Sarah Palin and other thoughts on religion and the law of the land

So, I posted a meme on my Facebook page, showing Sarah Palin saying we should "base our laws on the God of the Bible"  It then says "yes Sarah, then we can stone your daughter to death for having premarital sex and your husband can beat you for trying to have authority over men" ( well something like that.)  I thought it was funny, for reasons I will detail in a moment, but it sparked a lively discussion on my page.

When she talks about the "God of the Bible" which God does she mean?  The vengeful, often pissed off God we encounter in the Old Testament, or the loving forgiving one we find in the new Testament?  For that matter, which version of the BIBLE are we going to use to frame the laws; King James? Good News? New American Standard?  Heck, there are more translations of the Bible than there are sectors of Christianity.  As Christians, we can't even agree on some of the finer points of the faith we all claim to follow; the Catholics  and the Southern Baptists would tell me I am going to Hell, the Protestants aren't so sure, The Lutherans say I'm ok and I think the Unitarians do too.

Despite what some people believe, the U.S .is NOT a "Christian Nation"  Please take a look at the Constitution.  It's pretty clear about it.  We are a country, supposedly founded on Freedom of religion.  I will take it a step further, we are also allowed freedom FROM religion.  I live my life based on  Christian principals as I understand them.  There is also a good mix of Buddhism in there too.  I don't believe there is ONE WAY that everyone should live, as long as no one else is hurt in the process.  I will talk about my philosophy with you, but I am not arrogant enough to believe that MY belief should be law ( except for my kid when she was little, but that's another story)  I like to say, "all Children see their father differently"  Don't believe me?  Ask your siblings to talk about your Dad.  You will meet a totally different person than the one you know.  Are they wrong?  Not for them.

Back to the meme about Palin.  I think she's a first class twit.  Her whole life these days seems to just be fodder for another Tina Fey skit. The more she opens her mouth, the more I am glad she and John McCain were not elected.  I kind of like McCain.  He seems like a square shooter.  He might have made a fine president.  The thing that scared me was President Sarah Palin.  It COULD have happened.  There is a story about Teddy Roosevelt.  When he was nominated as the Vice Presidential candidate for William McKinley, someone was reputed to have said "that cowboy is a heartbeat away from the presidency.  They were assured that McKinley was healthy.  THEN he was assassinated. 

I think the founding father's did a fairly good job, for their time, of framing a Constitution. It's a living document, meant to be amended with the times .  It purposely separates Church and State and we should leave it at that.