Hi Arlo, I agree with what you posted below. The separation (as you say) is meant for the federal government thus it appears in the bill of rights. Such rights were meant to protect the citizen from an overly intrusive government. We have come a long way since then. While I like progress, sometimes it is in the wrong direction. An increasingly overly intrusive government is one such wrong direction. Perhaps we need a new bill of rights.
My views are mine alone and do not reflect the MOQ as a whole. They are free for reading or avoiding. My agenda is one of self education through dialogue. I am not a leader or a follower. Yadda Yadda. Mark On Thu, Oct 21, 2010 at 4:38 PM, Arlo Bensinger <[email protected]> wrote: > [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? > > Moq_Discuss mailing list > Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. > http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org > Archives: > http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ > http://moq.org/md/archives.html > Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org/md/archives.html
