Seperation of church and state or majority rules

[MAC]

The other day I was talkin to Mudflap and it got brought up that in NC you can't hunt on Sundays.
Well, in TX you can't buy liquor on Sundays.

When I moved to TX in the 80's stores could'nt be OPEN on Sundays.
Blue laws, they called them.

You were supposed to be in church.

Well, the baptist influence is to blame for all of this...
...but if they are the majority then why not right?

...but they can't penalise us for not believing what they believe right?

We kick this topic around alot in here but never directly.

So give her a go.
Try to work out the paradox face to face and see what you come up with.

I keep hitting the same conclusion.


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Don't shake the devil's hand and say you're only kidding.

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[Mr. Snrub]

because the inherent flaw in democracy is that people are stupid.

Democracy isn't meant to be right, it is meant to WORK. That is the problem. Democracy acts to prevent revolution because decisions are always made by the majority, who presumable will be able to beat on the minority, therefore the minority will shut up and take it. Democracy is not a system that automatically produces justice.

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[Lady Sianna]

<BLOCKQUOTE><HR>orig posted by Shnrubby:

because the inherent flaw in democracy is that people are stupid.[/quote]

<FONT COLOR="purple">agreed.

how can there be a fair representation of the people when the "majority" is of a very narrow, often ignorant mindset?

it is necessary for the minorities (those whose views are not fairly represented or even considered) to revolt...in whatever manner possible (presumably the most productive & least destructive manner).

i am all for the complete separation of church & state. </FONT c>

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<FONT COLOR="red">Essence is emptiness. Everything else, accidental. Emptiness brings peace to your loving. Everything else, disease. In this world of trickery, emptiness is what your soul wants. -Rumi </FONT c>
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[Zombie]

*Puts on his bookworm scholarly twice-as-big-as-his-face eyepieces*

The Blue Law was put on the books to preclude the possibility of long, uncomfortable silences when two Baptists happened to meet in the liquor stores. This would in effect nullify their moral superiority and it thereby necessitated establishing a law that prohibited anyone, including the Morally Correct and Only Ones Who Will Go To Heaven Baptists, from making a decision on Sundays about whether or not to buy a beer or some wine (which Jesus drank, so isn't that appropriate for Sunday?). We must be protected from ourselves, because we are all sinners.

The law was finally repealed after enough Baptists said "Enough! I've spent the last two hours in church with all those pretentious Holier Than Thou assholes who think they are Christians. I just can't stand it anymore. I'm a real Christian! Who do they think they are, anyway? Jesus Christ, I need a drink!"

And so it came to pass that the Blue Law became a thing of the past. Nowadays, to cover the uncomfortable silences, Baptists who meet in a liquor store merely say that they are doing undercover work for the Lord.

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The face of a child can say it all, especially the mouth part of the face. - Jack Handy

[MAC]

Good to see you again Zombie http://www.thehypertribe.net/ubb/smile.gif

And glad to see your wits are about you. http://www.thehypertribe.net/ubb/biggrin.gif

I am always amazed by the people who say their religion/law is the best answer and that it includes the ideal that anyone who does it another way is wrong.

I am personally eaten up by the demon of order from chaos and structure from emptyness.
I can't help it.
But the only thing that makes my way of life work is seeing someone else get the same results in a different way and saying
"Now how did they do that?"

perspective
perspective
perspective

Not to be confused with people who do things wrong destroy their objective and call it a success and why the fuck don't I act like them?

Thats the line....unfortunately its drawn all over the place. http://www.thehypertribe.net/ubb/frown.gif




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Don't shake the devil's hand and say you're only kidding.

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[Cruise Director]

Mac,

Replace the word "Texas" with "Utah" and you get the same results. I don't think there are too many States left without some sort of religeous cornerstone behind it. The only thing that changes is the faith. Here, for instance, we have two counties where you cannot buy beer on Sunday. A few cities won't open so-called "public" parks and pools on the sabbath, either.

When I was younger, I thought this was only a trend here in Zion. Then I find out Jack Daniels is distilled in a dry county and that all over the country States are led by the religeous ring in their noses. Fighting it is taken as an almost personal attack my most people in such States. "If you don't like it....LEAVE!" is what they tout. I shouldn't have to leave. Religeon is engrained into Government at an early age for us. When we were wee little tikes, we recited the Plede of Allegiance as "One nation, under <u>God</u>" and so it began. After that, it was all downhill for us.

As an atheist, I guess that I should be screaming for the seperation of Church and State. As a realist, I understand that it's not necessarily a bad thing. Religeous influence makes communities the way the majority wants it. If the majority swings the other direction, they need only vote for change. After all, the zealots are right... if I don't like it, I can always move.

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Some of it's magic..
Some of it's tragic..
But I've had a good life all the way.

[squee]

<BLOCKQUOTE><HR>Religeon is engrained into Government at an early age for us. When we were wee little tikes, we recited the Plede of Allegiance as "One nation, under God" and so it began. After that, it was all downhill for us.

As an atheist, I guess that I should be screaming for the seperation of Church and State. As a realist, I understand that it's not necessarily a bad thing. Religeous influence makes communities the way the majority wants it. If the majority swings the other direction, they need only vote for change. After all, the zealots are right... if I don't like it, I can always move.[/quote]

All well and good, and there are very good reasons for the separation of Church and State, mainly (although you might not understand why) for the protection of the Church from the State, rather than the other way around. For the record, I don't think any religion has any right to use the power of the government to force anything on the populace. If Churches are to rule at all they must do so through authority--the idea that their teaching is right, etc.--rather than through power. This is something else very few people can understand.

At this point it is perhaps relevant to point out that a "religion" can be about anything, so long as it is the focus for your life, and in fact most of you regularly worship at the altars of your various gods: Sex, Materialism, Mass Media, Political Correctness, Survivor's Guilt, Abortion, Government; and yet, it is somehow "ok" for you to force these views on me...because you are "right."

In the Church's defense, our Great Nation recognizes that the rights of the people come from an absolutely objective and pre-existing condition (our founders called it a "Natural Soul" in an attempt to appease non-Christians) that cannot be revoked by the power of the State or by the majority. If you can think of a source for this besides an omnipotent deity, then by all means, please share it!

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Non sibi sed patriae
Non nobis Domine, Domine! ...Sed nomine Tuo da gloriam!