The Problem With Separation of Church and State

School in the…   wait for it…  liberal Democrat-leaning state of New York…  censored an art student’s contribution to a mural.  They had tons of religious imagery on the wall, but the minute a student who believed that Jesus was the Way, the Truth, and the Life decided to paint a cross and a few song lyrics, the school felt that she’d crossed the line.

Scary!

Painting a mosque?  Fine.  A demonic creature?  A-OK.   The Taj Mahal?  10-4.  A Native American totem pole?  Yee-hah.  A cross?  BLACKLIST THE TWIT!!!

Look, I’m all for not pushing religion on people.  I am a dedicated, strong, stubborn Christian, but I know that there are people who neither share my faith nor want to share my faith.  And while I do believe I am called to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to let you know the Good News that He can save you from your sins and the penalty to come if you only repent and believe in Him…  but I’m also well aware that the best way to communicate the Gospel is to build a personal relationship with people and to meet them where they are so that you can point them to the Cross.  An ineffective method would be sticking students in a classroom and indoctrinating them via a state-approved religious curriculum.

Having said that, there seems to be a mistake made by the anti-religious crowd and bureaucrats, that our precious little angels – and by extension, our precious little public – must be freed from any expression of religious (read: Christian) belief in the public circle.  They crow about the separation of church and state and point out that the Supreme Court has ruled that prayer isn’t allowed in any classroom, ever!  Ha ha ha!

Silly people.  Silly, evil people.

Let’s take a quick look at the First Amendment:

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.

There’s a lot of meat in there, but it’s meat that’s easily identified and served up. Let’s stick with just the stuff that sticks with this case.

1.  Congress shall make no law.  This is pretty simple: the first amendment is a restriction on the actions of Congress, not the people.  Much like the 2nd Amendment protects the right to bear arms, the First Amendment protects the rights of the people.

2.  An establishment of religion.  Again, pretty simple: Congress is not allowed to declare an official religion of the United States.  This was because many of the American colonies were founded by Christian people for religious purposes, and those Christian groups sometimes didn’t get along, sometimes even with themselves.  By avoiding the establishment of a national religion, those debates were rendered moot at the Federal level, even though every single colony still acknowledged Almighty God in their charters.  Today, this has been extended to other religions.

3.  Or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.  The Federal Government cannot keep you from practicing your religion.  If you want to practice Voodoo, that’s your business (so long as you’re not breaking any laws in doing so).

4.  Or abridging the freedom of speech.  Again, while there are reasonable limits placed on this right (you can’t yell fire in a theater, you can’t threaten someone’s life, etc.), it’s typically accepted that the government is not allowed to tell you what you can and cannot say.  Simple?  Sure.

So where did we get lost?  In my ever-loving opinion, it started in the 1980′s, when the Supreme Court ruled in Abington Township v. Schempp , where they introduced the “secular vs. religious” test.  Later, in Allegheny County v. Greater Pittsburgh ACLU, the court went full retard, ruling that having the words “Gloria in Exelcis Deo” was illegal because that was totally religious, but it was OK to have a Menorah, because that’s totally secular.  By entertaining a micromanagement approach towards the free exercise of religion, the Court empowered those who want to push a secularist religion like atheism.

This leads to incidents like this, where the same people who thought it was evil, wrong, super-evil censorship to ban the sale of 2 Live Crew albums in Florida think it’s perfectly OK to paint over a student’s artistic expression of admiration for her God because, Lord knows someone might see her picture and get magically forced by the school board to join the Baptists.  They’re so busy enforcing point #2 of the amendment that they miss #3 and #4.  They’re taking a very liberal view of the constitution, where one can change the plain meaning of the constitution as it suits the situation (hence why I join Alonzo Rachel in rejecting “progressive” as a label for people who are more accurately described as “liberal”).  This liberal view means that the freedom of those who should be protected by the constitution is subject to the whims of a government bureaucrat.

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Who Is Brett Kimberlin?

Convicted Speedway Bomber turned Liberal Activist Brett Kimberlin is bullying conservatives who point out that he’s a convicted bomber who’s receiving a lot of money from liberals.  After bombing a few choice locations in Speedway, Indiana and coming up with a few more bizarre plots, he received over 50 years in prison for a string of bombings, but for some reason was granted parole after 17 years, and is now breathing free air, collecting cash from liberal stalwarts like Barbara Streissand and Teresa Heinz-Kerry, and is thuggishly trying to silence anyone who points out exactly who he is, trying to falsely frame some for crimes, forcing some to leave their homes in fear of their safety, and threatening others with lawsuits that point out things that are part of the public record.  He’s gotten Wikipedia to delete his own article, hiding his crimes from history.

There are 3 questions I have:

1.  Why is this convicted felon who shouldn’t be free until, at minimum, 2028, breathing free air?

2.  Why are big-name liberals giving him big money?

3.  Why is this serial litigator still allowed to sue?

Today is Everybody Blog About Brett Kimberlin Day.  Join me and bloggers around the country in exposing this convicted felon and left-wing activist.

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Piñata II: The Spawning

There’s nothing like watching a Union thug beat a Nikki Haley piñata to make you ask a simple question: why is it OK?  Or, to be a bit more direct: would it be OK if someone made a Barack Obama piñata and beat it with a stick?

I’m not saying that the right has been innocent in their treatment of liberals, but…   well, we are.  Seriously.  There’s no comparison.  Between the union thugs assaulting people who disagree with them to the Occupiers who attack cops and destroy private property, the left seems to have trouble containing the most violent of their ranks.

In comparison, the Tea Party events were peaceful, well-organized, and cooperative with law enforcement.  I’ve been able to come across a couple of stories of TPers getting arrested (most notably when a group decided to Occupy the Hart Office Building in Washington DC), but most of the events have been peaceful.  Sure, there’ve been accusations of people spitting on Congressmen and calling them names, and one CNN producer totally heard a Tea Partier use the F-word once, maybe, possibly….    but in comparison to the Occupy Twits?  They’re freakin’ boy scouts.

The point being that equivocation only serves its purpose when there’s something to equivocate, and there’s nothing here to equivocate.  I’ll go ahead and say it: the AFL/CIO idiot who made a Nikki Haley piñata was just as wrong as someone who’d make a Barack Obama piñata.  They’re both idiots and should both be treated accordingly.

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Just some numbers……

According to Fox news, the CBO has rated the cost of the Iraq war, and compared to the stimulus passed by the Obama administration the numbers are interesting.  You can read the Fox News report here. 

According to CBO numbers in its Budget and Economic Outlook published this month, the cost of Operation Iraqi Freedom was $709 billion for military and related activities, including training of Iraqi forces and diplomatic operations.

The projected cost of the stimulus, which passed in February 2009, and is expected to have a shelf life of two years, was $862 billion. 

Here is another excerpt on the deficit according to the U.S. Office of Management and Budget.

The U.S. deficit for fiscal year 2010 is expected to be $1.3 trillion, according to CBO. That compares to a 2007 deficit of $160.7 billion and a 2008 deficit of $458.6 billion, according to data provided by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget.

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The Sajak is right

 

Finally a voice of reasoning from Hollywood other than Charlie Daniels or Jon Voight.  Mr. Pat Sajak gives us, I mean “the global warming crowd” , (yes the same group of people that believe it is possible for humans to affect the climate of the earth) some very pratical ways they can pracitce what they preach.  Maybe just a little leading by example?

Let’s assume that a third of the world’s population really believes mankind has the power to adjust the Earth’s thermostat through lifestyle decisions. The percentage may be higher or lower, but, for the sake of this exercise, let’s put it at one-third. Now it seems to me these people have a special obligation to change their lives dramatically because they truly believe catastrophe lies ahead if they don’t. The other two-thirds are merely ignorant, so they can hardly be blamed for their actions.

Now, if those True Believers would give up their cars and big homes and truly change the way they live, I can’t imagine that there wouldn’t be some measurable impact on the Earth in just a few short years. I’m not talking about recycling Evian bottles, but truly simplifying their lives. Even if you were, say, a former Vice President, you would give up extra homes and jets and limos. I see communes with organic farms and lives freed from polluting technology.

Then, when the rest of us saw the results of their actions—you know, the earth cooling, oceans lowering, polar bears frolicking and glaciers growing—we would see the error of our ways and join the crusade voluntarily and enthusiastically.

This should at least win idea of the day?  Maybe idea of the week or even month?  The problem is, the lefty environmentalist only want you to “Do as I say, not as I do”.  All Pat is asking is,  if you are so serious about all of this, show us the way.  We will follow suit like Lemmings off a cliff as soon as we are  visually enlightened by all of the “Global Warming” rhetoric, babble and smoke blowing.

Until then, stop trying to pass laws that will apply new taxes and fees to the citizens of the United States.  Quit telling us we need to buy florecent bulbs because they are better for the environment.  (Did you know that is the reason the fish in WI have high mecury levels is because people are too lazy to drive down to the local hardware stores to recycle them.  I’m sure it’s just the conservative-Republican earth haters though)  Please, no more telling us that we need to drive a car that wouldn’t survive a collision with a moped to save the environment.  For the love of Pete stop telling us to do all of the things that are going to save the planet and bankrupt us in the process. All the while still traveling in your private or commercial jets and trying to off set your pollution with carbon credits/offsets. 

I know it makes you feel all warm and fuzzy that you can still be a pollution hog and just offset your destruction of our planet by shuting off your computer at night, turning off the water while you brush your teeth, or using candles to read.  But the fact is that every time you hop on that plane, or get in your car, you are polluting.  You can’t take it away with a shower every three days.

Anyway, I think Pat Sajak is on to something here.  And for the record, there is no one who is a conservative that is of sound mind, who really wants to destroy the earth.  Be assured, sleep well at night knowing that we want to protect the earth and conserve it as well.

Side note:  I know that the Price is right is not Sajak’s game show, but I thought I’d use it anyway in the title.

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Oil spill time line video

Nice little video on Vimeo from rightchange that shows a timeline on the president’s response after the BP oil disaster in the Gulf.

Plump full of the most prominent conservative media faces today.   oops, I mean liberal.  Yes, that’s right the ones taking the President to task are his own party and buddies.

There isn’t anything new in the video, it is just well put together and lays it all out.

Oil Spill Timeline from RightChange on Vimeo.

Go ahead, take a look.  It’s 4 minutes long.

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The oPad – everyone will have one

This is a great visual analogy.  It’s less than two minutes and well worth a watch.  It’s funny, creative and very informative.   

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Obama Preemptively Surrenders in Nuclear War

And to think, all the Soviet Union would’ve had to do is to wait.  Yesterday, the cocaine-snorting communist announced that he would not respond with nuclear arms, even if attacked by an enemy WITH nuclear arms.

"No Big Deal." - B. Hussein Obama

No, our Commander-in-Chief would rather save our massive nuclear stockpile for such large-scale nuclear assaults by nations like Iran and North Korea who, between the 2 of them, may have fewer than 20 low-yield nukes.

But if another country like, say, Russia or China unleashes hundreds or thousands of nuclear warheads on the US mainland?  Nah…   we’ll just sit back and take a couple hundred megatons for the team.  In the name of peace, of course.

Bonus: Russia reserves the right to bow out of the recent nuke treaty Obama negotiated for us.

On one hand, I seriously want to refer to Barack Hussein Obama as a complete and total retard.  I’d love to believe that he’s naive enough to think that if we promise not to strike back, we can preemptively avoid the possibility of attack by a major nuclear power bent on the destruction of the United States.

But I don’t believe it.  He’s not stupid.  He’s not naive.  He’s simply an aggressive anti-American who has more in common with the Communists who used to – and still do – run those countries who stand against us as rival superpowers than he does with people who think America is good.  The reason I believe he has already surrendered is because he’s already on their side.  He is the most dangerous man ever to sit in the Oval Office chair, and it is our responsibility as people who love freedom to stand against him and pray for his utter failure.

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The Liars list.

 

The Complete List of Obama Statement Expiration Dates  provided by Jim Geraghty at NRO.

Here are some highlights:

STATEMENT: “These negotiations will be on C-SPAN, and so the public will be part of the conversation and will see the decisions that are being made.” January 20, 2008, and seven other times.

EXPIRATION DATE: Throughout the summer, fall, and winter of 2009 and 2010; when John McCain asked about it during the health care summit February 26, Obama dismissed the issue by declaring, “the campaign is over, John.”

STATEMENT: “No family making less than $250,000 will see any form of tax increase.” (multiple times on the campaign trail)

EXPIRATION DATE: Broken multiple times, including the raised taxes on tobacco, a new tax on indoor tanning salons, but most prominently on February 11, 2010: “President Barack Obama said he is “agnostic” about raising taxes on households making less than $250,000 as part of a broad effort to rein in the budget deficit.”

It is rather lenghty, but well worth a read.  Here is to “The One” who says one thing and does another.  Very typical of Washington and all that dwell there, but I think Obama and his people take it to another level.

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Waxman to Wax those big defying companies

 I wondered why these companies had not spoken out sooner, when it could have done some good. I suppose this is the answer: they know how vindictive the Democrats are. The Democrats’ reaction would have been even more hostile (and more dangerous to the companies’ well-being) if they had dared to blow the whistle on Obamacare before Congress voted.

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