Pretty Day

It was actually a beautiful day today, no humidity, lovely breezes, not terribly hot. K and I went for a walk in one of the county parks nearby. We didn't walk for very long, given my stamina limitations, but if I want to build myself up, I have to do it in increments. Anyway, I wanted to show her a particular part of the park that she's seen from the road but never close up, and it was closed for renovations anyway. So we'll catch it another time.

Other than that, we made some returns at the mall and stuff like that, but then we watched a movie that we rented last week but had forgotten to watch. Stranger Than Fiction. Anyone seen it? It was really a most unusual movie, and very much worth seeing. K said she thinks it's the best movie she's seen this year. I recommend it highly.

And in other news -- no other news. Before I start my next book, which is The Founding Brothers, I decided I needed a little background. Wait. This is what made me feel the need for a little background:

GOP Bigotry Rears Its Ugly Head

I was particularly irritated by Congressman Sali's statement that

[Those] ... changes ... are not what was envisioned by the Founding Fathers.

and that

Sali says America was built on Christian principles that were derived from scripture.

I do not believe this to be true, but I'm working my way through Common Sense by Thomas Paine and The Federalist Papers to see. The fact is that the guiding principal of our founding fathers was primarily capitalism. As for religious principles, Thomas Paine was the philosopher of the Revolution and Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, and neither of these men considered himself a Christian. They both declared themselves to be Deists, which means they acknowledged belief in God and went no further. I think this was not uncommon among the learned men of the time, which includes, of course, those known as our "founding fathers." Benjamin Franklin could not have been a Christian unless he was the greatest hypocrite in the world. The one I need to find out about is James Madison, since he was the primary author of the Constitution. (And of The Federalist Papers, which is why I'm starting there.)

Most of the early settlers of this country were adventurers or capitalists, pure and simple, and came here to make money. The Puritans who settled Massachusetts only wanted religious freedom for themselves, not for anyone else. However, religious tolerance was indeed a founding principle in the states of Pennsylvania and Rhode Island, and were always common in New York and New Jersey, although those states weren't particularly founded for that reason, although the Dutch who settled these areas were generally tolerant of all religions, even at home. They just discovered early that letting everyone take part meant good business.

History lesson over. I'm boring tonight, but that article got me very angry. There's a lot going on in our so-called government now that makes me angry, but I'm trying to keep it in check. I'll just sign off for tonight with this from School House Rock's "Fireworks":

Like Thomas Paine once wrote:
It's only common sense (only common sense)
That if a government won't give you your basic rights
You'd better get another government.

WATCHING A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN :: ENTRY #1550