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From: Bob Myers on 21 Jul 2010 13:53 ? 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 21 Jul 2010 13:58 "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 21 Jul 2010 15:41 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 21 Jul 2010 16:06 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 21 Jul 2010 18:41
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. |