When I hear the oft-repeated argument by religionists, that America has a
tradition of being a "Godly Nation," I am reminded of the words of Thomas
Jefferson:
"Can one generation bind another, and all others, in succession forever? I
think not. The Creator has made the earth for the living, not the dead.
Rights and powers can only belong to persons, not to things, not to mere
matter, unendowed with will. The dead are not even things. The particles
of
matter which composed their bodies, make part now of the bodies of other
animals, vegetables, or minerals, of a thousand forms. To what then are
attached the rights and powers they held while in the form of men? A
generation may bind itself as long as its majority continues in life; when
that has disappeared, another majority is in place, holds all the rights
and
powers their predecessors once held, and may change their laws and
institutions to suit themselves. Nothing then is unchangeable but the
inherent and unalienable rights of man."
--
Unfortunately nobody can control the disruptive behavior of sociopaths who
wish to post to an unmoderated newsgroup such as this one. Informed
readers,
however, will have no trouble at all sorting the wheat from the chaff.
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