Posted on 12/15/2004 4:30:49 PM PST by eleni121
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Zell Miller (D-GA) today delivered the following statement on the floor of the United States Senate addressing several social issues facing the country:
"The Old Testament prophet Amos was a sheep herder who lived back in the Judean hills, away from the larger cities of Bethlehem and Jerusalem. Compared to the intellectual urbanites like Isaiah and Jeremiah, he was just an unsophisticated country hick.
"But Amos had a unique grasp of political and social issues and his poetic literary skill was among the best of all the prophets. That familiar quote of Martin Luther King, Jr. about 'Justice will rush down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream' are Amos's words.
"Amos was the first to propose the concept of a universal God and not just some tribal deity. He also wrote that God demanded moral purity, not rituals and sacrifices. This blunt speaking moral conscience of his time warns in Chapter 8, verse 11 of The Book of Amos, as if he were speaking to us today:
That 'the days will come, sayeth the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land. Not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the word of the Lord.
'And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east. They shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it.'
'A famine in the land'. Has anyone more accurately described the situation we face in America today? 'A famine of hearing the words of the Lord.'
"But some will say, Amos was just an Old Testament prophet - a minor one at that - who lived 700 years before Christ. That is true, so how about one of the most influential historians of modern times?
"Arnold Toynbee who wrote the acclaimed 12 volume A Study of History, once declared, 'Of the 22 civilizations that have appeared in history, 19 of them collapsed when they reached the moral state America is in today.'
"Toynbee died in 1975, before seeing the worst that was yet to come. Yes, Arnold Toynbee saw the famine. The 'famine of hearing the words of the Lord.' Whether it is removing a display of the Ten Commandments from a Courthouse or the Nativity Scene from a city square. Whether it is eliminating prayer in schools or eliminating 'under God' in the Pledge of Allegiance. Whether it is making a mockery of the sacred institution of marriage between a man and woman or, yes, telecasting around the world made-in-the-USA filth masquerading as entertainment.
"The Culture of Far Left America was displayed in a startling way during the Super Bowl's now infamous half-time show. A show brought to us courtesy of Value-Les Moonves and the pagan temple of Viacom-Babylon.
"I asked the question yesterday, how many of you have ever run over a skunk with your car? I have many times and I can tell you, the stink stays around for a long time. You can take the car through a car wash and it's still there. So the scent of this event will long linger in the nostrils of America.
"I'm not talking just about an exposed mammary gland with a pull-tab attached to it. Really no one should have been too surprised at that. Wouldn't one expect a bumping, humping, trashy routine entitled 'I'm going to get you naked' to end that way.
"Does any responsible adult ever listen to the words of this rap-crap? I'd quote you some of it, but the Sergeant of Arms would throw me out of here, as well he should. And then there was that prancing, dancing, strutting, rutting guy evidently suffering from jock itch because he kept yelling and grabbing his crotch. But then, maybe there's a crotch grabbing culture I've unaware of.
"But as bad as all this was, the thing that yanked my chain the hardest was seeing that ignoramus with his pointed head stuck up through a hole he had cut in the flag of the United States of America, screaming about having 'a bottle of scotch and watching lots of crotch.' Think about that.
"This is the same flag that we pledge allegiance to. This is the flag that is draped over coffins of dead young uniformed warriors killed while protecting Kid Crock's bony butt. He should be tarred and feathered, and ridden out of this country on a rail. Talk about a good reality show, there's one for you.
"The desire and will of this Congress to meaningfully do anything about any of these so-called social issues is non existent and embarrassingly disgraceful. The American people are waiting and growing impatient with us. They want something done.
"I am pleased to be a co-sponsor of S.J. Res. 26 along with Senator Allard and others, proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States relating to marriage. And S.1558, the Liberties Restoration Act, which declares religious liberty rights in several ways, including the Pledge of Allegiance and the display of the Ten Commandments. And today I join Senator Shelby and others with the Constitution Restoration Act of 2004 that limits the jurisdiction of federal courts in certain ways.
"In doing so, I stand shoulder to shoulder not only with my Senate co-sponsors and Chief Justice Roy Moore of Alabama but, more importantly, with our Founding Fathers in the conception of religious liberty and the terribly wrong direction our modern judiciary has taken us in.
"Everyone today seems to think that the U.S. Constitution expressly provides for separation of church and state. Ask any ten people if that's not so. And I'll bet you most of them will say 'Well, sure.' And some will point out, 'it's in the First Amendment.'
"Wrong! Read it! It says, 'Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.' Where is the word 'separate'? Where are the words 'church' or 'state.'
"They are not there. Never have been. Never intended to be. Read the Congressional Records during that four-month period in 1789 when the amendment was being framed in Congress. Clearly their intent was to prohibit a single denomination in exclusion of all others, whether it was Anglican or Catholic or some other.
"I highly recommend a great book entitled Original Intent by David Barton. It really gets into how the actual members of Congress, who drafted the First Amendment, expected basic Biblical principles and values to be present throughout public life and society, not separate from it.
"It was Alexander Hamilton who pointed out that 'judges should be bound down by strict rules and precedents, which serve to define and point out their duty.' Bound down! That is exactly what is needed to be done. There was not a single precedent cited when school prayer was struck down in 1962.
"These judges who legislate instead of adjudicate, do it without being responsible to one single solitary voter for their actions. Among the signers of the Declaration of Independence was a brilliant young physician from Pennsylvania named Benjamin Rush.
"When Rush was elected to that First Continental Congress, his close friend Benjamin Franklin told him 'We need you. . . we have a great task before us, assigned to us by Providence.' Today, 228 years later there is still a great task before us assigned to us by Providence. Our Founding Fathers did not shirk their duty and we can do no less.
"By the way, Benjamin Rush was once asked a question that has long interested this Senator from Georgia in particular. Dr. Rush was asked, are you a democrat or an aristocrat? And the good doctor answered, 'I am neither '. 'I am a Christocrat. I believe He, alone, who created and redeemed man is qualified to govern him.' That reply of Benjamin Rush is just as true today in the year of our Lord 2004 as it was in the year of our Lord 1776.
"So, if I am asked why - with all the pressing problems this nation faces today - why am I pushing these social issues and taking the Senate's valuable time? I will answer: Because, it is of the highest importance. Yes, there's a deficit to be concerned about in this country, a deficit of decency.
"So, as the sand empties through my hourglass at warp speed - and with my time running out in this Senate and on this earth, I feel compelled to speak out. For I truly believe that at times like this, silence is not golden. It is yellow."
Thank-you!...This is a keeper!
Zell is MY MAN....Oh how I WISH HE WOULD RUN FOR PRESIDENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Maybe HE WILL. He knows what is at STAKE.....LOVE YA ZELL!!!!!!!
For all of you Freepers, PASTE this message, and pass it along to your email friends. This speech needs to circulate the internet!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks again for posting this, I am off for an hour, to be Hannitized.......again LOL
While Zell was governor of GA he pushed through pro-abortion legislation. Now he is pro-life. I'm sure it'll be another great speech by Zell.
Excellent!
Thank you so much...
I do believe you may be in danger of a really bad night on here.
I wonder how long you will last.
Wow. What utter, sheer brilliance.
I do not follow all of the 10 C, because I am not an adherent to the faith(s) that they pertain to, and you understood that it's actually because I do not subscribe to those faiths that I don't consider themn all as valid. Pure genius, I tell you..
You must have some powerful, book-learnin' edamucation to have figured that one out.
Hmmmm..... Hard to say. That would most likely depend on the quality of the arguments that people present against what I have said. I stand by my words, and my convictions: Zell Miller is an idiot, in many cases a damn obvious idiot, and nothing I have seen thus far contradicts the conclusions I have come to. And, yes, I am in many regards quite conservative.
The difference is, most likely, I can think and I understand that one must act on a firm set of principles, or one's position is easily dismissed.
I wonder how long you will last.
I wonder why you wonder.
Hannity gets better all the time...I do like his assertive but not combative style. Tough and serious but controlled.
"He says to Abraham, "Through your Seed I will bless all nations." He says to Noah, "Poulate the earth." "
Amen to that.
Since you posited the question I took the bait. Little did I know it was rhetorical...
bttt
"Miller in no way that I can see follows the beliefs of the founding fathers in any manner of substance."
It's not about "seeing" It's about reading up on the primary source documents.
Since only 5 percent of high schools graduates know how to examine primary source documentation, I must sadly assume you are part of the other 95%.
Even old Tom Paine (the most deist of them) said that sciences should not be taught without the wisdom of God in the classroom.
You must be referring to the founding fathers of the Soviet Union...clarify please.
"So, please - elucidate!"
Don't hold your breath on that one...
Yeah, I know.
I'm a trollslayer. I can't help it.
For a moment I thought I was reading one of those mythical "I am a bad-@ss American" rants by "Ted Nugent."
When Gov. Barnes appointed Zell to replace Sen. Coverdell, I was so mad I could spit. Now, I believe Gov. Barnes must feel the same way. All I can say now is "THANK YOU ROY BARNES for the only intelligent decision you made while you were Governor of Georgia!"
I still think Zell Miller would be the best choice for U.N. Ambassador.
"I still think Zell Miller would be the best choice for U.N. Ambassador."
Oh wouldn't that be special!!!
If that were to happen I would even start supporting the UN just to watch Zell get up on the podium and tell the scoundrels what's what.
Ping. Thought y'all would like this.
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