Mr. wOw: A Brief Musing On Our 'Christian' Nation

Sarah Palin has our Mr. wOw thinking about Jezebel, the Ten Commandments and more.

The other night Mr. wOw watched, fascinated, as Sarah Palin jabbered on Fox News about why America was a "Christian nation." It was greatTV, because not one single thing she said was accurate. Usually, Palin – like the glossy gossip magazines – squeezes in a kernel of truth, or some fact that’s hard to disprove. But not this time. This time we were treated to a rousing discourse on how American law was founded on "the bible, the old and new testaments." Really? Really? This would come as a huge surprise to our founding fathers, most of whom were not terribly religious.

In fact, American law, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution are based on English Common law, going back to the 13th century and the Magna Carta, which harbored the germs of habeas corpus and the fight against taxation without representation. All of that was the springboard for the idea of law as supreme, the Bill of Rights, especially the 5th and 6th Amendments. And a lot of it goes back to the Greeks and especially the Romans. Those big pagans. (Oh, don’t get me started on how pagan our celebration of Christmas is!)

Mrs. Palin needs to brush up on the American Enlightenment. And on Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams and the other men who crafted our laws. You know, most of them did not believe in Christian stuff like the Virgin birth and the Trinity. They most certainly did believe in separation of church and state. They’d be horrified at how religion has bludgeoned and intruded upon secular legislature.

Throwing God’s name around here and there doesn’t make our official documents "Christian." American law, and American’s mores, are not based on the bible. If so, Mrs. Palin would have little to say, because according to Timothy 2:11 15, "Let a woman learn in quietness and full submission. But I permit not a woman to teach nor have dominion over a man. She must be silent." Sarah, honey … the Lord says, "Shhh!"

Not to mention the fact that her own daughter would be stoned to death for her iniquitous sexual behavior, and Palin herself run out on a rail thanks to all that brazen paint and powder. Jezebel in the flesh!

Also, I wonder why, during these conversations, they always say, "Judeo/Christian." Jews and Christians don’t believe the same things at all. There’s that whole Jesus son of God issue. Anyway, Christians like Mrs. Palin believe Jews are going to burn in hell unless they accept Christ, so why even drag them into the discussion, doomed as they are?

If, for the "Judeo" part, we are talking about the Ten Commandments – so prominently displayed in some government buildings – well, who doesn’t know it’s not proper to sass your parents, or steal, or worship golden idols, the gilded Vatican notwithstanding? As for not killing, or not coveting your neighbor’s land … U.S. Christians can take that all up with the American Indians, and Mexico.

But I don’t want to be totally negative. I know Mrs. Palin has her fans here. And I know I like most of them, too. (I’d probably get on with Sarah herself, if we met at a cocktail party. I certainly wouldn’t shun or insult her.)