What is the First Amendment to the Constitution?

You have this, but here it is.

"Congress shall not enact laws concerning the establishment of religion or prohibiting its free exercise..."

Raise this question to Michael Flynn, who briefly served as a national security adviser during the Trump administration.

I'm pretty sure he will make a mistake. F for U.S. citizens.

Last weekend, Flynn participated in the ReAwaken America tour in Texas. In his speech before a conservative Christian audience, he stated that there should be only one religion in the United States of America.

"If we want to build a country under God, this is what we must, we must have a religion," he said.

He did not say what kind of religion it was. But I guess it may not be Wicca.

Flynn is playing to the crowd; in the exit polls, 35% of Republicans said they support Donald Trump because they think Christianity is being taken away from them.

The New York Times recently reported that the number of Americans who identify as evangelical has surged precisely because they believe that this religious style is carried out with Trump's support.

An American politician agreed with Flynn.

You would expect the politician to be a conservative Christian.

In fact, he is Jewish and comes from an active Jewish family-Josh Mandel, a former Ohio treasurer, now a star of hope in the U.S. Senate.

He said on Twitter: We are standing with General Flynn.

But this is not all. Mandel’s campaign website declared that he was “god-friendly” (with a graphic of a church steeple). There is a picture of a gun: "Come and get it." He believes Trump won the 2020 election. He once said that the United States must reject Afghan refugees: "In order to protect our children, our communities, and our Judeo-Christian lifestyle, we must do our best to fight against them."

Let’s talk about Mandel’s fantasy: "The Judeo-Christian way of life."

"Jewish-Christian" is the "happy day" of American religious ideology. It is a typical American, and strictly an American-I assure you, no one in Britain or France uses this word.

The 1950s can be a cool period for music.

But as for religion: Hmm. It is boring, lifeless, and excessively pursuing the plain, unconventional suburban lifestyle. Abraham Joshua Heschel's sharpest criticism of Jewish piety came from his observation of conservative Judaism in the style of the 1950s.

In 1952, President Dwight D. Eisenhower declared: "Our government has no meaning unless it is built on deep religious beliefs-I don't care what it is."

At that time "we believe in God" appeared in our national currency. This is when "under God" appears in the pledge of allegiance.

Why? this is very simple. Soviet communism is the enemy. It is atheistic, so we must be pious-in Ike's words, it doesn't matter what piousness is. This is to believe for the sake of faith.

After all, what is a typical suburban scene? Main Street-neatly arranged Catholic churches, Protestant churches and synagogues. Therefore, Will Herberg's 1955 classic sociological work "Protestants, Catholics, Jews".

What about Judaism and Christianity? Has anyone really taken it seriously? Do the Jews take it seriously?

Judeo-Christianity is the bone thrown by the United States to Jews. It makes us think that our religious beliefs are equal partners in American life. When you consider that American Jews have never accounted for more than 3% of the American population, this seems like a pretty generous move, even if it is just a consolation prize.

American Jews (rightfully) died of illness as a result of being someone else. We imitate Judeo-Christian together with others. This means that Jews are no longer strangers, we are no longer marginalized, and we are ready for prime time.

But, alas, no. The default religious conversion in the United States is—and will continue to be—Christianity. Although non-Christian religions pose a huge demographic challenge to the American political system.

Read the spectacular "White Christian Privilege: The Illusion of American Religious Equality" by my religious news service colleague Khyati Joshi, and you will understand.

Christian norms make Christian values ​​the intrinsic value of our national identity, convey the truth and correct status in Christian culture, and make Christian language and metaphors and their underlying theology become national standards... Indeed, these three words-"whites" "," "Christian", and "American"-are often used interchangeably, so that in many cases, including in the dictionary of non-white and non-Christian immigrant communities, they are still synonyms for each other.

To be honest, Judeo-Christianity does not exist.

So why did Mandel use this language?

this is very simple. Mandel lives in a dual world—a world where someone needs to be the other.

The original usage of Judeo-Christian was "non-communist".

Today, Judeo-Christian means: not Muslim, not Hindu, not Sikh, not anything else.

Poor Mandel! He actually believed that the boasting of Judeo-Christian values ​​made him part of a true American club.

However, he should ask Flynn whether there are Talmud, Maimonides, and mysticism in his American version.

This reminds me of the reflections of the late Frank Forrester Church ("Forrester") decades ago. He was a monotheistic pastor and a member of the late Senator Frank Church. son. This is a profound statement of American religion.

We all live in the cathedral of the world. Light poured in through the stained glass windows. Each religious "tribe" stands in front of its own window, experiencing light in its own way.

Religious relativists say: It doesn’t matter which window I stand in; it’s just the same.

The religious seeker said: I don't like the light outside the window; I want to go to another window.

Fundamentalists say: Light only shines through my window.

I want to add: "Also, religious fanatics walked around with hammers and smashed other people's windows."

I worry that this is the religious vision of too many Americans. There is no room for pluralism in their souls.

I firmly believe: Give Mike Flynn a hammer and he will smash other people's windows everywhere.

I want to know if Josh Mandel realized that when the glass started to splash, many people would get cuts.