Today I watched a speech by Tulsi Gabbard as she quit the Democratic Party. I could sympathize most of the time. She said the Democrat (sic) Party was an “elite cabal” who were destroying our country and it’s freedoms.
She got it absolutely correct when she pointed out that the people in power have completely abandoned the working class of the country. They have been complicit with Republicans at destroying unions, preventing any raise in the minimum wage, or doing anything to make medical costs stay within reasonable bounds.
They are obviously bought by the money of the big corporations, big pharmaceutical companies, insurance companies, and the financial crooks on Wall Street. They talk about being friends of the workers, but when they pass legislation in Congress, it is glaringly obvious who they represent.
However, she missed the point entirely when she was pointing out the lack of religious freedom when Democrats didn’t use the words “under God” in their convention. I don’t know if she never learned the history, or is being disingenuous.
This country was founded as the one and only secular country, the very first in the world. Nobody could force you to bow down to or pay taxes to support somebody else’s church or religion. Thomas Paine, who started the Revolutionary War with his writings, was a dedicated Atheist. Thomas Jefferson did not believe Jesus was divine and did not believe in miracles. His Bible is still at his home in Monticello, with all the miracles scissored out. James Madison made sure there were no references to God or Jesus in the Constitution. They were all aware of the ugly history of the bloody European wars between religions there.
Up until 1954, the motto of this country was “E Pluribus Unum”. When Joseph McCarthy was accusing everybody in the country of being Communists, the government added “under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance. They also added the phrase to our coins at the same time.
That marked the end of religious freedom in America. I recite the Pledge just as I learned it in school, because I don’t believe anybody should have to pledge to a God they don’t believe in, whether that would be Rama, Allah, or the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Or none at all.
I have trouble understanding the concept of the government using non religious, or secular language being an assault on religious freedom. Is religious freedom just the freedom for someone else to force me to abide by their religion? That is freedom for them but not for me.
The most egregious loss of religious freedom happened this year. By lying and cheating the Republicans stacked the Supreme Court with a majority of Catholics. After lying (sure we’ll respect prior rulings) and cheating ( denying President Obama a choice on the Court, but pushing a judge onto the Court by President Trump) the Supreme Court is now no longer an impartial arbiter of the Constitutionality of laws. One of the first rulings was to overturn forty years of precedent to allow states to impose Catholic dogma denying the right of a woman to choose an abortion rather than carry an unwanted fetus to birth. And they have announced that birth control, which is also against Catholic doctrine, is next in their sights.
So it’s here, folks. War is peace, Truth is a lie, and Freedom is to do as the government says you must.
Yes, we have no bananas. But we are a banana republic nevertheless. Neither the Republicans nor the Democrats care enough to return us to our original freedoms. When Julian Assange is given a full and complete pardon and his passport back, I’ll know we have Freedom of the Press back. I’m not holding my breath.
My only hope is that my FBI file is so big and bulky that they won’t have any idea where to start looking.
I’ll be working November 8 at an election polling place near you. Hope to see y’all there.
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