History Forum / General / General Topics / November 2008

Prop 8 Clearly Violates US Precepts; Separation of Church from State
http://gratefuldread.wordpress.com/2008/11/10/3570/

Wow. The following must-read article from the San Francisco Chronicle is by
attorney and author James Brosnahan, and it concerns the un-American
Proposition 8, the alleged separation of church from state, and the
ridiculousness of a pluralistic society being ruled by certain people’s
religious dictates. Please read it and share it with your control-freak
religionista associates. Warning: If they are of the mentality of the
article’s commenters, they aren’t smart enough to understand and aren’t
worth your time.

Here is an excerpt:

   The approval of a constitutional ban on gay marriage raises troubling
but age-old issues concerning the lines between religion and government.
Before the founders of our country separated church and state, there were
hundreds of years of turmoil caused by one religion dominating the
government and using it against nonbelievers.

   In the aftermath of Tuesday’s vote, do gays and lesbians in California
have a reason to believe that they have been abused, discriminated against
and relegated to a separate-but-equal status?

   Yes, and that’s why this fight is far from over. There will be a
challenge under the U.S. Constitution. In the 1960s, the U.S. Supreme Court
struck down a California constitutional amendment that limited fair housing
on the grounds that prejudice could not be put into a state Constitution.

   No one can forecast the outcome of this next fight, but there is bound
to be some fallout that may harm those religions that so vehemently
insisted that their beliefs be placed in the California Constitution. All
religions require tolerance to flourish, but in Proposition 8 some
religious groups aimed at and wounded gay people in California.

   The drafters of the U.S. Constitution had a brilliant, experienced view
concerning the importance of drawing the lines to protect religion on the
one hand and civil government on the other. They put those lines in the
First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Today, those lines are very
relevant.

   Government may not attack religion. Californians who have religious
beliefs concerning the proper scope of marriage may exercise those rights
as they see fit. Churches have always been able to proceed as they wish
concerning marriage ceremonies. There was no mandate to suppress religious
beliefs. This should be obvious to everyone in California because of our
tolerance of all religions.

   That the supporters of Proposition 8 were motivated by religious
beliefs cannot be denied. Now the religious beliefs of some Californians
are in our Constitution and, until overturned, govern us all whether we
like it or not.

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You are invited to check out the following:

The Rise of the Theocratic States of America
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/theocracy.htm

American Theocrats - Past and Present
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/theocrats.htm

The Constitutional Principle: Separation of Church and State
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html

[and to join the discussion group for the above site and/or Separation of
Church and State in general, listed below]

HRSepCnS · Historical Reality SepChurch&State
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HRSepCnS/

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. . . You can't understand a phrase such as "Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishment of religion" by syllogistic reasoning.  Words
take their meaning from social as well as textual contexts, which is why "a
page of history is worth a volume of logic."  New York Trust Co. v. Eisner,
256 U.S. 345, 349, 41 S.Ct. 506, 507, 65 L.Ed. 963 (1921) (Holmes, J.).
Sherman v. Community Consol. Dist. 21, 980 F.2d 437, 445 (7th Cir. 1992)
. . .
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USAF LT. COL (Ret) Buffman (Glen P. Goffin) wrote

"You pilot always into an unknown future;
facts are your only clue. Get the facts!"

That philosophy 'snipit' helped to get me, and my crew, through a good
many combat missions and far too many scary, inflight, emergencies.

It has also played a significant role in helping me to expose the
plethora of radical Christian propaganda and lies that we find at
almost every media turn.

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      THE CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCIPLE:
   SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE
   
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html
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