Op-ed:
Bowing Before the 'Shrine of Intolerance'
By: Diane Sori / The Patriot Factor / Right Side Patriots on http://cprworldwidemedia.net/
By: Diane Sori / The Patriot Factor / Right Side Patriots on http://cprworldwidemedia.net/
“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 to the United States Constitution
Religious beliefs vs. our secular based
government has recently been brought to the forefront and has gained
a life of its own thanks to presidential hopefuls like Mike Huckabee
and Rick Santorum, and to a somewhat lesser degree by Ted Cruz, all
of whom have make religion a central point in their respective
presidential campaigns. Feeding off a woman named Kim Davis and her
refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples even after
the SCOTUS ruled that same-sex marriage is now the law of the land,
these candidates are weaving their personal religious beliefs into
their politics and it is NOT serving them well for the majority of
Americans, while holding a strong belief in God, do understand that
one's personal religious beliefs need to be checked at the door when
holding a government job...a civil service job...with 'civil'...as in
'relating to ordinary citizens and their concerns, as distinct from
military or ecclesiastical matters'...being the operative word.
Freedom to believe and worship as one
chooses is indeed a right protected under our First Amendment, but
also under the First Amendment is the words that, “Congress
shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion” and
these words mean that there shall be NO official religion in
this country. NO official religion...period... and that means that
Christianity is NOT the official religion of this country nor is
Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, or any other ism including atheism. And
islam is NOT even a part of this discussion as islam is NOT a
religion but a political system and cult hiding behind the cloak of
religion. NO official “establishment of religion” means NO
particular religion's doctrine and tenets takes precedence over any
other particular religion's doctrines and tenets as the definitive
way to worship God, but it also means that NO religion's doctrine and
tenets takes precedence over the secular law of our land...that being
the United States Constitution.
And while many of our Founders and
Framers were indeed men of God with deep held personal religious
beliefs, many others were deists, and still others held NO
deep-seated religious convictions at all, but the one thing they all
had in common was that our governing laws were to be constructed so
that one's personal religious beliefs were to be kept out of the
actual workings of government so as to be fair to everyone. They did
NOT play the game that unfortunately so many today are playing...as
in my religion trumps your religion...my religion is 'the'
religion...my way and my church's beliefs are the only way to
God...you know the game as many have played it and played it well,
influencing elections and NOT in a good way.
Case
in point...remember
those who said they would NOT vote for Mitt Romney simply because he
was a Mormon... NOT their particular brand of Christian tea so to
speak... thereby allowing Barack HUSSEIN Obama to win a second term in
office...thus directly being the cause of our country reaching the
depths of despair she is in now. And if this same group of people
either votes or chooses NOT to vote based upon their religious
convictions alone...and if politicians run their campaigns with a focus
on religion instead of on the
tangible and oh so serious issues facing our country today all because
of a woman named
Kim Davis...America's downfall will surely lay directly at their
collective feet. And just like the 'element' of those 'behaving badly'
who seem
to think they speak for an entire segment of our population, these
religiously judgemental folk think they speak for all Americans of
faith...and quite simply...they do NOT.
Most people...even many people of
faith...do understand the premise of 'separation of church and state'
as meaning NO state-run or state-established church or church dogma
must make its way into our nation's secular laws as secular law is
the umbrella of laws all Americans must follow regardless of their
personal religious beliefs. Laid down by Thomas Jefferson in his
phrase to that affect concerning the intent and function of the
Establishment Clause and Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment,
Jefferson wrote in an 1802 letter to the Danbury Baptists, that he
believes that religion is a matter that lies solely between a man and
his God (as do I), and that “he owes account to none other for
his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government
reach actions only, and NOT opinions...”
And
it's important to note Jefferson's words, “the legitimate
powers of government reach actions only, and NOT opinions...” as
those few words give
undeniable credence to the fact that the tangible actions of Kim
Davis...as in her refusing to issue the marriage licenses to same-sex
couples as it now being the law of our land...are what she was
arrested for and NOT for her personal Christian beliefs NO matter how
hard the religious right wants it to be so...and that includes
religious driven candidates Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum...the
later of which would have NO problem turning America into a Christian
theocracy.
And
as
a little side note, here's an interesting fact...the word
'religion'...just like the words 'natural born citizen'... is NOWHERE
defined in the Constitution....meaning that when the Constitution was
developed our Founders and Framers based their entire concept of
religious liberty upon the history of the times in which they lived and
in which the
Constitution was written. Simple translation, those escaping the
Christian-based theocracies of Europe did NOT want or intend for this
new nation to be theocratic in concept or implementation of any one
religion including the Christian religion.
As to
Kim Davis' role in this conundrum, Davis was and still is a 'civil
servant,' and took an oath to uphold the law and to adjudicate her
responsibilities accordingly... responsibilities she knew of well before
assuming this position...responsibilities that include leaving
you personal religious beliefs at the door while maintaining
records of all civil governing body transactions
including resolutions and ordinances as well as being responsible for
keeping records of deeds and marriage licenses, issuing certificates
of Vital Statistics (birth, death, marriage), and maintaining most
other public records. Davis' duties also include issuing permits for
various parades and parties, as well as many other licenses, and in
refusing to do even one of the duties her job entails she is indeed
breaking the law...in this case breaking the law regarding same-sex
marriage as laid down by the SCOTUS...and she is doing so knowingly
and willingly, and if she continues to do so Kim Davis needs to
resign her government position and take a position in the private or
religious sector.
In fact, when Davis altered the
marriage license forms of same-sex couples on her first day back on the job after being released from
jail...when she removed her name and the name of Rowan
county from said forms that were issued by her deputy clerks in her
absence...Davis invalidated the forms rendering them legally useless, and her
actions were indeed a direct violation of the judge's order that
afforded her her release from jail. In other words, Kim Davis once again broke
the law knowingly and willingly and is using her personal religious
beliefs as the excuse to do so. And the likes of Mike Huckabee and
Rick Santorum chose to forget, first, John Adam's words as per the Treaty of Tripoli that, "The government of the United States is in no way founded upon the Christian religion," as well as Thomas Jefferson's
very wise words stated in Section II of his 'A
Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom [in Virginia]'...that “...all
men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their
opinions in matters of religion, but that the same shall in no wise
diminish, enlarge, or affect their civil capacities,” (again
note the word 'civil') as they rally
around a woman trampling on the very laws she as a civil servant swore
to uphold and protect...laws laid down by our Founders and Framers like Adams and Jefferson to
protect the rest of us from people like her. 
And to put all this into simple perspective, I, a strict Constitutionalist, leave you with some final words once again from Thomas Jefferson who said, “I never will by any word or act, bow to the shrine of intolerance.” And that is exactly what Kim Davis and her supporters are doing...bowing to the 'shrine of intolerance' and doing so both in the name of religion and over a SCOTUS ruling that did NOT go their preferred way as they continue to spread and revel in hate...and it's that very hate the Democrats are counting on to again split the Republican party and be the cause of us NOT turning the White House back to red.
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2 comments:
"Case in point...remember those who said they would NOT vote for Mitt Romney simply because he was a Mormon"
No, I can't actually.
"thereby allowing Barack HUSSEIN Obama to win a second term in office."
Prove it.
RM, you are correct. The people who were most suspect in not voting for Romney due to his religion were Southern Baptists, and yet Romney won every state where they have the majority religion. Of course we all remember Billy Graham meeting with Romney and endorsing him, and then NC flipped back to the Republican column.
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