[Mark]
Ok, so in your opinion the house is misguided. Certainly an
amendment can be formulated to rectify this.
[Arlo]
I think the separation of church and state was a bitter pill to
swallow for many people who feel it is their "right" to impose their
religion (and lifestyle) onto others. It was great when it kept out
"others", but when it keeps out "me" it becomes a terrible evil. As
such, many politicians pander to this rather than use their position
to raise the discourse above it.
For many people it seems, "freedom" only means "freedom to be like
me". We rage when "others" views are thrust upon us, but demand that
our views be thrust upon others. It is no small wonder, like I said
to DMB, that the same people who are outraged that a teacher tells
their kid be tolerant of a homosexual in the classroom saying it
interferes with their right to raise their kid according to their
values, are the SAME people who are demanding that creationism and
the bible be taught in school.
Example. I am a big proponent of mythology. At a school meeting once
years ago, in response to a comment by a parent in favor of having
creationism taught, I suggested perhaps a study of global creation
myths, under a literature or a mythology class, and she exploded in
my face. How DARE I call her religion a "myth", she said, and there
was (verbatim) "no way in hell she was going to let [her] kid be
exposed to all those other lies".
Here was a woman who wanted to FORCE her religion onto every child in
the school, but was downright insulted and angry that other ways of
thinking would be forced on HER child. Over the years, I have come to
see this as the norm in nearly every way.
So you get people like Platt who feel that burning the Koran is an
exercise of "free speech" (despite military officials saying this
will lead to immediate violence against our troops), but turn around
and say that burning the flag "incites violence" and therefore should
be restricted. Do you see, this is the exact same thing as that
mother years ago.
I should be free to burn your meaningful objects, you should not be
free to burn mine.
The same is true of this church and state nonsense. Those who
advocate tearing down the wall do so with the demand that it is only
THEIR religion that gets through the hole. You may hold a peaceful
position where having the House led by Islamic prayers doesn't bother
you, but do HONESTLY think this is representative of the Tea Baggers?
These are the same people who believe Obama is a Muslim, and
protested against a mosque being built on the far perimeter of
"ground zero" (never mind the Muslims who worked in the towers who
were also killed on 9/11).
What's funny to me is that the wall of separation between church and
state that Jefferson wrote about was not to protect "atheism", but to
protect those adhering to religion. The same people are now actively
seeking to dismantle this, and how long do you think it will be
before another religion creeps into the holes they make and starts
imposing itself on them?
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