Electric Politics | One Man Makes a Difference

One Man Makes a Difference

Since SOTUS was evidently some sort of black comedy I figure it may be inspirational to turn to a real comedian who's made a major, positive impact in the last few days on civil liberties in the Anglo-Saxon world: Rowan Atkinson. Always on the lookout for ways to dilute civil liberty the Blair regime had proposed incomprehensible, draconian laws on 'hate speech.' These were amended by the House of Lords, but Blair's henchmen reinserted the incomprehensible, draconian language and were set to ram the thing through the House of Commons. Enter Mr. Atkinson. He lobbied, demonstrated, and penned a remarkably thoughtful essay. In large measure due to 'Mr. Bean's' efforts, Blair's bill failed yesterday in two separate votes, the first by ten votes, the second by one, ironically, Blair's own, as his Whip had miscalculated and sent him home...

We have our own problems with this kind of thing – Senator Kennedy, in particular, has been pushing 'hate speech' legislation for years. Indeed, late last year he almost succeeded in getting similarly incomprehensible, draconian proposals written into law but was thwarted at the last moment by an odd alliance mostly made up of activist Christian wingnuts who feared prosecution over their criticisms of homosexuality. No doubt Senator Kennedy will try again in 2006. In the next go-round civil libertarians of wider minds will realize, perhaps, how serious a threat to the First Amendment (especially given our recent abandonment of the Fourth Amendment) this proposal actually is. As the publisher of a Danish paper under fire for its caricatures of Mohammed said yesterday on French television: when you lose your freedom of expression "everything else in society becomes warped." (This despite an apology having been wrung out of his editor-in-chief.)

Posted by George Kenney on February 1, 2006 1:39 AM

Comments

Actually, as someone that might typically be grouped in with those Christian "wingnuts" you described, our response is more out of a concern that our civil liberties will be taken away. And it's not so much we feel as if we'll get nuked for saying anything about homosexuals specifically, it's that we're concerned that in anything regarding the Christian faith and practice, we'll be told is not acceptable because there are absolutes for practicing that faith described in the Bible. As a Christian, I don't hate anybody really, but from the standpoint of Christian theology, there are just certain things that scripture says are OK, and others that are not. We're afraid that when speaking about faith - not just civil or political behavior - we will have our freedom of expression denied.

Also, in general, we also feel that Christians have received the short end of the stick in regards to how we are perceived and treated by the "mainstream" media. Why? Because it seems that it is OK to slam Christians (and oh yes, I agree that there are some real wingnuts out there that would be an embarrassment regardless of what faith you proclaim and they make themselves perfect targets to be slammed), but if you were to make the same kind of bashing comments against any other faith (like say Islam) or sexual preference group (lets say homosexuals) that the ACLU and a dozen other organizations would be all down the slammer's throat. Of course, that's just my perception - maybe I'm wrong - you know it can be hard to tell while I'm living under this rock after all.

Regardless of what you think of my faith, I'm just as concerned about the abuse of power by this administration, the speciousness of the reason why we went into Iraq, the reasons why we haven't gotten out and a whole host of other things as you and most of your listeners are. I think that Halburton becoming one of the largest government contractors was no accident and I think it was wrong.

Having said that, I also don't think that government running healthcare is a good idea (my word - these clowns screw up everything and have already made a mess of even private healthcare with all the mandates they've imposed), I don't think that raising taxes is a great idea - of course I also don't think that spending billions on an oil war and creating huge deficits is a good idea either, I think that the Congress has gone along with this spendthrift administration and should be smacked upside the head, I think that we should kill most of the pork in government. But, I still think that getting off the gold standard was pretty stupid too. And yes, I've read all the "reasons" but I still think it was stupid and if we hadn't then we wouldn't be in this situation with the petrodollar and dealing with the possibility of the of our economy becoming unstable.

At the end of the day, I think that both parties act in a juvenile manner which in most cases is not driven by what is best for the country, but by what is best for that party. Again, that's nothing new because John Adams complained about the very same thing even as our nascent government was being formed. I think that as US citizens we need to fight to find the common ground, we need to get out of our special interest groups and we need to stop worrying about who's right and do WHAT'S right.

Lastly, as a Christian I believe it's my responsibility to love not judge. Being that I take the name of Christ in my faith, I need to act as he did when he was here. He said he came to love, not to judge. For now, that is my mission and it is the mission (regardless of their acknowledgment or practice of it) of every other Christian. Does that mean that I don't believe according to my faith that there will be judgement? Not at all. I believe in the next life God will judge us. What it means is that if Christ said he didn't come to judge, though if he did his judgement would be true, then I shouldn't judge - because I'm not God and I don't know mans heart and mind and my judgement would not be true. So, I'll do what Christ said he was here to do, I'll love. If I do that, and if all Christians do that, I think we'll all be in a better place. How about you?

Posted by: Phillip | February 6, 2006 12:31 AM



Home FAQ Contact Archive EP Store EP Alerts © 2008 ElectricPolitics	One Man Makes a Difference Since SOTUS was evidently some sort of black comedy I figure it may be inspirational to turn to a real comedian who's made a major, positive impact in the last few days on civil liberties in the Anglo-Saxon world: Rowan Atkinson. Always on the lookout for ways to dilute civil liberty the Blair regime had proposed incomprehensible, draconian laws on 'hate speech.' These were amended by the House of Lords, but Blair's henchmen reinserted the incomprehensible, draconian language and were set to ram the thing through the House of Commons. Enter Mr. Atkinson. He lobbied, demonstrated, and penned a remarkably thoughtful essay. In large measure due to 'Mr. Bean's' efforts, Blair's bill failed yesterday in two separate votes, the first by ten votes, the second by one, ironically, Blair's own, as his Whip had miscalculated and sent him home... We have our own problems with this kind of thing – Senator Kennedy, in particular, has been pushing 'hate speech' legislation for years. Indeed, late last year he almost succeeded in getting similarly incomprehensible, draconian proposals written into law but was thwarted at the last moment by an odd alliance mostly made up of activist Christian wingnuts who feared prosecution over their criticisms of homosexuality. No doubt Senator Kennedy will try again in 2006. In the next go-round civil libertarians of wider minds will realize, perhaps, how serious a threat to the First Amendment (especially given our recent abandonment of the Fourth Amendment) this proposal actually is. As the publisher of a Danish paper under fire for its caricatures of Mohammed said yesterday on French television: when you lose your freedom of expression "everything else in society becomes warped." (This despite an apology having been wrung out of his editor-in-chief.) Posted by George Kenney on February 1, 2006 1:39 AM « Diebold News \| Main \| A Religious Milestone » Share this post: Comments Actually, as someone that might typically be grouped in with those Christian "wingnuts" you described, our response is more out of a concern that our civil liberties will be taken away. And it's not so much we feel as if we'll get nuked for saying anything about homosexuals specifically, it's that we're concerned that in anything regarding the Christian faith and practice, we'll be told is not acceptable because there are absolutes for practicing that faith described in the Bible. As a Christian, I don't hate anybody really, but from the standpoint of Christian theology, there are just certain things that scripture says are OK, and others that are not. We're afraid that when speaking about faith - not just civil or political behavior - we will have our freedom of expression denied. Also, in general, we also feel that Christians have received the short end of the stick in regards to how we are perceived and treated by the "mainstream" media. Why? Because it seems that it is OK to slam Christians (and oh yes, I agree that there are some real wingnuts out there that would be an embarrassment regardless of what faith you proclaim and they make themselves perfect targets to be slammed), but if you were to make the same kind of bashing comments against any other faith (like say Islam) or sexual preference group (lets say homosexuals) that the ACLU and a dozen other organizations would be all down the slammer's throat. Of course, that's just my perception - maybe I'm wrong - you know it can be hard to tell while I'm living under this rock after all. Regardless of what you think of my faith, I'm just as concerned about the abuse of power by this administration, the speciousness of the reason why we went into Iraq, the reasons why we haven't gotten out and a whole host of other things as you and most of your listeners are. I think that Halburton becoming one of the largest government contractors was no accident and I think it was wrong. Having said that, I also don't think that government running healthcare is a good idea (my word - these clowns screw up everything and have already made a mess of even private healthcare with all the mandates they've imposed), I don't think that raising taxes is a great idea - of course I also don't think that spending billions on an oil war and creating huge deficits is a good idea either, I think that the Congress has gone along with this spendthrift administration and should be smacked upside the head, I think that we should kill most of the pork in government. But, I still think that getting off the gold standard was pretty stupid too. And yes, I've read all the "reasons" but I still think it was stupid and if we hadn't then we wouldn't be in this situation with the petrodollar and dealing with the possibility of the of our economy becoming unstable. At the end of the day, I think that both parties act in a juvenile manner which in most cases is not driven by what is best for the country, but by what is best for that party. Again, that's nothing new because John Adams complained about the very same thing even as our nascent government was being formed. I think that as US citizens we need to fight to find the common ground, we need to get out of our special interest groups and we need to stop worrying about who's right and do WHAT'S right. Lastly, as a Christian I believe it's my responsibility to love not judge. Being that I take the name of Christ in my faith, I need to act as he did when he was here. He said he came to love, not to judge. For now, that is my mission and it is the mission (regardless of their acknowledgment or practice of it) of every other Christian. Does that mean that I don't believe according to my faith that there will be judgement? Not at all. I believe in the next life God will judge us. What it means is that if Christ said he didn't come to judge, though if he did his judgement would be true, then I shouldn't judge - because I'm not God and I don't know mans heart and mind and my judgement would not be true. So, I'll do what Christ said he was here to do, I'll love. If I do that, and if all Christians do that, I think we'll all be in a better place. How about you? Posted by: Phillip \| February 6, 2006 12:31 AM Leave a comment Name Email Address URL Remember personal info? Comments (You may use HTML tags for style)

One Man Makes a Difference

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