Suchergebnisse

The modern Jewish quest for a homeland arose in the nineteenth century in Europe. From the beginning there was tension between a secular nationalism and a more religiously based one. Religious fundamentalism is a political factor today in Israel, as elsewhere in the Middle East. Governments in this region would best avoid their overthrow at the hands of religious fundamentalists by working together.

The modern Jewish quest for a homeland arose in the nineteenth century in Europe. From the beginning there was tension between a secular nationalism & a more religiously based one. Religious fundamentalism is a political factor today in Israel, as elsewhere in the Middle East. Governments in the region can best avoid their overthrow at the hands of religious fundamentalists by working together. HA

Protestant spokesmen have used 2 kinds of arguments, one having to do with present Catholic policy & the other with Catholic dogma to support their contention that Catholics are untrustworthy in their attitude towards the principles of separation guaranteed by the First Amendment. A study of history shows that an alliance between 2 forces - the deists & the Protestant non-conformists - guaranteed the enactment of the First Amendment. It is contended that church & state were separated by our fundamental law largely to end the persecution of Protestants by other Protestants. Protestants have no objection to Catholic mayors, judges & governors, but they protest a Catholic president. The reason given is that Protestants have an almost mystical regard for the Presidency as an incarnation of the US way of life, which they tend to identify for historical reasons with the non-conformist individualistic Protestantism. Both Protestants & nativists are trying hard to preserve the image of a Protestant America - an image that would be jeopardized by the election of a Catholic to the Presidency. It would appear that the battle around the First Amendment is not around the issue of the separation of church & state but the symbolic signif for US life & culture of having a non-Protestant, whether he be a Catholic, a Jew or an avowed Atheist as President of the US. V. D. Sanua.