“Congress shall
make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free
exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech…”
There it is, the
freedom of religion and speech part of the first amendment. That’s it, there it
is. The only guaranty we have is that congress (and the lower legislatures)
will make no law establishing a particular religion or practicing whatever
religion you choose. The lawmakers are also forbidden to interfere with your
freedom of speech.
It does not
guaranty that your neighbors will accept the religion you follow. If you happen
to know any pagans ask them how free they feel these days. Especially live in
back of beyond rural America
The constitution
does not guaranty that anyone will listen to you, agree with you, stay in the
same room with you, disagree with you or demand that you back up your claims.
Now here is where rubber is hitting the road. The claimant has to come up with
something more that I believe such and such to be true. Or, the favorite when
it comes to gays and marriage equality “the Bible says so.”
The fundagelicals
have been getting a free ride for generations with that one phrase along with
the quotation of one of a half dozen verses on the subject. That’s not good
enough anymore. I want facts, not scripture. Legal examples not “I believe such
and such to be true.” How about some examples of how folks used to get married,
probably still get married and how that overlaps with their view of “traditional”
marriage.
I suspect that
what really bothers those denouncing the views of the owner of Chick-fil-a isn’t
his support of “traditional marriage.” Whatever the heck that is. What bothers
me is the implicit violence in his belief that gay marriage will call God’s judgment
on the nation. If you believe that, then you may just believe that any action
necessary to avoid that judgment is justified.
And that, heads
us down a path most of us don’t want to follow. Imagine someone like the Aurora , Colorado
2 comments:
This whole "we're subject to God's judgment" has been a huge issue ever since 9/11. You get a dumb-ass like Pat Roberton on tv claiming that the destruction of the twin towers was god's judgment on America because of abortion and gays...everybody scoffs and laughs and says what a dumb-ass he is. But the seed is planted, and the next time someone declares that something will make us subject to the wrath of god, folks picture the nothing that now stands where the twin towers once were, and they decide it's not going to hurt anything to hedge their bets. At the ballot box.
We ARE a nation of sheep.
Well, we'll just have to try to wake them up. Even if it takes a whack upside the head with a two by four.
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