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ORIGINAL: thishereboi

Does she have another book coming out or perhaps a new tour? 

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When we serve, we devote ourselves to God, family and country. My decision maintains this order."

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When we serve, we devote ourselves to God, family and country. My decision maintains this order."

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ORIGINAL: tweakabelle

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When we serve, we devote ourselves to God, family and country. My decision maintains this order."

Did any one else do a double take when they saw this? I certainly did!

It's so revealing that a potential candidate for POTUS should list two other matters as having higher priority than serving "country". This is no accident - Paling emphasises her choices in the very next sentence: "My decision maintains this order." For Palin, "God" and "family" come before "country" - unambiguously, emphatically.

For mine, I would have thought that any one running for POTUS would have that position, and the extensive and grave responsibilities associated with it, at the very top of any list of priorities. It's even more perplexing that Palin's priorities pass without remark when demands are constantly made that members of non-mainstream religions declare their first allegiance to the USA.

I'm not criticising Palin's choices here - simply pointing out a double standard that is regularly applied.

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ORIGINAL: tweakabelle

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When we serve, we devote ourselves to God, family and country. My decision maintains this order."

Did any one else do a double take when they saw this? I certainly did!

It's so revealing that a potential candidate for POTUS should list two other matters as having higher priority than serving "country". This is no accident - Paling emphasises her choices in the very next sentence: "My decision maintains this order." For Palin, "God" and "family" come before "country" - unambiguously, emphatically.

For mine, I would have thought that any one running for POTUS would have that position, and the extensive and grave responsibilities associated with it, at the very top of any list of priorities. It's even more perplexing that Palin's priorities pass without remark when demands are constantly made that members of non-mainstream religions declare their first allegiance to the USA.

I'm not criticising Palin's choices here - simply pointing out a double standard that is regularly applied.

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Original: DaddySatyr

I do not believe in the path that Governor Palin would try to take the country should she ever get elected and my dream candidate has never existed but, I would be comforted in the knowledge that whoever works in the oval office is guided by some set of principles.

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ORIGINAL: DaddySatyr

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ORIGINAL: tweakabelle

quote:

When we serve, we devote ourselves to God, family and country. My decision maintains this order."

Did any one else do a double take when they saw this? I certainly did!

It's so revealing that a potential candidate for POTUS should list two other matters as having higher priority than serving "country". This is no accident - Paling emphasises her choices in the very next sentence: "My decision maintains this order." For Palin, "God" and "family" come before "country" - unambiguously, emphatically.

For mine, I would have thought that any one running for POTUS would have that position, and the extensive and grave responsibilities associated with it, at the very top of any list of priorities. It's even more perplexing that Palin's priorities pass without remark when demands are constantly made that members of non-mainstream religions declare their first allegiance to the USA.

I'm not criticising Palin's choices here - simply pointing out a double standard that is regularly applied.

I have some very strong beliefs. I'm not a member of any specific "church" (I don't think one that shares my belief system exists) and my beliefs are ever-changing as new evidence is presented. For purposes of ease, I may refer to God but, I promise; I'm no fundementalist Christian.

I consider myself to be a patriot. I believe in the ideals upon which this country was founded. One of those principles is: this country doesn't tell God what to do (First Amendment).

As a result, forming an opinion about issues is a bit of a highwire act for me. I will give one example: I am strongly anti-abortion because I believe that life is the most precious gift bestowed upon us. But, I think abortion should always be legal. I believe as a people, we should do everything we can to discourage the behavior but we should never legislate against it.

I think the previous paragraph demonstrates my point about my highwire act.

I believe that the proper person to run this country, at any time, would be a person who has strong beliefs in right and wrong and I believe that people that are spiritual tend to have that. I don't believe that only people that identify as "spiritual" are endowed with these beliefs but, I think you'll find that if you observe people, the ones that espouse spirituality tend to be the same ones that have some kind of a personal code that they follow.

I believe that if a person has that strong courage of their convictions, one of the things that would guide them is that there are certain areas that laws cannot govern. We cannot legislate what people believe. We can try (Hate crime laws) but we cannot truly control what goes on in a person's mind. Another example would be homosexuals, serving in the military. Does anyone seriously believe that the first time that happened was after President Clinton initiated "Don't Ask/Don't Tell"?

Now, to try to get myself back to the beginning ...

I think that because I hold the spiritual beliefs that I do; because I feel that all of my actions are a reflection upon a God of my understanding, that if I were to serve in some kind of elected capacity, I would take into account that doing the right thing as far as my oath to the municipality/state/country would be my charge. I would think that my spiritual (or "religious", if you like) beliefs would play a part in my decision-making process.

At the end of the day, I have a hard time "slamming" people because they espouse some kind of belief in some kind of Great Creator. On the contrary; I find that to be a plus. It pains me that we seem to be a people that says: "I'm tired of leaders/politicians that are corrupt or way off point but I refuse to vote for someone who might mention 'God'."

I do not believe in the path that Governor Palin would try to take the country should she ever get elected and my dream candidate has never existed but, I would be comforted in the knowledge that whoever works in the oval office is guided by some set of principles.

I believe - if looked at from a particular point of view - placing "God" above country is not entirely incorrect (ask a US Marine about their code and the answer will be: "Duty, Corps, God and Country"). I do strongly object to someone placing their family above the good of the whole. Serving the greater good almost always requires personal sacrifice and, certainly, one's family is something that is personal.



Peace and comfort,



Michael

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ORIGINAL: willbeurdaddy
This......plus to reiterate another post, since the country was founded on Judaeo-Christian principles, informing governance decisions based on religion "first" is the same as putting allegiance to the countries core ethic first.

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"It's not too late for folks to jump in,"

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ORIGINAL: Lucylastic

for a country who has taken in millions upon millions of immigrants from every country on earth and EVERY religion, Saying it is only for judeo christians is pathetic.Isnt there a reason god and state are sposed to be separated. Especcially when what GOD says is open to so much interpretation.Even with the simple thing like 10 commandments.

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ORIGINAL: U.S. Constitution Amendment 1

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; ..."