LINDENHURST LUNACY OVER "GOD BLESS AMERICA"
This is from Friday's NY POST:
"A Long Island official who hung two "God Bless America" signs outside Lindenhurst's town hall vowed yesterday to keep them up despite charges that they violate the Constitution's call for separation of church and state."
The reporter gets it wrong in that statement.The Constitution's call is not for "separation of church and state;" rather, it actually says "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion." This is an exact example of what I wrote about in my last post. Let's continue with the story:
"Gerry Dantone, of the (Center for Inquiry)'s LI chapter, wrote Bellone (the official), asking: 'Why is it OK to offend nonbelievers?'" (The same reason it's OK to offend believers, or any random person, in the public square-ANYTHING will offend SOME people)
"And Freedom From Religion Co-president Annie Laurie Gaylor noted in a letter that 'more than 14 percent of adult Americans do not believe in a god who blesses anyone.'" (Check out all the qualifiers used in that statistic!)
--Well, isn't that special? Their poor little feelings were hurt by the next little phrase in that first amendment, "- or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," meaning RELIGION! Again, one has to remember the lack of constitutional standing for a "right" not to be "offended" by any display on public property, including religious ones.
I'm sure the ACLU will enter the picture soon, unless these two groups are fronts for them already. Follow the funding trail, and the links will either be found, or disproved, eventually. There is also no lawsuit, yet. I just hope that the ACLU knows that there is a new sheriff in town, who goes by the name of the ADF, or Alliance Defense Fund, and they've deputized a bunch of regular folks in groups like STOP the ACLU, founded by Nedd Karieva, to keep looking out for this kind of suppression of liberty, and to help them fight it at every turn.
The "Long Island official" standing up for freedom of speech and religious expression is Babylon Town Supervisor Steve Bellone, who put up an 11 ft. long banner proclaiming "THANK YOU TO OUR TROOPS. GOD BLESS AMERICA." The other sign says "GOD BLESS AMERICA." (Babylon Town Hall is in the Village of Lindenhurst.) It takes a "special" kind of atheist to be offended by this. Most of them see these statements as harmless plattitudes, from my personal experience. Go figure.
STOP THE ACLU, PLEASE. Let's also add the CFI and FFR to our list of bad guys. OK, enough with the cowboy analogies! This is linked at the STOP the ACLU "Open Trackbacks" weekend party. Check it out! Jay from STOP also weighs in with God Bless America Signs Offend The Ever So Sensitive Atheists.
"A Long Island official who hung two "God Bless America" signs outside Lindenhurst's town hall vowed yesterday to keep them up despite charges that they violate the Constitution's call for separation of church and state."
The reporter gets it wrong in that statement.The Constitution's call is not for "separation of church and state;" rather, it actually says "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion." This is an exact example of what I wrote about in my last post. Let's continue with the story:
"Gerry Dantone, of the (Center for Inquiry)'s LI chapter, wrote Bellone (the official), asking: 'Why is it OK to offend nonbelievers?'" (The same reason it's OK to offend believers, or any random person, in the public square-ANYTHING will offend SOME people)
"And Freedom From Religion Co-president Annie Laurie Gaylor noted in a letter that 'more than 14 percent of adult Americans do not believe in a god who blesses anyone.'" (Check out all the qualifiers used in that statistic!)
--Well, isn't that special? Their poor little feelings were hurt by the next little phrase in that first amendment, "- or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," meaning RELIGION! Again, one has to remember the lack of constitutional standing for a "right" not to be "offended" by any display on public property, including religious ones.
I'm sure the ACLU will enter the picture soon, unless these two groups are fronts for them already. Follow the funding trail, and the links will either be found, or disproved, eventually. There is also no lawsuit, yet. I just hope that the ACLU knows that there is a new sheriff in town, who goes by the name of the ADF, or Alliance Defense Fund, and they've deputized a bunch of regular folks in groups like STOP the ACLU, founded by Nedd Karieva, to keep looking out for this kind of suppression of liberty, and to help them fight it at every turn.
The "Long Island official" standing up for freedom of speech and religious expression is Babylon Town Supervisor Steve Bellone, who put up an 11 ft. long banner proclaiming "THANK YOU TO OUR TROOPS. GOD BLESS AMERICA." The other sign says "GOD BLESS AMERICA." (Babylon Town Hall is in the Village of Lindenhurst.) It takes a "special" kind of atheist to be offended by this. Most of them see these statements as harmless plattitudes, from my personal experience. Go figure.
STOP THE ACLU, PLEASE. Let's also add the CFI and FFR to our list of bad guys. OK, enough with the cowboy analogies! This is linked at the STOP the ACLU "Open Trackbacks" weekend party. Check it out! Jay from STOP also weighs in with God Bless America Signs Offend The Ever So Sensitive Atheists.
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