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Texas legislature is trying to violate the First Amendment:

ImmortalFlame

Woke gremlin
 

Revoltingest

Pragmatic Libertarian
Premium Member
The claim might be valid, but I saw
no evidence other than the claim itself.
(My perusal was quick.)
What did you see in the links.
 

Shadow Wolf

Certified People sTabber & Business Owner
Thou shall not steal. Why is that taboo to the Left? Is stealing good in your philosophy?
Theft is a time when we can demonstrate we are humans or animals. When someone steals for survival, it's more important to consider the whys. Everywhere says thou shalt not steal. Very few command helping people to not need to steal again.
Honor thy Father and Mother. Does the Left prefer disrespectful brat children? Why are you offended by this?
Many parents do not deserve it. It's not unusual if a kid in mental health services is in services because of the parent.
Properly the pressure is placed on the parents to be respectable. The parents did nothing special, they aren't the center of the story, they don't all deserve honor. But few say to put the rod down and encourage and teach parents how to be person who can raise kids who will want to respect to respect their parents and fear parental disappointment rather than the rod.
 

9-10ths_Penguin

1/10 Subway Stalinist
Premium Member
You know, even the Texas legislators must be aware that the Supreme Court (even the current one) could not possibly let that bill stand, and would strike it down. Schools are most assuredly part of the "establishment," and the First Amendment provides that Congress make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting its free exercise. This is just too clear for any Justice to get away with claiming that something is being "read into" the Amendment's meaning.

So, then, we must ask the question about why Texas Republicans are going ahead with this? WHat is their goal? Is it just to con so many ignorant Texans that don't know any better? Do they really think so little of their own constituents?
To shift the Overton Window, maybe?
 

Shadow Wolf

Certified People sTabber & Business Owner
@wellwisher what of the other commandments? Most of them are repressive and useless. Thou shalt have no other god before me, it's a contradiction of the First Amendment and it only benefits a god who rightly described himself as jealous.
Keep and remember the Sabbath is for the Jews and most Christians don't evem know when it is. It serves no one any good but your god.
No idols? Repressive, useless, contradicts the First Amendment.
No taking the Lord's name in vain? Again, useless amd repressive and in direct contradiction of the First Amendment.
Thou shalt not covet? We're going to do it. It's going to happen. Better to teach that what's important is what we do with that, but the Bible is overall a poor source for morality.
Thou shalt not murder is near universal, and just as nearly universal is having exceptions to that rule, such as apostates and adulterers. It's useless and meaningless unless you actually mean don't kill and refrain from killing.
Thou shalt not commit adultery. That one too is common, but it's better to just respect the choices of consenting adults and mind your own business.
Thou shalt not bear false witness. This is useless because if you have to be told not to lie you probably aren't a good person and are among a rare type with anti-social behaviors.
Where is any of it actually of any use or benefit unless you are the god who calls himself Jealous?
 

Sgt. Pepper

All you need is love.
Theft is a time when we can demonstrate we are humans or animals. When someone steals for survival, it's more important to consider the whys. Everywhere says thou shalt not steal. Very few command helping people to not need to steal again.

In my experience as a former conservative Christian, the majority of conservative Christians are quite selective about what "sins" they complain about and which ones they deliberately ignore. For example, they complain loudly about same-sex marriage undermining the sanctity of traditional marriages of one man and one woman, but they enthusiastically support a serial adulterer who is thrice married to his former mistress (his second wife was also his former mistress) and who also had affairs with a porn star and a playboy bunny, both of whom he paid off while campaigning for president the first time. None of them batted an eyelash about this man's perverted and vulgar boasting about how he could get away with forcibly kissing women and grabbing them by the *****, or when he boastfully stated how he could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot someone and not lose any voters. The majority of evangelical conservative Christians are blatant hypocrites, pointing their piously pompous judgmental fingers at Democrats and loudly complaining about their "sins" while willfully dismissing the immoral behavior of their Republican idols, like Trump. "Those who live in glass houses should not throw stones."

Many parents do not deserve it. It's not unusual if a kid in mental health services is in services because of the parent. Properly the pressure is placed on the parents to be respectable. The parents did nothing special, they aren't the center of the story, they don't all deserve honor. But few say to put the rod down and encourage and teach parents how to be person who can raise kids who will want to respect to respect their parents and fear parental disappointment rather than the rod.

There is no way in hell that I will ever honor my Christian mother and father. I was abused for thirteen and a half years at the hands of my Christian mother, while my Christian father willfully turned a blind eye and often blamed me for the perpetual abuse I endured. As far as I'm concerned, they can go to hell.
 

Shadow Wolf

Certified People sTabber & Business Owner
There is no way in hell that I will ever honor my Christian mother and father. I was abused for thirteen and a half years at the hands of my Christian mother, while my Christian father willfully turned a blind eye and often blamed me for the perpetual abuse I endured. As far as I'm concerned, they can go to hell.
My dad hopes I'm "right with god," but he's the one who's been unfaithful, generally disrespectful towards me and my mom how he openly talk about his inappropriate relationships with women at work in front of us, largely absent, and ended up abandoning us. There's no honoring him.
My mom at least tries. Even though she is abusive she did what she had to make sure her kids ate. She was herself very abused as a child by her god fearing Christian father and step father, her first husband was also abusive, but not Christian, and she's the product of chronic trauma and abuse.
 

Sgt. Pepper

All you need is love.
@wellwisher what of the other commandments? Most of them are repressive and useless. Thou shalt have no other god before me, it's a contradiction of the First Amendment and it only benefits a god who rightly described himself as jealous.
Keep and remember the Sabbath is for the Jews and most Christians don't evem know when it is. It serves no one any good but your god.
No idols? Repressive, useless, contradicts the First Amendment.
No taking the Lord's name in vain? Again, useless amd repressive and in direct contradiction of the First Amendment.
Thou shalt not covet? We're going to do it. It's going to happen. Better to teach that what's important is what we do with that, but the Bible is overall a poor source for morality.
Thou shalt not murder is near universal, and just as nearly universal is having exceptions to that rule, such as apostates and adulterers. It's useless and meaningless unless you actually mean don't kill and refrain from killing.
Thou shalt not commit adultery. That one too is common, but it's better to just respect the choices of consenting adults and mind your own business.
Thou shalt not bear false witness. This is useless because if you have to be told not to lie you probably aren't a good person and are among a rare type with anti-social behaviors.
Where is any of it actually of any use or benefit unless you are the god who calls himself Jealous?

Winner frubal.
 

Viker

Your beloved eccentric Auntie Cristal
Thou shall not steal. Why is that taboo to the Left? Is stealing good in your philosophy?
Honor thy Father and Mother. Does the Left prefer disrespectful brat children? Why are you offended by this
Those are fine. It's the first three many may object to as this makes them exclusive/partial to one religion out of many and as well as having them made mandatory by government authority.
 

9-10ths_Penguin

1/10 Subway Stalinist
Premium Member
@wellwisher what of the other commandments? Most of them are repressive and useless. Thou shalt have no other god before me, it's a contradiction of the First Amendment and it only benefits a god who rightly described himself as jealous.
Keep and remember the Sabbath is for the Jews and most Christians don't evem know when it is. It serves no one any good but your god.
No idols? Repressive, useless, contradicts the First Amendment.
No taking the Lord's name in vain? Again, useless amd repressive and in direct contradiction of the First Amendment.
Thou shalt not covet? We're going to do it. It's going to happen. Better to teach that what's important is what we do with that, but the Bible is overall a poor source for morality.
Thou shalt not murder is near universal, and just as nearly universal is having exceptions to that rule, such as apostates and adulterers. It's useless and meaningless unless you actually mean don't kill and refrain from killing.
Thou shalt not commit adultery. That one too is common, but it's better to just respect the choices of consenting adults and mind your own business.
Thou shalt not bear false witness. This is useless because if you have to be told not to lie you probably aren't a good person and are among a rare type with anti-social behaviors.
Where is any of it actually of any use or benefit unless you are the god who calls himself Jealous?

Also, @wellwisher is being disingenuous by removing the text from its context.

It's like someone who wants "Work Sets You Free" put on classroom walls responding to criticism with "what? Now people are offended by hard work?!"
 

Shadow Wolf

Certified People sTabber & Business Owner
Also, @wellwisher is being disingenuous by removing the text from its context.

It's like someone who wants "Work Sets You Free" put on classroom walls responding to criticism with "what? Now people are offended by hard work?!"
Not necessarily. It's possible, but my anticipated response are answers that are dismissive. This can range from claims the Founding Fathers established America as a Christian nation, the oh well get it over typse if dismissal, or the claim tbat only Christianity is a religion as all the others are false.
There's also the quality of the argument to consider, and a lot of Christian sources just don't do well with this, especially modern American Evangelicism, which was heacily influenced by salesmen and entertainers turned preachers during the American Revival of the mid-to-late 19th Century. Amd that itself was.built on an American Clergy tradition that wasn't interested in tradition or even studying or knowing the Bible (some preachers never even read it), and it grew up in avery rural countrythat largelyhhas nevwe like education that much. This meams today we see a lot of arguments that are just bad.
 

SomeRandom

Still learning to be wise
Staff member
Premium Member
In my opinion it is a very smart thing.
Christian culture is essential to understand the history of the US.
Pretty sure this would quite literally violate the Establishment clause the US government has had in place for centuries (?)

Also what does the 10 Commandments have to do with US history?
We learnt about US history (though obviously not as in-depth as US citizens) without needing to cite the Bible.
And we all knew that there was a Christian connection to that history regardless.
 

TLK Valentine

Read the books that others would burn.
I do not see a problem with ten timeless rules, posted on the wall, that can help people get along better; team affect.

What I see is a knee jerk reaction, by Atheists and Leftist because of a connection to anything religion, even without a common sense analysis of the content to be posted. It is not much different than hating any foreign car, without ever looking under the hood. This is not very rational coming from people who say they are rational.

Thou shall not steal. Why is that taboo to the Left? Is stealing good in your philosophy?
Honor thy Father and Mother. Does the Left prefer disrespectful brat children? Why are you offended by this?

This is different from being forced to learn pronouns to promote an expensive new medical fad. That was a fad, with no real value, other than being a test run for mind control over children, by shady leadership. Ten loose rules for good behavior can be helpful to all, except those who benefit by shady behavior.

Unfortunately for your argument, the Texas Legislature did not mandate displays of the Two Commandments, but the Ten.

Any reason you chose to omit the other eight?
 

Sgt. Pepper

All you need is love.
In the US, they are.

Religions are currently relatively equal, but this was not always the case in the United States—at least not until August of 1978, when the American Indian Religious Freedom Act was passed. Despite the fact that the First Amendment guarantees religious freedom to all Americans, many components of Native American religions and their sacred ceremonies were previously prohibited under federal law. I wasn't aware of this until a friend told me about it. I was also unaware that Native Americans were initially denied citizenship in the United States until the Indian Citizenship Act in June of 1924. To be honest, I don't recall learning about either injustice while I was in school. I grew up in Oklahoma, so perhaps I never learned about them while in school. It wouldn't surprise me if I was never taught this history because, based on my experiences, most conservatives I know and have known prefer to whitewash American history and pretend that the United States of America is a Christian nation. Growing up in a WASP conservative community, I was primarily indoctrinated in American patriotism and "freedom, liberty, and justice for all," yet these concepts were never properly applied to minorities for much of American history.
 
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