“This Thanksgiving, may we reflect upon the past year with gratefulness and look toward the future with hope. Let us give thanks for all we have been given and ask God to continue to bless our families and our Nation.
Now, therefore, I, George W. Bush, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim Thursday, November 22, 2007, as a National Day of Thanksgiving.
I encourage all Americans to gather together in their homes and places of worship with family, friends, and loved ones to reinforce the ties that bind us and give thanks for the freedoms and many blessings we enjoy.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this fifteenth day of November, in the year of our Lord two thousand seven, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-second.”
An excerpt from President George W. Bush’s Thanksgiving Day Proclamation.
Every year the President of the United States makes an official proclamation declaring the 4th Thursday in November as a National Day of Thanksgiving.
This seemingly innocuous ritual does not generate any controversy, but anyone who believes in the separation of church and state should be appalled by the president’s frequent invocations of God.
An individual doesn’t have to believe in a deity to express gratitude for the good things in his life; it’s a shame that the leader of a secular state injects religion into a national holiday.
This speech, or should I say sermon, should be delivered by a minister in a church, and not by the president of a democracy that cherishes the constitutional doctrine of the separation of church and state.
The president should seek to be a uniter and not a divider, nothing causes division and strife like religion. The president’s little sermon is a slap on the face to atheists, agnostics and to those who don’t belong to a monotheistic religion.
On this Thanksgiving Day I’m grateful that I live in a democracy where I can diss the prez for waxing sanctimonious.
REFERENCES:
1. Bush’s Fringe Government — “In this slim book, Wills offers an insightful and penetrating look at the troubling blurring of lines between the government and religion.” — Booklist
“In an incisive essay, “Fringe Government,” historian Garry Wills connects the dots between the rubble of our domestic and foreign policies and the actors from the religious fringes that have become central influences in this White House From stem cell research to end-of-life issues, from the courts to the role of government itself, Wills shows the leadership on a separate track leading away from both the concerns and the will of the people.” — The National Catholic Reporter
Popularity: 44% [?]
Sphere: Related ContentOther Posts
