
A member of the Pantheon (Poseiden?) getting due recognition for aiding our nation's founding.
Today Jim DeMinit (R-S.C.) lambasted the new visitor center (yes, this guy has time in this economic crisis to comment on that state of the new visitor center on Capital Hill) as “Left-leaning”, and “portray[s] the federal government as the fulfillment of human ambition and the answer to all of society’s problems.” DeMint suggests “This is a clear departure from acknowledging that Americans’ rights ‘are endowed by their Creator’ and stem from ‘a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence.’” Right, because it was God who co-sponsord the New Deal, and it was God who finished that hard work on the Union-Pacific rail road, and oh yeah, wasn’t it God who ended slavery? Listen to this guy:
“The Capitol Visitor Center is designed to tell the history and purpose of our nation’s Capitol, but it (1) fails to appropriately honor our religious heritage that has been critical to America’s success. While the Architect of the Capitol has pledged to include some references to faith, more needs to be done. You (2)cannot accurately tell the history of America or its Capitol by ignoring the religious heritage of our Founders and the generations since who relied on their faith for strength and guidance. The millions of visitors that will visit the CVC each year (3)should get a true portrayal of the motivations and inspirations of those who have served in Congress since its establishment.”
I noticed a few things about this statement, and you can refer to the numerated phrases in the quote.
(1). I don’t think he means our puritan heritage, and one must really ask why it would be appropriate to include a tribute to any deity on capital hill, thanking them for helping our country go from dream to reality. If anything, i assure you it overemphasizes it by replacing critical thought and hard work with devine intervention in some way.
(2) You can’t? Fun fact, Thomas Jefferson wrote his own verion of the Bible that takes out all references to God and any supernatural activity. I wonder if he thinks you could tell the story of America’s heritage by ignoring God. DeMint is one of these guys who thought the founders put Christmas in the constitution, that the pledge always had “under god” in it, and that our money always said “in god we trust”
(3) I think he means we need gigantic statues of John Locke, Rousseu, Hobbes, Weber, and host of others, rather some archaic “old” god that cares more for smiting non-believers that politcal theory. seriously, everything God decreed was plagiarized from the Code of Hamurabi anyway.When will we kick the Jesus freaks from our capitals?

"I'm Jim DeMint, and I believe that secular self determination doesn't exist. Vote for me"
This is my little corner of the Internet, welcome to it. It is my sounding horn for my views on democracy, the environment, security, computers, and code which is beautiful. I like to ask questions and study the wisdom of the crowd, the democratization of information, and why things are different this time around. I am a dog person, and I have been a Mac user since before it was cool.
jason
December 3rd, 2008 at 3:24 pm
link other examples of this crap here.
Nick
December 3rd, 2008 at 8:33 pm
I honestly misread the guy’s name as “Dimwit”.
jason
December 3rd, 2008 at 10:24 pm
Common mistake, as it describes who he is better than his name does.
nikolai
December 3rd, 2008 at 11:29 pm
What IS IT with these dimwit republican politicians who don’t understand the CONSTITUTIONAL separation of church and state? As a SENATOR He should be the LAST person spewing this tripe!!
Ashley
December 4th, 2008 at 4:18 pm
The black and gold statue is of King Kamehameha, of Hawaii, the first Hawaiian king to unite all of the islands. The statue is part of the national statuary hall collection, which was commissioned by Congress in 1864.