Blasphemy in veneration

I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do because I notice it always coincides with their own desires.
— Susan B. Anthony, Bible Resolution speech, National American Woman Suffrage Association, 23-28 January 1896.

I was astounded to find a silly assertion that “the Constitution of the United States, the greatest political document ever written” was actually a religious tract, because “That sacred document shows us the path forward” (“We Believe in America”, Republican Platform 2012). It is perfectly acceptable to venerate those who were there at the founding of USA, and those helping frame the constitution, without turning them into saints.

Religious people outwith the USA – and many within the USA – might find the Republican Party claim of the US constitution’s sanctity as demeaning their own sacred texts: their Vedas, their Bible, their New Testament, their Quran, and so many more sacred texts. The writings of St Thomas Aquinas are venerated by Catholics, but they are scarcely considered sacred Christian texts. It seems evident that, for people who seriously believe in such a declaration of exalted worth for the US constitution, sacredness coincides with people’s own  blasphemous desires. The original constitution seems more profane than sacred when it was used to create a civil war:

The right of property in slaves was recognized by giving to free persons distinct political rights, by giving them the right to represent, and burthening them with direct taxes for three-fifths of their slaves; by authorizing the importation of slaves for twenty years; and by stipulating for the rendition of fugitives from labor.
— State of Georgia, Reasons for secession from the Union, 29 January 1861.

God (and the idea of God) is trivialized throughout the 2012 Republican platform. God is not considered great, God is considered convenient. God has the Universe to oversee, but he is also has a special place in his heart for the USA and its colonists . The Republican platform does not think US Americans exploited the region’s vast resources, taking them from indigenous peoples, they were simply making use of God’s largesse by “taking advantage of all our American God-given resources”.
After hearing:

Our nation faces unprecedented uncertainty with great fiscal and economic challenges, and under the current Administration has suffered through the longest and most severe economic downturn since the Great Depression.

we are comforted with “May God continue to shed his grace on the United States of America.” Some grace. Remember good old God and the special place he has in his heart for the USA, and forget George W Bush’s disastrous (2001-2008) Republican vision of lower taxes, lower regulation, and the the unfettered pursuit of wealth:

This year’s election is a chance to restore the proven values of the American free enterprise system. We offer our Republican vision of a free people using their God-given talents, combined with hard work, self-reliance, ethical conduct, and the pursuit of opportunity, to achieve great things for themselves and the greater community. [My emphasis.]

Pabulum.

Technorati Tags: Blasphemy,god,god-given,talents,resources,veneration,Republican party,sacred,constution,civil war,indigenous people