A common family tradition at Thanksgiving is for everyone at
the table to tell everyone else what they are thankful for; this is not so
common of families on the 4th
of July. We are more caught up in BBQ, parades,
and nationalism. We rarely hear sediments connected to the Preamble:
“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union,
establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense,
promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves
and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United
States of America.”
The Preamble is about welfare for all people, protected by justice, tranquility, and common defense.
Looking at the news, the week leading up to the 4th
of July weekend, there were many stories
that show how special interests are constantly a threat to justice, tranquility, and welfare for all - here are three:
1 . Ralph’s Thriftway v. State of Washington
Department of Health
2 . Opposition to SB 1146
3 . iPhones versus
seer stones
The first story, Ralph’s Thriftway v. State of Washington
Department of Health, starts on a common theme today, but then takes a bizarre
twist. The short description of this
case is; Washington State passed a law on the distribution of
pharmaceuticals. The state was then
taken to court as Ralph’s Thriftway requested a second law be created for Christian
pharmacists.
One may agree or disagree with the either of the purposed laws; it doesn’t matter which law one
supports. The important focus is, that to
protect justice and tranquility; all
American’s must be subject to one law. Further, the first sentence of the Bill of
Rights reads “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of
religion.” Thus, it is against
American’s founding to create a special law for Christians. And therefore, Ralph’s Thriftway case lost. But oddly the case made it all the way to the
consideration of the Supreme Court last week, however, then as expected the SCOTUS
did not grant certiorari. So
what is the bizarre twist? The curious writing is Justice Alito’s dissent,
posted @ http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/15pdf/15-862_2c8f.pdf. In the short 15-page
dissent Justice Alito asked multiple times - if pharmaceutical laws can be
secular based, why not have religious based laws too? This is
an extraordinary question as the law the land, that we cannot have religious
laws, was put into place by the Founders to protect justice and tranquility for
all. The Justice knows this, and
therefore it is peculiar as why he would promote allowing us to open the slippery
slope back to the tyranny of religious law.
Luckily the other Justices were not confused, but it still reminds us
that even those at the top of the American judicial system can lose focus, and our freedoms are not guaranteed.
Last week the opposition to California SB 1146 also began to grow.
http://www.opposesb1146.com/ The
bill states that post-secondary schools which receive public funding cannot practice
discrimination. The bill does not
mention religion, but the right wing is fighting SB 1146 to allow religious discrimination
to remain in place and for it to be publicly funded. There
are two simple takeaways from this; one don’t discriminate, but if you do don’t
be a whiny little bitch when taxpayers do
not support you. This is an example of freedom
the Constitution goes not grant, and one that should never be expected.
The third story this week which reminded me of the delicate freedoms
we have, may not immediately seem on the subject. I will connect the relevance back in - in
the next few paragraphs. The story is
a post by Dieter F Uchtdorf, who is a senior
representative of the LDS church. Before I
move forward with this third example I must disclose that some of the greatest people
I know (like my father and my brother) are LDS, I grew up LDS, and my family is
still LDS; 99% of LDS members I know are good, kind, caring people. But this does not grant immunity to the LDS
leaders that they can write or say anything they like without being held
accountable for their actions.
Last Tuesday Mr. Uchtdorf posted
on his Facebook page that stones can translate ancient languages to English,
comparing stones to iPhones “My mobile phone is like a “seer stone.” I can get the collected knowledge of
the world through a few little inputs. I can take a photo or a video with my
phone and share it with family on the other side of our planet. I can even
translate anything into or from many different languages! ” Our freedoms allow us to post
and say anything we wish, and adults are free to believe what they want, and
have their opinions. However, those in
an influential position must be held accountable for what they say. This is
especially true when children are involved.
Why is this danger to
our freedom? First, let us establish that religion does not and cannot claim invariance, That is to say, if one scientist in Utah finds a new method, this method
is then tested and eventually a proof is found
that is also true in New Jersey, South America, Europe, Mars, and Jupiter and
outside our solar system. If we ever
did meet alien life, the same laws of physics would apply to both them and us.
And this is how we as humans normalize our ideas and judge how things
are true or not true, by the scientific method.
If we teach children to believe ideas which do not have invariance, we are
teaching them it is okay to believe anything authority tells you without
applying the “bull shit detector” of the scientific method.
Rocks do not translate language any more than talking snakes
slither around hoodwinking unsuspecting victims. The danger to our freedoms is that if one
teaches children to forgo skeptical thinking,
then these children could grow up believing anything. Which is a danger to us all.
This last week also brought
deaths of hundreds of people due to religious ideology. A terrorist in a Bangladesh café was quoted as saying “God wants you to die.” If
you can convince a kid that rocks translate language, it isn’t much of a stretch
to move to “God wants you to die." taking all of the freedoms from people that
the 4th of July represents.
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