quote:

Originally posted by Richard Munro:
I saw the memorial service at Yankee Stadium live on TV and of course it can be verified on the INTERNET, that the BATTLE HYMN WAS SUNG.
This,Sir, is well-documented.

I'll take your word for it. I wasn't actually there. I just wanted some proof.

Farewell.

I don't what kind of English you speak or write but it is obvious we have nothing to share or say of worth to one another.

Okay, it's obvious that we are going to have to agree to disagree on this.

However, I don't believe that Jesus was quite meaning the things that you say, FredFlash. The Pharisees asked if Jesus thought it was okay to pay taxes to the Roman government, which was oppressing the Jews, as they had been conquered. In this form, they were trying to trap Him and get Him to say things on which they could take Him to the Roman governor and accuse Him of inciting rebellion.
On being asked this question, Jesus replied that things which are Caesar's should be given to Caesar. I think here He was saying that we are to recognize the God-given government authority that has been placed over us.

I also think the claim you make about Lincoln worshiping in the house of Satan is a little overboard. Yes, Lincoln did things that weren't "right" and are much frowned-upon by historians. However, to say that his assassination was God's judgment on his decisions is a little like saying He executed JFK because of Vietnam and maybe his womanizing, too. Or maybe like saying He killed William Henry Harrison for being a drunkard and committing atrocities against the Indians.
Or perhaps I'm wrong.

quote:

Originally posted by agape.and.charis:
Okay, it's obvious that we are going to have to agree to disagree on this.

I disagree.

quote:

However, I don't believe that Jesus was quite meaning the things that you say

Your view is a reasonable one. However most of the founders probably held the liberal Protestant interpretation of Matthew 22:21. That would explain why the U. S. Government was granted no authority whatsoever over religion (the things that are God's).

Founder James Madison, an Episcopalian, in an obvious reference to Matthew 22:21, wrote that, "any aberration from the sacred principle of religious liberty" was "giving to Caesar what belongs to God." See "Detached Memoranda" by James Madison.

Founder Samuel Stillman, a Baptist, wrote an essay in 1774 titled "TO ATTEMPT TO DRAW THE LINE BETWEEN THE THINGS THAT BELONG TO CAESAR, AND THOSE THINGS THAT BELONG TO GOD." In his essay, Stillman wrote,

To this inquiry I am naturally led by the text: --- Render, therefore, to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's. It is most evident in this passage, that there are some things which Caesar, or the magistrate, cannot of right demand, nor the people yield. The address has its limits. To determine what these are, was never more necessary to the people of these United States than it is at present. We are engaged in a most important contest; not for power, but freedom. We mean not to change our masters, but to secure to ourselves, and to generations yet unborn, the perpetual enjoyment of civil and religious liberty, in their fullest extent.
It becomes us, therefore, to settle this most weighty matter in our different forms of government, in such a manner, that no occasion may be left in future for the violation of the all-important rights of conscience.

We view it to be our incumbent duty, to ...render unto Caesar the things that are his, but that it is of as much importance not to render unto him any thing that belongs only to God...it is evident to us, that God always claimed it as his sole prerogative to determine by his own laws, what his worship shall be, who shall minister in it, and how they shall be supported...

--Founding Father Isaac Backus (17730