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Let's not forget that marriage is a legal contract and a legal construct. It can also be a religious one. The legal part the government can regulate. The religious part it can not and should not. The argument that we shouldn't have gay marriage because it would force churches to conduct gay weddings is unfounded. The Hobby Lobby decision makes that clear.
Cody
That a well-regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, trained to arms, is the proper, natural, and safe defense of a free state;
For now. I have to say that Obama was bumbling up until now. Now, he's flailing.
Foreign policy = disaster.
Domestic policy = disaster.
Job creation = disaster.
Energy policy = not taking advantage of cheap oil to push back on Iran.
Fomenting racial tension over unifying the country = disaster.
Economic policy = disaster.
It's this last one that I think is the catalyst. Register, regulate and tax gay marriages. It's a small group, but it's a start.
The Fed is in danger of keeping ZIRP going on forever, perhaps negative rates next, but they're doing everything in their power to NOT print.
Wall Street is on a weekly to quarterly white collar riot to keep the Fed from raising rates. Yesterday's crash has as much to do with Greece as it does with the whole system. Keep the free money and free shit coming or we'll wreck the place from main street to K Street to Wall Street.
TL;DR version: I think whoever said it earlier in this thread is right. I wouldn't be surprised if the tax exempt status of churches will be threatened. Not because of gay rights, but under the guise of gay rights.
This government has spent way beyond its means and it needs to claw back even more of its citizen's hard earned $$. This SCOTUS decision was all about money and power, not about "love and diversity". Anyone thinking otherwise has OD'd on the Kool Aid.
Last edited by BaiHu; 06-30-2015 at 06:57 AM.
Fairness leads to extinction much faster than harsh parameters.
I am no big fan of Obama, but his public approval ratings just went up again, and he is now at the 50% point.
You offer your own assessment of Obama's presidency as a "disaster," but you offer nothing to substantiate it.
If you are going to make the case, then...well...make the case.
I am not sure it's fair to judge ANY President on their success of failure in foreign policy as most of those things are out of their control and take many years to succeed. Foreign policy is really hard, especially with the mess in the Middle East.
Most other things are fair game. Economy, jobs, social policy, gov't efficiency, regulations, etc.
Can you make the case?
Cody
That a well-regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, trained to arms, is the proper, natural, and safe defense of a free state;
Read your post while sipping my Kool Aid - laced latte which spilled onto my Vp9 and predictably refinished it in a rainbow pattern suitable for the times, or rather the Obama-induced-end-of-times. Looking out my window I find the scene opulent and serene, but little do they know.
On the radio, interviews of Greeks living on 800 euros per month, just like your average chap around here. Truly these are desperate times for the U.S.
Now, not in innocent jest: I really hope you are right on the tax exempt status of churches. It is high time that we end that exemption.
When there is only one clerk, and if we continue to be silly enough to have the government license marriages, then that clerk has to issue it because the accommodation is no longer "reasonable."
As for not tolerating "may issue" I live in a may issue state in which a handful of employees, few who much favor CCW, get to make the decision in each county. The courts around here say that is perfectly constitutional.
They won't say that for same-sex marriage of course, because while same-sex marriage is not mentioned in the Constitution, and the right to bear arms is, same-sex marriage is a preferred right among judges while the right to keep and bear arms isn't.
The great one Scalia seems to think such reasonable restrictions on carry are dandy. It's so easy - if you claim marriage has a religious basis, then it's not the state's business. Let contract law handle the joining of folks in unions, laws to protect custody rights, laws to handle inheritance and defining next of kin for medical care, etc.As for not tolerating "may issue" I live in a may issue state in which a handful of employees, few who much favor CCW, get to make the decision in each county. The courts around here say that is perfectly constitutional.
Everyone can have a religious marriage ceremony of their own choice and the state doesn't have to force Father Murphy to have a Bar Mitzvah in St. Cecilia's.
Actually the Constitution never mentions "separation of church and state." The language in the first amendment forbids the federal government from establishing as religion, as the Anglican Church was established in England (or the Congregational churches were established in parts of New England).
Specifically, the first amendment says that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."
The leading text on that clause is Philip Hamburger's "Separation of Church and State," which shows how the doctrine of the "separation of church and state" arose in the 19th Century after the 1st amendment was passed, primarily for political reasons, and was thereafter was pushed by nativists.
Now personally, I don't want to live in a religious state either--but I do think the government should make reasonable accommodations to respect the religious beliefs of its employees, and such accommodations fit quite well with the actual text of the first amendment.
Without sidetracking the thread I started even more, I'll ask you a few questions with the caveat that I don't think we've had a real leader that understands exactly what Murika is about since Reagan:
1. What has Obama done to improve foreign relations and end the GWOT? Aren't we sending troops in like fire fighters now?
2. What has Obama done to maintain his claim of "most transparent presidency" evahhr?
3. What has Obama done to cut back the civil liberty issues he and his party thought was an abomination, the Patriot Act?
4. What has the first black president done to improve race relations in the US?
5. Where is the labor participation rate right now under Obama as compared to any president in your living memory yet what does this administration claim the unemployment number to be?
6. What has he done to fix the wall st and main st divide?
Sorry your Kool Aid got on your VP9, next time carry AIWB. I agree with gays being able to marry and churches to not be exempt, but not in this way. The way this is being done is not the way to go about it; socially or legally. The states would've figured it out in due time. I think Roberts was right.
Fairness leads to extinction much faster than harsh parameters.