Mother Theresa isn't. Yes, she has made a huge contribution to society.
But, I still think there are many Americans that could be honored.
I'm sure there is no rule on this, but just struck me as odd.
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BA, I'm a little confussed. You say that this isnt a mostly Christian
Country, then turn around and say a candidate couldnt be elected
if they didnt have a platform that links to God.
How does it go both ways? or do only Christians vote?
Last time I looked Heidi roughly 76% of Americans identify themselves as Christian, while non-Christian religions (including Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, and others) collectively make up about 4% of the adult population. Another 15% of the adult population identified as having no religious affiliation.
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BA, I'm a little confussed. You say that this isnt a mostly Christian
Country, then turn around and say a candidate couldnt be elected
if they didnt have a platform that links to God.
How does it go both ways? or do only Christians vote?
Xtians have the numbers and organize these "grassroots" campaigns to get xtians out to vote. I didn't say that this isn't "mosty a xtain nation," I said that this ISN'T a xtain nation. Even if there are only one million non-believers or believers in anything other than xtianity, this wouldn't be a xtian nation. We're talking about our roots, not just the number of people, per se.
Know what I mean? I may be a bit disjointed. *shrugs*
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Our "much ado about nothings" are very different in this case.
I agree. /wink.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=';)' />
Last time I looked Heidi roughly 76% of Americans identify themselves as Christian, while non-Christian religions (including Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, and others) collectively make up about 4% of the adult population. Another 15% of the adult population identified as having no religious affiliation.
See my response to Heidi.
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I see BA, I misunderstood your statement. Now it makes sense, thank you for explaining.
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I personally wouldn't have a problem with Mohammed on a stamp. Or Buddha. Or Jesus. Or the Dalai Lama. If I don't like the stamps I have tons of options that I can buy. Frankly, I prefer the breast cancer stamps. They cost a few extra cents per stamp; however, the proceeds go to breast cancer.
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I sure would be curious to know how Dawkins weighs in on this subject. He always has something intelligent to say…..oh…you say what?…. /sad.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='
' /> /huh.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':huh:' /> I've been gone for a while… oh… I see……never mind then I guess.
/dry.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=';)' />
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I sure would be curious to know how Dawkins weighs in on this subject. He always has something intelligent to say…..oh…you say what?….
/sad.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='
/huh.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':huh:' /> I've been gone for a while… oh… I see……never mind then I guess.
/dry.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=';)' />
If you're really that interested in his opinion I can ask him for you.
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I sure would be curious to know how Dawkins weighs in on this subject. He always has something intelligent to say…..oh…you say what?….
/sad.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='
/huh.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':huh:' /> I've been gone for a while… oh… I see……never mind then I guess.
/dry.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=';)' />
Dawkins' absence has nothing to do with his belief system here and everything to do with refusing to follow our forum rules, which asks that people share their opinions and beliefs respectfully. I don't think that is too much to ask.
I'm just going to ask directly. Do you wish to discuss this respectfully, or are you just merely here to make trouble?
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I personally wouldn't have a problem with Mohammed on a stamp. Or Buddha. Or Jesus. Or the Dalai Lama. If I don't like the stamps I have tons of options that I can buy. Frankly, I prefer the breast cancer stamps. They cost a few extra cents per stamp; however, the proceeds go to breast cancer.
i'd love to have a stamp for pediatric cancer.
"We are the music makers... and we are the dreamers of dreams." - Willy Wonka (Gene Wilder)
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I sure would be curious to know how Dawkins weighs in on this subject. He always has something intelligent to say…..oh…you say what?….
/sad.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='
/huh.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':huh:' /> I've been gone for a while… oh… I see……never mind then I guess.
/dry.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':P' />
You don't need this forum to ask Dawkins his opinion on this matter. He posts over on Sci Fi and other Skeptic forums.
Your posts sounds quite like you are trolling here.
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I personally wouldn't have a problem with Mohammed on a stamp. Or Buddha. Or Jesus. Or the Dalai Lama. If I don't like the stamps I have tons of options that I can buy. Frankly, I prefer the breast cancer stamps. They cost a few extra cents per stamp; however, the proceeds go to breast cancer.
Do you think that the rest of America would be as accepting as this though?
That's my point, although there are a few that would be fine with stamps such as this, I feel like the majority would wet their pants trying to put a stop to it.
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