Sir, as a resident of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, which you once represented as Senator (albeit without ever receiving my vote for your office) you need to know how deplorable your behavior and your rhetoric have been lately. I am also greatly concerned by your seeming complete lack of knowledge about the Constitution of our great country.
The First Amendment to that Constitution -- the thing our Founding Fathers wanted to include first of all, before any other changes or amendments -- states:
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
So when you say that we get none of our rights except from God, and that our government must therefore abide by and respect Christian law as stated in the Bible, you only show how incredibly ignorant you are of our history, our heritage, our Constitution, and our beliefs. Even a cursory examination of the writings of our early leaders will show that they believed that our government must have tolerance for the God of every faith, even "those of the Hindoo and the Mohammedan." And in 1796, the U.S. Congress UNANIMOUSLY approved the Treaty of Tripoli, which was then signed into law by President John Adams. That treaty proclaims, "The United States is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion." Clearly, the founders of this nation believed wholeheartedly in the separation of Church and State. As should anyone who wishes to be President.
By the way, which of God's laws, specifically, are we going to be incorporating into our government, should you be elected? The Ten Commandments? Jesus' admonition to love our neighbors, a.k.a. the Golden Rule? The various, contradictory rules in the Old Testament? Should we ban the eating of shellfish, force men to marry their brothers' widows, or go find some Midianites to slaughter? (Excepting the female virgins, of course, which should be set aside as slaves. Duh.)
I think we have the right to ask just which biblical laws did you have in mind? And more importantly, WHO GETS TO CHOOSE?
Probably not me, I bet.
No, I think it best if we stick with a secular system that guarantees the same exact treatment under law by everyone, regardless of their race or gender or faith. So do most other sane people.
And as long as I'm giving you advice, Rick, let me advise you of this: when it comes to any issues regarding women's health, contraception or rape, you need to SHUT UP. Seriously. Just don't open your mouth.
Rape is not a "blessing in disguise" or a "gift," ever. And it's a damned sight more than a "bad situation" that you "need to make the best of." My sister and my mother were both raped. We were very lucky that neither of those crimes resulted in a pregnancy. They were both devout Catholics, just like you claim to be, and I guarantee you that, if there had been a pregnancy from either of those rapes, that fetus would not have come to term. Their gynecologists would have come up with a pressing reason for them to have the procedure once known as a "D and C." Catholics used it to terminate pregancies under the mask of an examination and scraping of the uterus. The loss of any fetus was simply a sad side effect.
Moving on to contraception, you said, and I quote you directly: "It's not okay. It's a license to do things in a sexual realm that is counter to how things are supposed to be." "Supposed to be" according to whom, exactly? You? Your pastor? By what right under the laws of the United States do you get to force anyone to abandon contraception? Or to have the government ban it? This manages to be both arrogant and idiotic. But that's you all over, isn't it?
Seriously, when Monty Python sang, "Every Sperm is Sacred"? IT WAS A JOKE.
And please, for You-Know-Who's sake, stop obsessing so much about gay marriage and gay sex. Just let it go. This is a civil rights issue, plain and simple. It will ultimately be decided in the courts, perhaps not in my lifetime, but it will be, and not the way you hope. If we left the franchising of women and blacks to public opinion and public votes or referenda, neither of those groups would be allowed at the polls today. Fortunately, the courts decided that women and blacks were all equal to white guys, and society was dragged kicking and screaming into equality under the law for all sexes and races. Sexuality is just next on the list. WE ARE ALL HUMAN BEINGS. As such, we are all entitled to the same rights and protections under the law. This includes gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people. Since you are such a fan of the Bible, let me give you some advice you may understand: Worry about the beam in your own eye before you try to pluck the splinter from out your neighbor's eye. You think about gay sex wayyyyy too much.
Lately you have been calling out our sitting President, Mr. Obama, by stating over and over that his is an elitist theology which influences his political decisions on a daily basis. First of all, you are using the word "theology" when what you mean is "philosophy." I personally find your attacks on the President cheap and below the belt because of what I suspect is your deliberate misuse of the word "theology." And secondly, I would hope that the guy you are running against does have a differing philosophy. Of course he stands for different things than you do. It's why you are running against him. But it's not about theology. Theology is the study of religious truth. Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems such as those connected with existence, reason, values, mind and language. If I'm telling the strict truth here, your differences with Mr. Obama are more properly defined as politics, i.e., the process by which groups of people make collective decisions. Probably not philosophy, but I can let that one slide. It's definitely not theology, though.
Rick, I will end by giving you the same advice that I would give to a radical or fundamentalist of ANY faith, Christian, Jew, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, or Zoroastrian: Yes, your faith gives you a code of behavior in which you strongly believe. That is wonderful. Go and live by it. You believe contraception is against the will of your God? Then by all means do not use it. You believe women should never be allowed to display their forms in public? Then by all means, cover 'em up. Go and live your beliefs, and hope that by doing so you may inspire others to do the same. But please do not assume that your beliefs are the only "right" ones. Please do not force your beliefs on the rest of us. This country was founded in part by people fleeing the kinds of governments which sought to impose their code of values on them. Governments which cited "Divine Law" and tried to impose their will or their code or whatever on people who dissented. (Remember the Divine Right of Kings? The one that says a king is a king because God wants him to be king? Because if God didn't want him to be a king, he wouldn't be? So that king can therefore do whatever he wants? Because if God is down with it, everybody else should be, too. Well, guess what? NOBODY BELIEVES THAT ANY MORE, EITHER.) If the women I love want to wear bikinis instead of burkas; if I believe that contraception or gay marriage is okay -- YOU HAVE TO LET ME. If you're right about God, She will deal with me in the next life.
So to quote from that famous billboard:
"Religion is like a penis.
It's fine to be proud of it.
But please don't whip it out in public and start waving it around.
And PLEASE don't try to shove yours down my children's throats."
It's good advice, Rick. Try it.
The First Amendment to that Constitution -- the thing our Founding Fathers wanted to include first of all, before any other changes or amendments -- states:
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
So when you say that we get none of our rights except from God, and that our government must therefore abide by and respect Christian law as stated in the Bible, you only show how incredibly ignorant you are of our history, our heritage, our Constitution, and our beliefs. Even a cursory examination of the writings of our early leaders will show that they believed that our government must have tolerance for the God of every faith, even "those of the Hindoo and the Mohammedan." And in 1796, the U.S. Congress UNANIMOUSLY approved the Treaty of Tripoli, which was then signed into law by President John Adams. That treaty proclaims, "The United States is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion." Clearly, the founders of this nation believed wholeheartedly in the separation of Church and State. As should anyone who wishes to be President.
By the way, which of God's laws, specifically, are we going to be incorporating into our government, should you be elected? The Ten Commandments? Jesus' admonition to love our neighbors, a.k.a. the Golden Rule? The various, contradictory rules in the Old Testament? Should we ban the eating of shellfish, force men to marry their brothers' widows, or go find some Midianites to slaughter? (Excepting the female virgins, of course, which should be set aside as slaves. Duh.)
I think we have the right to ask just which biblical laws did you have in mind? And more importantly, WHO GETS TO CHOOSE?
Probably not me, I bet.
No, I think it best if we stick with a secular system that guarantees the same exact treatment under law by everyone, regardless of their race or gender or faith. So do most other sane people.
And as long as I'm giving you advice, Rick, let me advise you of this: when it comes to any issues regarding women's health, contraception or rape, you need to SHUT UP. Seriously. Just don't open your mouth.
Rape is not a "blessing in disguise" or a "gift," ever. And it's a damned sight more than a "bad situation" that you "need to make the best of." My sister and my mother were both raped. We were very lucky that neither of those crimes resulted in a pregnancy. They were both devout Catholics, just like you claim to be, and I guarantee you that, if there had been a pregnancy from either of those rapes, that fetus would not have come to term. Their gynecologists would have come up with a pressing reason for them to have the procedure once known as a "D and C." Catholics used it to terminate pregancies under the mask of an examination and scraping of the uterus. The loss of any fetus was simply a sad side effect.
Moving on to contraception, you said, and I quote you directly: "It's not okay. It's a license to do things in a sexual realm that is counter to how things are supposed to be." "Supposed to be" according to whom, exactly? You? Your pastor? By what right under the laws of the United States do you get to force anyone to abandon contraception? Or to have the government ban it? This manages to be both arrogant and idiotic. But that's you all over, isn't it?
Seriously, when Monty Python sang, "Every Sperm is Sacred"? IT WAS A JOKE.
And please, for You-Know-Who's sake, stop obsessing so much about gay marriage and gay sex. Just let it go. This is a civil rights issue, plain and simple. It will ultimately be decided in the courts, perhaps not in my lifetime, but it will be, and not the way you hope. If we left the franchising of women and blacks to public opinion and public votes or referenda, neither of those groups would be allowed at the polls today. Fortunately, the courts decided that women and blacks were all equal to white guys, and society was dragged kicking and screaming into equality under the law for all sexes and races. Sexuality is just next on the list. WE ARE ALL HUMAN BEINGS. As such, we are all entitled to the same rights and protections under the law. This includes gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people. Since you are such a fan of the Bible, let me give you some advice you may understand: Worry about the beam in your own eye before you try to pluck the splinter from out your neighbor's eye. You think about gay sex wayyyyy too much.
Lately you have been calling out our sitting President, Mr. Obama, by stating over and over that his is an elitist theology which influences his political decisions on a daily basis. First of all, you are using the word "theology" when what you mean is "philosophy." I personally find your attacks on the President cheap and below the belt because of what I suspect is your deliberate misuse of the word "theology." And secondly, I would hope that the guy you are running against does have a differing philosophy. Of course he stands for different things than you do. It's why you are running against him. But it's not about theology. Theology is the study of religious truth. Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems such as those connected with existence, reason, values, mind and language. If I'm telling the strict truth here, your differences with Mr. Obama are more properly defined as politics, i.e., the process by which groups of people make collective decisions. Probably not philosophy, but I can let that one slide. It's definitely not theology, though.
Rick, I will end by giving you the same advice that I would give to a radical or fundamentalist of ANY faith, Christian, Jew, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, or Zoroastrian: Yes, your faith gives you a code of behavior in which you strongly believe. That is wonderful. Go and live by it. You believe contraception is against the will of your God? Then by all means do not use it. You believe women should never be allowed to display their forms in public? Then by all means, cover 'em up. Go and live your beliefs, and hope that by doing so you may inspire others to do the same. But please do not assume that your beliefs are the only "right" ones. Please do not force your beliefs on the rest of us. This country was founded in part by people fleeing the kinds of governments which sought to impose their code of values on them. Governments which cited "Divine Law" and tried to impose their will or their code or whatever on people who dissented. (Remember the Divine Right of Kings? The one that says a king is a king because God wants him to be king? Because if God didn't want him to be a king, he wouldn't be? So that king can therefore do whatever he wants? Because if God is down with it, everybody else should be, too. Well, guess what? NOBODY BELIEVES THAT ANY MORE, EITHER.) If the women I love want to wear bikinis instead of burkas; if I believe that contraception or gay marriage is okay -- YOU HAVE TO LET ME. If you're right about God, She will deal with me in the next life.
So to quote from that famous billboard:
"Religion is like a penis.
It's fine to be proud of it.
But please don't whip it out in public and start waving it around.
And PLEASE don't try to shove yours down my children's throats."
It's good advice, Rick. Try it.
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