Religion
Related: About this forumDysfunctional Republican Christians Vow To Destroy the First Amendment
http://www.politicususa.com/2013/12/31/dysfunctional-republican-christians-vow-destroy-amendment.htmlBy: Rmusemore from Rmuse
Tuesday, December, 31st, 2013, 10:13 am
Simplicity is the state of being simple and usually relates to the burden which a thing puts on someone trying to explain or understand it; such as something easy to understand or explain is simple, as opposed to something complicated that is likely as difficult to explain as it is to understand. The Founding Fathers understood that the population of the country they founded was likely uneducated and ignorant leading them to make the First Amendment so easy to understand that a simpleton could grasp its meanings. Unfortunately, two-hundred and twenty-two years after the First Amendment was ratified, there is a large segment of the population that cannot fathom, much less acknowledge, the simple meaning of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that says government shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibit the free exercise thereof which does not mean enforcing religion by statute, state amendment, or law.
Devising and passing laws that have as their only basis the Christian bible is not a new phenomenon, and for decades laws such as those banning sodomy were staples of every state in the Unions legislatures despite they were laws respecting an establishment of religion; the Christian religion. The U.S. Supreme Court finally overturned sodomy laws on the basis of the right to privacy, but the cowards on the High Court never had the fortitude to strike down the law respecting an establishment of religion on First Amendment grounds. Likely because there is an unspoken unconstitutional law that bans citing the First Amendments prohibition against religious edicts as federal or state laws that no court is willing to violate. Unfortunately, there have been other laws like those banning abortions, contraception, and same-sex marriage that were eventually ruled unconstitutional on grounds they violate citizens 14th Amendment rights, but never on grounds they violated the First Amendments freedom from religious edicts disguised as state laws.
Late last week after a federal district court overturned Utahs ban on same-sex marriage, and the 10th Circuit Appeals Court found, like the federal district court, that Utahs biblical ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional, Republicans announced they would spend about $2 million of taxpayer money to hire outside counsel to defend the amendment respecting an establishment of religion. State Senator John Valentine (R- Mormon) said We should be paying for the best and the brightest. This is a case that is not only a historic precedent, but its one that really goes to the core of what states rights is all about. No, this is a case that goes to the core of what Mormons passing a law respecting an establishment of religion is all about despite the First Amendment which is exquisitely clear; it is a violation of Constitution that is, by the way, the law of the land.
The Utah Mormon case follows a trend among conservative Christians attempting to pass several laws respecting an establishment of religion regarding same-sex marriage, fetal personhood, as well as contraception and abortion coverage in private healthcare plans. A cursory glance at, say, the personhood movements mission statement reveals it is driven solely by religion where it states; Personhood USA desires to glorify Jesus Christ in a way that creates a culture of life so that all innocent human lives are protected by love and by law. The National Organization for Marriage opposes same-sex marriage and civil unions calling them a direct threat to religious liberties and that civil union statutes are used to sue professionals who run their practices behind biblical laws banning same-sex marriage and civil unions. The Hobby Lobby case going before the Supreme Court is founded on the owners religious belief that he has the biblical right to withhold contraception from his employees private healthcare plans.
more at link
longship
(40,416 posts)...but the cowards on the High Court never had the fortitude to strike down the law respecting an establishment of religion on First Amendment grounds.
I can easily refute this by citing Lemon v. Kurtzman. Anybody interested in First Amendment rights should know about this case and the all important Lemon test.
From the case's finding:
Three ... tests may be gleaned from our cases. First, the statute must have a secular legislative purpose; second, its principal or primary effect must be one that neither advances nor inhibits religion; finally, the statute must not foster an excessive government entanglement with religion.
If any of the prongs of the Lemon test fail, the law fails on First Amendment grounds.
Recently, there have been attempts to get SCOTUS to overturn the Lemon Test, thankfully unsuccessfully.
Happy New Year my Religion group friends.
cbayer
(146,218 posts)Hmm
makes one wonder about the writer's use of other "facts".
Hope you are having a good New Years Eve, longship. Stay warm and dry.
longship
(40,416 posts)I am snowed in and it's difficult to get somebody to plow my driveway during holidays. Everybody's out of town or busy.
My car battery's dying. I'd like to get into town and get a new one.
So, I am kind of in a little pickle. But I have food, and heat, and lots of home made wine. And I have movies and DU and lots of books.
cbayer
(146,218 posts)Sounds cozy.
I was only snowed in once and I really enjoyed it
. up to a point.
I hope everything stays in working order and you are able to get out after the holidays.
longship
(40,416 posts)Probably have to charge the battery to get car going. Then, vroom! Vroom!
Have a safe New Years, buddy.
cbayer
(146,218 posts)I'm slow roasting a leg of lamb, but I sure hope these people bring other dishes
.
or it will be order in pizza.
Then some live music and partying later. My first New Years Eve in Mexico. Should be fun.
longship
(40,416 posts)Chops, two of them. Tasty! With jasmine rice and green beans. And home made wine. (I only have about 30 gallons of the stuff. )
cbayer
(146,218 posts)longship
(40,416 posts)It's apple wine. Picked the apples, ground them up, pressed them into cider, and fermented the result. Current batch is two years old. My good friends and I made 600 gallons. We've been drinking it for over a year and still have a couple hundred gallons left. This last autumn we added another 150 gallons. We're good for a while.
It was quite a production. It took three weeks from picking the orchard to cider. We picked a holy hell lot of apples -- three varieties. Used a 5 HP hammer mill to crush the apples and pressed the mash using a manual press (which busts ones ass). We plumbed the output of the press with an electric pump and pumped it into three large stainless steel tanks. Add sugar and yeast, cover and let it ferment.
Good stuff.
Woo Hoo! Guy just came and plowed me out.
cbayer
(146,218 posts)It's sounds great. Wish I had some.
Now go get your battery!
longship
(40,416 posts)Anyway, had a New Years Eve glass of wine at lunch.
Skäl!
dimbear
(6,271 posts)numbers, more than I suspected were lurking in Utah.
It's difficult not to hear Nelson Muntz chanting "hah, hah" in the background.
Naturally the dinosaurs in Utah are stirring. It's dinosaur country. They have temporarily forgotten that they are fossils.