Quotes That Catch My Fancy (Passover Edition)
By Pejman Yousefzadeh Posted in Miscellanea | Passover — Comments (18) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
Gentlemen:
While I received with much satisfaction your address replete with expressions of esteem, I rejoice in the opportunity of assuring you that I shall always retain grateful remembrance of the cordial welcome I experienced on my visit to Newport from all classes of citizens.
The reflection on the days of difficulty and danger which are past is rendered the more sweet from a consciousness that they are succeeded by days of uncommon prosperity and security.
If we have wisdom to make the best use of the advantages with which we are now favored, we cannot fail, under the just administration of a good government, to become a great and happy people.
The citizens of the United States of America have a right to applaud themselves for having given to mankind examples of an enlarged and liberal policy--a policy worthy of imitation. All possess alike liberty of conscience and immunities of citizenship.
It is now no more that toleration is spoken of as if it were the indulgence of one class of people that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights, for, happily, the Government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance, requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens in giving it on all occasions their effectual support.
It would be inconsistent with the frankness of my character not to avow that I am pleased with your favorable opinion of my administration and fervent wishes for my felicity.
May the children of the stock of Abraham who dwell in this land continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other inhabitants--while every one shall sit in safety under his own vine and fig tree and there shall be none to make him afraid.
May the father of all mercies scatter light, and not darkness, upon our paths, and make us all in our several vocations useful here, and in His own due time and way everlastingly happy.
G. Washington
--Letter from George Washington to the Hebrew Congregation at Newport, August, 1790.
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Quotes That Catch My Fancy (Passover Edition) 18 Comments (0 topical, 18 editorial, 0 hidden) Post a comment »
Ayup, GW the first owned slaves, a condition supported for the next 70 years by quoting the Old Testament. But Pesach (Passover) also celebrates slaves who freed themselves
of weighing history with a modern scale.
However, Washington also knew he held slaves, and by all accounts treated then with greater respect than others of his era. Read the fancy-catching quote again in that light.
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Gone 2500 years, still not PC.
...at having the first chief of state of the new government of the country formally inform them that the event would not be celebrated with a pogrom against the Jews*; an activity that was also all the custom back then.
Come, sir: if you must judge a man of the past by the morals of the present, the least that you might do is be consistent about it.
Moe Lane
*And that, in fact, this was actually their country, too. No need for that escape hatch in the synagogue, after all.
The Fuzzy Puppy of the VRWC. I've been usurped!
That the only reason you can take this cheap shot, is because of the man you are criticizing ?
"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
-Thomas Paine: The American Crisis, No. 4, 1777
Most Jews in the antebellum South supported the "peculiar institution" of black slavery, just like their white Christian countrymen.
I remember reading a letter written by a Southern rabbi addressed to President Lincoln, defending the institution of slavery with reference to the Old Testament, and criticizing him for introducing "confusion" into the slavery question.
Ideas that seem natural to one era may seem quaint to a future era, and even horribly barbaric to a far-future era. I sometimes wonder which of our current practices today will be viewed that way, centuries from now. Who knows. Maybe by the year 2200 or so, the Supreme Court will rule that dolphins and chimpanzees are entitled to all the protections of our Bill of Rights. The people of the 23rd century will say, "Those savages in the 21st century actually used to imprison dolphins in aquariums and chimpanzees in cages!"
Of course, everything in the Old Testament is Fundamentally correct ... there's just a minor problem of selecting passages, and ignoring the rest.
Adult mothers who have been allowed to stay with their young children since they were taken from a polygamous sect will be separated from them after DNA sampling is completed next week, a child welfare official said Saturday.
I don't particularly agree with the "Wackos from Waco" nor the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints. But the Federal government once murdered 73 men, women and children in the name of what? Now a State government is taking kids away from their mothers for similar reasons: "We don't agree with their faith."
... for, happily, the Government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance, requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens in giving it on all occasions their effectual support.
Horse pucky! What did George Washington know about political expediency? Why should modern politicians give him heed?
Ayup, GW the first owned slaves, a condition supported for the next 70 years by quoting the Old Testament. But Pesach (Passover) also celebrates slaves who freed themselves
John Cunningham
Waco was an accident. They also when ordered to open their place to ATF agents were the first to shoot and kill an agent. Then all hell broke loose. It saved us from having to listen to their grievances for the next fifteen years on Oprah and Dr. Phil's couches.
The expression "bleeding the beast" is what the fundamentalists being separated now, use to refer to breeding as many children for the sole purpose of collecting welfare checks which are then turned over to the fearless leader presently in jail. Your tax dollars go to paying for their existence every time one of their in bread monsters pops out.
The Fuzzy Puppy of the VRWC. I've been usurped!
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The blogger formerly known as "Alexham"
These children are not the problem those adults are the problem...they are literally working these children like slaves to build their compound while collecting welfare.
Freedom of Religion not Freedom from Religion
"I believe we must adjourn this meeting to some other place." - The last recorded words of Adam Smith.
ever wanted a good example of "liberal fascism" he wouldn't have to look much further than your comment for a confluence of look-down-the-snout contempt of persons you for some reason, unclear to me at this point, feel superior to and support for unleashing the coercive power of the state on them without regards for the long term results.
When you grown up a bit, hit the "contact" button and we can negotiate your future here. Provided you aren't "in-bread".
"A man does what he can and endures what he must."
Then again, his theories did seem to be half-baked.
"I believe we must adjourn this meeting to some other place." - The last recorded words of Adam Smith.
. . . appreciated the irony of receiving such an effusive and hopeful message for toleration and inherent natural rights, and against bigotry and persecution, from an owner of slaves.