How many of you have read the 1st Amendment to the US Constitution? 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. Now.......what does that mean, regarding religion? It means that the US Government will not allow ONE religion to have more power/control/say over things, give favoritism to, etc. In other words.......our Founding Fathers did NOT want America to end up like England. Why, you may ask? Who runs the Anglican Church? I will give you one clue......she has been Queen for a while now. Ben Franklin, and the rest didnt want that to happen here......so, they wrote that Amendment. IF one religious group has the RIGHT to put a statue to THEIR God at the entrance to any public building, or a sign with quotes from THEIR holy book......then........either it gets taken down......OR.......ANY religious group may do the same. Otherwise, its showing favoritism to that ONE religious group. Yes, your group is free to do/post/erect whatever you wish on property your religious GROUP owns. However, when it comes to things like a local City Hall, State Park or State Capital building.......then, either its all or nothing. Same goes for our Public Schools, which are run by the Government. Also applies to public school teachers. They are there to TEACH kids.....not preach to them. Thats what Churches, Mosques, and other Holy places are for. Now......does that mean you cannot teach ABOUT religion in public school? Of course not.....how would you teach about the Middle Ages or the Crusades w/o discussing the role of the Roman Catholic Church? But, there is a HUGE difference between TEACHING about it......and, PREACHING to kids. Want to know more about that? Go check out the ACLU website......they have TONS of things on that topic. Some of you seem to think, that because I feel strongly about this, and talk about it......that I am somehow against certain religions. For those who feel that way.......you really dont know me. I am for Religious Freedom for ALL groups in our Country.....so long as they are NOT Radical ones or being used as a front for White Power or other Hate groups. As someone who has been a Spiritual Leader of a local Pagan/Heathen group for over 15 years.......I know what its like to be persecuted against. Our group has held 501c3 non-profit status here in MI. We hosted the Newaygo County Pagan Awareness Day in Fremont, MI for 5 years. Do you have ANY idea of how much flack we have taken? One local City government put rental prices on their City parks 10X higher than ANY local governments....merely to keep us from using their parks. I know......I was there when they did it. My point with all of this.........please bear in mind that others may feel strongly about something........for a valid reason......even if you dont know it. Try to take the time to. You may be enlightened. Blessings
Posted on: Wed, 10 Dec 2014 03:50:52 +0000