I recently watched my state’s General Assembly pass a resolution endorsing the “10 Commandments”. * It was a sorry show.
You can read the senate resolution here and the House resolution here .
I can’t recall when I’ve ever seen such a sorry display of ignorance – ignorance of history, ignorance of law, and ignorance of scripture.
Here are some highlights:
In reference to SCOTUS decisions regarding display of the “10 Commandments”:
Apparently, the difference between rights granted to the government and rights reserved for free citizens is too subtle for these fellows.
Blatant revisionist history:
Adams never said this. Rather, these are the words of John Wingate Thornton, stating his view of Adams’ politics and theology. And he was wrong, at that.
Ignorance of the practical relevance of history and law:
Under the heading “WTF?”:
Under the heading “Someone read a bogus email and wrote it into law even though it’s an admitted forgery by a man named Roy Moore”:
What a bunch of patent idiots. To cobble together such a piece of ridiculous inanity and actually enact it – it literally makes me sick to my stomach.
*I place the term in quotation marks b/c no one in the General Assembly seemed aware that defining the decalogue is itself highly problematic.
Although prior to the Reconstruction Amendments, it was only the federal government that was prohibited from establishing a religion. The states were free to do so.
Anyway, this is disappointing. Not surprising so much, but disappointing.
Damn. I left Georgia only one year ago and since then they’ve fixed the education budget problems, the road issues, the Chattahoochee/Apalachicola/Flint issues that were threatening water supplies, etc., and have time to concentrate on this.
And you know there are halfway intelligent people in the legislature who know what a crock of shit this is but have no choice but to vote for it if they don’t want their opponent to flood the airwaves with “He hates the 10 Commandments!”. I so wish there was an alternative to popular election sometimes.
PS- If I were in Atlanta I’d call for the death penalty to be given to the next legislator found guilty of adultery, working on the Sabbath, saying “G’dam!” or anything else forbidden on the stones. After all, if they support it then it should only stand to reason they believe it should be enforced, and the penalty was usually death.
Well, look at it this way, every minute they spend on doing this stupid thing is a minute they can’t spend on doing some other thing that’s both stupid and actually means something.
I came in to help deconstruct the idiocy, but it’s clear that the OP doesn’t need my assistance. I hate to bash a whole state based on its senators (I live in Pennsylvania), but damn.
Man, I sure hope this was a case of a few nut-jobs putting this up for a vote and the rest of the crew not wanting to be on record as being “against the 10 Commandments”. That’s pretty scary. Makes me glad I’m living in CA. Our legislature actually passed a SSM law, even though Arnold vetoed it. I wonder how such a resolution would fare out here. It doesn’t actually do anything, does it? The frist amendment has been incorporated into the 14th, so States can’t do anyting religion-wise that the feds can’t do.
Although I don’t see this language in the measures posted on the GAGA Web site, the measure is supposed to authorize display of the 10Cs in any courthouse in the state, and from what was said, apparently copies of the 10Cs, along w/ copies of the Mayflower Compact and the Declaration of Independence will be distributed to all 159 counties in the state.
No doubt, this triad was chosen because they all make mention of God.
When a black assemblyman asked why copies of the Emancipation Proclamation were not considered for distribution, the response was that the intent of the bill was to distribute documents essential to the formation of the nation, and that the EP was subsequent to that.
I heard only 2 naysayers. One asked why the GAGA thought we had time to consider this measure when there were more pressing issues such as education, poverty, and infrastructure to be dealt with. The other pointed out that the measure was pointless and would surely be costly b/c SCOTUS would certainly deem it unconstitutional. The TV cameras showed shots of assemblymen laughing at the assemblywoman who made the latter argument.
A sudden observation: Someone ought to point out the misattributed quotes and other outright hooey to the folks in the assembly and then ask them how they square that with the commandment which forbids bearing false witness.
Well speaking as a Georgian, this is the time of year when we all hide our women, our good silverware and our Franklin Mint collectibles. The GAGA is capable of anything when they go on a toot. The only consolation – they tend to make you feel intelligent and morally superior in a way that you normally have to hang out with retarded cannibals to match.
Welcome to my world. Or rather, welcome to the (comparatively) progressive city I call home, which also happens to be the capital of a not-very-progressive (what? me? understate?) state. The result is pretty much :dubious: :rolleyes: :smack:, rinse and repeat, every time the state legislature does anything or the Governor opens his mouth.
Yep. Normally we hide threads started by socks, but I didn’t this time, as the sheer stupidity of the legislature in question just begs for a Pit thread. Perhaps I should have hidden this thread. Perhaps not. Perhaps I’ll just go off and eat more choolate.
They were surely laughing at the assemblywoman’s naïvety. Of course they knew SCOTUS would strike it down. The measure was political theater and the audience their constituents at home. That was the whole purpose of the measure.
:rolleyes: :smack:, rinse and repeat, every time the state legislature does anything or the Governor opens his mouth.