Indiana's freedom of religious discrimination
Absolutely. No church should be forced to perform a wedding they don't want to. I think it would be a bit shameful if a long-term church member of good standing were denied, but that's just my opinion and I'd not force it on anyone. Church's have long been able to pick and choose because they aren't there to serve the public, they are there to serve their congregations.
Florists and bakers are a different story, though.
Florists and bakers are a different story, though.
"ATTENTION: Customers browsing porn must hold magazines with both hands at all times!"
GORDON wrote:I think if your crazy church funds/supports violence, though, your church needs to be outlawed and lots of peeps need to go to jail.
That would be a quick way to close down a lot of churches. Especially the Catholic church; they still allow exorcisms, which are pretty violent.
Edited By TPRJones on 1435868961
"ATTENTION: Customers browsing porn must hold magazines with both hands at all times!"
I was also wondering about what I thought about the possibility of churches losing their tax-exempt status. At first I was like, "Good." Then I remembered the only thing near me that gets used as a community center is the local church, and it would suck if that was no longer available. We vote there and the boy scouts meet there and it is the local tornado and fallout shelter and would probably be where the Red Cross would set up shop if there was a disaster. So it would kinda suck if they couldn't' keep their doors open because suddenly they owed $25k in property taxes every year.
"Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid."
I think the last thing the left wants is for churches to loss their tax exempt status. Black churches regularly preach politics that would get any other church investigated by the IRS. But they are allowed because they are protected and as long as they've voting democrat. As soon as the IRS no longer has the tax exempt status to hold over the churches, they get to preach politics and the politicians really are afraid of that.
Prior to the revolutionary war when the Brits were sweeping through arresting the rabble-rousers, the preachers were usually among them.
Prior to the revolutionary war when the Brits were sweeping through arresting the rabble-rousers, the preachers were usually among them.
"... and then I was forced to walk the Trail of Tears." - Elizabeth Warren
As much as I dislike religion I'm still in favor of their tax exempt status for a few reasons. I think it helps to underline separation of church and state, a topic that is all too blurry already. That money was already taxed as individual income before it was tithed. If it ddi become taxed the next step might be taxing charities which I'd rather avoid, and at least with some better churches a fair portion of those tithes are going to charity work anyway. And finally even though I disapprove of churches and much of what they do - or at least the way they do it - they're still more likely to spend the money better than the government would.
EDIT: I guess I wouldn't be entirely opposed to setting a large annual cap on their tax exemption, though. That might help cut down on the proliferation of mega churches and encourage smaller congregations a bit, which would go a long way to cutting down on the worst of them. But I'm hesitant to go even that far.
Edited By TPRJones on 1435874569
EDIT: I guess I wouldn't be entirely opposed to setting a large annual cap on their tax exemption, though. That might help cut down on the proliferation of mega churches and encourage smaller congregations a bit, which would go a long way to cutting down on the worst of them. But I'm hesitant to go even that far.
Edited By TPRJones on 1435874569
"ATTENTION: Customers browsing porn must hold magazines with both hands at all times!"
I don't give one flying fuck if a church won't marry a gay couple. Go to a courthouse, find a judge, get that shit done, throw a reception in a big-ass hall somewhere. Even if the couple happened to be members of the congregation, I still wouldn't care.Vince wrote:I say let them have their pot head church. I don't care. As long as I'm not supporting them, I don't give a flip. As long as they aren't trying to make me partake... don't care.
I say keep the wall of separation between church and state raised. I hope you will be as consistent when they come after the churches that refuse to perform a gay marriage.
Diogenes of Sinope: "It is not that I am mad, it is only that my head is different from yours."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
I think the last thing the left wants is for churches to loss their tax exempt status.
Scientology is classified as tax exempt. Some shit is fucked the fuck up.
Diogenes of Sinope: "It is not that I am mad, it is only that my head is different from yours."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
I just realized that restaurant owners can no longer ban children, because that is discrimination and there are rules they need to follow if they want to do business in America.
http://qz.com/249754/why-more-and-more-restaurants-are-banning-kids/
http://qz.com/249754/why-more-and-more-restaurants-are-banning-kids/
"Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid."
The law tends to agree with age discrimination of this kind, it's built around it. Once adults and minors have equal legal standing, you might have a case.GORDON wrote:I just realized that restaurant owners can no longer ban children, because that is discrimination and there are rules they need to follow if they want to do business in America.
http://qz.com/249754/why-more-and-more-restaurants-are-banning-kids/
Diogenes of Sinope: "It is not that I am mad, it is only that my head is different from yours."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
Texas teacher v Texas retard.
How about leading the impressionable minds to believe there is one? Seems to me you've got exactly as much evidence as your kid's teacher.
Students at West Memorial Junior High were asked to categorize a list of statements as “opinion,” “fact,” or “assertion.” One of the statements read, “There is a God.”
Jordan Wooley says she identified the statement as fact and opinion, but the teacher told her that answer was wrong.
...
Wooley and her mother took her complaint to the Katy ISD school board meeting. Wooley’s mother wants the teacher fired.
“I think that the teacher crossed a serious line when she led impressionable minds to write there was no God…that God wasn’t real. I think that infringes on my child’s rights,” Jordan’s mother, Chantel Wooley said, according to KTRK.
How about leading the impressionable minds to believe there is one? Seems to me you've got exactly as much evidence as your kid's teacher.
Diogenes of Sinope: "It is not that I am mad, it is only that my head is different from yours."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
More legal battles around contraceptive mandate.
That last sentence is such utter bullshit. By that logic, giving loose change to a homeless guy that later uses it to buy a knife and kill someone makes you complicit in the murder. Not only that, but every pub in the nation could be sued any time anyone does anything as a result of being wasted after having had so much as one sip of booze at their establishment.
Edited By Malcolm on 1446843239
To be eligible for the government’s accommodation, a religious organization must certify to its insurance company that it opposes coverage for contraceptives, or it must send a letter to the government saying so and provide the name of its insurance company. The insurers and government take over from there to provide the services.
But the religious groups say either of those options serve as a “trigger” that allows the contraceptives to be provided and makes the groups complicit.
That last sentence is such utter bullshit. By that logic, giving loose change to a homeless guy that later uses it to buy a knife and kill someone makes you complicit in the murder. Not only that, but every pub in the nation could be sued any time anyone does anything as a result of being wasted after having had so much as one sip of booze at their establishment.
Edited By Malcolm on 1446843239
Diogenes of Sinope: "It is not that I am mad, it is only that my head is different from yours."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
Governor from that bleeding heart liberal state of Georgia...
“In light of our history, I find it somewhat ironic that some in the religious community today feel that it is necessary for government to confer upon them certain rights and protections,” Mr. Deal said at the State Capitol, where he had faced intense pressure from the bill’s supporters and critics. “If indeed our religious liberty is conferred upon us by God, and not by man-made government, perhaps we should simply heed the hands-off admonition of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.”
...
By rejecting the measure, Mr. Deal has most likely sidestepped the type of economic backlash that Indiana faced last year after its governor signed a so-called religious liberty measure.
...
The bill was intended to offer protections to faith-based groups if they, absent certain conditions, refused to provide “social, educational or charitable services that violate” their religious beliefs. The measure also would have allowed such groups, without legal repercussions, to avoid hiring anyone whose religious beliefs conflicted with the organization’s.
Diogenes of Sinope: "It is not that I am mad, it is only that my head is different from yours."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
Mississippi joins the list of states with horseshit laws that will be struck down when the Supreme Court gets around to it.
Yes, by allowing them to deny rights to others based on who they fuck. Have fun losing hundreds of millions of dollars like Indiana.
Edited By Malcolm on 1459445743
"This is presenting a solution to the crossroads we find ourselves in today as a result of Obergefell vs. Hodges," Republican State Sen. Jenifer Branning said as she presented the bill to the Senate, according to the Jackson Clarion-Ledger. "Ministers, florists, photographers, people along those lines — this bill would allow them to refuse to provide marriage-related business services without fear of government discrimination."
Later in her speech, she assured her colleagues, "It takes no rights away from anyone. It gives protection to those in the state who cannot in a good conscience provide services for a same-sex marriage," according to New York Magazine.
Yes, by allowing them to deny rights to others based on who they fuck. Have fun losing hundreds of millions of dollars like Indiana.
Edited By Malcolm on 1459445743
Diogenes of Sinope: "It is not that I am mad, it is only that my head is different from yours."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
PayPal tells North Carolina to fuck itself.
The backlash against a North Carolina law that bars local governments from extending civil rights protections to gay and transgender people continued Tuesday, with PayPal saying it is abandoning plans to expand into Charlotte in response to the legislation.
Diogenes of Sinope: "It is not that I am mad, it is only that my head is different from yours."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
Another example of a [url=http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2016/04/07/why-evangelist-franklin-graham-says-paypal-deserves-hypocrite-of-the-year-award-after-canc eling-north-carolina-expansion-over-transgender-law/]hashtag warrior/activist[/url] that doesn't have balls enough to put their beliefs on the line someplace where it might actually make a difference. If you believe in it, fine. But stop being a pussy and show that you have actual principles.Malcolm wrote:PayPal tells North Carolina to fuck itself.The backlash against a North Carolina law that bars local governments from extending civil rights protections to gay and transgender people continued Tuesday, with PayPal saying it is abandoning plans to expand into Charlotte in response to the legislation.
"... and then I was forced to walk the Trail of Tears." - Elizabeth Warren
[url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2016/04/11/bryan-adams-cancels-miss-concert-to-protest-law-letting-businesses-refuse-service-to-gay-p
eople/]Bryan Adams[/url] tells Mississippi to eat a dick.
Diogenes of Sinope: "It is not that I am mad, it is only that my head is different from yours."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."