sportsfan34205 #fundie

sportsfan34205 #fundie www2.tbo.com

tdf155, The 1st Amendment states: "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 gievances." Breaking it down, the first part DOES NOT MEAN separation of church and state. What it says and means is that Congress shall not make a law that creates or establishes a required Church, such as the British did when they created the Anglican Church, or the Church of England. It also states that congress shall not prohibit the free exercise of your faith, as they are trying to do, especially if you happen to be Christian. The second part says we have the freedom to voice our opinion, and congress shall make no law to prohibit it. And the press can say or write whatever they wish... which mostly is slanted very liberally in an attempt to not report the news, but to create the news, and pursuade people to believe the falsehoods and slant that they speak. And the last part gives us the right to peacefully assemble to protest that which we feel is not right... Unless of course, you are a pro-lifer outside of an abortion mill, in such case, you will earn a trip to jail for exercising your constitutional rights. So, even though it grants us rights, if we aren't being politically correct, we are still subject to persecution.

32 comments

old comment by Marcus

"...the first part DOES NOT MEAN separation of church and state. What it says and means is that Congress shall not make a law that creates or establishes a required Church, such as the British did when they created the Anglican Church, or the Church of England."

You're correct, sportsfan, but it's also a two-way street. Congress won't tell you how to worship if you won't bully congress from the pulpit on how to vote for social issues.

It also states that congress shall not prohibit the free exercise of your faith, as they are trying to do, especially if you happen to be Christian.

Get over your fucking persecution complex already!

And the press can say or write whatever they wish... which mostly is slanted very liberally in an attempt to not report the news, but to create the news, and pursuade people to believe the falsehoods and slant that they speak.

So if you don't like what the press is saying, why don't you start your own news agency and you can slant it any way you want? There's nothing in the 1st Amendment preventing you from doing this.

Unless of course, you are a pro-lifer outside of an abortion mill, in such case, you will earn a trip to jail for exercising your constitutional rights.

Exercising your constitutional rights does not include harassing women who are patients or anyone who works there, blocking the entrances so no one can enter, assasignating doctors who perform abortions, blowing up abortion clinics, etc..

old comment by John

What it says and means is that Congress shall not make a law that creates or establishes a required Church, such as the British did when they created the Anglican Church, or the Church of England.

This is a common misunderstanding. "Establishment of religion" doesn't mean founding or creating religion. It comes from English law, and means to authenticate or endorse as valid.

And the press can say or write whatever they wish... which mostly is slanted very liberally

Only to people who honestly think Rush Limbaugh is the center.

"Peaceably to assemble" doesn't include threatening or harassing people. Pro-lifers aren't bothered if they don't yell stuff at others or deliberately block sidewalks.

old comment by History Teacher

Just once, I would like these morons to tell me how exactly their right to practice their stupid distorted version of Christianity is being infringed on. They can't, because it isn't. They are perfectly free to gather in vast numbers on Sunday morning in their auditoriums and wave their arms around and scream "Jesus". And they can carry their stupid Bibles wherever they go, and put their stupid tracts in kids' Halloween bags, and harass people on street corners and engage in a myriad of other stupid behaviors.

The only thing they can't do is make the rest of us do their shit with them. That's not persecution or a loss of freedom for them. And if they could, it would be a loss of freedom for us.

old comment by Swede

Aren't there other Amendments and Treaties that say Separation of Church and State? The 1st Amendment is not the only document mentioning religion, right?
As you have more different kinds of churches than any other country in the world (I guess), it seems to be working - no required church, all are welcome and optional.
You CAN exercise your faith, around 80 % of the American public are Chrisitan, in one way or another. What you CAN'T do is press your religion onto others.

You only have two right-wing parties (in the eyes of the rest of the world), there's bound to be some bias. Where is the socialistic press? The environmentalist press? The more different viewpoints, the less risk of one-sided representation. If you can check the same news item in four DIFFERENT news media, you get a bit of every side, and can form your own opinion.
But that was not what you meant, right? You want YOUR kind of one-sidedness.

Hello, since when are the pro-lifers outside abortion clinics peaceful? They seem to be angry, hateful, lying and violent as a rule. It's the terrorising of others that lands you in jail, not the exercising of your rights, you blind fool.

Rights bring with them equal measures of responsibility. You have to make sure you exercise your rights without hurting or infringing on other people's rights. You can't have the cake and eat it, in short.

old comment by Swede

How can Congress be trying to prohibit the free exercise of Christianity, when some 90 percent of them are Christians themselves? From the outside it seems more like they are trying to prohibit helping the poor, which (if my memory serves me) is a huge issue with Christ. But, perhaps that’s what you meant; the poor are suffering needlessly, Christ would never have allowed it? Somehow I doubt that’s what you meant

With rights come responsibilities, stupid. You have a responsibility to not hurt others with your speech, if it can be avoided. And others have the same right as you do to express THEIR point of view; you have no right to not be contradicted. And, if you want to keep the right to free speech, you must fight for the right of your opponent to have free speech as well.

In Sweden, news must be factual and objective. If they're not, they have to issue a correction, in the same medium that published the error. If Faux News worked here, they wouldn't have time for any "news" as their programs would be full of corrections.

Those who just stand there protesting verbally, are seldom sent to jail, I believe. (Let’s not mention the significant number of pro-lifers who sneak into the abortion "mills" to have their own abortions and want to be let out the back door, only to be back protesting a couple of days later. “My abortion is the only moral one”, or something like that.)