From: Bob Myers on
? wrote:
> The phrase "all men are created equal" did not refer to racial
> equality, nor did it refer to the equality of men of other nations
> with the American colonists.
>
> "All men are created equal" referred to the political equality of
> FREE WHITE ENGLISH MEN (of good character) as regarded representation
> back home, in parliament.

One cannot possibly read the writings of the men
who wrote the founding documents - and especially
the writings of the one man in particular who wrote
the above phrase in its most famous context - and
come to that conclusion.

For one thing, Jefferson himself acknowledged that he had
taken that phrase from a friend and neighbor, one Philip
Mazzei, who was an Italian immigrant! It quite clearly
had nothing to do with the "men" in question being
"free white English men" or with their representation in
the British Parliament.

The commitee charged with the writing of the Declaration of
Independence included (in addition to Jefferson): Benjamin
Franklin, John Adams, Roger Sherman, and Robert
Livingston. On the subject of equality, their other writings are
very illuminating. In 1763, in a letter to friend John Waring,
Benjamin Franklin wrote:

"Being but just return'd home from a Tour thro' the northern Colonies,
that has employ'd the whole Summer, my Time at present is so taken
up that I cannot now write fully in answer to the Letters I have receiv'd
from you, but purpose to do it shortly. This is chiefly to acquaint you,
that I have visited the Negro School here in Company with the Revd.
Mr. Sturgeon and some others; and had the Children thoroughly examin'd.
They appear'd all to have made considerable Progress in Reading for
the Time they had respectively been in the School, and most of them
answer'd readily and well the Questions of the Catechism; they behav'd
very orderly, showd a proper Respect and ready Obedience to the
Mistress, and seem'd very attentive to, and a good deal affected by,
a serious Exhortation with which Mr. Sturgeon concluded our Visit.
I was on the whole much pleas'd, and from what I then saw, have c
onceiv'd a higher Opinion of the natural Capacities of the black Race,
than I had ever before entertained. Their Apprehension seems as quick,
their Memory as strong, and their Docility in every Respect equal
to that of white Children. You will wonder perhaps that I should
ever doubt it, and I will not undertake to justify all my Prejudices,
nor to account for them."'

Franklin also more famously and succinctly wrote:

"If you want to be free, there is but one way; it is to guarantee an equally
full measure of liberty to all your neighbors. There is no other."

This does, however, point out that the "all men are created equal"
phrase, in the Founder's minds, refers to an equality of rights,
liberties, and opportunity. All of these men understood quite well that
it would be foolish to assert that any two individuals were precisely
equal in abilities, skills, knowledge, intelligence, etc. - but this has
absolutely nothing to do with general distinctions based on race,
color, ethnicity, or national origin, and such distinctions are and
quite properly should be utterly irrelevant before the law. John Adams
quite clearly held that position, as is seen in his writings as follows:

"Nature, which has established in the universe a chain of being and
universal order, descending from archangels to microscopic animalcules,
has ordained that no two objects shall be perfectly alike, and no two
creatures perfectly equal. Although, among men, all are subject by
nature to equal laws of morality, and in society have a right to equal laws
for their government, yet no two men are perfectly equal in person,
property,
understanding, activity, and virtue, or ever can be made so by any
power less than that which created them."


Bob M.


From: Phxbrd on

"brad herschel" <bradherschel(a)gmail.com> wrote in message
news:d71f4298-7572-44ed-8d67-5179d0d6a8b9(a)j8g2000yqd.googlegroups.com...
> Advancing culture and technology makes the negro and mestizo totally,
> totally obsolete.

They also make the entire concept of race obsolete. The scientific
community no longer uses the term. There is no longer any pure "race" of
any kind. So-called "Caucasians" are getting darker as so-called "Negroids"
are getting lighter. Besides, each and everyone of us on earth is no more
than 50th cousin to anyone now dead or alive.

When I was a boy, truly black Americans were commonly seen. Some even had
purple tongues. Now the only ones seen like that are recent arrivals from
Africa.

The world she is a-changin'...

Deal with it.











From: S'mee on
On Jul 21, 11:19 am, Beam Me Up Scotty <Then-Destroy-
Everyth...(a)Blackhole.NebulaX.com> wrote:
> On 7/20/2010 10:38 PM, Ramon F Herrera wrote:
>
>
>
> > There is little difference between the far righties and the far left.
> > They are both fundamentalists.
>
> The whacked out.... all believe in faith, for the socialist wackos their
> faith/God is Marx, for Muslims its Mohammad, for others it's Christ and
> for atheist (who have no proof that God doesn't exist) and are also in a
> religion/faith they believe in.  What they all have in common is that
> they all have a point that allows them to rationalize anything in the
> pursuit of their Utopia.


LOL you got one major screw up there...the muslims, the christians and
the Hebrews ALL believe in the same god, the god of abraham. You might
want to get an education. Other than that you were spot on.
From: Bob Myers on
S'mee wrote:
> On Jul 21, 11:19 am, Beam Me Up Scotty <Then-Destroy-
> Everyth...(a)Blackhole.NebulaX.com> wrote:

>> The whacked out.... all believe in faith, for the socialist wackos
>> their faith/God is Marx, for Muslims its Mohammad, for others it's
>> Christ and for atheist (who have no proof that God doesn't exist)
>> and are also in a religion/faith they believe in. What they all have
>> in common is that they all have a point that allows them to
>> rationalize anything in the pursuit of their Utopia.
>
>
> LOL you got one major screw up there...the muslims, the christians and
> the Hebrews ALL believe in the same god, the god of abraham.

At least one other "major screw up" besides that one. Atheism is
not truly a matter of faith, despite continued attempts on the parts of
believers to paint it as such. If not believing in a God or Gods is an
example of faith, then the same could be set of not believing in Santa
Claus, the Easter Bunny, or Bertrand Russell's famous "cosmic teapot."
Or, as Richard Dawkins so nicely put it: "We're ALL atheists about
most of the gods that humanity has ever believed in. Some of us just
go one god further." You never require "proof" that a given entity
does not exist; what is required is evidence that said entity DOES
exist. Otherwise, you should be accepting of ANY statements that
say a given entity exists. You would have to believe, simultaneously,
in the Christian God, in Zeus, in Shiva, etc., simply because someone
has made the claim that they exist.

I am not, myself, quite an atheist per the classic meaning, by the way; I
prefer Dawkins' "6th degree agnostic" description. I cannot know
for certain that there is no God, but I believe one (at least per most of
the classic descriptions to be found in mainstream religions) to be
unlikely in the extreme, and live my live on the assumption that there
is in fact no such being per those descriptions. I could also in some
sense be properly described as a Buddhist, but that would then make
sense only to those who understand that Buddhism is not, strictly
speaking, a religion.

Bob M.


From: brad herschel on
S'mee is the local Rumplestilskin or Bridge Troll for Red Bank.
I know you are well known around, hence, it is time to launch
your political career. If you would be so kind as to direct me to
any local websites dealing with election process.
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