Interesting quote.
"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 Muslims; and as the said States never have entered into any war or act of hostility against any Islamic nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries."
Could any current candidate for president of the United States ever get away with wording a treaty proposal to an Arab nation this way? I suspect that the current political environment would force us to impeach the original author.
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Basically all it says is that we aren't going to go to war with them because they are Muslim, it doesn't preclude us going to war with them for any other reason, which may have their basis in religion, eg. they start killing our people because of a religious edict and we will go to war with them, not because of their religion but because they were killing our people.
Similiarly we will not go to war with the Italy because of the Catholic church.
Also you misquoted Washington, he called them Musselmen:
"Also, I have four legs and am covered in wool. Baa!" *Legion* reveals his inner furry.
...and that America is not founded on Christian principles.
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Precisely my point. Could a current American politician avoid impeachment or worse for making the bold statement that the United States was not founded on the Christian religion? I suspect that Religious Right nutbars would devote websites to publishing their home addresses and with bounties on their children.
This is the internet! In our natural environment, atheists run in packs and have dictionaries! --- JoeBeDurndurn
I'm not so sure of them, and it doesn't say that the country is not founded on Christian principles, it says on the Christian Religion. We are a secular nation for good or for ill. We don't demand that others practice Christianity, we do demand that they follow the laws that we set that are often based upon Christian morality. We didn't go to war with Japan because of their religion, we went to war with them because they attacked us. We went to war with Iraq and Afghanistan for reasons other than religion (Afghanistan in response to their leaders attack on us, and Iraq well I still say it was because we were in a position to do so, it would have mattered little what religion Saddam was)
editted for annoying spelling errors.
"Also, I have four legs and am covered in wool. Baa!" *Legion* reveals his inner furry.
Um, Nos? Saddam wasn't religious.
Pointless.
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"Also, I have four legs and am covered in wool. Baa!" *Legion* reveals his inner furry.
I agree.
What "Arab Nation" are we talking about anyway? We're not the declared enimies of any "nation" but instead "non-state actors" like AQ et. al. Yeah, we're not on good terms with Iran, and Bush the idiot called them the axis of evil, but that's still a diplomatic situation, not something that requires a peace treaty. Anyone right now that we're trying to kill would just spit in our face if confronted with a peace treaty, and we wouldn't go to "peace" with a non-state actor anyway.
Again, I agree with Robear.
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But Iran is not an Arab Nation.
Now the Field of Battle is a land of standing corpses;
Those determined to die will live;
Those who hope to escape with their lives will die. - Wu Chi