Monday, January 16, 2012
Let Freedom Ring!
Today, many of us are taking the time to honor and remember perhaps one of the greatest of the warriors of the Civil Rights Movement. So, today, I'm taking a break from my usual wordy opinions on the current political arena and give you all something that is worthy of reflection.
Saturday, January 14, 2012
We are no longer a nation of consumers.
We are no longer a nation of consumers.
That's right dear readers, we aren't but, rather we have over time became a nation of victims and in many cases unsuspecting victims. Take a look at this article from WGMD in Delaware about Bed, Bath and Beyond selling radioactive tissue box holders.
DPH Removes Radioactive Tissue Box Holders From Bed, Bath & Beyond In Wilmington
This is but one example from recent months, weeks even were a product that's supposed to enrich our lives has turned out to be a hazard. BVO in sports drinks and sodas, arsenic in the feed that poultry producers feed there chickens, arsenic in apple juice, fungicide banned by the US government found in America's supply of orange juice and list goes on and on. But yet my dear readers, there is a scheme in that works that would make it illegal to grow and produce your own food. Under the new laws that many of out illustrious lawmakers in Washington are working on, it would give control of our food supply to corporations like Monsanto under the osposis of "food safety" . Don't believe me, check out SB 510 FDA Food Safety Modernization Act.
Most recently, our great historic President Obama has appointed one of the big heads of Monsanto to be a senior adviser to the FDA (http://www.davidicke.com/headlines/52314-obama-appoints-monsantos-vp-as-senior-advisor-to-the-commissi).I fell it important to note here that Monsanto was one of the major forces in the production of Agent Orange along side of DOW Chemical. Aside from this being a major conflict of intrest, it should outrage any American who don't want our food to be chemically engineered, genetically modified or blasted with radioactive ions. Is the day fast approaching when we as Americans must take our handy dandy geiger counters with us on every single shopping trip?
I say that it's high time that we the people stand up and reclaim our rights, protections and powers granted to us by that famous little document we call the Constitution and stop letting ourselves be a nation of victims.
This has been the Rainbow Patriot, signing off for now.
That's right dear readers, we aren't but, rather we have over time became a nation of victims and in many cases unsuspecting victims. Take a look at this article from WGMD in Delaware about Bed, Bath and Beyond selling radioactive tissue box holders.
DPH Removes Radioactive Tissue Box Holders From Bed, Bath & Beyond In Wilmington
This is but one example from recent months, weeks even were a product that's supposed to enrich our lives has turned out to be a hazard. BVO in sports drinks and sodas, arsenic in the feed that poultry producers feed there chickens, arsenic in apple juice, fungicide banned by the US government found in America's supply of orange juice and list goes on and on. But yet my dear readers, there is a scheme in that works that would make it illegal to grow and produce your own food. Under the new laws that many of out illustrious lawmakers in Washington are working on, it would give control of our food supply to corporations like Monsanto under the osposis of "food safety" . Don't believe me, check out SB 510 FDA Food Safety Modernization Act.
Most recently, our great historic President Obama has appointed one of the big heads of Monsanto to be a senior adviser to the FDA (http://www.davidicke.com/headlines/52314-obama-appoints-monsantos-vp-as-senior-advisor-to-the-commissi).I fell it important to note here that Monsanto was one of the major forces in the production of Agent Orange along side of DOW Chemical. Aside from this being a major conflict of intrest, it should outrage any American who don't want our food to be chemically engineered, genetically modified or blasted with radioactive ions. Is the day fast approaching when we as Americans must take our handy dandy geiger counters with us on every single shopping trip?
I say that it's high time that we the people stand up and reclaim our rights, protections and powers granted to us by that famous little document we call the Constitution and stop letting ourselves be a nation of victims.
This has been the Rainbow Patriot, signing off for now.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
So, Mitt Romney and Rick (Don't Google My Name) Santorum support my being equal but, they don't support my being equal.
But it seems to me that members of the Republican party have a much different opinion of what equality is, as made evident by the statements of Mitt Romney and Rick (Don't Google My Name) Santorum in the video above. After watching this video the question that begs to be asked, at least in my mind is this; Just how stupid do these men think the American people are? Now I know that a large percentage of there base are avid Fox News viewers who believe everything Fox News hosts like Bill O'Riley and the ilk put out there is the gospel truth and when Fox News gets caught lying or making up news stories that simply aren't true, these defend Fox and will tell you that it's the "Lamesteam Media" trying to suppress the truth but damned if I didn't think America as a whole were a hell of a lot smarter than these political buffoons give us credit for.
Just so that there is absolutely no confusion as to what equality is, I'm going to tell you how the dictionary defines the word equality;
As far as Romney saying that when he was governor he appointed a gay man to his cabinet to support his claim to being a voice for the GLBT community within the Republican party and to bolster his false claim of being a support of equality, this is tantamount to an officer of the local branch of the KKK saying "Shit I aint no damn racist, I gots me plenty of black friends.".
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Ron Paul supporter? You might want to reconsider that.
Do you support Ron Paul for president? Do you think he stands for liberty and freedom for all Americans? You might want to think again. Although Ron Paul dose have some good points such as returning American currency to the gold standard and putting and end to sending money to foreign governments who in a lot of cases just don't need our aid. But, when you look at the rest of his platform, you might just see some pretty scary stuff such as a massive scale government deregulation (that I will talk about in a future post) and than, a further examination of the major supporters of the Ron Paul campaign revel some shadowy figures I am sure you wouldn't want any ware near our political system.
First, lets review the way the political game is played here in America. The number one rule of running for office is that he with the most votes wins (unless we're talking about George W. Bush). In order to get those votes, you must sell your self out to groups who are willing to endorse you, in addition to that, you must also say whatever it takes to get people to like you and cast there vote for you.
Remember those groups you had to sell yourself out to, truth is, the minute you win the election, you have become beholden to those groups. Ever hear the old saying "You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours"? That saying is a moto of this American political game and regardless of a politician's personal beliefs and philosophies, once elected to public office, there are a lot of backs that need scratching in return. In a lot of cases, an elected official has to put his sense of right and wrong on hold and temporarily forget about his beliefs and philosophies to grant favors in an attempt to scratch the backs of those who helped him get in office. This is the way the political game has always been played here in America and in all probability will always be played this way.
Now that you've reviewed how the political game that Congressman Ron Paul is a player let's look at some of his ties to the white supremacy groups, Christian Reconstructionist, and the White Nationalist Movement, shall we?
On February 18'th 2001 Ron Paul was a guest on Radio Free America, founded by neo-Nazi Willis Carto and in 2006 he was scheduled to be on the show "The Political Cesspool" but had to back out at the last minute. The Political Cesspool is hosted by James Edwards who is an up and comer in the White Nationalist Movement.
Ron Paul is endorsed by such white supremacists as Former KKK Grand Wizards David Duke and Don Black as well as Rev. Phillip G. Kayser, a Nebraska preacher who is deeply connect ed to the Christian Reconstructionist Movement and who believes that gay men should but put to death. In regarding to his endorsement of Paul, David Duke said;
"Again, I go back to that, you know, traditional topic that I
always talk about, you know, the powers of international
Zionism-a power in banking, a power in media, a power in
government influence, in campaign finance-a power the's,
you know, hurting the values of this country on behalf of
Israel.
So, I would vote for Ron Paul at this moment because he's one of
the few condidates who have policies in this regard and this
realm that I wholeheartedly support, and that's why I'd vote for
him."
In addition from the endorsements of David Duke, Don Black and Rev. Phillip G. Kayser to name a few, Paul also counts among his closest allies, Howard Phillips a Christian Reconstructionist and founder of the Constitution Party.
"The goal of the Constitution Party is to restore American
jurisprudence to it Biblical foundations and to limit the federal
government to it Constitutional boundaries" - Preamble to the
Constitution Party's Platform.
I don't know about you but, these don't sound to me like the kind of men I want the President Of The United States owing any favors to for there support, endorsements or campaign donations.
In doing research for this blog post, I found a few facts that to my mind calls Ron Paul's actual philosophy and beliefs into question. This is information that I fell everyone considering casting there ballot for Ron Paul should know.
In 2008 after he doped out of the Republican Presidential Race, he chose to endorse Pastor Chuck Baldwin who was running for the Constitution Party, the party that wants to instate biblical law in the US. At an event at Chuck Baldwin's church in Pensacola Florida, he expressed his belief that Christians are the "chosen people" and must rule for 1,000 years before Jesus will return.
Another group that Paul has ties to is the radical right-winged political advocacy organization, The John Birch Society. The John Birch Society opposed the civil rights movement in the 1960's because they claimed there were communists in high positions in the civil rights movement and supported segregation. I should note here that the John Birch Society was established by 12 founding members and one of those founding members was none other than Fred Koch, founder of Koch Industries and father of GOP power backers The Koch Brothers.
Paul's ties to the John Birch Society run so deep that he addressed there 50'th anniversary gala in 2008 and spoke in a language the the Christian Reconstructionists in attendance would understand saying "The Remnant holds the truth together, both the religious truth and political truth". The remnant he speaks of could either be a nod to the Christian Reconstructionists who refer to The righteous living in a land swept by evil as "The Remnant" or could be a reference and endorsement of the prominent Christian Reconstructionist publication "The Remnant Review".
If you are currently a Ron Paul supporter, I invite you to research this info for yourself and draw your own conclusions but, please enlighten yourselves to more than just the talking points of Ron Paul and his fanatical and often blind supporters.
This has been the Rainbow Patriot, signing off for now.
First, lets review the way the political game is played here in America. The number one rule of running for office is that he with the most votes wins (unless we're talking about George W. Bush). In order to get those votes, you must sell your self out to groups who are willing to endorse you, in addition to that, you must also say whatever it takes to get people to like you and cast there vote for you.
Remember those groups you had to sell yourself out to, truth is, the minute you win the election, you have become beholden to those groups. Ever hear the old saying "You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours"? That saying is a moto of this American political game and regardless of a politician's personal beliefs and philosophies, once elected to public office, there are a lot of backs that need scratching in return. In a lot of cases, an elected official has to put his sense of right and wrong on hold and temporarily forget about his beliefs and philosophies to grant favors in an attempt to scratch the backs of those who helped him get in office. This is the way the political game has always been played here in America and in all probability will always be played this way.
Now that you've reviewed how the political game that Congressman Ron Paul is a player let's look at some of his ties to the white supremacy groups, Christian Reconstructionist, and the White Nationalist Movement, shall we?
On February 18'th 2001 Ron Paul was a guest on Radio Free America, founded by neo-Nazi Willis Carto and in 2006 he was scheduled to be on the show "The Political Cesspool" but had to back out at the last minute. The Political Cesspool is hosted by James Edwards who is an up and comer in the White Nationalist Movement.
Ron Paul is endorsed by such white supremacists as Former KKK Grand Wizards David Duke and Don Black as well as Rev. Phillip G. Kayser, a Nebraska preacher who is deeply connect ed to the Christian Reconstructionist Movement and who believes that gay men should but put to death. In regarding to his endorsement of Paul, David Duke said;
"Again, I go back to that, you know, traditional topic that I
always talk about, you know, the powers of international
Zionism-a power in banking, a power in media, a power in
government influence, in campaign finance-a power the's,
you know, hurting the values of this country on behalf of
Israel.
So, I would vote for Ron Paul at this moment because he's one of
the few condidates who have policies in this regard and this
realm that I wholeheartedly support, and that's why I'd vote for
him."
In addition from the endorsements of David Duke, Don Black and Rev. Phillip G. Kayser to name a few, Paul also counts among his closest allies, Howard Phillips a Christian Reconstructionist and founder of the Constitution Party.
"The goal of the Constitution Party is to restore American
jurisprudence to it Biblical foundations and to limit the federal
government to it Constitutional boundaries" - Preamble to the
Constitution Party's Platform.
I don't know about you but, these don't sound to me like the kind of men I want the President Of The United States owing any favors to for there support, endorsements or campaign donations.
In doing research for this blog post, I found a few facts that to my mind calls Ron Paul's actual philosophy and beliefs into question. This is information that I fell everyone considering casting there ballot for Ron Paul should know.
In 2008 after he doped out of the Republican Presidential Race, he chose to endorse Pastor Chuck Baldwin who was running for the Constitution Party, the party that wants to instate biblical law in the US. At an event at Chuck Baldwin's church in Pensacola Florida, he expressed his belief that Christians are the "chosen people" and must rule for 1,000 years before Jesus will return.
Another group that Paul has ties to is the radical right-winged political advocacy organization, The John Birch Society. The John Birch Society opposed the civil rights movement in the 1960's because they claimed there were communists in high positions in the civil rights movement and supported segregation. I should note here that the John Birch Society was established by 12 founding members and one of those founding members was none other than Fred Koch, founder of Koch Industries and father of GOP power backers The Koch Brothers.
Paul's ties to the John Birch Society run so deep that he addressed there 50'th anniversary gala in 2008 and spoke in a language the the Christian Reconstructionists in attendance would understand saying "The Remnant holds the truth together, both the religious truth and political truth". The remnant he speaks of could either be a nod to the Christian Reconstructionists who refer to The righteous living in a land swept by evil as "The Remnant" or could be a reference and endorsement of the prominent Christian Reconstructionist publication "The Remnant Review".
If you are currently a Ron Paul supporter, I invite you to research this info for yourself and draw your own conclusions but, please enlighten yourselves to more than just the talking points of Ron Paul and his fanatical and often blind supporters.
This has been the Rainbow Patriot, signing off for now.
Monday, January 9, 2012
Was America intended to be a Christian nation? Historic Fact says NOT!
With the wacky, way out there, holly rolling, social conservative Christian Right hijacking and co-opting American politics and turning our government into there Christian playground, I wanted to clear up some of the bullshit that's being shoveled on to our heads by the Christian Right and the powers behind most of the 2012 Republican presidential hopefuls.
Now, before I get all fired up here, the spirit of full disclosure dictates that I tell you that I make no claims to being a history expert. I do however come armed with the skill of how to do research on something for myself and the knowledge the just because the likes of Sarah Palin, Pat Robertson, Bill O'Riley, Glenn Beck and the other blathering idiots on the right spew something out of there incompetent, incendiary, made for TV, "Send me your money today" mouths dose not make it so.
With all that out of the way, here are some of the steaming piles of bullshit these people are trying to shovel on our heads.
"America was founded on Christian principles"
This is one that I hear on an almost daily basis and usually coming from those who want to force there religion on us all. Well, the fact is that most of our founding fathers were Christians and the principals that they felt people should live by were indeed the principals of a good christian however, everyone that touts the great revolutionaries such as Franklin, Jefferson, Washington and the rest of the gang as great Christians seem to forget, ignore or are just plain ignorant (because they've never bothered to to the research for themselves) of a rather inconvenient fact. That inconvenient fact (or at least inconvenient to today's Christian Right anyway) is that although our founding fathers were Christians in so far as they believed that Jesus was the only son of God, most of our founding fathers were what we today would call Gnostic Christians.
To put it simply, they didn't have much use for organized religion and saw most churches for what there were, much like what they still are today controlling and oppressing forces that are more about making people bend to the will of church elders more than worshiping god's glory and saving your soul. Although they held a belief in God, they believed that God had far bigger concerns to worry with that the affairs of us lowly mortals. Most of our founding fathers, when you get down to the brass tacks of it, would have been thrown out of and excommunicated from churches of the day and probably shunned by the church elders.
These men also considered themselves enlightened freethinkers an as such held personal liberties and freedom in high regard as made evident by the liberties and freedoms they chose to give us in the US Constitution.
"The Constitution only grants rights to Christians"
This little gem is the brainchild of Bryan Fisher, spokesman for the American Family Association and supporter of candidates like Governor Rick Parry of Texas and Senator Rick (don't google my name) Santorum of Pennsylvania. Here is a quote from him were he explains this little historic non-fact he's trying to pass off as fact.
"Islam has no fundamental First Amendment claims, for the simple reason that it was not written to protect the religion of Islam. Islam is entitled only to the religious liberty we extend to it out of courtesy. While there certainly ought to be a presumption of religious liberty for non-Christian religious traditions in America, the Founders were not writing a suicide pact when they wrote the First Amendment.
If the US Federal Government was built on legal documents such as the Deceleration of Independence and the US Constitution, you could argue that Thomas Jefferson was one of the head Architects on the job. If you were to do a google search for "Thomas Jefferson Quotes on Religious Freedom" you'll find some pretty useful insights into the way of thinking of our founding fathers at least were religious freedom is involved. I could probably find quotes on "Freedom of Religion" from all of the founding fathers but, for the sake of time, space and my sanity, I only looked for a few key quotes from one of the most pivotal of the founding fathers.
History shows that our founding fathers wanted to establish for there newly founded nation a free and civil government for the people of America. With that in mind, I would like to quote to you a line from a letter that Thomas Jefferson wrote to Alexander von Humboldt on December 6, 1813. "History, I believe, furnishes no example of a priest-ridden people maintaining a free civil government. This marks the lowest grade of ignorance of which their civil as well as religious leaders will always avail themselves for their own purposes.".
Now dose that sound like words of some one who belongs to a group that wishes to give rights, protections and liberties to members of one religion and not to another? Wouldn't make for much of a "Free Civil Government" now would it?
Another little gem from Mr. Jefferson comes from a letter he wrote to the Danbury Baptist Association of Danbury CT regarding the 1'st amendment on January 1, 1802. "Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legislative powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should 'make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,' thus building a wall of separation between church and State.". Now, how would you interrupt this one? Seems quite clear to me that he's saying "We ratified the first amendment and built a wall of separation between church and state because quite simply, what god you worship, how you worship and your religious preference is none of the government's damn business".
And the Thomas Jefferson quote that put the final nail in the coffin of all this "The Constitution only grants rights to Christians" nonsense is from a letter from Thomas Jefferson to Dr. Thomas Cooper on February 10, 1814 needs no reflection on what was meant nor is left open for any interpretation. "Christianity neither is, nor ever was a part of the common law.". So there you have it from the pen of Thomas Jefferson himself.
In case quoting Jefferson wasn't enough, ponder this fact for a moment, in the constitution, there is but one reference to religion (the first part of the first amendment granting freedom of religion), no mention of God and no mention of Christianity. Seeing as the men who wrote this document were pretty thorough in drafting this document, if the rights, protections, liberties and freedoms granted to the citizens were to be granted only to Christians, don't you think it would say so?
"America was founded by people escaping religious persecution"
This is a line used by groups such as The American Family Association and the ilk who use the tenants of there church to continue to persecute members of the GLBT community who seek to achieve marriage equality.
Now, lets take a look at what persecution is shall we? Persecution is the systematic mistreatment of one group by another group.
While it is true that the first settlers to the "New World" set forth on this continent to avoid "religious persecution", the founding fathers who established the government of the United States Of America that has lasted all these many years fought the British crown for freedom from tyranny that had little if anything to do with religious persecution. Our founding fathers were fighting against oppressive laws such unfair taxes, taxation without representation, being made to provide food and living quarters for British soldiers etc etc etc. So you see, the escape of religious persecution is not as big a factor in the founding of America as these people are making it out to be.
Whats more is that using the "religious persecution" argument to fight against Civil Unions or Same Sex Marriage doesn't hold much water. There claim is that by the government to allow Civil Unions or Same Sex Marriages would be an infringement on there religious liberty and would force them to except a union or marriage that is against the tennents of there church. What they don't expect us to realize is that this is the biggest shovel full of bullshit there dumping on our heads.
You see, in America, if you are a man seeking to marry a woman, the government allows any man to wed any woman and with a few restrictions excepts it. Meanwhile, many Christian faiths will not except or preform the marriage of a member of there faith to a member of another faith with out the non-member converting. Take Mormonism for example; If I am a Mormon man seeking to wed a Catholic woman and she refuses to convert to Mormonism, the Mormon church forbids the marriage, would refuse to preform the ceremony and would excommunicate me from the church if I went through with the wedding and all this is allowed by the federal government.You see, Uncle Sam could care less whether a church will allow a member to marry a non -member or what churches excepts what marriages. Members of the GLBT community seek only recognition of there unions from the government so that they may receive the same rights, privileges and protections as heterosexual couples.
While we are on the subject of persecution, when you look at what the word means and the treatment that members of the GLBT community receives at the hands of the Christian Right, let me ask you this, who is persecuting whom?
Now that I've given you, my dear reader enough information and historic fact to ruminate over, I think I'll go and enjoy the rest of my evening.
This has been The Rainbow Patriot, signing off for now.
Now, before I get all fired up here, the spirit of full disclosure dictates that I tell you that I make no claims to being a history expert. I do however come armed with the skill of how to do research on something for myself and the knowledge the just because the likes of Sarah Palin, Pat Robertson, Bill O'Riley, Glenn Beck and the other blathering idiots on the right spew something out of there incompetent, incendiary, made for TV, "Send me your money today" mouths dose not make it so.
With all that out of the way, here are some of the steaming piles of bullshit these people are trying to shovel on our heads.
"America was founded on Christian principles"
This is one that I hear on an almost daily basis and usually coming from those who want to force there religion on us all. Well, the fact is that most of our founding fathers were Christians and the principals that they felt people should live by were indeed the principals of a good christian however, everyone that touts the great revolutionaries such as Franklin, Jefferson, Washington and the rest of the gang as great Christians seem to forget, ignore or are just plain ignorant (because they've never bothered to to the research for themselves) of a rather inconvenient fact. That inconvenient fact (or at least inconvenient to today's Christian Right anyway) is that although our founding fathers were Christians in so far as they believed that Jesus was the only son of God, most of our founding fathers were what we today would call Gnostic Christians.
To put it simply, they didn't have much use for organized religion and saw most churches for what there were, much like what they still are today controlling and oppressing forces that are more about making people bend to the will of church elders more than worshiping god's glory and saving your soul. Although they held a belief in God, they believed that God had far bigger concerns to worry with that the affairs of us lowly mortals. Most of our founding fathers, when you get down to the brass tacks of it, would have been thrown out of and excommunicated from churches of the day and probably shunned by the church elders.
These men also considered themselves enlightened freethinkers an as such held personal liberties and freedom in high regard as made evident by the liberties and freedoms they chose to give us in the US Constitution.
"The Constitution only grants rights to Christians"
This little gem is the brainchild of Bryan Fisher, spokesman for the American Family Association and supporter of candidates like Governor Rick Parry of Texas and Senator Rick (don't google my name) Santorum of Pennsylvania. Here is a quote from him were he explains this little historic non-fact he's trying to pass off as fact.
"Islam has no fundamental First Amendment claims, for the simple reason that it was not written to protect the religion of Islam. Islam is entitled only to the religious liberty we extend to it out of courtesy. While there certainly ought to be a presumption of religious liberty for non-Christian religious traditions in America, the Founders were not writing a suicide pact when they wrote the First Amendment.
Our government has no obligation to allow a treasonous ideology to receive special protections in America, but this is exactly what the Democrats are trying to do right now with Islam.
From a constitutional point of view, Muslims have no First Amendment right to build mosques in America. They have that privilege at the moment, but it is a privilege that can be revoked if, as is in fact the case, Islam is a totalitarian ideology dedicated to the destruction of the United States. The Constitution, it bears repeating, is not a suicide pact. For Muslims, patriotism is not the last refuge of a scoundrel, but the First Amendment is."
(Pardon me while I make like the wind running from my keyboard to my toilet as just reading this crap makes me wretch. Now that I'm back from my barf break, please allow me to continue.)
Now see, here is the problem with this; our founding fathers as enlightened freethinkers, were educated men and had seen what had happened in other countries that were pretty much governed by the church (much in the way that the Christian Right of today is attempting a wholesale, aggressive take over of our government). They didn't not want this to happen in this country so in 1791 they ratified the 1'st amendment establishing a "wall of separation between church and state".If the US Federal Government was built on legal documents such as the Deceleration of Independence and the US Constitution, you could argue that Thomas Jefferson was one of the head Architects on the job. If you were to do a google search for "Thomas Jefferson Quotes on Religious Freedom" you'll find some pretty useful insights into the way of thinking of our founding fathers at least were religious freedom is involved. I could probably find quotes on "Freedom of Religion" from all of the founding fathers but, for the sake of time, space and my sanity, I only looked for a few key quotes from one of the most pivotal of the founding fathers.
History shows that our founding fathers wanted to establish for there newly founded nation a free and civil government for the people of America. With that in mind, I would like to quote to you a line from a letter that Thomas Jefferson wrote to Alexander von Humboldt on December 6, 1813. "History, I believe, furnishes no example of a priest-ridden people maintaining a free civil government. This marks the lowest grade of ignorance of which their civil as well as religious leaders will always avail themselves for their own purposes.".
Now dose that sound like words of some one who belongs to a group that wishes to give rights, protections and liberties to members of one religion and not to another? Wouldn't make for much of a "Free Civil Government" now would it?
Another little gem from Mr. Jefferson comes from a letter he wrote to the Danbury Baptist Association of Danbury CT regarding the 1'st amendment on January 1, 1802. "Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legislative powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should 'make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,' thus building a wall of separation between church and State.". Now, how would you interrupt this one? Seems quite clear to me that he's saying "We ratified the first amendment and built a wall of separation between church and state because quite simply, what god you worship, how you worship and your religious preference is none of the government's damn business".
And the Thomas Jefferson quote that put the final nail in the coffin of all this "The Constitution only grants rights to Christians" nonsense is from a letter from Thomas Jefferson to Dr. Thomas Cooper on February 10, 1814 needs no reflection on what was meant nor is left open for any interpretation. "Christianity neither is, nor ever was a part of the common law.". So there you have it from the pen of Thomas Jefferson himself.
In case quoting Jefferson wasn't enough, ponder this fact for a moment, in the constitution, there is but one reference to religion (the first part of the first amendment granting freedom of religion), no mention of God and no mention of Christianity. Seeing as the men who wrote this document were pretty thorough in drafting this document, if the rights, protections, liberties and freedoms granted to the citizens were to be granted only to Christians, don't you think it would say so?
"America was founded by people escaping religious persecution"
This is a line used by groups such as The American Family Association and the ilk who use the tenants of there church to continue to persecute members of the GLBT community who seek to achieve marriage equality.
Now, lets take a look at what persecution is shall we? Persecution is the systematic mistreatment of one group by another group.
While it is true that the first settlers to the "New World" set forth on this continent to avoid "religious persecution", the founding fathers who established the government of the United States Of America that has lasted all these many years fought the British crown for freedom from tyranny that had little if anything to do with religious persecution. Our founding fathers were fighting against oppressive laws such unfair taxes, taxation without representation, being made to provide food and living quarters for British soldiers etc etc etc. So you see, the escape of religious persecution is not as big a factor in the founding of America as these people are making it out to be.
Whats more is that using the "religious persecution" argument to fight against Civil Unions or Same Sex Marriage doesn't hold much water. There claim is that by the government to allow Civil Unions or Same Sex Marriages would be an infringement on there religious liberty and would force them to except a union or marriage that is against the tennents of there church. What they don't expect us to realize is that this is the biggest shovel full of bullshit there dumping on our heads.
You see, in America, if you are a man seeking to marry a woman, the government allows any man to wed any woman and with a few restrictions excepts it. Meanwhile, many Christian faiths will not except or preform the marriage of a member of there faith to a member of another faith with out the non-member converting. Take Mormonism for example; If I am a Mormon man seeking to wed a Catholic woman and she refuses to convert to Mormonism, the Mormon church forbids the marriage, would refuse to preform the ceremony and would excommunicate me from the church if I went through with the wedding and all this is allowed by the federal government.You see, Uncle Sam could care less whether a church will allow a member to marry a non -member or what churches excepts what marriages. Members of the GLBT community seek only recognition of there unions from the government so that they may receive the same rights, privileges and protections as heterosexual couples.
While we are on the subject of persecution, when you look at what the word means and the treatment that members of the GLBT community receives at the hands of the Christian Right, let me ask you this, who is persecuting whom?
Now that I've given you, my dear reader enough information and historic fact to ruminate over, I think I'll go and enjoy the rest of my evening.
This has been The Rainbow Patriot, signing off for now.
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