Busy Day
The front finally made it through, so today was beautiful. Despite the fact that this was a ‘cold front’ all it did was return temperatures to what is supposedly ‘normal’ for this time of year. I have severe doubts we will see the third cold spell of the season, which once occurred around Easter. The temperature in the Gulf is already back into the 70s.
I am hard put to remember a more frantic display on the Right and among the NRA whackoes to justify what happened in Sanford, Florida. Trayvon Martin was not targeted for his choice of clothes, he was targeted for the color of his skin. Hooded garments go back millennia among the Inuit, and centuries among monastic orders and academics. They are a standard item of clothing for people who work outside, and athletes. I have two hooded jackets that are older than Mr. Martin was at his death. These attempts to obfuscate the core issue, and to transfer some of the guilt to Mr. Martin are disgusting.
Just as a reminder – I have been warning about the real target in the War on Women™, Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 U.S. 479 (1965), for a very long time, and first wrote about it here on January 14, 2006. The Christianists want to impose their views and beliefs regarding morality on everyone in the country – just like the Taliban. This is how religious wars always start.
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I’ve always been amazed that Griswold wasn’t unanimous, but even if it had been, today’s Court seems to have little use for stare decisis. And today’s Christianists would be appalled if they actually read what Jefferson and Madison wrote. The crazies are just certain that everything would be wonderful if only they could force everyone to act as if they believed the same thing they did.
I happened to read tonight about Galileo’s experience before the Inquisition (it’s amazing what you find in popular science books), and it occurred to me to wonder how long… a decade? two decades? a century?… before something similar happens here. I have no desire, as you know, for a physical confrontation, especially in my current condition. But the Christianist government official who attempts forcibly to make me love Jesus may soon find himself facing the Goddess for a little talk. I shall not tolerate that sort of intolerance from my government or anyone else.
Isn’t it amazing the the religiousness warriors(RW’s) always think that their god is on their side regardless of which god it is. You think that the RW’s could figure out if there is an almighty God in charge of the universe that he would be kinda too busy to worry about the petty shit they want to force on everyone else.
I mean, think about it, we’re one of billions of planets that has to be tended to, so why would we be so special as to warrant 100% attention 100% of the time. More wars (both internal and external) have been fought over religion than any other cause.
Just sayin!
My religion holds that both abortion and birth control should be free, since humanity was not created in His image but, rather, is a degenerate product of evolution, and thus anything which (peacefully and voluntarily) reduces the number of human beings on this planet is a Good Thing. Our deity also is rather fat and lazy and indolent and doesn’t really care about what you do, as long as you follow the Golden Rule (“be most excellent to each other”). You would like my religion, I think, once my fellow herradists take over the country and impose our religion upon you by force. Except maybe the raw herring ceremony part. But you have to treat the Great Penguin with the proper reverence or he might belch on you or something.
And hey, I have just as much evidence for the existence of the Great Penguin as the other religions have for the existence of Jehovah or Allah or whatever, so there!
– Badtux the Tuxologist Penguin
The Bill of Rights makes a ‘right of and to privacy’ obvious. The First, Third, Fourth, and Fifth Amendments deal with facets of privacy, but the overall meaning is that the government shouldn’t be mucking about in what people do in private unless there is substantial proof that it affects society as a whole.
The Fundamentalists didn’t become interested in politics until they were informed that their various businesses, like schools, were going to lose their tax exempt status if they discriminated. They made a lot of money discriminating against various groups, and they didn’t want those profits taxed, so they entered politics to change the laws.
It isn’t a coincidence that the movement is primary a Southern phenomena.