Posted on 05/20/2007 9:50:28 AM PDT by wagglebee
Freedom from religion is a delusional fantasy shared by atheists, liberals, and the varied collection of First Amendment interpreters, who see in it a prescription for religious sterility. Membership in one of these camps is required; otherwise, any individual would recognize the absurdity of stretching and molding the words of the amendment, like so much silly putty. The collective effort of these people does not strengthen their argument, but rather, masks the fallaciousness behind a deafening roar of monotonous repetition.
Honestly, can one really look at these words, and come away skewered between the eyes with the question mark of uncertainty? The answer is no, unless you are truly bewildered at what the meaning of the word “is” is.
The First Amendment
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Arguments that support a government forced sterilization of religion from publicly owned entities, requires the reader of this simple clause to perform mental gymnastics beyond the realm of reason. The only way the reader might come away from this text, with an understanding that government must suppress, under penalty of law, religious expression from all entities that are remotely touched by government, is if the reader has a religious devotion to secularism.
The Church of Secular Purity is as religious as any religion on the planet. I might even stretch a bit to compare the actions and tactics of the secular puritans, to the violence of radical Islam. Of course, they do not seek to slice off the heads of infidels, but they will swing the sword of the courtroom with as much ferocity.
Adherents to the Secular Faith are devout in their belief, that a fanatical sixth grade boy, who writes stories about his faith in Jesus Christ (in response to a classroom assignment), cannot in good conscience be tolerated. Another example, as was illuminated by the Family Research Council in a recent mailing, Lou Dobbs of CNN fame has stated, "…intrusion of religion into our political lives, in my opinion, should be rejected in the same fashion that we constitutionally guarantee government will not interfere with religion."
These puritans of secular wisdom are protecting us, they sincerely believe, from... exactly what? Does the First Amendment spell the boogey man out for us? Well, in fact it does, but the boogey man is not who the secular inquisition thinks it is. Were they to lay down their own personal fear of condemnation, for the rejection of “God”, they would see that the boogey man lives between their own two ears.
The great fear is that unless they can drive “God” away from the publicly owned square, they will be unable to justify, in their own minds, their decision to reject an Almighty Being who may hold them in judgment. They will see doubt at every turn, and they cannot bear to live, as they want to live, guilt and fear hanging over their heads at all times.
Government is to butt-out, according to the First Amendment. That means that government shall not tell people how they should believe, or not believe. It also means that government shall not take any steps whatsoever to interfere with the free exercise of religion, and there is nothing in that clause that says, “…unless the free exercise of religion is being exercised by employees of the government, or by citizens who are participating in a government event.”
There is nothing at all difficult about this string of words, which is the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America. There are no exceptions given, and there are no extenuating circumstances acknowledged. In simplest terms, religion is to be a non-issue where government is concerned. The Church of Secular Purity has no right whatsoever, according to the First Amendment to the Constitution, to require the government to establish a Religion of Secular Purity as the official religion of the United States government. In fact, the First Amendment expressly prohibits that desired outcome.
Very true!
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Bump!
Since their belief system meets all the qualifications of a religion, shouldn’t they voluntarily remove discussion or display of it from all public spaces? After all, it’s what they claim to have as their first priority. I know, that would require both admission of the obvious and agreement to follow the restrictions they attempt to force on others, neither of which they show any inclination toward.
They don't like to be reminded-- makes them feel guilty of their sins.
“Freedom from religion is ... “
... an umbrella protecting one mindset from the unwanted superstitions of another.
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Government schooling and freedom from religion is also a delusion. Government schools are NOT now, never were, and never can be religiously neutral. It is impossible. It is axiomatic. There is no such thing as a religiously neutral education.
There are literally thousands of decisions that must be made by our government schools that have only binary outcomes. When making these decisions, the government will uphold and establish the religion of some while undermining and destroying the religion of others. We see some of these issues constantly debated here on Free Republic.
So..since the Secular liberal/Lenists now control our government schools what is being pushed? Answer: Atheistic, Relativistic, agnostic Secularism. What is the government destroying? Answer: Judeo Christian belief.
Then their are other First Amendment problems with regard to compulsory, monopolist government schools. Please remember that for many they are compulsory. This means that if the child does not show up, armed police action will be threatened or taken against the parents and child.
Free speech: Does our First Amendment say that citizens have a right to free speech except when compelled by threat of police to be in compulsory government school? No. It doesn’t. Yet, while in their diurnal kiddie prisons government severely resists freedom of speech. This is imposed by the government directly on the child, and indirectly on the parent since the child can not freely speak about family beliefs ( or anything else) while in government confinement.
Free press: The above ( regarding free speech) is also violated by the government.
Free association: Again the government, by threat of police action, dictates to the child and parent exactly with whom the government will allow association. The children line up like day laborers waiting for their prison buses. Once in their government indoctrination camp children are marched about like prisoners to the sound of bells. They are told when they can eat, rest, and given exact time they will exercise in the prison school yards. The government tells them with whom they can assemble and associate. The chain link fences around their kiddie prisons resemble those found on the grounds of adult prisons. The government “schools” even use prison expressions such as “lock down”, “in-house suspensions”,”zero tolerance”, hearings are held to determine punishments, children walk through metal detectors, and are subjected to searches. They have prison records with approving or disapproving comments about “good conduct”, “good grooming”. In one respect real prisoners have it better than government imprisoned children. At least prisoners are not subjected to government religious, political, and cultural preaching.
Free Expression of religion: How, what, and when a child may express his religious beliefs is severely restricted by the government in its compulsory indoctrination centers.
Establishment of Government Religion: Well,,,as explained above, schools can never be religious, moral, ethically, culturally, or politically neutral. At the moment government schools are Secular Humanist madrasses. The goal is to destroy Judeo Christian belief and establish government agnosticism and atheism.
The Church of Secular Purity is as religious as any religion on the planet. I might even stretch a bit to compare the actions and tactics of the secular puritans, to the violence of radical Islam. Of course, they do not seek to slice off the heads of infidels, but they will swing the sword of the courtroom with as much ferocity."
Well said! Those devoted to secularism are determined to silence the opposition by using the First Amendment to remove all other religious beliefs from the public square. Our beliefs frighten them. The thought that God may some day judge them frightens them. Otherwise, they would not be offended by Christians spreading the word.
My neighbors practice the modernized pagan religion of Gaia worship. They call it environmentalism. They are some of the most dedicated religious fanatics I have ever witnessed. They drive Priuses, spent a fortune installing solar panels, raise and can ALL their vegetables, and in the two years that we’ve lived next door, I have NEVER seen anything but yard waste and recyclables on trash day; never actual garbage.
They are generally very nice people, and I have nothing against them practicing their beliefs. However they would never reciprocate; they would inflict their religion on the rest of us in an instant. In fact, they do - not individually, but collectively with others of their ilk.
Interestingly, as with most false religions, they desire to project a mainstream image that dishonestly portrays and masks their real intent. Their religion doesn’t require truthfulness; the end justifies their means. Christians need to continually unmask these religions, and stand firm against their sub-surface agendas.
VERY well said!
I’m sure the ancient egyptians felt the same way about Ra and sun worship.
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Yeah! Nice like the gremlins in the movie “Gremlins”. They seem so nice and cute and cuddly, but in reality they are monsters that literally wish to slash our necks, and take over and control the earth and all the people on it. I honestly believe your neighbors and those of similar beliefs would shoot Christians if they could get away with it. They just can’t ,,,,( yet).
I am especially concerned about government schooling and the terrible consequences these “nice” pagan earth worshipers will have on the next generation currently in our compulsory, police attendance enforced, monopoly schools. Ultimately the religion our nation’s children will practice as adults( **Every** sentient being has a religious worldview) is more important that Iraq. And,,every day, our children are being preached the pagan religions of Secular Humanism, environmental earth worship, homosexuality, and the sacrament of abortion. Our nation’s children are being taught to worship the government and not to trust their family.
Like the monsters in the movie “Gremlins”, your “nice” neighbors shouldn’t be petted, reason with, humored, or talked nicely to. They can’t can’t be domesticated, trained, or corralled.
We must destroy their forums of these “nice” people. We must close down government schools ( ***especially** K-12, but also their colleges and universities). We must open our own own centers of learning and work to starve “gremlin” infected institutions of tax and private philanthropic money. And,, those who value faith in God, our Constitutional, and free markets must work to take control of what remains.
...and get ourselves a nice little madrasah to call our very own.
I think you get it.
Education is never religiously neutral. This especially means government K-12 schools.
All education should be privatized. Taxpayers should not be forced to pay for the government Secular Humanist liberal-Leninist madrasses any more that they should pay for Christian schools.
Christians can get government out of the business of establishing the religions of Secular Humanism, Liberal-Leninism, environmental earth worship, and homosexuality. Christians can get government back on track constitutionally. The first and best way is to shut down government schools completely.
I think you get it.
Education is never religiously neutral. This especially means government K-12 schools.
All education should be privatized. Taxpayers should not be forced to pay for the government Secular Humanist liberal-Leninist madrasses any more that they should pay for Christian schools.
Christians can get government out of the business of establishing the religions of Secular Humanism, Liberal-Leninism, environmental earth worship, and homosexuality. Christians can get government back on track constitutionally. The first and best way is to shut down government schools completely.
I think you get it.
Education is never religiously neutral. This especially means government K-12 schools.
All education should be privatized. Taxpayers should not be forced to pay for the government Secular Humanist liberal-Leninist madrasses any more that they should pay for Christian schools.
Christians can get government out of the business of establishing the religions of Secular Humanism, Liberal-Leninism, environmental earth worship, and homosexuality. Christians can get government back on track constitutionally. The first and best way is to shut down government schools completely.
I think you get it.
Education is never religiously neutral. This especially means government K-12 schools.
All education should be privatized. Taxpayers should not be forced to pay for the government Secular Humanist liberal-Leninist madrasses any more that they should pay for Christian schools.
Christians can get government out of the business of establishing the religions of Secular Humanism, Liberal-Leninism, environmental earth worship, and homosexuality. Christians can get government back on track constitutionally. The first and best way is to shut down government schools completely.
I think you get it.
Education is never religiously neutral. This especially means government K-12 schools.
All education should be privatized. Taxpayers should not be forced to pay for the government Secular Humanist liberal-Leninist madrasses any more that they should pay for Christian schools.
Christians can get government out of the business of establishing the religions of Secular Humanism, Liberal-Leninism, environmental earth worship, and homosexuality. Christians can get government back on track constitutionally. The first and best way is to shut down government schools completely.
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