On the heels of a recent rant by MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell calling for Barack Obama to remove the Bible from his inauguration, atheist tweeters and others are glomming on. Some are even taking it a step further and calling for the Bible to be banned entirely. This is a great window into the mind of O’Donnell’s particular corner of the religious-bigot Left. They find things in the Bible they don’t agree with — in O’Donnell’s case about homosexuality — and therefore think the entire book ought to be condemned and removed from public functions.
https://twitter.com/ExquisiteIdea/status/291538192144924673
Presidents still put their hand on a bible for the inauguration? I thought this was the 21st century.
— Kembo (@KennySpranzo) January 18, 2013
US politics are weird. @Lawrence O'Donnell highlights odd hypocrisy of using the bible in swearing-in service. http://t.co/1adMjIqj
— Chris Tackett (@christackett) January 14, 2013
Rewrite – @lawrence tells the truth about the bible http://t.co/WFEsn0e8 WOW, many Xtians are complaining! Called out on mental gymnastics!
— Sean (@LibAthe80) January 11, 2013
@BarackObama BAN bibles from being used by obama to make us believe him. Separate State and church!
— Art Copeland-MAGA-TRUMP2020-Text TRUMP to 88022 (@Decoder2) January 10, 2013
https://twitter.com/ArtLeverone/status/291364407555010560
A second media voice jumped in today in the person of CNN’s Dean Obeidallah. He was more restrained than O’Donnell and refrained from actually condemning and mocking the Bible, but he did say that the president should swear on the Constitution rather than the Bible for reasons of separation of church and state. Even that more reasoned argument goes over the edge of saying that religion — of any form — should be considered distasteful in civil functions. That’s a step too far for most people, who think of the Constitution as protecting their rights rather than muzzling them.
https://twitter.com/bduff179/status/290824498842832896
There’s a White House petition for just about everything, including one to “have President Obama place his hands on something other than religious texts during the inauguration ceremony.” It suggests that Obama swear on either the Constitution or, curiously, “his immediate family’s shoulders” as a sign of solidarity to the secular community. It’s stalled at 30 signatures.
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