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SCOTUS Sides with Prayer
The Supreme Court of the United States of America has approved public prayer before city council and other political meetings. This is great news and a victory for the first amendment!
The majority of justices whom are Catholic voted to keep prayer in place after two women represented by the American United for Separation of Church and State organization sued claiming that they felt uncomfortable when prayers were said. My response to that is “too bad!”
Justice Anthony Kennedy said, “By inviting ministers to serve as chaplains for the month, towns are acknowledging the central place that religion and religious institutions hold in the lives of those present, if some citizens hear prayers that make them feel excluded and disrespected, they should ignore them. Adults often encounter speech they find disagreeable.” Well said your honor!
Our nation was founded by Christians who believed in the Judeo-Christian belief system. They prayed before meetings and constantly included God and prayer in the framework of American laws and customs. Atheists and secularists often claim that the Constitution promotes the idea of “separation of Church and State.” However, this is not true at all. The term “separation of Church and State” is not mention in the Constitution. It comes from a letter written by Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury Baptist Association in 1802. He wrote:
“Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between Man & his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, & not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should ‘make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,’ thus building a wall of separation between Church and State.” –http://www.loc.gov/loc/lcib/9806/danpre.html
The first amendment of the United States of Americas mentions no such separation. It states:
“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.” –http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/bill_of_rights_transcript.html
This means that Congress cannot declare any particular religion the official religion of the United States of America, nor can it prevent the free exercise of any religion in America. This was written carefully due to the fact that America was a nation of diversity. Its early settlers came to the land to flee religious persecution in Europe. America was to be a safe haven for one to practice his/her religion. In light of this, it would be foolish for the American Fathers to adopt one religion for the nation when the nation was settled by people of various faiths seeking religious freedom.
It is interesting to note that Moses is depicted on the facade of the Supreme Court building.
Atheists as usual are dishonest in their attempt to distort the law of the land and force religion out of the public square. Prayer and religion are here to stay. Atheists or people of other faiths should not feel disrespected or left out. All prayers go to one God regardless of how man addresses Him.
Source:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/may/5/divided-court-oks-prayer-public-meetings/
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/05/05/supreme-court-rules-in-favor-prayer-at-council-meetings/
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/05/us-usa-court-prayer-idUSBREA440FO20140505
http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/05/politics/scotus-new-york-public-prayer/
Supreme Court Sides with Religion
The Supreme Court has sided with religion for the moment it seems. On Friday, SCOTUS (Supreme Court of the U.S.) extended an exemption for the Little Sisters of the Poor from the Obamacare mandate that would force religious institutions to go against conscience by paying for contraception and abortions.
The fight is not yet over. This gives the sisters time to present their case in court and hopefully make it permanent.
Obamacare has been nothing but a disaster for everyone. Let us see what happens in regards to religious liberties it is oppressing.
Source:
http://swampland.time.com/2014/01/24/battle-at-the-supreme-court-obama-vs-the-nuns-part-2/
http://www.nbcnews.com/health/supreme-court-offers-nuns-birth-control-out-2D11988492
Dread Scotus
“If ever time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in Government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin.”
– Samuel Adams
Today we are getting to see clearly why courts can be dangerous to society. The Supreme court has knocked down DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act) and claimed that the defense team for Prop 8 was not “adequate” enough to appear before them.
As a result, so-called “gay marriages” will continue in California until “adequate” representation for those defending Prop 8 bring up the case again before the nation’s highest court. The death of DOMA means same-sex couples will get the same federal benefits as heterosexual ones.
What are DOMA and Prop 8?
DOMA
The Defense of Marriage act was passed in 1996 during the Clinton administration. Clinton has since regretted its passing. DOMA defined marriage between one man and one woman and did not allow same-sex partners who are “married” to obtain federal benefits that are normally granted to heterosexual marriage couples. This act came under scrutiny by the LGBT community and action was taken against it when Edith Windsor who married her partner Thea Spyer in Canada was denied benefits after Spyer passed away. Because the federal government did not recognize their marriage, Spyer’s estate owed over $300,000 in estate taxes. Windor had to pay the tax and then sued to get the monies back. The court decided that DOMA was unconstitutional and the case was given the green light to move up the judicial ladder. President Obama and his administration refused to defend the act in the Supreme Court.
Today’s decision was solely based on the interpretation of previous courts and not the actual contemplation of the Justices of the Supreme Court. Since both DOMA and Prop 8 were not defended by governmental parties, the court did not pay much attention to the arguments prsented by the attorneys that stepped up to defend them.
Prop 8
Proposition 8 or “prop 8” was a ballot initiative promoted by Archbishop Cordileone which called for California’s constitution to be ammended by stating in writing that marriage is only between and man and a woman. The voters of California passed itinto law in 2008. As a result, so called “same-sex marriages” were void and stopped immediately. This caused great anger among gay activists who sued. The courts decided that Prop 8 was unlawful and Prop 8 supporters feared that the people’s voice was ignored. The case moved up to the Supreme Court but California refused to defend the law, so private attorneys had to take up the case before the justices.
My response:
Today’s decision is not a complete victory for the LGBT community. The Supreme Court did not state that “gay marriage” is constitutional, nor did it mandate it to be accepted in all 50 states. The Court basically made its decision out of judicial arrogance and a scrupulous take on procedures in regards to who can defend a particular issue before them. This is not how a court should operate. Just because a state government refuses to defend a law does not mean the court should be condescending towards those who step up to take the job of defending it. The Justices are giving themselves an air of monarchy in which they cannot be approached unless it is by the “right” people. This attitude is what great pamphleteer, Thomas Paine wrote on in his great work, Common Sense.
The fact that Popular Referendum or the people’s power to make laws and veto them was ignored, shows something scary. Our government is becoming a dictatorship. America was founded on the idea that the power comes from the people and flows into government. It is the people who rule the nation, not government. The Supreme Court has disregarded this by ignoring the vote of the people in Proposition 8. I have always held the opinion that the Supreme Court office should have term limits. Having justices serve for life is extremely dangerous and basically introduces a monarchy in the American system. The monarchy is something the American colonists disliked greatly. The kings of England and other European nations treated their people harshly. This is why America was formed without a monarchy and why the system of checks and balances was instituted with a republic. No one man, no one institution can have absolute power.
The allowance of this perversion of marriage will have dire consequences. See my previous post on this here. As John Adams said,
“Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”
The Constitution is under attack. God and religion are being pushed aside in America and tyranny, relativism and cynicism is taking its place. As Patrick Henry said,
“It is when people forget God that tyrants forge their chains.”
The tyrants are indeed forging their chains over our laws, minds and our society. We must fight back to save our nation. Religious and moral people must fight against this tyranny. As Thomas Jefferson said,
“Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God.”
We must resist this attempt of social engineers looking to destroy our laws and values. We have to be true patriots as Thomas Paine describes:
“It is the duty of the patriot to protect his country from its government.”
The great American liberator, Abraham Lincoln had this to say:
“We the People are the rightful masters of both Congress and the Courts–not to overthrow the Constitution, but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution.”
We must prevent our nation from facing the same fate of past empires such as Rome and Greece who collapsed due to licentiousness and an abuse of free will. Marriage and the family are the key cells to the organism of society. If they are dissolved, the societal body will go as well.
Hopefully the next president and congress will make it a priority to defend marriage by introducing an amendment to the Constitution that will protect marriage between one man and one woman for all time. Today’s decision is not a defeat, but a wake up call to all. We cannot sit back and let judges run our nation and manipulate institutions such as marriage which are not theirs to alter. It is disappointing that justices who are Catholic betrayed their consciences and voted in favor of opinions that protect same-sex marriage. Regardless of one’s position in life, a Catholic cannot be part-time.
Let us pray for our nation and pray for the protection of marriage. Let us take to the polls and vote for politicians who will protect marriage and the Constitution. Let us push for term limits for Supreme Court Justices. If necessary, we who are the majority must raise the flag of anarchy against a governmental system that is no longer recognizable as the one that American Fathers founded.
“O! ye that love mankind! Ye that dare oppose, not only tyranny, but the tyrant, stand forth!” – Thomas Paine
References:
Full text of the decision.
Statement from defense alliance
Here is the response from the US Catholic Bishops.
Source:
Sacerdotus 