Re: Sarah Palin and the Double Standard

I was taught that the definition of a republic differed from that of a
democracy. A democracy was rule by the majority. A republic was rule by
the majority with respect for the minority.

The light bulb law is idiocy, and totally unenforceable. I use them of my
own free will, and if they are not appropriate I will use what I darn
please.

And, the worst thing of all I have learned about Gov. Palin is her attempt
to remove books not to her liking from a public library I..e. book burning!
The more I find out about her the scarier she becomes.

Forcing one's moral belief on others is dictating and trying to establish a
secular society. And, most emphatically, many Christians do not agree with
her point of view either.

Barb C.
"Jay" <jay@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:be5fdc85-634c-4369-b77f-6379705c9003@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
And, in my opinion religious groups are trying to tell us what to think
and
believe, and pass laws enforcing those beliefs.

Actually, there are MANY "groups" which are trying to impose their
belief system on the country at large. Whether or not those groups
have a worldview that's influenced by religion shouldn't make any
difference, don't you think? For instance, the people who pushed for
a ban on incandescent light bulbs CLEARLY imposed their beliefs on the
rest of us, did they not? I'm assuming that many of those people have
a worldview that holds environmentalism as a high priority. For some
people, environmentalism is no less a religion than Christianity is
for others. The belief that global warming is caused by humans and
that the "case is closed" is a dogma that is as cherished and
protected by its adherents as anything in the Bible is trusted by
Christians--even though there is NOT a "scientific consensus" about
global warming among people who actually study weather and even though
for the last 10 years there has been a COOLING trend in effect.

But the point is that it doesn't matter whether one's worldview is
influenced by environmentalism or Christianity or whatever, everyone
in America has the freedom to advocate for their beliefs in the public
arena, which includes running for office, supporting others who are
running for office, lobbying for legislation, boycotting, running PR
campaigns, etc. The fact that a person's worldview is influenced by
religion doesn't change that right. The beauty of our democratic
republic, and our system of checks and balances, is that no one person
or party can impose their beliefs on society without ultimately
garnering the support of a majority of the citizenry AND passing
Constitutional muster. I think the ban on incandescent light bulbs is
about the stupidest regulation that's been concocted in recent years
(after HIPAA, of course!) But not for a moment do I think the people
who got that ban in place shouldn't have been able to do so, even
though their actions have directly impacted my civil liberties. It
was their right as American citizens to lobby for what they believe
in, regardless of whether their motivation was religious or
otherwise. The argument that you can't or shouldn't try to "legislate
morality" is clearly fallacious because EVERY law on the books is an
example of SOMEBODY imposing their concept of morality on the rest of
us.


.

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