And A Very Merry Christmas to Dr. Rick Warren

[mikewrona]

Today was an excellent Meet the Press program. I want to share a portion of what Dr. Warren had to say. Reminded me of the intelligence and sense of brotherhood the Dalai Lama spoke of when in Buffalo.

MR. RUSSERT: Of all the countries in the world, Pastor Rick, the—America is one of the most religious. Why?

DR. WARREN: Well, Tim, the history of America, as Jon pointed out, is faith-friendly, it’s pragmatic and it’s pluralistic. And all three of these are true. And when Jefferson wrote that famous phrase, “separation of church and state,” he was basically saying, don’t tax me to higher Anglican priests. That’s all he meant by it. He didn’t mean anything more than let’s separate these two different worlds. Madison once said, “If you have one religion then you’ve got tyranny in a country.” He said, “If you have two religions, you’ve got civil conflict. If you’ve got many religions, you’ve got civil peace.” And I believe that the reason why faith has thrived in America is because we have a free market economy for religion, not just for economies, that may the best idea win. I am totally opposed to theocracy, totally opposed to state church. Look at what it did to Europe. Christianity was killed when the government got involved in Europe.

Dr. Warren is the author of : “The Purpose Driven Life,”

[biker]

To me, James Madison is the most authoritative speaker on the proper role of religion in the United States of America.

Not only did he draft the Bill of Rights, but he was an Episcopal bishop.

What an incredible story in the context of our current interest group politics: a leader of a "vested interest" who sought to limit the influence and power that his own "vested interest" could have received from the state.

We truly were blessed with a set of Founding Fathers whose sense of duty, honor and propriety were unique in human history.

[kernwatch]

The program, which is excellent, can be seen in its entirety at:

http://video.msn.com/v/us/msnbc.htm?...d/3032608/&fg=