From my reference book on quotes published in 1884, three appropriate quotes on religion for America today:
“Religion that is of God does not require the support of the civil power.”
— M. d'Aubigne.
Françoise d'Aubigné (27 November 1635 – 15 April 1719), known first as Madame Scarron and subsequently as Madame de Maintenon was a French noblewoman who secretly married King Louis XIV. Although she was never considered queen of France, she was one of the King's closest advisers and the royal children's governess. In 1686, she founded the Maison royale de Saint-Louis, a school for girls from poorer noble families.
“True religion abhors all violence; she owns no arguments but those of persuasion.”
— St. Athanasius.
Athanasius I of Alexandria (c. 296–298 – 2 May 373), also called Athanasius the Great, Athanasius the Confessor, or, among Coptic Christians, Athanasius the Apostolic, was a church father and the 20th pope of Alexandria (as Athanasius I). His intermittent episcopacy spanned 45 years (c. 8 June 328 – 2 May 373), of which over 17 encompassed five exiles, when he was replaced on the order of four different Roman emperors. Athanasius was a Christian theologian, a Church Father, the chief defender of Trinitarianism against Arianism, and a noted Egyptian Christian leader of the fourth century.
“Religion deserves a candid examination and it demands nothing more.”
— Dr. Keith
Alexander Keith (5 October 1795 – 14 December 1873) was the founder of Alexander Keith's Brewery, a businessman, politician and Freemason. After learning the brewing trade from his uncle in Northern England, Keith emigrated to Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1817 and became manager at a brewery, which he bought out in 1820. In 1822, he moved the brewery to larger facilities and, in 1836, built a new brewery.
Disclaimer:
I’m certainly not an atheist, but I do not fear or hate the atheist, I fear the zealots much more, I cannot say I hate zealots at this time, but that possibility is certainly on the horizon,
And I’m not anti-Christian, I am anti-zealot.
Antidepressant suppression?
I was concerned, a rightwing activist judge in Amarillo has decided he knows more than a respected federal government agency, the FDA, and certainly feels his morality trumps other people’s beliefs and liberty
This decision, with a heavy weight of misogyny attached, is targeting women,
There is concern on my mind of women’s rights, but ultimately I must think of my own self,
I am one who depends upon antidepressants, they are quite effective for me in my quality of life, and I immediately wondered if they might be an eventual target by religious zealots, those who think in terms of demons in regards to others they don’t understand or wish to understand.
Then late yesterday afternoon an attorney on MSNBC did say in passing that yes antidepressant suppression might be a future concern,
I did an Internet search to research what is being said in the white evangelical mainstream, and this is what I gathered,
The YouTube video I watched had a waffling spokesperson, he of the seminary, saying “yes” and at the same time “no” about antidepressants,
Man’s fall in the Garden of Eden resulted in a corrupted mind he explained, and the spiritual aspect of depression was partly at fault,
But he also said the physical aspect of depression is important to man, and that a medical doctor had their role to play,
And he firmly applied that antidepressants were oversubscribed today, this criticism may have merit, but I don’t necessarily trust his opinion no such.
So I came away with a sense of unease still, could a more extreme religious view of my medication occur, as I fear at this moment,
I’m uncertain, and have a concern for the personal effects some judge many hundreds of miles away could have on my well-being,
And I realize that my fear is affirmative to millions of women in a decision already thrown out as red meat to the carnivores, those of a certain temperament, a tribe connected by shared zeal,
Ideological assassination by a religious zealot who thinks the hand of God has his back,
And knows he may be supported by other zealots within the higher courts,
And by other everyday zealots of his persuasion, those within his religious bubble.
It would be easier to completely block out this assault on American liberties by this tribe, comfort oneself in a blanket of indifference, but this seems highly unwise,
To assume that they might have boundaries in how far they might go,
But their anti-scienceness is well established, and although one might assume they stay true to the YouTube video I viewed, that they admitted the need physician decisions to rule in some cases,
They leave the door open to abolition perhaps of the safe antidepressants which help me so much,
So I will remain vigilant for my own safety, my own well-being, my own freedom,
And I recommend the same from others who see an onslaught in extremism on parade,
Their game of knocking over dominoes is ongoing, and one never knows which new domino will be placed in their line,
And I appreciate the FDA, and abhor the frontal attack on this government agency by zealots,
And I am that much closer to joining others within the streets,
For that is our current trajectory.
“Zealots are blind to all interests except it helps their own.”
— Zenobius.
ZENOBIUS, born about 40 A.D.; a Greek writer.
36th posting, April 14, 2023