It looks like you're using an Ad Blocker.

Please white-list or disable AboveTopSecret.com in your ad-blocking tool.

Thank you.

 

Some features of ATS will be disabled while you continue to use an ad-blocker.

 

By proclamation of Governor George W. Bush, 10 June 2000 was 'Jesus Day' in Texas

page: 1
0

log in

join
share:

posted on Mar, 10 2005 @ 08:54 PM
link   
please move this if it is in the wrong place...

www.snopes.com...


Yes, it's true. Texas Governor George W. Bush signed a memorandum on 17 April 2000 proclaiming 10 June to be 'Jesus Day' in Texas, a day that "challenges people to follow Christ's example by performing good works in their communities and neighborhoods."

The proclamation was viewable in the Governor's section of the the web site for the State of Texas, but only the last few months' proclamations are kept on the site, so this one is no longer available. Luckily, PBS has a copy housed on its site.

Note, however, that Governor Bush did not simply decide to create an arbitrary 'Jesus Day' for the State of Texas. His proclamation was issued in support of a national celebration of Jesus Day, an annual event supported by proclamations from other governors and mayors throughout America as well.




this is very funny...

here is the OFFICIAL document:

www.pbs.org...

what do you think about this???





posted on Mar, 10 2005 @ 09:08 PM
link   
It won't last too long this day and age, but would be great if it worked....





....and if it was everyday....



posted on Mar, 10 2005 @ 09:12 PM
link   

Originally posted by ThatsJustWeird
It won't last too long this day and age, but would be great if it worked....





....and if it was everyday....


he was ashamed by it...

thats why they removed the document from their site...

i wonder if "jesus day" is still in effect???






posted on Mar, 10 2005 @ 09:17 PM
link   
The worst thing about this is the name, which sounds cheesy. Even "Grady Day" sounds cheesy.

Otherwise, the message is good and there is nothing wrong with taking a single day per year to ponder just what Jesus' message and example really were. We endure "Black History Month" don't we?

Did you read the proclamation? It really isn't funny, at all. Or are you not able to be serious about anything, even "love, compassion, sacrifice and service."

Perhaps, you could elaborate on your perspective.




Throughout the world, people of all religions recognize Jesus Christ as an example of love, compassion, sacrifice and service. Reaching out to the poor, the suffering and the marginalized, he provided moral leadership that continues to inspire countless men, women and children today.

To honor his life and teachings, Christians of all races and denominations have joined together to designate June 10 as Jesus Day. As part of this celebration of unity, they are taking part in the 10th annual March for Jesus in cities throughout the Lone Star State. The march, which began in Austin in 1991, is now held in nearly 180 countries. Jesus Day challenges people to follow Christ's example by performing good works in their communities and neighborhoods. By nursing the sick, feeding the poor or volunteering in homeless shelters, everyone can play a role in making the world a better place.

I urge all Texans to answer the call to serve those in need. By volunteering their time, energy or resources to helping others, adults and youngsters follow Christ's message of love and service in thought and deed.

Therefore, I, George W. Bush, Governor of Texas, do hereby proclaim June 10, 2000, Jesus Day in Texas and urge the appropriate recognition whereof, in official recognition whereof, I hereby affix my signature this 17th day of April, 2000.

www.snopes.com...



[edit on 05/3/10 by GradyPhilpott]



posted on Mar, 10 2005 @ 09:20 PM
link   
a great idea BUT...

america has "freedom of religion" and doesn't have a national religion...

even though bush was a governor at the time (and the rule only applied in texas), it is still "bad" that it was called "jesus day"...

what about the muslims, jews and others in texas at the time???





posted on Mar, 10 2005 @ 09:29 PM
link   

Originally posted by they see ALL
a great idea BUT...

america has "freedom of religion" and doesn't have a national religion...


That's right, "freedom of religion." You might be surprised that Muslims recognize Jesus as a prophet and even some Jews recognize Jesus' role in bringing very many people to a relationship with God. In thirty-three years on this planet, without having left a single written word, or even progeny, Jesus revolutionized a world of human beings, the most vicious animal ever to evolve. That's nothing to sneeze at.

[edit on 05/3/10 by GradyPhilpott]



posted on Mar, 10 2005 @ 09:50 PM
link   
I'm with Grady, although I add my own little minor point as well. It's got a cheesy name and in a hyper-technical interpretation of the constitution it might violate the establishment clause (probably not though since it does not establish, mandate, or even support any aspect of any religious doctrine, but only offers a generic "do good stuff like this good man").

Everyone seems to want a day or a week or a month to validate their pet interests and it's stupid. So one day out of the year, we're going to acknowledge that Jesus was a good man? One month out of the year, we're going to acknowledge that black Americans have made important contributions to this country? Gimme a break. These holidays change nothing- they are a government funded group hug for insecure interest groups.

Allow me to make a suggestion. Let's only institute holidays that serve a purpose from now on, and lets get rid of the ones that aren't serving any purpose. Christmas- very well, it's a nice little retail boost. Halloween is acceptable but we're gonna have to move it back a few weeks so it doesn't interfere with people re-seeding their lawns. There's nothing worse than having a foot-path through your yard because of trick-or-treaters. Jesus Day, Caesar Chavez Day, Secretary's day, etc etc- all of these people are just going to have to find a sense of self-worth apart from government sponsored holidays.



posted on Mar, 10 2005 @ 10:27 PM
link   
I would like to point out that GW only put his "seal of approval," if you will, on what has become an annual event celebrated by Christian Texans of all denominations since its inception in 1991.

It's a good topic of discussion, but what we have here is a universal Public Relations tool utilized in some form by all politicians, not a Constitutional crisis.




To honor his life and teachings, Christians of all races and denominations have joined together to designate June 10 as Jesus Day. As part of this celebration of unity, they are taking part in the 10th annual March for Jesus in cities throughout the Lone Star State. The march, which began in Austin in 1991, is now held in nearly 180 countries. Jesus Day challenges people to follow Christ's example by performing good works in their communities and neighborhoods. By nursing the sick, feeding the poor or volunteering in homeless shelters, everyone can play a role in making the world a better place.


I doubt that, if approached, even Ann Richards would have passed on this proclamation.




posted on Mar, 17 2005 @ 01:51 PM
link   
Um, hello? Separation of church and state? He might have been just a governor, but this should be unconstitutional somehow...



posted on May, 21 2005 @ 07:12 AM
link   

Originally posted by mj13
Um, hello? Separation of church and state? He might have been just a governor, but this should be unconstitutional somehow...


"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;"

Seperation of chuch and state is NOT mentioned in the constitution.

Honoring a religious person is NOT establishing a national religion.

What is happening in the US is the ACLU and people who THINK "Seperation of Church and State" is in the Constitution are actually "prohibiting the free exercise thereof" which IS Unconstitutional.



posted on May, 21 2005 @ 08:10 AM
link   
Jesus day isnt even a pubilc hoilday so there is no good reason why anybody should give a toss about Jesus day.
Hallmark invented mother day , father day and that other day women like now politicans want to have there go at creating hoildays.
Dont we already have Xmas and Easter in order to celerbrate the supposed events of jesus life?

#proclaims the first Friday of every month to be Athiest day #
Must be Xpert11 turn to create a hoilday just need to convince people to open there wallets to make the day worthwhile.........



posted on Mar, 4 2006 @ 08:49 PM
link   

Originally posted by Carseller4

Originally posted by mj13
Um, hello? Separation of church and state? He might have been just a governor, but this should be unconstitutional somehow...


"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;"

Seperation of chuch and state is NOT mentioned in the constitution.

Honoring a religious person is NOT establishing a national religion.

What is happening in the US is the ACLU and people who THINK "Seperation of Church and State" is in the Constitution are actually "prohibiting the free exercise thereof" which IS Unconstitutional.


The Separation of Church and State is stamped all over the U. S. Constitution and the "no national religion" interpretation of the establishment clause is Federalist Hogwash!

All you have, according to your own silly interpretation, is the free exercise of the established national religion, and we don't have one of those, so you have the free exerice of exactly nothing. If you wanted the free exercise of it, then you were foolish not to prohibit the government from establishing it.

James Madison



posted on Mar, 4 2006 @ 10:39 PM
link   
FredFlash - that's a good one! I'm still chuckling over it. You are exactly right - that's the way it reads.

Our constitution literally says that Congress cannot prohibit the free exercise of a religion that, according to the previous clause, it is prohibited from establishing in the first place.

I guess that's a round-about way of saying that government needs to just stay completely out of religion and religion needs to stay completely out of government. That sounds like a win-win to me!

Thanks!



posted on Mar, 5 2006 @ 02:57 PM
link   
Fred Flash is exactly right.

Apparently many Americans were experimenting with marijuana when they should have been in Civics class back in highschool, and so they are not aware of the distinct difference between the Bill of Rights and the Constitution.

I bet that 40% of the people you ask would say Jefferson signed the Constitution. He wasn't even at the convention- he was in France at the time. Jefferson had reservations about the constitution, as did many, which were mostly settled by the Bill of Rights- most especially the 10th Amendment- which put into law the Federalist opinion which Hamilton had voiced, that rights not explicitly named by the constitution were not implicitly denied.

Madison put together the Bill of Rights to preempt a re-writing and re-ratification of the Constitution itself. The establishment and free excercise clauses were derived from Thomas Jefferson's Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom.

Jefferson used the phrase "wall of separation between church and state" to describe both the statute and the derived clause of the first amendment.

The Supreme Court upheld that interpretation in Reynolds v The United States.

TheVirginia Statute for Religious Freedom reads, in part:

no man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested, or burthened in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer, on account of his religious opinions or belief; but that all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of religion, and that the same shall in no wise diminish, enlarge, or affect their civil capacities



Clearly there is no infringement of religion in the prohibition of establishing holdiays for religious figures.

There could arguably be an infringment however in the establishment thereof IF such establishment of holidays used funds collected from non-believers for religious purposes, because this is compelling a person to aid in professing and maintenance by argument of of religious opinions not his own, and necessarily depleting funds which he might have used for the advancement of his own beliefs.

The naming of holidays is acceptible to the extent that it does not compell any activity or contribution of funds. The moment that one is required to offer his employees time off for such an occasion, or to take any other action or use or forfeiture of funds, there is an infringement on financial interests for the advancement of religion.



posted on Mar, 17 2006 @ 10:58 PM
link   
Whew, I'm glad I found this post. Jesus Day sure sounds like a great idea, a really good time saver. Instead of praying unceasingly or keeping one day a week holy, now I can do it all in one day a year. No need for churches either, just follow the crowd to the local park or WalMart parking lot.



posted on Apr, 5 2006 @ 02:53 PM
link   

Originally posted by Carseller4

Seperation of chuch and state is NOT mentioned in the constitution.

Honoring a religious person is NOT establishing a national religion.

What is happening in the US is the ACLU and people who THINK "Seperation of Church and State" is in the Constitution are actually "prohibiting the free exercise thereof" which IS Unconstitutional.

BUT the accepted meaning of that is that there will be no religious bias from the government. No money to catholic schools, no 10 commandments unless presented as an historical document in government buildings, no required prayer in school. The interpretation of the constitution is as important as the actual words.







 
0

log in

join