America
may be a nation of believers, but when it comes to this country’s identity as a
“Christian nation,” our beliefs are all over the map. Just a few weeks ago,
Public Policy Polling reported that 57 percent of Republicans favored
officially making the United States a Christian nation. But in 2007, a survey by the First Amendment Center showed
that 55 percent of Americans believed it already was one. The confusion is
understandable. For all our talk about separation of church and state,
religious language has been written into our political culture in countless
ways. It is inscribed in our pledge of patriotism, marked on our money, carved
into the walls of our courts and our Capitol. Perhaps because it is everywhere,
we assume it has been from the beginning. But the founding fathers didn’t
create the ceremonies and slogans that come to mind when we consider whether
this is a Christian nation. Our grandfathers did. Read the complete commentary
by CLICK
HERE.
The witnesses, laying their coats at the feet of Saul, were the men that would cast the first stones at Stephen in Acts 7. Why did they all lay their coats at Saul’s feet? The Talmud contains a very interesting account of the act of stoning that may provide the answer. “When the trial was over, they take him [the condemned person] out to be stoned. The place of stoning was at a distance from the court, as it is said, ‘Take out the one who has cursed.’ [i] A man stands at the entrance of the court; in his hand is a signaling flag [Hebrew sudarin = sudar , ‘scarf, sweater’]. A horseman was stationed far away but within sight of him. If one [of the judges] says, ‘I have something [more] to say in his favor,’ he [the signaler] waves the sudarin , and the horseman runs and stops them [from stoning him]. Even if [the condemned person] himself says, ‘I have something to say in my favor,’ they bring him back, even four of five times, only provided that there is some substance to what he
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