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ebonlockvia No More Mister Nice Blog:
Missouri House gives first OK to constitutional amendment emphasizing the right to pray
The Missouri House gave preliminary approval Monday to a proposed constitutional amendment that would emphasize the right to pray in any public setting, including public schools.
The action came after more than an hour of spirited debate over whether such an amendment would make any difference and whether the names of individual deities should be inserted into the Constitution.
At one point, lawmakers voted to insert into the Constitution a citizen's right to acknowledge "the inerrancy of the Bible." But they deleted that reference on a subsequent vote.
...Republicans, including the proposal's sponsor, Rep. Mike McGhee of Odessa, acknowledged that the new wording would not change the law. But McGhee said it was needed to highlight that children had the right to carry Bibles on school buses and could write about Jesus in class.
Rep. Jim Lembke, a St. Louis County Republican, said "you can't get much clearer" than the current Missouri Constitution's guarantee of religious freedom. But the new wording would be a rebuke to people who have tried to outlaw prayer in public schools and sought the removal of the Ten Commandments from public places.
"This will send a clear message to people who might want to mess with those rights to keep their hands off," Lembke said.
Rep. Trent Skaggs, a North Kansas City Democrat, demanded to know where Bible-toting children had not been allowed to ride school buses. McGhee said he didn't know the location.
And here's the money shot:
The sometimes wild maneuvering reflected the feeling of most Democrats that the proposal was nothing more than meaningless verbiage designed to go on the ballot to drive religious conservatives to the polls in November.
Republicans using the terminal stupidity of the religious whackjobs convinced they're under siege by their liberal fascist secularist overlords...well color me stunned.
Missouri House gives first OK to constitutional amendment emphasizing the right to pray
The Missouri House gave preliminary approval Monday to a proposed constitutional amendment that would emphasize the right to pray in any public setting, including public schools.
The action came after more than an hour of spirited debate over whether such an amendment would make any difference and whether the names of individual deities should be inserted into the Constitution.
At one point, lawmakers voted to insert into the Constitution a citizen's right to acknowledge "the inerrancy of the Bible." But they deleted that reference on a subsequent vote.
...Republicans, including the proposal's sponsor, Rep. Mike McGhee of Odessa, acknowledged that the new wording would not change the law. But McGhee said it was needed to highlight that children had the right to carry Bibles on school buses and could write about Jesus in class.
Rep. Jim Lembke, a St. Louis County Republican, said "you can't get much clearer" than the current Missouri Constitution's guarantee of religious freedom. But the new wording would be a rebuke to people who have tried to outlaw prayer in public schools and sought the removal of the Ten Commandments from public places.
"This will send a clear message to people who might want to mess with those rights to keep their hands off," Lembke said.
Rep. Trent Skaggs, a North Kansas City Democrat, demanded to know where Bible-toting children had not been allowed to ride school buses. McGhee said he didn't know the location.
And here's the money shot:
The sometimes wild maneuvering reflected the feeling of most Democrats that the proposal was nothing more than meaningless verbiage designed to go on the ballot to drive religious conservatives to the polls in November.
Republicans using the terminal stupidity of the religious whackjobs convinced they're under siege by their liberal fascist secularist overlords...well color me stunned.
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Date: 2008-02-19 07:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-02-19 07:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-02-19 08:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-02-19 08:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-02-19 07:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-02-19 08:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-02-20 12:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-02-19 07:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-02-19 10:12 pm (UTC)Perhaps a dash of cinnamon.
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Date: 2008-02-19 10:26 pm (UTC)http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/missouristatenews/story/79EC71D6FCD1A54E862573F40015B9D5?OpenDocument
no subject
Date: 2008-02-20 02:52 am (UTC)"A nation that has to lie about why it is going to war is pathetic. A religion that has to lie about being persecuted is horrible."
And on the Missouri law allowing parents to claim their stillborn children as tax exemptions for one year:
"I want to leave this country. I want to leave this planet. I want to declare myself a non-human." (What would you be, then?) "Happier."