Ann Richards Quotes
I hate to see them take that creche out of the capitol. It could be the only chance we'll ever have to get three wise men in that building.
This is a great example of politically sophisticated oratory. The decision was that the crèche violated the constitution and the state opinion was split between those in favor and those opposed. A reporter asked the governor what she thought of the court decision. Her response not only amused the public and the press but completely avoided having to take a stand on the issue of religious symbols being exhibited on state property.
Ann Richards, 1933-2008, Governor of Texas (Democrat), Statement after the courts had ordered a Christmas crèche from the Texas State Capitol Building
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
In 1877 Wasburn was dropped from the List of Ministers by the Unitarian Church. He had become very critical of organized and orthodox religion of all kinds.
The Kentucky legislature appropriated over $10 million to the University of the Cumberlands to establish a School of Pharmacy and provide some scholarships thereto. The difficulty was that the University of the Cumberlands was affiliated with the Baptist Church. Simmons, himself a Baptist Minister, was outraged at this violation of Church and State. He appealed to the Kentucky Supreme Court, which unanimously held that the appropriation was un-Constitutional.
There was freedom of religion for Protestants in early New Jersey. Note that Catholics and Jews were not allowed to hold office. This constitution was in force until 1844 when the prohibition was repealed by new constitution. Under the original constitution, men were convicted for blasphemy. See {621063} .
This is the first state to make Christmas a legal holiday. The reason that this is important is when there were many legal battles of public schools and municipalities celebrating Christmas and exhibiting crèches and Christmas trees, several of the proponents argued the doctrine of originalism—namely that we should not declare unconstitutional anything that was common and accepted at the time of the Constitution’s writing, debating, and ratification. They argued that the First Amendment was not intended to cover celebrations of Christmas as the founding fathers would not have made unconstitutional that which was common. While the principle of originalism has advocates and critics, the originalism theory does not hold regarding Christmas because Christmas was not commonly celebrated in early America. See {629845} and {629843} for more evidence on this point.
This is a critical quotation on the government establishment of religion issue. There are a few people who have argued over the years that the Founding Fathers and their culture was religious and where they were careful to avoid favoring one religion over another, they did NOT intend to put atheism on the same equal plane as religion as far as government action is concerned. However, some of the Founding Fathers were atheists, and some others like John Adams were deists—they believed in a God but not in the Trinity or in Judaism or any organized religion. So this quotation makes it clear that the First Amendment does NOT favor religion over non religion or secularism. Atheism must be on an equal footing but not on a higher plane.
In the case of Christmas celebrations, in addition to the huge commercial consequences, there is tradition and religion involved which brings out non-monetary vested interests as well. This is true in England as well as America.
Bush was trying to obtain the Republican Presidential Nomination and that party had come under the influence of Protestant Evangelicals who could in effect veto any candidate in the Primary election. Bush, who was already suspect with the Evangelicals, chose to make this statement with the full knowledge that there is no Constitutional citizenship requirement to believe in a god and that a number of the leading founding patriots and founders had been atheists. However his tactics were successful and the following year he was the Republican nominee. Despite this statement, he never acted on it or made it a part of his administration’s principles. Politicians are often placed in these difficult positions where they are pressured into positions not to their liking in order to politically succeed. In this case, he never did more than make the disgraceful statement. He did not adopt any policy of take any action. However, this quotation is unique in American history as the only time an American president ever stated that American citizenship should not be recognized for religious reasons only.
Bush, himself a born-again Christian, made religion in general and fundamentalist Christian values in particular, a major driver of policy making in his administration, subjugating science, medicine, research and social policy to the prevailing views of the evangelical and other fundamentalist Christians. He also claimed that God spoke though him as President. See {589627}.
American Atheists is a non-profit organization which represents atheists.
The reference to sex with Niddot refers to having sex with a menstruating woman which the ultra-Orthodox see as a serious sin. Few modern people the world over obey this biblical injunction. The Israeli Supreme court has constantly invalidated laws and government regulations that require other Jews and non-Jews in Israel to obey all the Sabbath laws of the Bible. That in the view of Ovadia is “desecrating” the Sabbath.
Falwell was a religious fundamentalist who advocated religion vigerously participating in politics.
Dorothy Ann Richards was an American politician and 45th Governor of Texas (1991–95). A Democrat, she first came to national attention as the Texas State Treasurer, when she gave the keynote address at the 1988 Democratic National Convention. Richards was the second female governor of Texas (the first being Miriam A. Ferguson) and was frequently noted in the media for her outspoken feminism and her one-liners.
