Religious Symbols on Federal War Memorials
I just heard about HR-290 Wednesday evening. It seems the House of Representatives has passed a bill that would allow religious symbols (lets be honest here, crosses) to be put on federal war memorials. The bill will be voted on in the senate next. This bill is in response to the large giant ridiculously humongous cross on a war memorial on Mount Soledad, in California that was ruled unconstitutional in the courts recently.
This bill which was written by Duncan Hunter and co-sponsored by Brian Bilbray, has been very successful in demonstrating the ignorance of their fellow House members. Even if it passes the Senate and somehow does not get killed by the former constitutional law professor in the White House, this bill will be fun to watch. To heck with the Jewish and Muslim people. I look forward to the Pastafarians and Invisible-Pink Unicornians to demand representation on these memorials. A bit of joking aside, Dena Sher, an attorney in the Washington DC office of the ACLU had this to say:
[HR-290 is] a misguided attempt to sanction government promotion of religion. When a religious symbol is included in a war memorial favoring one religion over others, it’s simply unconstitutional. Congress cannot legislate around the Constitution, nor should it be using religion to score political points.
Spread the word on this. Write your senators to voice your thoughts.
Baptist Baddie
Tedd Butler, Former Pastor of the Gospel Light Baptist Church in Walker, near Grand Rapids, MI, was convicted of second-degree criminal assault on a child. In December, Butler admitted to touching an 11 year old boy sexually at his house back in 2006. The judge could have sentenced him up to 15 years in prison and a lifetime on the sex offender registry. That didn’t happen. Butler and a large group of his supporters listened as the judge sentenced Butler to 12 months in jail. What chaps my hide is just the DAY BEFORE, Butler plead guilty to fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct against another boy over 20 years ago when Butler was a youth pastor. He will be sentenced in that case on the 31st of January.
I know the Catholics get the lions share of the bad press on here but not for lack of looking. As a former Missionary Baptist, I kind of felt duty bound to report one of my former compatriots. Here’s hoping you find Jesus (Juan Delesantos) in general prison… and that he thinks you have a pretty mouth.
An Idiot Abroad
Has anyone else seen the show called An Idiot Abroad on SKY1 or Discovery channel? Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant get their very um, unique friend, Karl Pilkington, to travel around the world visiting the 7 wonders of the world. It’s funny to see how the Great Wall of China or the Pyramids of Giza* have so little effect on him. It’s interesting to see how Karl – for all of the odd things that come out of his mouth – can be so eloquent and deep on occasion. Ricky and Stephen call this the most expensive practical joke ever and they relish “poking Karl with a stick” to see what will happen. Buy it, rent it, or Netflix it ASAP.
I would highly recommend the next series of shows the guys are playing now on the Discovery Channel titled: An Idiot Abroad 2: The Bucket List. The idea is simple. Ricky and Stephen collected 100 things people said they wanted to do before they die. Each episode Karl picks one to complete but the guys make sure it’s never just a slam dunk for Karl to complete any task. Please join me for a sit down as I watch this hilarious and moving show as often as possible.
I hope to see each and every one of you at the Northwest Free-thought Convention in Seattle, Washington in a couple months!
~Wesley
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*Editors note – The Great Wall is one of the new seven wonders of the world selected by popular vote online in 2007. The Pyramids are actually on a different list and the only remaining item to survive into the modern era. Looking at the episode list on IMDB it’s obvious that they substituted the Pyramids in for the Colosseum. This leads me to question whether Karl is the only idiot involved in the show. – DW