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Pete Ricketts, tryhard governor of Nebraska, has officially proclaimed Jan 22nd a statewide day of prayer for an end to abortion, in the latest attempt to turn the US into a fundamentalist theocracy. No doubt his lawyers have thought long and hard about this and determined that it should be legally okay, but holy hell what an embarrassing thing to see from such a high-ranking elected official of a modern secular state.
Y'all would complain that people who are alive during the writing of the 1st amendment violated it with things like Washing's Thanksgiving proclamation.
You mean George Washington was a time traveller? Was he Doctor Who?Quote:
Originally Posted by Lewkowski
Not sure how else he violated an amendment that hadn't passed yet. The clue is in the name, the original Constitution was unamended.
People did complain about that violating the separation of church and state back then, too.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lewkowski
And two years later the constitution was amended for the first time to ensure that church and state were separated going forwards. Suggesting it's OK to violate the first amendment now because of that precedent is like suggesting Trump should get three terms as President because FDR violated the 22nd amendment.Quote:
Originally Posted by Flixy
Which, granted, some constitution-loving Scalia-fetishizing principled conservative Republicans are "joking" that he should do.
So you are arguing that the thanksgiving proclamation would have violated the 1st amendment if the 1st amendment had been in effect at the time. Oh gee I know you aren't American but... dude.Quote:
Originally Posted by RandBlade
A few things you might want to consider:
*There is an official Chaplain in the House of Representatives (See Murray v. Buchanan regarding how the courts have viewed it)
*America has a "National Day of Prayer" The current one is first Thursday of May. Before that other presidents such as Washington, Adams and Lincoln all declared other days for this purpose.
*The National Prayer Breakfast is not an official government event however every president since Eisenhower has attended
*Presidents give Thanksgiving proclamations to this day, here is a sample from Obama's statement:
"When President George Washington marked our democracy's first Thanksgiving, he prayed to our Creator for peace, union, and plenty through the trials that would surely come."
"Let us spend this day by lifting up those we love, mindful of the grace bestowed upon us by God and by all who have made our lives richer with their presence."
The 1st amendment was *never* designed to limit the ability of government officials to praise God or act out their faith. The law does not require someone to forsake their moral code as long as it does not directly interfere with the legally mandated duties. And theistic moral codes are in no way different than non-theistic moral codes legally speaking. A great rule of thumb when looking at the amendments is to determine what was acceptable when those items were put in place. If the people who wrote, voted and ratified those amendments would not have a problem with the action than it is absurd to say the courts should intervene.
Lewk, it's problematic because it's asking people to pray that a law will be overturned. A Governor's "legally mandated duties" include protecting and defending constitutional protections, ya know.
That proclamation is a political move -- aimed at the WECs who want Personhood Amendments based on their religious beliefs. tsk :donkey: