I can't support HR 397.....
Feb. 28th, 2010 07:32 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
poltr1One of my FB-friends recently posted her support of "We are a Christian nation" to her wall. If there was a Dislike function on Facebook, I would have used it.
In response, I posted on my wall a link to a group on Facebook that I belong to which has expressed ts opposition to a current House resoution: HR 397. (Text of the bill is here, via thomas.loc.gov.) In a nutshell, the bill tries to establish that the Founding Fathers were Christian, and that this nation was founded on Christian principles.
I couldn't disagree more. So I did what any American citizen would do: I sent an email message to my congressman, Rep. Mike Turner, expressing my opposition to the bill. Then I looked at the bill and found out that Rep. Turner is a co-sponsor of the bill.
Why would I oppose this legislation? I believe it violates this country's tradition of the separation of church and state that we have, and that I believe such an act would be deemed unconstitutional based on the First Amendment.
Also, I look at the people I've surrounded myself with. I attend Unitarian Universalist services. My ex-wife is Wiccan. One of my best friends is a Sikh. The leader of of one my SF/fantasy clubs is Jewish. And I'm on the steering committee of the Dayton Pagan Alliance. Who's to say that we're all second-class citizens because of our differing belief systems?
Folks like the Wallbuilders.
I have one of their tapes, "America's Godly Heritage", which purports to show the religious beliefes of the founding fathers. I aquired this tape in 1993, which was highly recommended by several of my business colleagues at the time. (More on this in a later post.)
Since they're based in Texas, I'm sure they're trying to use their political clout to influence the writing of school textbooks to be used in that state.
And there are other similar right-wing grass-roots organizations out there. Collectively, I refer to them as the Religious Reich, a term originally coined by neopagan Issac Bonewits.
These groups are probably hard at work, convincing their followers to support legislation such as HR 397, and further encroach upon the rights of the rest of us.
I'll cut to the chase: I oppose the Religious Reich because I believe they will turn this nation into what it once was: Salem, 1692.
In response, I posted on my wall a link to a group on Facebook that I belong to which has expressed ts opposition to a current House resoution: HR 397. (Text of the bill is here, via thomas.loc.gov.) In a nutshell, the bill tries to establish that the Founding Fathers were Christian, and that this nation was founded on Christian principles.
I couldn't disagree more. So I did what any American citizen would do: I sent an email message to my congressman, Rep. Mike Turner, expressing my opposition to the bill. Then I looked at the bill and found out that Rep. Turner is a co-sponsor of the bill.
Why would I oppose this legislation? I believe it violates this country's tradition of the separation of church and state that we have, and that I believe such an act would be deemed unconstitutional based on the First Amendment.
Also, I look at the people I've surrounded myself with. I attend Unitarian Universalist services. My ex-wife is Wiccan. One of my best friends is a Sikh. The leader of of one my SF/fantasy clubs is Jewish. And I'm on the steering committee of the Dayton Pagan Alliance. Who's to say that we're all second-class citizens because of our differing belief systems?
Folks like the Wallbuilders.
I have one of their tapes, "America's Godly Heritage", which purports to show the religious beliefes of the founding fathers. I aquired this tape in 1993, which was highly recommended by several of my business colleagues at the time. (More on this in a later post.)
Since they're based in Texas, I'm sure they're trying to use their political clout to influence the writing of school textbooks to be used in that state.
And there are other similar right-wing grass-roots organizations out there. Collectively, I refer to them as the Religious Reich, a term originally coined by neopagan Issac Bonewits.
These groups are probably hard at work, convincing their followers to support legislation such as HR 397, and further encroach upon the rights of the rest of us.
I'll cut to the chase: I oppose the Religious Reich because I believe they will turn this nation into what it once was: Salem, 1692.
