The Lunacy of Religion These Days

Thre greatest act of terrorism based on religion had to be the Crusades. For 400 years or more, the Catholic chruch sanctioned the systematic slaughter and terrorizing of the Muslims in Jerusalem for the sake of "protecting" the "holy land". 400 years of war over a strip of land and an ideal against a group that was meerly living in the space that another group from thousands of miles away thought belonged to them for some reason.

In modern society, I think Fundamental Christians are the largest terrorist group, they may not be a collective, but the groups generally have the same ideals and misconstrued notions of this country. There is a collective ideal to turn the nation into this religious ideal that each group thinks the nation was founded upon which is factually untrue. The US was founded by Deists, not Chrsitains. There is a HUGE fundamental difference between the two, one follows a regious ideal and the other follows a personal spiritual path. An example of this kind of terrorism would be the Quiverfull movement which avidly rails against higher education, schooling for girls, any use of family planning, or women's rights in anyway while avowing to be the best way to god and vowing that science is out to destroy the world. 

Another example would the FLDS groups which seek to destory the country from the inside out by having as many children as possible and "milk" the system of welfare. This is a group that believes that marriage to many women, even against their will is the only way to heaven and that they must have as many children as possible. Children don't go to school and women aren't allowed many rights if any.

West Bourogh Baptist is also a group one can call a terrorist group given their systematic attacks on LGBTQ and soldier's funerals as well as many famous people such as Vince Gill and Foo Fighters for the sake of scaring people into the arms of "god".

For all these groups, religion is the soul of why they do what they do and why they torture the minds of those around them with their false and horrible ideals.

http://www.history.com/topics/crusades

https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/fundamentalist-church-jesus-christ-latter-day-saints

http://gawker.com/quiverfull-of-shit-a-guide-to-the-duggars-scary-brand-1706557073

https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/westboro-baptist-church

https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/westboro-baptist-church

Marriage Rights: Voting For the Obvious

Marriage Rights: Voting For the Obvious

            Just this year, SCOTUS has had many a case brought before it that can be deemed controversial. Gay Marriage Rights was finally ruled upon in a case called Obergefell v. Hodges. This was tied to five other cases of similar style calling for the Court to decide if homosexuals had the right to marry in the eyes of the law. The Court ruled that marriage is a right for all consenting adults be they homosexual or heterosexual (576 U.S. ___). This has caused a backlash all over the country from people who think that such actions are illegal and in their opinions against "God's Laws".

            Obergefell v. Hodges was years in the making, it started with DeBoer v Snyder (576 U.S. ___). This was a Michigan case that was filled in  2012 due to the couple being black balled from sharing parenthood of their son because they weren't in a legally recognized marriage (772 F.3d 388). Deboer's case was focused on the state's adoption laws but was refocused towards the marriage law as that was the true thing holding the couple back (772 F.3d 388).  This worked and the couple went on to sue the state claiming that anti-gay marriage laws were against the United States Constitution(772 F.3d 388). This snow balled into 5 cases making the equivalent of a class action law suit against the Fed under the claim that anti gay marriage laws violated people's rights under the Constitution. Obergefell came a year after in 2013 when one half of a gay marriage died and the other half requested that he be placed on the death certificate as his husband and surviving spouse (576 U.S. ___).

            The five cases were combined under the title Obergefell v. Hodges (576 U.S. ___). The claim was that the laws in each state violated the claimants 14th Amendment rights to Due Process and Equal Protection (576 U.S. ___). The court agreed with the petitioners and ruled that the Fed and states must recognize and issue same sex marriage licenses or violate the inherent spirit of the 14th Amendment. SCOTUS has a heavy burden each year while they are in session to analyze each case presented carefully and weigh the cost of agreeing with the petitioner or tossing the case out for precedent (576 U.S. ___).

            Over the past couple of years cases have been brought before the Supreme Court that have systematically destroyed all legal argument for denying two consenting adults under the spirit and heart of the United States Constitution. Obergefell and the various petitioners have been given the same rights as those in heterosexual relationships (576 U.S. ___). The Constitution cannot be taken literally or else laws on marriage wouldn't be allowed in the first place as the lack of writing upon them would create a void in the government. The Constitution has to be taken in the spirit it was written instead.

            The 14th Amendment states: " Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." (Cornell University Law School). The spirit of the law in this passage is how cases such as "Brown v. Board of Education" those cases were looked at not in the letter of the 14th Amendment, but in the spirit of the Amendment it guarantees each child, regardless of ethnicity or gender, an education that is the same as everyone else. There is no logical reason that marriage rights shouldn't fall under the same thought process as education. Before this case was put before the Supreme Court, the law couldn't legally tell two heterosexual adults they couldn't get married because of the color of their skin, that was ruled unconstitutional years before, gender is no different. In this case I agree with the majority that to deny homosexual couples the same right that their heterosexual counter parts enjoy each day is turning our back on the keystone of social order that marriage is in our country. I also agree with the majority that the idea of same sex marriage harming the marriages of straight couples is ridiculous and that no lasting harm can happen to any current or future heterosexual marriage by allowing same sex couples to marry (576 U.S. ___).

            Marriage is a fundamental right promised in the Constitution by its promise of the right to freedom and happiness for every person in this nation. By denying gay couples because of a small group's ideal of moral propriety is to thumb our noses at the spirit that was engrained into the very parchment our founding fathers wrote it on. By denying a portion of our nation the same rights that a majority of the nation gets is turning our backs on the basis of our society that all men are equal.

Resources

Cornell University Law School. (n.d.). 14th Amendment. Retrieved September 19, 2015, from https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/amendmentxiv

DeBoer v. Snyder, 772 F.3d 388 (6th Cir. 2014)

Obergefell v. Hodges 576 U.S. ___ (2015)

Yet another reason people need to stop using the bible to bash LGBT

maybe-ill-meet-a-girl

A Challenge

I challenge any "Christian" to show me in the New Testament as those are the words of Christ where he said anything about denying help to the poor, hoarding your wealth, and anything about homosexuality. It must be from the KJV and New Testament only or it is not the words of Christ.

just a short prayer...

My job interview is in less than 48 hours. I pray to God I get this job. He knows I need this to get my life on the proper track. I pray his will is in the path of mine and this job is my path in this next stage of my life.

Interesting two days

Yesterday was interesting. So was today. I've spent the last couple of days looking at and viewing videos done by Muslims and learning what I can about their faith from their perspective. It has been interesting to learn from women why they wear the Hijab and why some men who practice Islam wish to marry a woman who wears the Hijab. This is interesting given many women in the LDS church won't even give a young man the time of day if he hasn't served a mission. Though in the case of the Hijab, some men will make an exception if it is her choice not to wear one. Many women in the church won't and sadly this hurts and discourages young men who don't have the funds to go on a mission or those who have converted too late to go on one. It's saddening to see these poor Brothers in Christ turned away because of something out of their control.

I've learned so much these last couple of days, not just about Islam, but a bit about myself. Since the Sunday before last, I've had to come to terms with the fact I can't be in therapy anymore. It's going to be strange not to have someone to talk with every week about the goings on in my life that isn't actually apart of my life. But I think I may be ready. I mean, I have you my readers as a bit of therapy. It's very therapeutic to write all my inner thoughts and feelings down and know that maybe someone is reading them. Even if no one does, it's nice to write things down and keep a memory of them as well.