If Romney got his way and the separation of church and state was dissolved during his administration, what religion would be the sanctioned state religion, Mormonism?!? I doubt it and I doubt that Mormonism would fare well in an environment where many Christians see it as a cult...Mormonism (and other minority religions) have generally flourished in the USA because of Secularism.

tominwindsor wrote:

"Huckabee is no cretin. He is well read, intelligent,bold and innovative. His positions on scientific issues are likely to be nuanced and well balanced despite his Evangelical faith.'

Huckabee does not believe in evolution. Scientifically speaking, that is not a "well balanced" position.

"If you want to believe that you and your family came from apes, that's fine. I'll accept that. I just don't happen to think that I did."

-- Mike Huckabee

I have many reasons for flaming the practice of quoting:

- The written word is easily revised to suit one's objective.

- This is not limited to written media by which almost anyone with the motivation can revise photos, video and spoken word recordings.

Where does this leave us? How accurate is our supposed history? Who do you believe and why? I would say that our modern society suffers from a massive misinformation latticework that resembles a common childhood game: The one where everyone sits in a circle and one person starts by whispering a sentence into the ear of the person on their right hand side. Each child takes a turn whispering in this fashion, quoting the person on their left until it goes full circle. By the time it gets back around to the start point, you have a entirely different quote. Big media fully employs this method with frightening precision. The Bible is this game played out over thousands of years.

The only downfall of Sabatia's hyper-Christian rant is that it lacks what makes a genius like Stephen Colbert so obviously sarcastic: Facial expressions and body language. Regardless, I enjoy satire and I don't object to joining in as well. I did post a list about my ideal Presidential candidate that you might want to read.

My aim is not to pick a fight with you over how useful quoting can or cannot be. It is to use any method available to urge or shock people into thinking for themselves instead of using massive amounts of quotes as mental crutches or training wheels

Joe, I am not as negative as you are about Huckabee. I do not believe he seeks to impose a religious test for office, but rather to seek support from a particular, and particularly large, religious constituency. I think it is as legitimate for him to do so as it is for a pro choice candidate to seek the support of pro choice voters.

Huckabee is no cretin. He is well read, intelligent,bold and innovative. His positions on scientific issues are likely to be nuanced and well balanced despite his Evangelical faith. He comes from a long tradition of compassionate Christians in public life. He is more like the Salvation Army than the Moral Majority in his approach, in my view.

Huckabee represents hope for America- the idea that an outsider can be elected to the presidency and restore some balance, some honor, and some integrity to American government, because, Joe, I agree with you, IT CAN HAPPEN HERE!

"The quoters have missed my point entirely: Quotes can be reworded, taken out of context and flat out revised. They might be entirely fictional as well."

johnnyrandom you seem to have missed where I agreed with you on that general point, but then went on to explain that quotes can useful to support one's position anyway. I refer you to my post of Dec 8, 4:31 PM.

Going in circles is boring, so with that I'm done with this side-discussion unless you have something new, accurate, and of significant value to add.

"@ sabatia: I would love to see you try and love to see you deal with me. You'll need a lot more Koolaid, that's for sure."

It seems you have also been taken in by what appears to sabatia's Colbert-esque sarcasm. I refer you to sabatia's posting history - you know, his previous quotes, like this one:

"Us liberals (and moderates and independents) are a fairly tolerant lot. Just don't try to ram your absolute religious beliefs down our throats."

Its time to restore a little respect in this country. After Mitt is elected, the secularists, aetheists, and agnostics who undermine our nation from within, not to mention gays and others, will be fully investigated by the Department of Homeland Security. Of course there will be some sort of registration. I can promise you that impertinent comments will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Fortunately the licensing of humorists should help to bring the problem under control, and I am sure Mitt will do the right thing in that regard. Protect our Borders! We are a Christian Nation! Go Mitt!

The quoters have missed my point entirely: Quotes can be reworded, taken out of context and flat out revised. They might be entirely fictional as well, as is the lunacy known as the Bible. I will not respect your quotes until you say something you thought on your own worth quoting.

@ sabatia: I would love to see you try and love to see you deal with me. You'll need a lot more Koolaid, that's for sure.

"I guess I believe in a supreme being. But if there is a supreme being, he'll judge you on whether you were a good person or a bad person, not on how many times you went to church. If there's compassion in your heart, there's a place for you in heaven."

Now there ya go Huckabee. No further sermonizing is needed, thank you.

Whew ! Good one !! You had me goin there for a minute ! Very "Stephen Colbert-ish" to show what the religious right wing-nuts sound like by pretending to actually act like one!!

Very funny. Because, you were kidding - right ??