Let Us Prey

Religious fanatics have gone from “let us pray for the souls of the sinners” to “let us prey on the rights of the sinners.” And they define as a sinner anyone who does not agree with them on all things. Citing God as a reason for depriving people of their legal rights is an exercise of religious despotism rather than religious freedom. Our founding fathers had some very good reasons for not permitting a theocracy, and we cannot allow anyone acting in an official government capacity to undermine that wise decision by inflicting their religious views on others! It is that simple.

Resignation is the remedy for any office holder who cannot perform the duties of that office, and it does not matter whether the duties of that office have changed or not. Can you imagine what would have happened if cops refused comply with the Miranda decision because that decision was made after they joined the police force and they had strong moral objections to telling a perpetrator to lawyer up? I might add here that the supreme court decision regarding gay marriage was foreseeable even to people who are challenged by blind faith.

The fact that Republicans running for President are demagoguing this issue speaks volumes about what is wrong with the Republican Party. By pandering to the fear and loathing of the religious right the Republican Party is trampling on the rights of others, and in many cases they are trampling on the rights of the majority.  Here is a news flash: the religious right is not victimized by people who use birth control, avail themselves of the services provided by planned parenthood, or get married to someone of the same sex!  The Republican's are free to damn Darwin, the religious tolerance we have struggled so hard to obtain, and the personal freedoms we have rested from the grip of the sanctimonious, but they defund and legislate against these things at their peril!  We have come way too far to return to a past we gratefully left behind!  Welcome to the twenty-first century or not as you choose.  We will know where you are if you ever want to join us.

No RSVP Needed

I have always thought of voter registration as an RSVP to our country's invitation to participate in the political system and perhaps join a party. From the passage of the Voter Rights act of 1965 until just recently I thought people who did not register to vote were people who did not pay enough attention to make informed decisions anyhow. I suppose my opinion was akin to the fear some of our founding fathers expressed in regard to the passions and prejudices of the great unwashed. The appeal of Donald Trump and the results of the last two mid term elections seem to justify my snobbery and the low opinion some of our founding fathers had of the masses. But not so fast!

The polls show that only around 25% of likely Republican voters favor Donald Trump, and that the voter turn out was incredibly low in the last two mid-term elections. In other words, it was not the passions of the majority (or the masses) that decided those elections; rather those elections were decided by the passion of a minority that is all too vulnerable to the fear mongering and demagoguery of someone like Trump. It is little wonder that the Republicans are passing voter suppression laws. When the turn out is high, as it was in the last two presidential elections, the Republicans lose. But that is beside the point. This is a matter of fairness and irrefutable logic. By definition, you cannot have a democracy and voter suppression at the same time. In other words, the Republicans have now changed the choice from Republicans v. Democrats to Republicans v. Democracy.

It is the gutting of the voter rights act and the voter suppression laws that now make me favor the universal and automatic registration of all U.S. Citizens as qualified voters. No RSVP necessary. All citizens should be invited and all should be encouraged to participate.  No political party should be allowed to pervert the system!