North Carolina enters the Dark Ages

First topic message reminder :

Updated at 8:17 a.m. ET: North Carolina voters Tuesday overwhelmingly approved a proposed amendment to the state’s constitution which limits marriage to traditional one man-one woman marriages.
With all of the state's 100 counties reporting, the amendment won in a landslide, with 61 percent of the vote. (LINK)

Unfortunately my state of North Carolina took its place among 28 other states that haven't figured out that the Bible and the Constitution are not one and the same. I stayed up all night Monday so I could vote against this farcical piece of legislation Tuesday morning but, alas, superstition and fallacy triumphed in the end. Our electorate here in the US is so misguided by bigotry, religion, and an ignorance of history that I sometimes wonder why I bothered to come here and call this country my home. All too often I am ashamed by the actions of our citizens, and standing proud with the affectation of "American" is growing increasingly harder.

Should the American flag stand for division, religious fascism, bigotry, fear, and superstition? Because it does. We are often taught in our schools that America was founded by European immigrants who wanted to escape religious persecution in their native lands; they wanted to be free. But as is so often the case with classroom lectures, that's not the whole story. The reality is that our forefathers came to this land only to find freedom for themselves. To that end, they became the persecutors; they were the abused children who grew up and abused their own children, the very thing they claimed to hate. During the colonial period, Catholic priests were banned from entering certain colonies, Quakers were dragged from their homes and lynched in the town square, and oppressive religious laws were passed: Some locales made church attendance mandatory by law, laughing was forbidden on Sundays, theater performances were outlawed, a ship captain was put into the stocks for kissing his wife upon his return from a long sea voyage, and George Washington himself - as the first President of the United States - was detained for working on Sunday.

The last time North Carolina amended its state constitution was to ban interracial marriages. Is there a pattern here? Incidentally, the ban on interracial marriage was never repealed. The federal government had to step in and nullify it as unconstitutional. Quite a good thing, too, or else I would never be able to marry in this state unless I found a half-Indian, half-British man who happened to be single and compatible with me. I guess I just managed to dodge that bullet, eh? However, if the pattern of bigotry and religious persecution holds, I am confident that one day this amendment, too, will be nullified by the federal government.

This is not really about same-sex marriage. It is about religious freedom - something guaranteed to us by the 1st Amendment to the US Constitution. As an immigrant to this nation, I had to learn about this country inside and out. I sometimes think I understand it better than those who were born and raised here. People flocked to the polling stations with religious zealotry in their eyes to vote for this amendment never once giving religious freedom a second thought. IF our rights are endowed by our Creator, as many people believe, then how can there be a vote to take one of those Creator-endowed rights away? No, I don't mean the "right" to marry. I'm talking about the right to worship as one sees fit - without the interference of government legislation to nudge, prod, and poke people toward evangelical Christianity.

While none of the 28 (now 29) states which have passed these amendments mention God, the Bible, or Christianity in their wording, make no mistake, this IS about religion. Only the dumbest and most duped among us would believe it is not. Anyone fooled by the lack of religious wording in these amendments needs to spend some time learning about politics and how the game is played. I have personally heard our state senators rallying support for this amendment with liberal use of the words, "God, "Bible," and "Christianity," during their speeches. I have personally seen the parking lots filled with church buses during these rallies. I know that churches large and small donated money for this cause. I have personally seen the arguments written by forum posters supporting these amendments, and without fail, these forum posters used sin, God, the Bible, and Christianity to support their views. No one on their side ever stopped to think about the precious and Creator-endowed right to religious freedom. No, not a one. In their minds, I suppose, religious freedom means we have the freedom to worship in the way the majority finds appropriate. Using the popular vote to strip away guaranteed freedoms is both despicable and cowardly, a perversion of democracy.

What's more, these state amendments are malicious in nature - wholly disgusting and, as an American, embarrassing. Until these amendments are repealed, I will never again use the word "freedom" in relation to US law. I will not sing the part of our national anthem that erroneously proclaims, "land of the free ..." I will not recite the part of our pledge that declares, "With liberty and justice for all." Nor will I repeat the phrase, "All men are created equal," a phrase so popularized by our Declaration of Independence. I am not a liar, and I will not repeat those lies, not even in the name of misguided patriotism. Our constitutions, both state and federal, were designed to grant rights - not take them away. They are documents that are supposed to embody the spirit of America, documents that any American should be able to hold up into the air and be proud of. ANY American ... not just Christians. How can any American be proud of a document that has bigotry and discrimination burned into its pages as immutable law, a law that targets a specific group for persecution all because they do not adhere to Christian values? What's worse is that this law does not even represent all Christians. It represents the wishes of only those Christians who believe in religious fascism - that their brand of Christianity is the only right way to live and worship.

This amendment was wholly unnecessary since gay couples were already not recognized by the state. That is why this law is malicious. Why ban something that could not be done to begin with? It is like passing a law banning people from turning invisible at will or flying to the moon by flapping their arms. And why now? America had never needed amendments like these before. Could it be because they were scared gays might actually be allowed to marry, free from the monopoly religion claims to have on marriage? Of course it is. There is no coincidence here, no other reason why states suddenly needed these amendments. They were afraid that they might have to live in a nation side-by-side with others who may not share their religious values. These laws were inspired by religious zealotry, bigotry, and hatred.

They are monuments to all that is wrong in this country.

Have we just witnessed a classic case of concrete thinking?.........If it's not written down it doesn't exist!

I wonder how someone who seems to have only three main reference sources, The Bible, The US Constitution and Wikipedia can ever offer to teach anyone anything!!!!

The 'Great Sage' believes he knows everything but has always has great difficulty in ANSWERING any challenge to his 'Knowledge' without asking a question back.......How is this educating????

TROLL!

I absolutely refuse to play the literalist semantic game again.

Yet you did it anyway. Just think of all the information and lessons this troll has elicited though his antics.

Most have to pay for this kind of education.

A universal constant in such discussions seems to be a slavish reliance upon things that were written a long time ago.

Can we assume that "Cutting Edge" will be a standard work of reference in, say, the year 2112?

I’m glad I’m me and not you.

But then you have no choice do you? Given one you in my opinion would most likely reconsider TROLL.

I am a scholar. I elicit nothing through antics. I often confound persons like you with simple requests which persons like you, through inability or refusal, do not address. In your case, you compound your own inability and/or refusal to address my simple request by (a) attempting to engage Shirina in gossip-mongering, (b) belittling me (“ this troll”), and (c) verbally disdaining my exhibited scholarship (“antics”).

You have exhibited nothing but cut and paste and a condescending comment to all who try to reason with you. What you exhibit is not scholarship, it is an ability to use your copy/paste function on your computer. A true scholar would argue both sides of the argument on their merits. You sir are no scholar.
You are an internet TROLL too lazy to do anything but expect others to do research for you. The likes of you sicken and bore me.
That anyone entertains responding to you at all is a laughable mystery. Have fun TROLL

Please continue exhibiting your true self.

I have no other recourse. I am that I am.

Perhaps you will graduate to garden gnome some time soon. I have high hopes for you Troll.

Done.

I'm going to lock this thread for awhile ... for obvious reasons.