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CallaFirestormBW -> RE: Atheists sue to keep 'In God We Trust' off Capitol Visitor Center (7/20/2009 3:55:50 PM)
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quote:
It seems to me a simpler solution should be a ratification to the Constitution, barring religious connotations to any law, public building or gathering, ect. But then we open ourselves up to more restrictions. The christmas day parade would be deemed offensive to those who do not celebrate.. so... its history. Many have tried to bar the christmas tree from public displays. We all have seen the uproar to the public nativity scenes. Would halloween be next? Thanksgiving? would those who are lucky enough to have the holidays off with pay now have to work because an atheist or a non christian person doesnt believe in that holiday? would make a good excuse for businesses to be open then, and to be able to get rid of paying time and a half if you work them.
See, these kinds of responses are meant to play to the emotions (fears) of the audience. They are not a balanced, debate-worth argument.
We shouldn't -need- another ratification of the Constitution to bar religious connotations to any law, public building or gathering. It is already -there-, encompassed in the First Amendment. The First Amendment guarantees Freedom of Religion, and assures that there is -no- State-Sanctioned religion. Therefore, the laws that put "God" on our money and buildings were unconstitutional from the very beginning. We cannot be "One Nation Under God, Indivisible" when there are members of the nation who do not believe in, follow, or pray to God.
Prayer in schools should be silent if done at all. The schools decided to make it easy on everyone and get it out of school entirely, but certain religious groups, insisting that they knew what was best for everyone, pushed the issue--at that point, there was no choice but to allow -every- group to be represented, because if we are in a nation that has NO State religion, than any religion expressed within the confines of a government-led organization (which our public schools are) must either eliminate all references to religion, or must be able and willing to teach -all- possible religious options equally.
A Christmas Day parade may be considered unsuitable if it is being sanctioned by the local government on any level... City, state, village, or national. On the other hand, a Christmas or Thanksgiving Day parade that is privately funded has every right to continue to be presented... however, it is also reasonable and just that those who -oppose- such an event have equal time to present their own rally or event in contrast. Now let me ask you -this-... how do you think the Southern Baptists would respond if the local coven in their community decided that, if the Baptists could have a holiday parade, they could have a Solstice Pageant? It is -just- to allow such a thing to happen, but how many Christians would pull at their Christmas Frocks if it actually did?
The fact is, if one group does something, it is within the realm of Free Speech for someone else to complain about it being done. If the Christians want to have a Christmas tree at Christmas as opposed to a Holiday Tree, and they insist on it being declared a "Christmas Tree" to put the "Christ" back in Christmas, and they want to have it set up in the Central Commons of Neverville USA, then why shouldn't the Pagans be allowed to celebrate Samhain in a public park, and the Voudoun get to celebrate Day of the Dead or Carnival outside the Town Hall? But if you're going to deny one group, then we have to deny them all -- there is no special clause for Christians, just because they're the majority among the believers.
I'm not even going to go into Thanksgiving and the huge farce that makes up -that- holiday.
Ideally, the way to deal with the whole holiday pay issue is just to give people those extra 9 days a year off to do what they damned well please with. The atheists can tack them onto their regular vacation days, the Christians can take Thanksgiving, Good Friday, and Christmas, the Jewish folk can take Yom Kippur and Passover, the Pagans can take Samhain and Midsummer Eve and whatever else strokes your chicken... Many businesses have already gone to this model, and it just makes common sense. I know that where I work, we get State holidays, plus 4 'floating' holidays a year to use according to your own beliefs. I don't know about you, but I don't believe in God and I -still- enjoy the couple of days off in the winter... if they gave them to me in my vacation, I might -still- take a couple days in December just to go see some snow. OTOH, it is annoying as heck to run out of eggs or want to go out for a bite to eat or something on Christmas day and not be able to find a single doggone grocery store or restaurant to get a decent meal, just because -some- folks in the neighborhood have a religious holiday that day.
DC
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