Pop Quiz For The Christian Nation Living Within America

(Answers below) Four points for writing your name. Eight points each for correct answers.

High over the entrance to the Supreme Court is a frieze filled with statuary. Seated in the middle is Moses with two tablets.

1) The tablets represent:
a) The Ten Commandments
b) The Bill of Rights
c) Moses' endorsement of Tylenol
d) Not a stinkin' thing

2) On either side of Moses are the Greek law-giver Solon and:
a) Homer
b) Homer Simspon
c) Confucius
d) Cotton Mather

Inside, on the south and north walls of the courtroom itself are two other friezes.

3) There are how many Jews depicted?
a) None
b) 2
c) 5
d) 6, but they are reformed Jews so they don't really count

4) How many Catholics?
a) 5
b) 10
c) 100
d) Just St. Francis of Assisi to soften the tone of the joint

5) How many Muslims?
a) None, Muslims aren't really Americans
b) None, Muslims aren't really human beings
c) You're not allowed to depict Muslims in picture or sculpture
d) 1

6) There is one Babylonian, Hammurabi. How many pharaohs?
a) King Tut is up there and a couple of others who have pyramids and stuff
b) 1, but you'll never guess his name
c) Pharaoh's daughter is depicted because she was known as Little Lady Lawgiver
d) Steve Martin

7) How many famous ancient Greeks and Romans?
a) 2
b) 3
c) 5
d) none

8) How many Protestants?
a) 3
b) none - they refused to appear with members of other faiths on the frieze
c) 19
d) zillions, 'cause this is a Christian nation

Who said the following?

9) "The Constitution of the U.S. forbids everything like an establishment of a national religion."
a) Billy Graham
b) Graham Nash
c) James Madison
d) Barack Hussein Obama

10) "Every other sect supposes itself in possession of the truth, and that those who differ are so far in the wrong. Like a man traveling in foggy weather they see those at a distance before them wrapped up in a fog, as well as those behind them, and also people in the fields on each side; but near them, all appears clear, though in truth they are as much in the fog as any of them."
a) Ben Cartwright
b) Diderot
c) Ben Franklin
d) Joe Don Baker

11) "Whoever shall introduce into public affairs the principles of primitive Christianity will change the face of the world."
a) Newt Gingrich
b) Knute Rockne
c) Ben Franklin
d) Franklin Pierce

12) "There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy.  Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness."

a) the Dalai Lama
b) Dolly Parton
c) Salvador Dali 
d) Thomas Jefferson




Answers 
1) b, Bill of Rights - according to the sculptor
2) c, Confucius
3) b, 2: Moses and Solomon
4) a, 5: Justinian, Charlemagne, King John, Louis IX and Napoleon
5) d, 1: Mohammed
6) b, Pharaoh Menes
7) c, 5: Lycurgus, Solon, Draco, Octavian and Justinian
8) a, 3: Hugo Grotius, John Marshall and Sir William Blackstone
9) c, James Madison
10) c, Ben Franklin
11) c, Ben Franklin
12) a, the Dalai Lama. Astoundingly enough he said it to Dolly Parton...
.

The Supreme Court, Religion, and Ideology

Deconstructionists would have a field day with the current composition of the Supreme Court vis a vis religious affiliation. The retirement of Justice John Paul Stevens focuses the spotlight on the quirkiness of religion and the Court, and on deep-seated prejudices still at large in the land.

For most of its history the Court was dominated by white, Anglo-Saxon Protestants, although as early as 1777 there were Catholics, Roger Taney being the first. Lewis Brandeis became the first Jewish Justice in 1916.

Today, Justice Stevens is the lone Protestant member. There are currently 6 Catholic and 2 Jewish members.

Conspicuous by their absences are Atheists/Agnostics/Non-Religious, Muslims, Mormons, Pentecostals, Orthodox Catholics, Baptists, and Buddhists.

The Non-Religious population in the United States (atheists, agnostics) number between 28 and 34 million people, more than all other non-Christian groups combined, and more than any other single group except Catholics and Baptists (57 million and 36 million respectively). Many experts claim the number of affirmed Non-Religious is much higher than surveys allow, since in many regions there is still a stigma attached to declaring "I don't believe in god."

There are between 5 and 7 million Muslims in the United States (figures estimated by US News & World Report and Council on American-Islamic Relations). This is about the same number as Jewish people in the country.

There are about 3 million Mormons, 6 million Pentecostals, 2 million Greek and Eastern (Russian, Ukrainian etc.) Orthodox, and 2 million Buddhists.

It is difficult to discern whether or not theology bears on decision-making on the bench. There are, for instance, 4 radically ultra-conservative Catholics, one moderate, and one liberal Catholic serving now. In general, Catholics, like Baptists, are anti-choice.

Jews have been very liberal historically.

The Non-Religious population according to the 2008 American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS) identifies almost universally with liberal political ideals.

What are the odds that a non-Catholic, non-Jew, non-Protestant will be nominated and appointed? What are the (longer) odds that a Non-Religious/Atheist/Agnostic will be appointed?

No need to dial (702) L-A-S-V-E-G-A-S. The chances are slim to none that any of those 50 million plus Americans falling outside the Catholic-Protestant-Jewish pale will ever be called, let alone chosen.