JUDGE AFFIRMS BAN ON INDIANA STATE HOUSE SECTARIAN PRAYER; SHOWDOWN WEDNESDAY AS LAWMAKERS PROMISE EVANGELICAL JESUS BOOSTING Minister “talked to God,” others clapped, sang amidst gov’t prayerMove over, Judge Roy Moore.The culture war dispute over prayer in the public square is movingfrom Alabama and conflicts over Ten Commandments displays to Indiana,where evangelical legislators are promising a battle-royal to keepprayers to Jesus Christ ringing out in the state House ofRepresentatives.Last week, U.S. District Judge David F. Hamilton issued instructionsthat the Speaker of the Indiana House of Representatives must put anend to the outbreak of sectarian prayers that have become part of theofficial proceedings.Hamilton cited a November 30, 2005 ruling that the federal court had”found that the Speaker’s practices toward the House’s opening prayerhad resulted in prayers that repeatedly and consistently advanced theChristian religion, in violation of the Establishment Clause of theFirst Amendment.”The judge ordered that invocations could not include references toJesus Christ, although some form of nonsectarian prayer waspermissible in keeping with U.S. Supreme Court rulings. JudgeHamilton also rejected arguments by Indiana House Speaker Brian Bosmathat the ruling was vague and could not be enforced. The earliercourt finding stated that anyone delivering an invocation to thelegislature could not advocate or proselytize on behalf of any onefaith. The Wednesday order from the court warned legislators:”If the speaker or those offering prayers seek to evade the injunctionthrough indirect but well understood expressions of specificallyChristian beliefs, the audience, the public, and the court will beable to see what is happening. In that unlikely event, the court willbe able to take appropriate measures to enforce the injunction…”Already, at least two-dozen legislators are promising to defyHamilton’s order. Democrat Terry Goodwin told reporters that he iseager to deliver an invocation on Wednesday and would “absolutely”mention Jesus Christ.
pixel:
That’s okay, darlin’.
We all have our little pecadilloes.
For those of you wondering how Canada’s religion problem can be worse when USA has so many more people:
I should have made myself clearer. Canada itself is actually (as far as I can tell) better off than the States religiously, because there’s not many of us and our society is full of completely different religious groups. ALBERTA, the province I live in, is in the middle of nowhere and is full of hicks and mormons. Sorry for any misunderstanding.
Also, any information I offer to blogs may be completely misguided as I am only 16 years old. . .
So if I say something completely stupid about something, just tell me kindly.
Didnt realize it was a bot i was tired and a little pissed at racist at that moment any way was at a gas station around here and a gentleman of african american descent just payed for his gas and walked out and the gas station clerk looked at me and said after the guy was out the door f-ing ni— i wont be getting gas at that station
so you can see i was already pissed
Deadly Doomham
It looks like it’s up to you to fix Alberta’s problems. I suggest complain to those teachers that waste class time on religion. Your family pays taxes and the teachers work for you.
bob,
Yeah, I’ve been working on it lately. Let’s just say there’s been an increase in the atheist population since I started “sowing the seeds”. . .
spanders,
Sorry, couldn’t get back to you last night. Went to sleep reading. Seems like I do that a lot lately!
You said, “I guess it begs the question is religion all the same regardless of what face you put on it?” It piques my interest, too.
A perfect world for me, as an atheist, would be of course for everyone to see religion as we do, and live our lives on this planet for today. In the “End of Faith”, Harris talks about how religious differences could possibly cause the end of the world as we know it. We see it happening all around us, from the savage fighting in the Middle East to the “Rapture Ready” nuts in our own country ignoring global environmental problems and even possibly putting events in motion for an eventual “Armegeddon”.
For me as an atheist, it is frightening to watch these events unfold, knowing I can do little to stop them, and knowing if I do speak out, I will be the one perceived as unbalanced, an idiot, or completely evil because I do not follow the beliefs of the majority.
It is a difficult position to be in, but to me the only rational one.
While I think that even without religion, humans would still find things to fight about, and most likely wars would still happen, I don’t think it would be to the extent that it has been.
I’ve always said that I would be content if theists were content to simply worship privately, adhere to their faith and not try to mind the business of everyone else, like the RR being so determined to make this a “Christian” nation, and Islamic extremists determined to kill all infidels.
But maybe Harris is right, maybe that’s the wrong position to take, because I also feel strongly that the tolerance and silence of more moderate people all these years is what has allowed these extremists to gain such a foothold.
Anyway, it’s interesting to speculate. Maybe Dave will make it a topic someday.
I agree, private worship would be the end of many problems, but it would only be the first step. Eventually the entire process would repeat itself, leading to more trouble. An ideal world would be an atheist world, focusing on the problems of the present rather than the future or the past.