Friday, January 20, 2006
Sinners Repent! Creationism Seminar Slated for Dover High
Repent America, an evangelical organization based in Philadelphia, has announced plans to hold a Creation seminar in the Dover Area High School Auditorium on March 17 and 18.
Repent America describes itself as "devoted to reaching the lost." They know, for example, that "there is a literal hell and a lake of fire where the unsaved will burn for all eternity." Repent America boldly goes where the sinners are in order to reach atheists, the self-righteous, the God-haters, and win their souls to Christ.
Dover, then, is a logical destination, although the good folks of Repent America might be well advised to check first with Pat Robertson to learn whether or not God has scheduled his planned retribution for that secular Sodom sometime around the middle of March.
In a somewhat selective recounting of the Dover ruling, Repent America's website alerts its followers to what they consider the salient point of Judge John Jones 139-page decision: He "was unable to explain how Congress was able to pull off the signing of the Declaration of Independence with references to 'Nature's God' and affirmations that 'all men are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights.'"
Thomas Jefferson, the author of the Declaration of Independence, was a deist who had more complicated ideas about God and Christianity than Repent America is likely to be comfortable with.
For example, Jefferson also authored the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom. In his autobiography, he writes:
While Repent America's simple minded conception of heaven and hell is consistent with it's less than subtle understanding of the Declaration of Independence, they seem, in our estimation, somewhat out of their depth with the more sophisticated thought of a man like Jefferson -- don't take our word for, though, RSR is likely to be spending eternity learning to do the backstroke in a lake of fire.
Thanks to reader JT, a USDA soil scientist, for calling this to our attention.
Repent America describes itself as "devoted to reaching the lost." They know, for example, that "there is a literal hell and a lake of fire where the unsaved will burn for all eternity." Repent America boldly goes where the sinners are in order to reach atheists, the self-righteous, the God-haters, and win their souls to Christ.
Dover, then, is a logical destination, although the good folks of Repent America might be well advised to check first with Pat Robertson to learn whether or not God has scheduled his planned retribution for that secular Sodom sometime around the middle of March.
In a somewhat selective recounting of the Dover ruling, Repent America's website alerts its followers to what they consider the salient point of Judge John Jones 139-page decision: He "was unable to explain how Congress was able to pull off the signing of the Declaration of Independence with references to 'Nature's God' and affirmations that 'all men are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights.'"
Thomas Jefferson, the author of the Declaration of Independence, was a deist who had more complicated ideas about God and Christianity than Repent America is likely to be comfortable with.
For example, Jefferson also authored the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom. In his autobiography, he writes:
Where the preamble declares, that coercion is a departure from the plan of the holy author of our religion, an amendment was proposed by inserting "Jesus Christ," so that it would read "A departure from the plan of Jesus Christ, the holy author of our religion;" the insertion was rejected by the great majority, in proof that they meant to comprehend, within the mantle of its protection, the Jew and the Gentile, the Christian and Mohammedan, the Hindoo and Infidel of every denomination.
While Repent America's simple minded conception of heaven and hell is consistent with it's less than subtle understanding of the Declaration of Independence, they seem, in our estimation, somewhat out of their depth with the more sophisticated thought of a man like Jefferson -- don't take our word for, though, RSR is likely to be spending eternity learning to do the backstroke in a lake of fire.
Thanks to reader JT, a USDA soil scientist, for calling this to our attention.
