Ever wonder where the phrase "a wall of separation between church and state" comes from? It was coined by our nation's third president, who couldn't have made it any more clear that he didn't want religion mixing with politics:
"Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should "make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," thus building a wall of separation between Church and State."
-Thomas Jefferson, in a letter to the Danbury Baptist Association, 1 January 1802
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To be wise, observe; for observation is the source of wisdom.
"A wonderful, maaaagical animal!"
To be wise, observe; for observation is the source of wisdom.
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Why the learned pig?
In early 19th-century America, a certain traveling show featured a remarkable pig that, on command, could spell out letters to form words. This "pig of knowledge", or "learned pig", baffled superstitious mobs, and excited frenzied accusations of witchcraft. In response, the pig's trainer published a pamphlet that sought to dispel the rumors by detailing his methods of instruction, and demonstrating that this apparent miracle could be accounted for through reason and observation alone.
Tacitus once wrote, "everything unknown passes for something splendid." Humans by nature desire to know, and when they encounter something seemingly inexplicable, they tend to fill in the holes with religion, superstition, or inane anti-intellectualism that dismisses the need for knowledge altogether. But these are cowardly subsitutes for reason and observation. The learned pig reminds us that if we wish to be wise, "observe; for observation is the source of wisdom."
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1 comment:
But Zee, don't you think that it's a well-established fact that when our Founding Fathers passed the first amendment, they really meant to PROTECT our churches from government interference? Do you really mean to tell me that good old Ronnie got it wrong when he declared that "they never intended to construct a wall of hostility between government and the concept of religious belief itself" or that the first amendment "never intended to require government to discriminate against religious speech"?? For shame, you traitor and deserter, you.
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