gareth19 (imported) wrote: Wed Jul 29, 2009 10:47 pm Well, only those of us who have never read the Constitution mistakenly call this a Christian nation; from the very beginning it was intended to be a non-confessional secular state free of the interminable religious squabbles that plagued sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Europe. Though you make the interesting point that many nominal Christians apparently disregard (and often despise) the ethical basis of Christianity. But that should have been abundantly clear from their willingness to embrace such notable moral pariahs as Billy Graham, Jerry Falwell, Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, or from the other end of the political spectrum the not so very Reverend Jesse Jackson. As Screwtape observed, it will be a sad day in Hell when religion ceases.
And yes, though I am supremely disinterested in football and offended by dog fighting, the notion of punishment and imprisonment has within it the concept of absolution. Whatever you may think of Mr. Vick, he has paid the debt imposed by the law and that should be the end of it though real religious thought teaches that the sinner can only be absolved through an act of true contritition rather the mere payment of a fine.
Tell that to the right wing,
I for one can't wait for Vick to get back on the field playing again, its only then and how he acts on and off the field that will define him.
River