Are you calling Thomas Jefferson "dumb"?
No, actually I believe the views of Jefferson to be incredibly valid as one of the only founding fathers who wouldn't have considered himself religious. I found a lot of insight in Thomas Paine's, "Age of Reason" as well. And yet both found a huge validity in the morality of Christianity, while denying the more mythical aspects. Jefferson was a frequent reader of the parts of the Bible he found to be valid. The Constitution itself is built from morality. What they viewed as the rights of man and the limited powers of government. Where we draw these views from isn't nearly as important as the validity of our vote.
What I refer to as dumb is the incredibly overreaching statement that assumes the government should somehow decide where you draw your rights and wrongs from.
It was also meant to keep religion out of government, specifically the levying of taxes that would be given to state churches. Both Jefferson and Madison worked on laws to prohibit this in Virginia, and wrote the 1st Amendment with such in mind.
Right, which is still a long way from removing the perspective of a philosophy from social and political validity.
Not when one group tries to use religious reasons to disenfranchise the rights of another group. In that respect, it is the religious group that has broken the 1st Amendment.
lol, you know I am actually a supporter of gay rights, but I find myself on this side of the debate due to the extreme weakness of the debate presented. It's no wonder people fight so ardently against this movement when the motive used is that one should be viewed as valid and the other should not. So the argument is left, whose side should that be?
I'm a huge supporter of liberty, and believe myself that the morality of others should not be pressed on me. And yet an entire political party passes laws, under the idea of what they believe to be the greater good, which requires my tax dollars to pay for it whether the program they create is productive or not. Somehow this morality is justified because it doesn't come from a book anyone thinks of as holy.
It's also odd that you would validate a perspective based on sexual orientation, a classification that until very recently wasn't looked at in legal terms, and promote discrimination based on creed.
And you'll know when a religious group starts breaking the 1st Amendment when they try to instill their religious beliefs into the laws that the rest of Americans must follow or be prosecuted by.
Yes, let me know when we start arresting homosexuals because of God's law.
Their beliefs and ideas are valuable until they infringe on the rights of others who follow different beliefs and ideas.
Again, I love this thinking, let's run with it. I say we work to associate in every aspect of our lives. To be honest, my concept of Utopia lies somewhere on that road.
Considering that the politicians they vote for tend to oppress the rights of homosexuals as well as try to cut taxes, that doesn't seem that far fetched.
Wow, wow... wow... wow. If someone's financial beliefs leave them sexually confused I would say they seriously need to take some spiritual/meditation time for themselves. These claims are just amazing...