John Merritt Classic Pep Rally

While at the John Merritt Classic Pep Rally tonight, I ran into a man who said he wasn't voting for Harold Ford Jr. or any Democrat for that matter cause what have they done since they have had power. Than this gentleman proceeded to try to give me a history lesson by referring to the Democratic Party of the 1960s and all that good stuff, saying they kept us from voting and all that but I quickly had to say that well sir, the south at the time was real racists so Republicans and Democrats didn't care about us. Also some of the values the Democrats had at the time are the same values the Republican Party have today and that's what makes the Democrats of today different from those of yesterday.

So next the gentleman tried to bring up his faith and values and how Democrats believe in abortion and gay marriage and all that good stuff. However, I quickly responded that this nation was built on separation of church and state for a reason, while the phrase may be found in the U.S. Constitution, several things point to it. I got the next few paragraphs from the Free Encyclopedia--Wikipedia online and it states:

In the United States, separation of church and state is sometimes believed to be in the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and by legal precedents interpreting that clause, some extremely controversial. The Establishment Clause states that, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;" However, the U.S. Supreme Court decided that the Fourteenth Amendment (one of the Reconstruction Amendments) makes the Establishment Clause and other portions of the Bill of Rights binding on state and local governments as well, although it is arguable that this restriction on state and local government existed in Article VI of the unamended Constitution and that the Fourteenth Amendment was a clarification on the limitation of government power. Many other democratic governments around the world have similar clauses in their respective constitutions.

The separation of church and state is similar to the concept of freedom of religion, but the two concepts are not the same. For example, the citizens in a country with a state church may have complete freedom of religion. And citizens in a country without a state church may or may not enjoy the freedom to practice their religion. In the United States, the structure and wording of the First Amendment with both the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause, demonstrates this difference. Both clauses have evolved an important body of case law from the U.S. Supreme Court as well as lower federal courts.

While many states or nations permit freedom of religious belief, no country allows completely unrestricted freedom of religious practice. National laws, when they reflect important or fundamental governmental interests, may prohibit certain acts which some citizens may claim represent the free exercise of their religious belief.

In the United States, state laws can prohibit practices such as bigamy, sex with children, human and occasionally animal sacrifice, use of drugs, or other criminal acts, even if citizens claims the practices are part of their religious belief system. However, the federal courts give close scrutiny to any state or local laws that impinge upon the bona fide exercise of religious practices. The courts ensure that genuine and important religious rights are not impeded, and that questionable practices are limited only to the extent necessary. The courts usually demand that any laws restricting religious practices must demonstrate a fundamental or "compelling" state interest, such as protecting citizens from bodily harm.

Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Separation_of_church_and_state

Now if all that was hard to grasp then simply put, while individuals are allowed to practice any religion they want, the U.S. government can not infringe on your religion and tell you what religion to practice and the federal government can neither make laws based off of religious beliefs because everyone's religious beliefs are different. However in certain states such things occur but have been contested in state courts and the U.S. Supreme Court. Some overruled and others stayed the same. However, what I am trying to say is that I am Christian and I am proud of it, however I can not vote simply on a issue because of my religious beliefs and values because as a Christian I am taught to love and care for all man and I believe that is something taught in all religions. Therefore if that is the principle value we all share as religious people than I refuse to allow my religious beliefs and values to be placed on someone else for the simple reason my Lord and Savior will deal with those who are against his beliefs.

Therefore, while I believe everyone deserves life, I can not tell a woman that she has to bring a child in this world if the circumstances aren't. I know some might say it is a woman's fault they got pregnant but in fact it takes two to tangle. Therefore it's a man fault as well. Also don't we have too many poor children and kids being put up for adoption in America already. Now if we stopped passing out condoms every where and stopped promoting safe sex as if it was kool aid than maybe we could deal with this problem better than saying a woman shouldn't get an abortion. That's her body, allow her to make her own decisions. Simply put, while my Lord says abortions are not the way, I feel I can't tell someone or mandate anyone that once they are pregnant they must give birth to a child when that child could be a burden on society if the female and male cannot afford to take care of it. It's already bad enough social service benefits such as welfare are being stripped away from society as we speak but that's a whole another topic.

So I just wanted to let the world know that we have certain laws for a reason (religious and political) and the Lord deals with both as he sees fit. Therefore allow the Lord to do his job in judging others and all we do is love the Lord and man kind and give everyone equal and fair treatment politically and religiously.