The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, adopted in 1789, states that “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.”
The first amendment did not take into account Barack Obama.
The current occupant of the White House has issued executive orders with abandon that ignore the U.S. Constitution and the U.S. Congress. In the current government shutdown, he seems to many to be trying to inflict as much pain and inconvenience on ordinary citizens of the United States as possible to further his political agenda.
Close the Statue of Liberty, check. Close Independence Hall in Philadelphia, check. Close the World War II Memorial on the mall in Washington, D.C., check. Close military grocery stores but keep military golf courses open, check.
Someone also disclosed that religious services on military installations would not be allowed for the duration of the shutdown.
“Oh, yeah?” said the collective citizenry, through their elected representatives.
The House of Representatives yesterday, by a vote of 400 to 1, approved a resolution to allow religious services on military installations during the government shutdown.
I am particularly pleased that the resolution was introduced by Congressman Doug Collins (R-Ga.), himself a U.S. Air Force chaplain and Iraq war veteran.
Matters of the budget are one thing. Matters of religious liberty are something else entirely.
On this issue, We the
People 1, Barack Obama 0.
It would seem to me that there is more than one person at fault for your country's shut-down. And the people who are affected are not the ones forcing the issue. Hiss and spit.
ReplyDeleteElephant's Child, of course there is more than one person at fault, but one person is at the top of the heap, and his minion, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) comes across quite often as lower than a snake's belly (speaking of hiss and spit). And our country's "shutdown" is not even a shutdown, technically. It is more of a "cutback" or "tightening of the belt" since 83% of the Federal employees are still going to work every day. But do you hear this from our wonderful, completely biased, mainstream media? No, you do not.
ReplyDelete"he seems to many to be trying to inflict as much pain and inconvenience on ordinary citizens of the United States as possible"...I beg to differ Mr B. The pain is very obviously being inflicted by hard line tunnel-visioned Republicans. It would be very wrong for President Obama to stand down in the face of their bigotry. They have caused the impasse - not the noble president.
ReplyDeleteYorkshire Pudding, I couldn't disagree with you more. I don't know where your political views place you in the U.K. spectrum, but in this country you would be considered ultra-left. We heard Mr. Obama say in St. Petersburg or Moscow (I forget which) that in Europe he would be considered center-right. Rest assured that that is not what he is considered here. And you are definitely guilty of launching an ad hominem attack on Republicans through your use of the word "bigotry" -- did anyone mention race? I didn't. You brought it up.
ReplyDeleteAlso, you refer to "the noble president" in the same way people more than a century ago referred to "the noble savage" when referring to American Indians to indicate "humanity's innate goodness" -- please refer to Mr. John Calvin of Geneva for another view of mankind (the T in TULIP stands for Total Depravity).
I do not intend to let these comments turn into a political debate. You expressed your view. Thank you very much. The subject, as far as I am concerned, is now closed. Surely you are not suggesting people should not have religious liberty. That is clearly a seventeenth-century point of view that people on this side of the Atlantic risked life and limb to escape.
In my view the world would be a better place with NO religion at all. With regard to the use of the term "bigotry", when I used it, it was not with any reference whatsoever to colour. Bigotry can take many forms - not jut racism. Regarding "noble", the dictionary endorses my understanding of the word - "having or showing fine personal qualities or high moral principles"...And I am not ultra-left, just someone who, like President Obama, cares deeply for his fellow men and women and the future of our world. Over here in Europe we recognise that America is a great country but selfishness is woven through it like the lines in blue cheeses (Here I am not of course thinking of you personally).
ReplyDeleteAbou ben Pudding, what a delightful piece of fiction writing! You receive extra points for your simile about selfishness woven through America like the lines in blue cheeses. If we were so selfish, we certainly would not have come to your aid twice during the last century and our blogs today would all be written in German. With no religion at all, there would be no Easter, no Mother Teresa, no Pope Francis, no Billy Graham, no John Wesley, no William Wilberforce...I could go on. Of course, there would be no radical Islamic fundamentalism either, and that would be a good thing. All in all, weaving together your posit and the myth of global climate change, I'm afraid your country would be a place where it is always winter, but never Christmas.
ReplyDeleteI'm with T.E.C here, and what a fabulous cop-out that is. I am left-wing, Putz described both himself and I as 'bleeding heart liberals', something I am quite proud of, however I don't beleive Obama has lived up to many, if any of his promises and has certainly proved himself no better than the dim snake in the grass Persident Bush was by aiming to jump into another war which will kill heaven knows how many innocent folks and trying to shame our idiotic government into joining him. Polictics. Tricky stuff, but much like religion, you can disagree but remain friends. Up to a point.
ReplyDeleteAll Consuming, you are a breath of fresh air, I must say, and we need that. It was beginning to be hard to breathe in here. I consider myself neither ultra-right nor ultra-left but somewhere in the center. As our Dr. Ben Carson has said, an eagle cannot fly with only one wing. It needs two wings -- a right wing and a left wing.
ReplyDeleteI hope all of us here will remain friends for a long time, regardless of religious or political differences. That is a tall order, but I'm counting on it.
Perhaps we should not talk about religion, politics, or sex. Hmmmm...Could those of an earlier generation have been right?
*note - I meant myself as the cop out, rather than T.E.C's views. I realised afterwards it may be read that way, so just clearing that up.
ReplyDeleteIt's not nice to add spelling mistakes to my comments you know. Hahahaha.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm glad it's fresh air I bring you without doubt *smiles. I'm pretty sure we'd all do just dandy with corny jokes at least about each of those subjects, you've got to laugh sometimes or you'll cry I find.