My Aunt sent me this email

[icymist]

My Aunt sent me this email.
The last two paragraphs are my response to her. I feel really bad about saying this to her, but I also stand by my words. Does anyone else have these types of experiences? How do you handle them? I also wonder if my Aunt will ever talk to me again....

My Aunt's email:
DID YOU KNOW?
As you walk up the steps to the building which houses the U.S. Supreme Court you can see near the top of the building a row of the world's law givers and each one is facing one in the middle who is facing forward with a full frontal view - it is Moses and he is holding the Ten Commandments!

DID YOU KNOW?
As you enter the Supreme Court courtroom, the two huge oak doors have the Ten Commandments engraved on each lower portion of each door.

DID YOU KNOW?
As you sit inside the courtroom, you can see the wall, right above where the Supreme Court judges sit, a display of the Ten Commandments!

DID YOU KNOW?
There are Bible verses etched in stone all over the Federal Buildings and Monuments in Washington, D.C.

DID YOU KNOW?
James Madison, the fourth president, known as "The Father of Our Constitution" made the following statement "We have staked the whole of all our political institutions upon the capacity of mankind for self-government, upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves, to control ourselves, to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God."

DID YOU KNOW?
Patrick Henry, that patriot and Founding Father of our country said, "It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded not by religionists but by Christians, not on religions but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ".

DID YOU KNOW?
Every session of Congress begins with a prayer by a paid preacher, whose salary has been paid by the taxpayer since 1777.

DID YOU KNOW?
Fifty-two of the 55 founders of the Constitution were members of the established orthodox churches in the colonies.

DID YOU KNOW?
Thomas Jefferson worried that the Courts would overstep their authority and instead of interpreting the law would begin making law....an oligarchy....the rule of few over many.

DID YOU KNOW?
The very first Supreme Court Justice, John Jay, said, "Americans should select and prefer Christians as their rulers."

How, then, have we gotten to the point that everything we have done for 220 years in this country is now suddenly wrong and unconstitutional?
Please forward this to everyone you can. Lets put it around the world and let the world see and remember what this great country was built on

My response:
Did you know that the first amendment of the Constitution
of the United States of America says 'Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.'

How Then have religious zealots declare that this country is discriminating against them because they want to create laws that practice intolerance of other religions and people just for who they are? By declaring that the United State is a Christian nation these people go directly against the Constitution of the United States of America and therefore are seditious and traitors to the country of their birth.


____________________________________________________
IncrediMail - Email has finally evolved - Click Here

[XNASA]

1. Debunked on Snopes. Here's the facts......

http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/capital.asp

Loved your reply though.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

13. Whoa, lotsa paganism in there

Burn it! </sarcasm>

[icymist]

14. Thank you.

It was hard to say this to my Aunt. I love her very much. She sends this kind of stuff to me all the time and I simply got tired of it.
I'm still waiting a reply.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

2. i got this email as well

if there is so much religious reference everywhere does another one need to be constructed...are people really such DUNCES that they need reminders constantly?

[La Lioness Priyanka]

3. i got this email as well

if there is so much religious reference everywhere does another one need to be constructed...are people really such DUNCES that they need reminders constantly?

[sniffa]

4. you were too easy

i hope you hit "repLy aLL" on it too.

[arcane1]

5. send her the Treaty of Tripoli, too

"As the Government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion; as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquillity, of Musselmen; and as the said States never have entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mehomitan nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption


and here's a quote I just found from John Adams:

"The United States of America have exhibited, perhaps, the first example of governments erected on the simple principles of nature; and if men are now sufficiently enlightened to disabuse themselves of artifice, imposture, hypocrisy, and superstition, they will consider this event as an era in their history. Although the detail of the formation of the American governments is at present little known or regarded either in Europe or in America, it may hereafter become an object of curiosity. It will never be pretended that any persons employed in that service had interviews with the gods, or were in any degree under the influence of Heaven, more than those at work upon ships or houses, or laboring in merchandise or agriculture; it will forever be acknowledged that these governments were contrived merely by the use of reason and the senses.

". . . Thirteen governments thus founded on the natural authority of the people alone, without a pretence of miracle or mystery, and which are destined to spread over the northern part of that whole quarter of the globe, are a great point gained in favor of the rights of mankind."

http://earlyamerica.com/review/summer97/secular.html

[eleny]

6. I got an email from an aquaintance about a Muslim holiday stamp

I guess there's a myth going around the net that there's going to be a new U.S. postage stamp commemorating a Muslim holiday. The email was asking me to consider all the terrible terrorist acts against the U.S. and concluded with how we shouldn't have a Muslim related stamp.

I just responded that we have stamps commemorating Judaism and Christianity. So it wasn't out of line, in my mind, that we have a Muslim stamp. Anyhow it's a myth. Here's a web page that debunks it.
http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/e/eid.htm

People on the ultra right can be a pain in the butt - friends or relatives, it's touchy and messy.

[Gruenemann]

11. Eid al-fitr stamp

There actually was such a stamp, to be issued in Sept 2001. It made the cover of Sauda Aramco World magazine. There was an article in the magazine about it to. If I'd know at the time what a big deal it was going to be, I would have kept better track of the magazine, but as far as I know it's long gone.

[ezee]

7. I have received

the exact same letter from my cousin in AZ. I choose to ignore her. I do understand your response to your aunt and I agree with you. Perhaps next time I receive a message like this one I will have YOUR COURAGE and respond in like manner. I hope your aunt can see the light soon and not continue to travel this path of discrimination. Be Well and continue to stand tall!

[seabeyond]

8. i want to know your aunts reply

and a high five to you

[icymist]

15. Well, here's the reply from my Aunt:

'I was just passing on an e-mail!!!! I didn't mean to get your hair raised on the back of your neck. Next time I'll be sure NOT to send you anything that's going to upset you. I don't argue religion or politics.'

Doesn't argue religion or politics while sending this kind of crap out, huh?
Kind of makes me want to get sedated!

[truthspeaker]

16. I was just passing an email! I'm not responsible for what it says!

W T F

[seabeyond]

17. well thanks for sharing

and good for you regardless, that you expressed.

last nite news talking about kennedy shouldnt have spoken, and i started yelling at tv, been f*in told to be quiet for three years, and we arent going to be told to be quiet anymore.............

good for you. she probably already knew how you feel and probably knew exactly what she was doing, you responding took out her steam, maybe not a thought process for her you would have liked, but......she know you wont lay down

[underseasurveyor]

19. E-GADS.......That's EXACTLY what my Mother in law does to me.

Not every day, but maybe once or twice a week she'll send me those types of idiotic emails. Knowing full well how I feel about the Miserable Failure. Knowing how I feel about religion/god being shoved down my throat. Knowing how I feel about Iraq, etc., etc.

I don't respond to every one. I usually delete them. But after a while it builds up and I fire off a reply to all. Then it never fails I get her response, "well gee I was just funnin' ya" or "I just thought it was neat, that's all. No need to get your panties in a wad over it." GGGRRRRRRRRR Her 'oh well gee' attitude is what pisses me off the most.

I tried to discuss politics with her right after the 2000 selection and she immediately said right from the start she doesn't want to discuss any of that stuff for the simple fact that it can and usually does become to heated. I respected her request for the longest time. Yet she rarely fails to get in some quip or comment (she likes Too Stupid) and then <snap fingers> changes the subject.

But now if she brings it up, I will say what I think.
I know it can be tough when family is involved. Hang in there.

[icymist]

20. Thank you all for your responses

There is ample thought here to suggest that these types of unsolicited emails come from those who don't think for themselves. I, will for one, not allow this type of message go by unchallenged. I wish to hit 'all reply' but do not wish this back at my Aunt, who has already experienced my logic on this matter. Does anyone have any ideas on how to send this message to all who were involved in sending it in the first place without sending it to my Aunt? I know it would be easier to just send this to everybody, including my Aunt, but I already done this to her and, besides, my standards are higher.

[truthspeaker]

21. Hit "reply to all", then delete her email address out of the "to" field

[icymist]

22. Thank you. I'm going to try this.

I don't know what my Aunt will do. I pray she does nothing for she paints a bad picture of West Virginia, where she (and our family) is from.

[truthspeaker]

9. ask your aunt why her freedom of religion is more important than mine?

[icymist]

10. Thank you all for your kind-hearted responses

My Aunt is just 1o years senior to me and she helped raise us kids after our parents divorced. I love her dearly and it was hard to send this reply to her. I want to thank you all for your kind words and optimisim,... I really need it right now.

[Zookeeper]

18. Sometimes I suspect...

that alot of that Christian patriotism is sentimentality, almost nostalgia for a time when our country was more homogenous. I think it's an ugly message, but some people pass that sort of thing along without thinking, like it's just a feel-good message "we" can all agree with.

By your aunt's response, it sounds like she'll get over your e-mail. Perhaps, you should tell her what you told us about your respect and love for her, though.

[TNOE]

12. Interesting Article

May be of interest if she is so inclined:

http://www.clydelewis.com/dis/philo/philo.htm

These zealous fanatics claim that our political system represents a Christian ideal form of government and that the framers of our constitution expressed Christian values when they wrote the Constitution.

****
You can believe this if you choose. Ironically, the whole myth is now being used as a brainwashing technique in order to make you feel good about the ongoing war against fanatic religious orders in the East.

*****
Is it a law that we should have no other God's before the Judeo Christian god?

****
They use God as a political tool. They say that God is their hearts and yet they commit crimes against humanity in the name of God. They ask God for justice when truly they are seeking vengeance. They believe that God is intolerant. They believe that God gives them the right to violate the very Constitution that they say is based on the Ten Commandments.

****
How hypocritical is this? How self defeating? How far do we have to go before we realize that this type of thinking is destructive?

Our forefathers fled persecution by imposed state religions. State religions that were considered Christian! State religions that enforced religious control over their kingdoms.

No law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise of religion, flies in the face of several of the Ten Commandments, many of which demand certain religious allegiance.

Now we are being told to wise up and realize who is responsible for bringing us our freedoms in the first place.