December 15, 2005
OH, FOR JESUS-ALLAH-BRAMA-SHIVA-AND-MOSES' SAKE!
In yesterday's online edition of the Indianapolis Star, Indiana House of Representatives' Speaker of the House--Brian Bosma--is quoted as saying that he will fight ìby all legal meansî necessary a recent U.S. Federal District Judge's ruling that the prayers opening the daily sessions at the Indiana House of Representatives must be nondenominational and may not advance any one religion in particular. In Bosma's own words...
We will find a way to have prayer within the order in one fashion or another.
As the Star previously reported, in his late-November ruling, Judge David Hamilton did NOT ban the offering prayers in the Indiana House of Representatives. Rather, what Hamilton ruled, based on a 1983 U.S. Supreme Court decision setting very specific boundaries on legislative prayer, was that anyone chosen to give an invocation inside of the House of Representative must be instructed in advance not to do so with language that invokes any one faith.
In other words, no more "In the name of [insert deity here] we pray." Seems fair enough to me (as it does, I mght add, to every other reasonable person I've spoken to about this issue).
Despite this fact, Bosma tells the Indianapolis Star that the Indiana Attorney Generalís office--at his insistence--will file procedural motions asking Judge Hamilton to reconsider his order and temporarily suspend enforcement of the order while his appeals are in play. In addition, Bosma tells the Star, state attorneys will give notice that the State of Indiana intends to file an appeal with the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago.
Okay, so if I understand this correctly, taxpayer dollars are going to be applied towards a lawsuit aimed at allowing people to invoke Jesus, Allah, Brahma, Shiva, and Moses when prayers are given during daily sessions of the state's House of Representatives? Come on, is this Bosma guy for real? Is this the type of work his constituents elected him to do... spending taxpayer dollars on retributive justice, especially at a time when the state's coffers are predicted to come up around $75 million short in tax revenues over the next year-and-a-half? Give us all a break, would ya, Bosma!
As someone said to me recently, no one is attempting to take away anyone's right to practice his or her religion. That's nothing but a red herring of an argument because it distorts what the real issue is here. When the Indiana House of Representatives sanctions a prayer of any kind, it IS an implicit sanction of that particular religion verses another. One should not be forced to walk out of a legislative chamber, ever, when in the room expressly to do one's job, which is, after all, to legislate, not pray.
If it is so important for people to pray before the beginning of a state legislative session, I suggest they do so in private. No one is trying to stop any member of the House from having a connection with his or her spiritual and/or religious leader. Pray in the car on the way in; pray silently while walking into the room where, after all, the work of state government is supposed to be of primary focus. And for Jesus-Allah-Brahma-Shiva-and-Moses' sake, please stop spending valuable resources, i.e., tax dollars and an under-staffed Attorney Generalís office, to push the point any further. The State of Indiana has bigger fish to fry (no pun intended).
Posted by Mikal at December 15, 2005 9:08 AM
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Hey, why bother legislate when you can instead pander to the extremists in your district? If it wasn't for my growing cynicism towards politics, and my memory of how Indiana is, I'd challenge those folks on Indy's northeast corner to oust this blithering zealot from his seat.
But that won't happen. Instead, they'll market this as the persecution of Christians. And they're right. I have to sneak to mass under cover of darkness. I have to be careful to not make the sign of the cross in public. Three of my good friends are scheduled to be tossed to the lions at noon today.
Oh, sorry. I seem to have confused America, 2005 with ancient Rome.
Honey, the gay community has been dealing with Bosma for years. Welcome to the party.
~Bravo~ I agree with your thoughts {and the commentors}. Indiana is in the red... no green here! I am ashamed of Brian Bosma. He is in my voting district... if he comes up for re-election I will vote the other direction, without even a thought or a blink. Me-Tinks he wants to be Senator Bosma, so it might be a non-issue. {Ahhhh the stories I could tell.} Hamilton County Indiana bows to this guy. Can you say money talks? What a shame.
You forgot to mention the Flying Spaghetti Monster.
;-)
Thumbs up.
Boy, that Flying Spaghetti Monster is gaining a lot of popularity lately. He's even in the January issue of Playboy.
Unfortunately for the rest of the population, zealots always vote, just like old people. Maybe if the 18-36 year old level-headed demographic got out more and educated themselves on the issues, we wouldn't have this problem.
But then what would we blog about?
Since we can't pray to God or use Jesus' name in our prayers, can't Trust in God and cannot Post His Commandments in Government buildings,
I don't believe the Government and it's employees should participate in the Easter and Christmas celebrations which honor the God that our government is eliminating from many facets of American life.
I'd like the US Supreme Court to be in session on Christmas, Good Friday, Thanksgiving & Easter as well as Sundays. After all, it's just another day.
I'd like the Senate and the House of Representatives to not have to worry about getting home for the "Christmas Break;" After all it's just another day.
I'm thinking that a lot of my taxpayer dollars could be saved, if all government offices & services would work on Christmas, Good Friday & Easter.
It shouldn't cost any overtime since those would be just like any other day of the week to a government that is trying to be politically correct. In fact....
I think that our government should work on Sundays (initially set aside for worshipping God...) because, after all, our government says that it should be just another day.... Think of the tax dollars that would be saved if all government offices were to work on Christmas, Good Friday & Easter.
It shouldn't cost any overtime since those would be just like any other day of the week to a government that is trying to be politically correct. In fact....
I think that our government should work on Sundays (initially set aside for worshipping God...) because, after all, our government says that it should be just another day....
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