People were protesting the building of a mosque somewhere. An angry woman spit out that America was built by founding fathers who believed the country would be based on the one true God. I don't even want to go there. OK... one true God. Would that be the Catholic God? the Jewish God? the Muslim God? The Mormon God? The Protestant God? Therefore we shouldn't allow a Muslim mosque to be built?
Then I saw the article about our Governor Lingle trying to decide whether or not to veto the Civil Unions bill. It's passed the Hawaii Legislature and waiting for her signature to turn it into law.
Governor Lingle says she does not want this bill to be her legacy. To be honest, I'm thinking her legacy for me is her taking time to campaign heavily for Sarah Palin and then saying she was too busy to meet with the newly elected President Obama who was meeting with all the nation's governors. Never mind that President Obama is a local guy. OK... I'll stop that rant.
Anyway... as I said, I may not have the full grasp of the situation. However, wasn't part of the foundation of our country built with the cement of religious freedom? Separation of church and state? A civil union, whether for gays or for heterosexuals would be a state sanctioned union, wouldn't it? Couples who don't want to belong to a church or is not allowed in a church can have a state recognized civil union with rights and benefits, thereof? Shouldn't the churches, temples or mosques just stay out of this?
At first I told Art, "Shouldn't they just let the people vote?"
Art said, "If they let people in the Southern states vote on the Civil Rights Bill for their state, would it have passed?"
But then I just saw a poll that indicated the majority of the people of Hawaii are for the Civil Union bill to be passed.
So why not just pass it already?
And Governor Lingle's Legacy? It's also under her watch that 17 furlough days were taken from Hawaii's school children whose school system was already struggling to meet the nation's educational standards.
As you know, Kay, I blogged about civil unions several days ago. Today, Mynah commented that he heard a Catholic priest talk about discrimination and how it was overcome over time. For example, the Jews were prejudiced against the Gentiles, because the latter were uncircumcised. And long ago, women could not vote because they were women.
ReplyDeleteI hope the governor does the right thing and allows this civil union bill to pass. Live and let live!
Jews were prejudiced against gentiles."
ReplyDeleteWHAT! Centuries of violent ant-semitism, and THIS is your example of prejudice GiGi?
*sigh*
Loved your thoughts, Kay!
Aloha from Waikiki, neighbir
Comfort Spiral
Kay, I am a strong believer in separation of church and state. It is my opinion everything the church gets into turns into a real mess. It seems when people are 'speaking for God' they're actually expressing their personal beliefs. Nobody has any give when it comes to religion. I hope your governor signs the bill into law.
ReplyDeleteI think you said this very well. I don't care what race, what religion or what nationality anyone is, the Constitution guarantees that ALL men (and women)are created equal. I believe that. When my daughter graduated from boot camp at Great Lakes, she took me on a tour of the base. I was fascinated by the large building that included chapels for ALL major religions. Her graduating class included young men and women of all races and creeds and I was intensely proud to see them standing shoulder to shoulder with pride in themselves and their country. Your governor is supporting a blatantly unconstitutional law and I think a call for impeachment is in order. Just my take.
ReplyDeleteNeedless to say, Kay, I totally and completely agree with you! Great post! Unfortunately when I talk/write about this I tend to froth at the mouth making it difficult for people to make out what I'm saying or writing. You've done it extremely well!
ReplyDeleteLive and let live indeed!
Sylvia
thinking about politics or even watching the news is not good for our health-mental, emotional or otherwise but what can be done????
ReplyDeleteKay I don't get into politics either, it's the way of the world, not always fair, but that's politics, a power game
ReplyDeletethe mosque controversy has more to do with insensitivity issues than religious differences.
ReplyDeleteseparation of church and state .... there should also be a doctrine of separation between politics and church. Remember during the election, Rev. Wright? People came down on him, at least, the Republicans. Obama eventually switched church because of it. I kinda like Rev. Wright. "The chickens have come home to roost."
our state's civil union's bill I think the politicians who avidly support the bill just want the votes, they don't necessarily care about gays and lesbian rights. Hug a lesbian. Hug a gay. Another vote. Two more votes.
Lin Floyd's "thinking about politics or ...." All this post amounts to is politics Lite, not heavy duty stuff. Every little bit counts though. Democracy does demand diligence by the governed or those in power will sell you everything from derivatives to WMD's.
foist, they came for your neighbor and you did nothing about it
then, they came for me, and you did nothing about it
then, they knocked on your door.
Okay, that's a bit on the paranoid side, more of a metaphor on the erosion of rights if that's something worth paying attention to.
I like to stay out of politics too.
ReplyDeleteThe last time I visited my niece, she said (among many other things) that she wished the country would 'get back to the Christian values it was founded on'. I couldn't help but comment that I was pretty sure the country was founded on religious *freedom* instead. Oh boy did that start something.
I hope the civil union bill passes. That governor sounds like a real number.
:-(
I for one thoroughly enjoy a good political debate. And I thank you for sounding off! All marriages should be civil unions, and the sacred vow stuff should be optional.
ReplyDeleteThe trouble with religion is that everyone thinks their choice of what to believe is right and that makes everyone else wrong. They forget to limit it to their choice just being the right one for THEM, not necessarily everyone.
Great post Kay, couldn't agree with you more.
ReplyDeleteI'll quote something I read once when there was rioting going on
years ago, and you may have heard me say this before. "We're all very different and beautiful flowers who have to live together in one big beautiful garden." Planet earth being the garden I suppose, and the different flowers being us, the human race. I keep going back to this quote every time I hear something like this. Trite it might sound to some, but the sooner we all learn to get along with each other, and be tolerant and accepting of each other's differences, the better off we'll all be.
Kay, you've said it very well.
ReplyDeleteI so agree with you, Kay, about religion. Sincerely held, non-fanatical beliefs can be a great guide to decent living and a comfort. Bigotry, on the other hand, is destructive.
ReplyDeleteVoting and religion are IDENTICAL.
ReplyDeleteIt depends on where you were born. And it also depends on who your parents were/are.
IT REALLY DOES.
If you are born into a Republican family, the chances are like 99 out of a hundred you will be a Republican and never become a Democrat.
If you were born in a Catholic family the changes are at least 99 out of a hundred that you will be a Catholic.
And once a Catholic, you will never be a Baptist or a Methodist or a Muslim.
If you are born a Muslim you will never be a Baptist.
There is a change when a person whose parents are Japanese and the person moves to this country, that their children will always be Japanese but their religion will probably not be Shinto or Buddhist or any other Japanese belief system because the children go to school and become acquainted with so-called Christian religious holidays.
In the Army, we had Christmas and time off where possible. Funny thing. The Jews took it off too and enjoyed it. But when their holidays came around, they took them off too but we were not allowed to. We protested but it never got anywhere.
Had we been in a war the company commander would have been fragged and that would have been the end of it.
I am of the 'Live and let Live' group also...this stuff can bring out some very strong opinions...
ReplyDeleteI came to catch up..I love the gifts you got and your new collection. Nice that your Mother is comfortable enough to use a wheel chair so she can travel with you.. It looks like Father's Day was good.....hugs to you Kay...Michelle
Kay, I'm like you. I stay away from polical discussions because I too feel that I don't have a true grasp on all the aspects....BUT with that said, I never understood the double standard of separating Church and State here. We can't have our keikis pray in school or say the pledge of allegiance because of "one nation under God" so why is it every time legislation begins they open it with a Hawaiian priest chanting prayer and blessing the proceedings?
ReplyDeleteI'm with you on the civil unions. Who are we to judge? It's not who we love; just THAT we love. Why can't everyone have the same rights as a couple?
As for the furloughs...it hits home too with the civil workers. We're hit with that one as well, taking two days of pay away a month doesn't sound like much, but it really does hurt the wallet.
Great post.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your thoughts.
We have a lot of religions in our country. Buddhists,Hindus, Moslim, Jews and Christians. We have only problems with the young fanatic moslim boys. They discriminate against the Jews and throw stones through their windows. These Jewish people survived the concentrationcamps and lost many relatives in the gaschambers.They are Dutch people and were here before the moslims came here from Turkey and Morocco. Not all moslims are unpleasant, but they all have the feeling that we all
ReplyDeleteneed to be converted.I am glad I live in a country with freedom of speech and religion. We are all equal: men-women,Christian( Roman Catholic or Protestant), Jews, Moslims and any other religion. There is of course one God and He must be terribly annoyed by all the people who claim Him.
Oh Kay, thanks for your visit! Yes the photos are from Kinderdijk. Tomorrow and Saturday more!
ReplyDeleteMaybe we should all have civil unions, I donno , but we should allow anyone that wants on to have it.
ReplyDeleteWhen I vote again, I'm going to be doing a lot of homework.
Politics, religion, we all think that we're right. I guess that's human nature
I hate politics, Now I start out thinking that all politicians are lying I didn't used to feel this way, and I don't like the change in me.
Coming from the state that elected Blogo, Ryan, etc
Have a wonderful weekend.
I like what you say about Lingle. Why she gets a free pass and even respect from anyone in this state is beyond me.
ReplyDeleteWell, I never mind wading into the fray, because I am what is called a political animal. And I think it's reprehensible to try to build political careers at the expense of unpopular minorities, which is what all this is about, in my opinion.