Lovely speech, really, which is why my quibbles are minor. First: you know there's no pleasing religions, so why even try?
I think he said something like (meaning: I looked it up but am pretending that I just happened to remember it correctly after one hearing): "We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus - and non-believers."
That's just a big can of worms, isn't it? Sure, he included Hindus, but why did they get grouped with Jews? And why do the Muslims get to ride shotgun while the others get the back seat and those of us who'd like some evidence sit in the rumble-seat? First I thought the order might be reverse historical, since it seems that Hindus were around first, then Jews, but that gets the Muslims and Christians reversed. Then I figured it might be by numbers since Muslims probably outnumber Jews here as they do worldwide (I don't know). But if it were really representational of the U.S., it should probably be "We are a nation of [and here the joke would be funnier if I knew all the different brands, so let's just say:] Baptists and Anabaptists and Protobaptists and Pre-opbaptists and Post-recoverybaptists and Episcopalians and Counterpostantineoreformipalians and ... "
Most truthfully, though, from the point of view of any one of the religions, it ought to be "We are nation of true belivers, false believers, and non-believers." That should cover them all.
And my other quibble is with the line, "we will work tirelessly to [...] roll back the specter of a warming planet."
What kind of a novice psychic attempts to roll a specter? We all know specters need to be sucked up with proton packs.
I think he said something like (meaning: I looked it up but am pretending that I just happened to remember it correctly after one hearing): "We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus - and non-believers."
That's just a big can of worms, isn't it? Sure, he included Hindus, but why did they get grouped with Jews? And why do the Muslims get to ride shotgun while the others get the back seat and those of us who'd like some evidence sit in the rumble-seat? First I thought the order might be reverse historical, since it seems that Hindus were around first, then Jews, but that gets the Muslims and Christians reversed. Then I figured it might be by numbers since Muslims probably outnumber Jews here as they do worldwide (I don't know). But if it were really representational of the U.S., it should probably be "We are a nation of [and here the joke would be funnier if I knew all the different brands, so let's just say:] Baptists and Anabaptists and Protobaptists and Pre-opbaptists and Post-recoverybaptists and Episcopalians and Counterpostantineoreformipalians and ... "
Most truthfully, though, from the point of view of any one of the religions, it ought to be "We are nation of true belivers, false believers, and non-believers." That should cover them all.
And my other quibble is with the line, "we will work tirelessly to [...] roll back the specter of a warming planet."
What kind of a novice psychic attempts to roll a specter? We all know specters need to be sucked up with proton packs.
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