Here
we are... our second installment of Consti-Tuesday. Having covered
the Preamble last week, it only seems appropriate to continue on to
the First Amendment. Sure, I could do the Articles of the
Constitution, but there's just too much there to decide where to go
first, so I think I'll come back to those issues as they present
themselves to be necessary in later debates... cool?
So...
the First Amendment...
“Congress
shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of
speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to
assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of
grievances.”
Let's
be honest, here... there's a lot packed into it, and quite frankly,
that's a lot to conquer in one post, so I'll break it down to several
pieces in order to keep it more readable.
We'll
start today, with the first two little sections. (“Congress shall
make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting
the free exercise thereof...”)
Why
is it that the FIRST TEN WORDS are so hard for so many people
to acknowledge?
“Congress
shall pass no law respecting an establishment of religion...”
For
some reason, people of one particular religious leaning fail on every
level to realize that this means THEIR RELIGION can't be used to
affect law! That's where our bigoted laws preventing the marriage of
loving couples comes from. “Certain people” think that because
THEIR religion says that gays are lesser human beings at best (and SUB-HUMANS in some circles), that means THEIR religious beliefs should
be shoved on everybody else. These are the same people who use THEIR
religion to claim that Abortion should be illegal.
Here's
some news, though... YOUR religion doesn't speak for EVERYONE!
That's why the Amendment says YOUR religion can't become law, and neither can ANYBODY ELSE'S! (yes, that means that your fears of "Shariah Law" taking over the courts... I'm looking at YOU, Oklahoma... *remember?... are founded in absolute ignorance of the Constitution)
Those
are also the people who like to say that America is a “Christian
nation”... no... it's not... “Congress shall pass no law
respecting an establishment of religion”... remember?
They
also use THEIR religion to say that SCIENTIFICALLY PROVEN FACTS can't
be used when educating our country's children! Just because YOUR
book says something contrary to what FACTS have determined, doesn't
make it true! I mean, would you be as apt to have students taught
that the world is actually on the back of a turtle, floating through
the Universe, like OTHER PEOPLE'S beliefs state? I doubt it... but
THEIR book says so, so what's to say THEIR theory isn't just as
relevant as your's? Don't like THEIR religion being shoved down YOUR
throat? Tough shit! That's EXACTLY what you've been doing to
everyone else!
…
such arrogance is destructive and belligerent...
Let's
look at the second half of the first part now, shall we?
“...
nor abridging the free exercise thereof...”
... huh...
... nobody can tell me how to worship...
…
unless I use marijuana in my religious practice, as is
done in virtually every corner of the world, by people of several different
faiths...
Let's
be honest... some people CAN'T celebrate their religion lawfully
because a certain aspect of their faith has been made illegal in one
way or another.
From
that perspective, let's consider the job market...
Even
companies who claim to be “Equal Opportunity Employers” will
discriminate against people who use marijuana for spiritual
purposes... If you have THC in your pee, you can't work there... the
fact that it's part of your RELIGION doesn't make a lick of
difference!
…
and, of course, if someone claims religious freedom in
this respect, they must be lying just to get high, right? Well, who
the fuck are YOU to tell ANYBODY that their belief is illegitimate
just because it's not how YOU worship???
Allow
me to delve into my own belief a little bit, here...
I
believe that God is the absolute intangible personification of
purity. Given that fact, bringing thoughts and feelings of “corruption”
(anger, hate, arrogance, fear, etc.) into a conversation with God is an
abomination akin to blasphemy. Marijuana is a holy herb that drives
away “corrupt” thoughts and feelings, so as to maintain the
purity of God.
In
most of the country (with the current exception of Washington and
Colorado), if I'm caught with marijuana, I would go to jail for
violating the law, despite my own personal beliefs. MY religion
doesn't matter in the eyes of the law, because I don't purport to follow a "major" religion.
…
doesn't that sound like they're “abridging the free
exercise” of my beliefs? I'd sure as fuck say so...
It's
fairly rare that BOTH parts of the first part of the First Amendment
are observed congruently. People see one part, but not the other.
When will people start looking at EVERYTHING, instead of just the
shit they like?
I
call this “Constitutional Cafeterianism,” meaning they treat the
Constitution like a cafeteria... they only see what they want and
ignore the rest... and, of course, if it's there, it must be there JUST FOR THEM! You don't have to share anything at a cafeteria... if you want to try something, you just get some of it. So, of course, what you have is YOUR'S and YOUR'S alone! This is something we HAVE to stop doing! It's
arrogant, ignorant, and elitist; and it's a philosophy that we don't need ANYWHERE near our laws!
What
it all boils down to is, everyone worships differently. One group's
beliefs shouldn't be EVERYONE'S law, and that's EXACTLY what this
part of the Amendment says! Furthermore, just because you don't
agree with the way someone practices their faith, that doesn't mean
they're wrong for practicing it their way! The Amendment says that,
too!
The
two go together FOR A REASON! You can't have one without the other!
You can't pick and choose! Plain and fuckin' simple!
Time
to get back on track, America... why can't we all just... get along?
Why can't we all just... let people worship the way they please and
keep our religion to ourselves?
Consider
this... in Article VI, sec. 3, it further enforces the First
Amendment by stating “... no religious test shall ever be required
as qualification for any office or public trust under the United
States...”
Get
it? YOUR religion doesn't make you qualified for ANY office!
Therefore, even MENTIONING your religion on the campaign trail is a
VIOLATION of the Constitution! If your religion doesn't make you
qualified for your office, it can't be used to justify the laws you
make, either!
On
top of that, consider this... if you think that your Christian
beliefs are something that should be shoved on everyone, look at
Matthew 6:5...
“And
when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are:
for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners
of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you,
They have their reward.” (http://bible.cc/matthew/6-5.htm
King James version)
How
do you like that? Since you made SUCH a big deal of pushing YOUR
shit on other people, you won't be going to Heaven... what's more,
EVEN JESUS THINKS YOU'RE A HYPOCRITE!
Don't
like it? Sorry... it's YOUR Bible... just like the Constitution, if
you don't like it, tough shit! You can't pick and choose. It's
right there in Jesus' own words... sorry to point that out, but your
delusion called for it.
See?
The Constitution isn't the ONLY document that tells you to keep it
to yourself... your own holy book says so, too! I don't give a fuck
if it's inconvenient to your political motivations... blow me!
… and
for those of the people who think that what I'm saying is wrong just
because it's coming from a “Non-Christian”... for those of the
people who think that I should be blocked or banned for speaking my
mind, allow me to introduce you to the next part of the Constitution,
which I will get to at a later time...
“...
nor abridging the […] freedom of speech...”
I
can say it as loud as I want, in any way I want, with any tone that I
want, and if you don't like it, tough shit!
I'm a None, advocate for separation of church and state, secularist, anti-christian right, dark side of tupelo ms blogger and I liked the content of your post and would like to re-post excerpts from it on my blog, but I prefer to edit out the shi*s and fu**s.
ReplyDeleteSure! Copy what you'd like. If you feel the need to edit for content for your audience, that's not a problem.
DeleteThanks for reading!