Ever been to the Jefferson Memorial?

Post by Waldo Tunnel
"I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every
form of tyranny over the mind of man."
What you don't see is the context of these words. He wrote them to Ben
Rush in a letter during his run for president. Jefferson was viciously
attacked and slandered by the clergy of the day, who hated him for not
"[The clergy] believe that any portion of power
confided to me, will be exerted in opposition to their
schemes. And they believe rightly: for I have sworn
upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every
form of tyranny over the mind of man. But this is all
they have to fear from me: and enough too in their opinion
& this is the cause of their printing lying pamphlets
against me. . ."

Unbelievable, although I guess not so much so.

It's sad when the dead get quote-mined!

Alex W.

2012-07-11 00:00:37 UTC

Post by Mike Lovell
It's sad when the dead get quote-mined!

Unless it's good guys like George Carlin or HL Mencken....

People say we need religion when what they really mean is we need
police.

We must respect the other fellow's religion, but only in the
sense and to the extent that we respect his theory that his wife
is beautiful and his children smart.

Deep within the heart of every evangelist lies the wreck of a car
salesman.

Say what you like about the Ten Commandments, you must always
come back to the pleasant fact that there are only ten of them.

Sunday school: A prison in which children do penance for the evil
conscience of their parents.

Puritanism: The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be
happy.

I finally accepted Jesus -- not as my personal savior, but as a
man I intend to borrow money from.

In the Bullshit Department, a businessman can't hold a candle to
a clergyman. 'Cause I gotta tell you the truth, folks. When it
comes to bullshit, big-time, major league bullshit, you have to
stand in awe of the all-time champion of false promises and
exaggerated claims: religion. No contest. No contest. Religion.
Religion easily has the greatest bullshit story ever told.
Think about it. Religion has actually convinced people that
there's an invisible man -- living in the sky -- who watches
everything you do, every minute of every day. And the invisible
man has a special list of ten things he does not want you to do.
And if you do any of these ten things, he has a special place,
full of fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish, where
he will send you to live and suffer and burn and choke and scream
and cry forever and ever 'til the end of time!
But He loves you.
He loves you, and He needs money! He always needs money!
He's all-powerful, all-perfect, all-knowing, and all-wise,
somehow just can't handle money! Religion takes in billions of
dollars, they pay no taxes, and they always need a little more.
Now, you talk about a good bullshit story. Holy Shit!

harry k

2012-07-10 17:32:20 UTC

Jeffereson was about as anti-clergy as one can get as well as
considering any theism in government to be anathema.

Harry K

Mike Lovell

2012-07-10 19:15:29 UTC

Post by harry k

Jeffereson was about as anti-clergy as one can get as well as
considering any theism in government to be anathema.

Never stops people quote mining and taking him out of context.

Just look at what happens with Einstein! Even to the point he wrote a
letter laying out his anger at being misrepresented in his own lifetime!

h***@gmail.com

2012-10-16 00:46:38 UTC

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

Jefferson was about as anti-clergy as one can get as well as
considering any theism in government to be anathema.

Never stops people quote mining and taking him out of context.
Just look at what happens with Einstein! Even to the point he wrote a
letter laying out his anger at being misrepresented in his own lifetime!

Jefferson wasn't quote mined in this case. This is a well known
famous quote that is often used by atheists and all others who
believe in the separation of church and state. What no one can
understand is what you are angry about, since you agree with it.

Waldo Tunnel

2012-10-18 06:12:02 UTC

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

Jefferson was about as anti-clergy as one can get as well as
considering any theism in government to be anathema.

Never stops people quote mining and taking him out of context.
Just look at what happens with Einstein! Even to the point he wrote a
letter laying out his anger at being misrepresented in his own lifetime!

Jefferson wasn't quote mined in this case.

Given his words in context I think it might qualify.

Post by h***@gmail.com
This is a well known
famous quote that is often used by atheists and all others who
believe in the separation of church and state.

Are you perhaps thinking of Jefferson's Letter to the Danbury
Baptists?

[...]

h***@gmail.com

2012-12-06 00:51:44 UTC

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

Jefferson was about as anti-clergy as one can get as well as
considering any theism in government to be anathema.

Never stops people quote mining and taking him out of context.

Some Christians do this as a hobby. If they can't quote mine or take
what people said out of context, they make things up.

Just look at what happens with Einstein! Even to the point he wrote a
letter laying out his anger at being misrepresented in his own lifetime!

Jefferson wasn't quote mined in this case.

Given his words in context I think it might qualify.

Post by h***@gmail.com
This is a well known
famous quote that is often used by atheists and all others who
believe in the separation of church and state.

Are you perhaps thinking of Jefferson's Letter to the Danbury
Baptists?

No, though that is a good example of the Way Jefferson thought.

Father Haskell

2013-01-07 20:43:10 UTC

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

Jefferson was about as anti-clergy as one can get as well as
considering any theism in government to be anathema.

Never stops people quote mining and taking him out of context.

Some Christians do this as a hobby. If they can't quote mine or take
what people said out of context, they make things up.

Just look at what happens with Einstein! Even to the point he wrote a
letter laying out his anger at being misrepresented in his own lifetime!

Jefferson wasn't quote mined in this case.

Given his words in context I think it might qualify.

Post by h***@gmail.com
This is a well known
famous quote that is often used by atheists and all others who
believe in the separation of church and state.

Are you perhaps thinking of Jefferson's Letter to the Danbury
Baptists?

No, though that is a good example of the Way Jefferson thought.

Is there no better example than editing the bible down
to 63 pages?

Smiler

2013-01-07 23:19:25 UTC

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

Post by Waldo Tunnel
"I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every
form of tyranny over the mind of man."
What you don't see is the context of these words. He wrote them to Ben
Rush in a letter during his run for president. Jefferson was viciously
attacked and slandered by the clergy of the day, who hated him for not
"[The clergy] believe that any portion of power
confided to me, will be exerted in opposition to their
schemes. And they believe rightly: for I have sworn
upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every
form of tyranny over the mind of man. �But this is all
they have to fear from me: �and enough too in their opinion
& this is the cause of their printing lying pamphlets
against me. . ."

Jefferson was about as anti-clergy as one can get as well as
considering any theism in government to be anathema.

Never stops people quote mining and taking him out of context.

Some Christians do this as a hobby. If they can't quote mine or take
what people said out of context, they make things up.

Just look at what happens with Einstein! �Even to the point he
wrote a letter laying out his anger at being misrepresented in his
own lifetime!

Jefferson wasn't quote mined in this case.

Given his words in context I think it might qualify.

Post by h***@gmail.com
This is a well known
famous quote that is often used by atheists and all others who
believe in the separation of church and state.

Are you perhaps thinking of Jefferson's Letter to the Danbury
Baptists?

No, though that is a good example of the Way Jefferson thought.

Is there no better example than editing the bible down to 63 pages?

He could have edited it down to just the covers...

--
Smiler,
The godless one. a.a.# 2279
All gods are tailored to order. They're made to
exactly fit the prejudices of their believers.

Father Haskell

2013-01-08 07:26:01 UTC

Post by Smiler

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

Post by Waldo Tunnel
"I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every
form of tyranny over the mind of man."
What you don't see is the context of these words. He wrote them
to Ben
Rush in a letter during his run for president. Jefferson was
viciously
attacked and slandered by the clergy of the day, who hated him
for not
declaring his religious beliefs. Jefferson responded to the
"[The clergy] believe that any portion of power
confided to me, will be exerted in opposition to their
schemes. And they believe rightly: for I have sworn
upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every
form of tyranny over the mind of man. But this is all
they have to fear from me: and enough too in their opinion
& this is the cause of their printing lying pamphlets
against me. . ."

Jefferson was about as anti-clergy as one can get as well as
considering any theism in government to be anathema.

Never stops people quote mining and taking him out of context.

Some Christians do this as a hobby. If they can't quote mine or take
what people said out of context, they make things up.

Just look at what happens with Einstein! Even to the point he
wrote a letter laying out his anger at being misrepresented in his
own lifetime!

Jefferson wasn't quote mined in this case.

Given his words in context I think it might qualify.

Post by h***@gmail.com
This is a well known
famous quote that is often used by atheists and all others who
believe in the separation of church and state.

Are you perhaps thinking of Jefferson's Letter to the Danbury
Baptists?

No, though that is a good example of the Way Jefferson thought.

Is there no better example than editing the bible down to 63 pages?

He could have edited it down to just the covers...

Or used it for kindling.

h***@gmail.com

2012-12-06 00:44:13 UTC

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

Jefferson was about as anti-clergy as one can get as well as
considering any theism in government to be anathema.

Never stops people quote mining and taking him out of context.

Of course. That's what Christians do. They lie, misquote, take things
out of context and make thing up. They do whatever they can think of,
including stealing ideas from others without giving credit to try to
make atheists look bad. That's the Christian way for the most part.