As I was reading the newspaper ("Freethought Today") this afternoon, I came across an article that almost made my heart stop. "Ten Commandments Weekend Proposed by Senate Resolution." Ex...excuse me? Whatever happened to separation of church and state?!
Here's the text of the Resolution: "Ten Commandments are precepts foundational to the faith of millions of Americans...are a declaration of fundamental principles for a fair and just society...were from the founding of the United States..part of America's basic cultural fabric...[and are] a recognized symbol of law in our Nation's culture."
No, they're not! Adultery isn't illegal, neither is not working on either Saturday or Sunday, and no matter how you slice it, God isn't in the Constitution. Our Constitution was the first one EVER to establish freedom of religion.
There is not a word mentioned about the Ten Commandments or even a god in the Constitution (yes, I have read it). Actually, the only mention of religion in the Constitution (not the Bill of Rights or amendments) is in Article 6: "no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States."
That's not even a full sentence; it follows a semicolon! This proposed "Ten Commandments Weekend" is either:
A) a plug to make the Religious Right-wingers happy
B)a show that our country is headed for theocracy. Yuck.
or
C) a shameless plug because the Pontiff is visiting. Also yuck.
I hate random resolutions to make people briefly happy.
Thankfully, only 1 Senator is currently sponsoring the Resolution, which was proposed by Senator Brownback: Jo Lieberman. Luckily for me, he is my state's Senator and I can send him a nice letter....
Please contact your Senators and tell them to remember our Constitution when voting on this resolution. I will certainly, as a CT resident, be writing to Mr. Lieberman to give him a piece of my mind.
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Source please
"Don't blame me. I voted for Kodos."
Homer Simpson
My newspaper was "Freethought Today" and you can check the bill's progress online. Copy and paste:
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=sr110-483&page-command...
~Violinstef
"Don't blame me. I voted for Kodos."
Homer Simpson
...that legislation should be put in place to prevent anything from entering Congress that sanctions recognition of a specific religion or religious holiday/event. Only if a piece of legislation recognizes all religions and those without religion, should it even be considered for discussion. Maybe this seems a tad harsh but our country doesn't need a government that overly faith-based. In short, support all religions or none at all when dealing with Congressional actions.
~Astroaction149
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/astroaction149
Actually, the Constitution forbids it, but no one really pays attention to THAT anymore *sigh*.
~Violinstef
Hm...
I don't even care if it's evil to make such a weekend; I'm just disturbed by the fact that our government is wasting their time doing this!
What would happen on this weekend? Would we sing Commandments Carols? It's not even offensive, it's honestly just pointless!
As far as the subject of the Commandments, 1-4 are certainly a no-no in our legal system, but the fifth through tenth are honestly fine. "Honor your parents," "Don't kill," "Don't commit adultery," "Don't steal," "Don't lie," and "Don't covet what you don't own" are just basically general guidelines to a healthy life. As far as adultery, I'd say that it would be easier for everybody if people could keep their pants on until they get a divorce, so nothing gets unpleasant, even if it's legal to do so.
The first 4 are only good if you're Christian or Jewish, though.
I'm indifferent to this in the long run, but if our government's spending their time fooling around with this stuff, I can see why the economy's going down the tubes.
"We know about the recession, but would you shut up? We're trying to figure out how gay marriage should work. Then we'll make a new holiday, and then we'll get to the economy if nothing else shows up."