And now for something completely different.

I figured i would post this response I made to some spam e-mails I was receiving, it was about how this country is a Christian Nation, The national day of Prayer, and how Obama is a Muslim devil. 

Note: I have no Political affiliation, so Im not pro Obama, nor am I anti, but i do respond to baseless assertion and criticisms that hold no weight.

     For starters, I just need to say this country was not founded as a Christian nation. To the contrary it was founded as a secular nation in which there was a clear separation of church and state look no further than the First Amendment which states : "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,". In fact many of the founding fathers were self described Deists and even what would be considered Humanist by today's standards. it's true they may have shared in some supernatural belief but they were by no means Christians(1). Aside from the Christian nation drivel, there should have never been a national day of prayer to begin with (In my opinion) as the "Holiday", enacted by Truman, was created to widen the divide between the United States and Communist Russia, who was viewed as a Godless country, and we as Americans looked at ourselves as a god-fearing people of that age. This was viewed as the main distinction between our cultures (not government's) and so the event was created (However this is speculation strangely. However, It fits with the Pledge which I address later so it makes sense). 

            That being said, the national day of Prayer did occur on May 7th, 2009, only difference being the current President decided not to openly take part in this fastidious event(2). He was not however, the first President to do so, in fact Clinton during his 8 years never attended the event and Former presidents Bush(Sr) and Reagan only attended one during their terms.(3). As far as Muslim prayers being used as a National day of prayer, that too was false a Muslim organization (Having been inspired by Obamas inauguration speech) sent in a letter asking to pray for Americas soul and it was granted and was attended by thousands (not tens of thousands as the message would have you believe.) and televised on CNN(2). Of course the implication of this E-mail is to misinform and villianize the current president as a Muslim, which of course is verifiably false(5). However, I do not see why his beliefs would come into play. Because as detestable and ridiculous as I find the Muslim religion, I find Christianity to be equally offensive upon reading the doctrine when followed at a fundamental level but at a moderate level is quite harmless to others (However willful ignorance, or lack of honest investigation may be harmful to yourself).

            Muslims may glorify virtues such as self sacrifice and death for apostasy, but Christianity are, in many respects, exactly the same way ( Main point being that Fundamentalist Muslims do believe everyone who does not accept Allah will go to hell and needs to die, in the same way that Fundamentalist Christians believe that we need to outlaw science and in extreme cases kill those who advocate the teaching of verifiable natural science. Even the moderate Christians still believe that rejecting their one true book results in eternal damnation while they look down with joy. This last part is interpretation based but ive been told personally this will happen to me and I guess they are happy looking at people being burned forever as this (to me) would be a most horrible sight for anyone). As they are both based off of the Abrahamic  Religions of the Bronze Age desert, both share various similarities and borrow from other myths in history that go beyond the scope of this article. But the Difference between this country and a Fundamentalist Theocracy like Iran is that we live in a Secular Nation where we don't have a state religious government telling us how we need to live our lives and what we need to believe. And yes, im damn glad he declared this was no longer a Christian nation (However given the misinformation spread throughout this e-mail I would not doubt that that too is false, only wishful thinking on my part.)

Lastly, I also must wander if we are REALLY suppose to live by the 10 commandments (as supported by the end of the e-mail), including all the other Old Testament rules like Stoning people for working on the Sabbath ext, ext, ext.

Or if we are to follow the Pledge of allegiance that was prior to the Cold war
"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands; one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all."(4)

Ironically "Under god" was added in the 50's, about the same time that the national day of prayer was instituted.(4)

            Basically what this e-mail boils down to is spreading doubt and misinformation to a vulnerable demographic who will generally buy into anything as long as it fits within their little bubble. This blind attitude against others is what leads to extremism, as in if someone feels that these messages are accurate and true, they might turn militant and extremist. After all our beliefs inform our actions, especially those that are held close. This can be seen in recent cases such as people suspecting the government is being taken over by a New World Order because they read a very convincing e-mail and decided to barricade themselves indoors, rather than do some objective research to see if the claims made are true or false, like in this case im positive of the millions this has been filtered to many people will read it and take it to heart and get their guns ready for a Muslim Holy war or some such nonsense. All over a Spam message that was, from start to finish, all FALSE.

            Now I realize this is kind of a blanket statement and a radical hypothetical statement, but I feel it necessary to reply to this Spam message as I have a lot to say about the subject of Misinformation, and propaganda among people of faith and the blatant cherry picking that goes on in one's own beliefs not only about politics, but also Religion and what you decide is true or false and how we come to that decision.

Although It must make one wonder if they are only spreading deceit and lies then what is their true intention.

Anyway I hope you enjoyed the read, even if you didn't agree with my little rant I hope it made you ponder what gets sent around here on the internet.

Chris H. (and yes I wrote this entire article)

Anyway as a side note I hope everything's going good up there are you guys are keeping in high spirits!


Now for some RELIABLE Sources. (Something people should use more of!

1. Iron Chariots - Website dedicated to debunking a lot of the wild claims made by Christian Apologists. 
America is a Christian Nation - http://wiki.ironchariots.org/index.php?title=America_is_a_Christian_nation

2. Muslim Prayer Day Sept. 25th - http://www.factcheck.org/2009/09/muslim-prayer-day-sept-25/

3. National Day of Prayer - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Day_of_Prayer

4. Pledge of Allegiance - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pledge_of_Allegiance

5. Sliming Obama - http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/sliming_obama.html