On courtrooms and icons...
Last time I looked, this country was full of all kinds of people. White ones, black ones, brown ones, yellow ones, big ones, little ones. And not all of them have the same beliefs. In fact, I would bet that NONE of them hold the exact same set of beliefs, even among those who claim to follow the same religious teachings. Rather than being a detriment, this fact seems to be one of the biggest strengths of this fine nation. If it weren't for the talents and labor of immigrants from all over the world, this country would not be the world leader that it is today. One of the things that continues to bring these wonderful people from other places is our tolerance and promise of opportunity. I cannot begin to fathom how it would feel to come to this country (or even to be born here to a non-Christian family) and be forced to have my case heard in a court where any religious icon is displayed that isn't my own. Could I really expect that I would be given a fair hearing? Would the person that I am suing, who happens to be Christian, get more empathy simply because he holds similar beliefs to those proudly displayed in the court? It is for reasons such as these that our founding fathers wisely included the separation of church and state in the Constitution of this fine nation. In order to be fair and to objectively weigh the case before you, a judge needs to be as unbiased as possible. Displaying religious icons in the courthouse obliterates any semblance of neutrality. It automatically makes a statement that those who hold certain beliefs will be given priority over those who do not. So, unless you want to place an icon from every religion in the world in every courtroom, we need to keep such displays off limits. To deny the posting of the ten commandments in a courtroom has nothing to do with the denial of a proud religious tradition and everything to do with maintaining the proud legal tradition of a fair hearing.
posted by Kyle Vernon @ 12:38 PM
2 comments
2 Comments:
Well, superman, I have no idea what the hell you are talking about. I do regularly post my opinions on multiple blogs, and I do not intend to stop. That is, remember, the purpose of having an open forum, such as the blogosphere, in which to do so. Remember that it takes all kinds of folks to make up the world, and almost none of them agree on the same set of ideas. This is a good thing. If we all agreed, then long ago humanity would most likely have died off from following some silly leader with a lot of charisma. As for my future postings, I reserve the right to post to any blog which is open to posting. As part of my responsibility for this privilege (with privilege comes responsibility), I shall always post with my full real name and address proudly displayed. That being said, I do appreciate and admire your willingness to go that extra mile for your loved ones.
For ~m~
Yes, I know the song. Unfortunately, however, not enough people remember its sentiments. They love to send their kids to sunday school to sing such songs while at the dinner table or at the office, they denigrate the very people that they claim are loved by the one they worship! They always forget that most of the people that Jesus is said to love follow some other set of beliefs, usually beliefs that they say will cause them to be judged for eternity by the one who is claimed to love them! No wonder we're so screwed up as a race. Even our messages of tolerance and forgiveness are mixed with hate and anger. Its enough to make one cry.
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