Merit-bound Alley

You may remember a my NH predictions story from the 7th. Little did I know that that stupid little bit of satire would prove that I am, in fact psychic. Read and fear:

Third place will instead be taken by Ron Paul, whose impressive internet support will not be sidetracked by the release of the new World of Warcraft expansion which is luckily due out later this year (hopefully not on Election Day).

As it turns out, the RP-ites didn’t even have to log out to show their support for the embattled presidential hopeful. No, they decided to throw a Ron Paul campaigh rally in game! Through several bits of online media and community, WoW gamer whoisronpaul came up with the idea, and it exploded to 300 Ron Paul supporters hanging out in Kharanos and probably asking each other, “d00d, r u a chick 4 reel???” and “ken u sp4re 10g for my mount???”

Ron Paul, no stranger to out-of-the-ordinary campaigning would probably appreciate the gesture. When asked about the Azerothian rally, he raised his arms into the air and exclaimed, “HORDE SUX!!!”

[digg=http://digg.com/political_opinion/Founding_Fathers_and_Separation]

This being my first day off for the week, I got some more study done this morning. In my first hour after waking, before I even finished my first cup of coffee, I found yet another writing by Thomas Jefferson, supported by James Madison, which supports the Wall. It’s getting more and more plain to me that Rep. Paul is not the scholar that he professes himself to be, and anyone who denies that at least some of the Founding Fathers had intense interest in Separation is just plain ignorant, fooling themselves, or trying to fool others.

In 1777, Thomas Jefferson drafted an act called “An Act for Establishing Religious Freedom“, which he then proposed to the General Assembly of Virginia after becoming Governor of Virginia in 1779. This bill predicts the future Establishment clause and gives yet more clues as to how these two Founding Fathers (Jefferson and Madison) felt about the separation of civil and religious themes. Section I of the bill has a lot of good stuff:

Well Aware that:

• the opinions and belief of men depend not on their own will, but follow involuntarily the evidence proposed to their minds;

…

• That to compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves and abhors, is sinful and tyrannical; that even the forcing him to support this or that teacher of his own religious persuasion, is depriving him of the comfortable liberty of giving his contributions to the particular pastor whose morals he would make his pattern, and whose powers he feels most persuasive to righteousness

…

• our civil rights have no dependence on our religious opinions

This Act resolves that:

SECT. II. WE, the General Assembly of Virginia, do enact that no man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested, or burthened in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer, on account of his religious opinions or belief; but that all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of religion, and that the same shall in no wise diminish, enlarge, or affect their civil capacities.

The Act for Establishing Religious Freedom has one other telling aspect: it was the first time that a western government put into law an act to protect the religious freedom of all of it’s citizens, it it did that by ensuring a wall of separation between religion and civil government. Not only did Jefferson believe in and write favorably on the separation of church and state, he pioneered this worthy cause by bringing it into law in Virginia.

The Act for Establishing Religious Freedom is one of the reasons why the government of Virginia was a template for the Federal government, and is it not surprising that it found a partner in the First Amendment when the Bill of Rights was ratified in 1791.

NOTE: If you like this article, please Digg it!

[digg=http://digg.com/political_opinion/Ron_Paul_and_Separation]

I am definitely thankful that I saw that video of Ron Paul over at Bad Astronomy, as it has helped me take a deeper look at Ron Paul’s candidacy. I found an interesting essay written by Dr. Paul back in 2003 entitled “The War on Religion”. This essay starts with the fairly generic war on Christmas tripe that I’ve already covered. However, Dr. Paul then goes on to make some very interesting (and researchable) claims.

Please note that I really am not trying to take shots at Ron Paul. This essay was one of the first that caught my eye mainly because religion and “wars on” are enjoyable topics to me, and looked like something I would like to delve into a little more thoroughly. For any RP supporters, I do realize he makes some good points in other areas, but this article is not about them. That being said, this is not an opinion article, but an analysis of the claims made in one article and an investigation into those claims. I truly hope that anyone who reads this will looks at his essay and my response with a skeptical eye, rather than immediately leaping to his defense or an attack on the man.

That being said, let’s sally forth, tallyho, and get this ball rollin’.

(more…)

I’ve been having a difficult time deciding on a candidate that I like. One thing that is influencing my decision-making is the religion issue. Candidates who are pandering to the religious by “out-godding” each other to gain support as the next leader of a secular government already have marks against them. I simply don’t feel that faith is necessary to rule this nation, and even gets in the way of running the US as the founding fathers wanted it done. Let’s take a look at what the government does because of faith:

1. Makes it possible for gay and lesbian Americans to be second-class citizens by denying the right to marry
2. Gives citizens money to religious groups under the Faith-based Initiatives in a shameful thumbing of the nose at Separation
3. Goes to war because god told the president to do so
4. Puts bewildering roadblocks on government funding of vital stem cell research
5. Allows the possibility of the teaching of the ridiculous doctrine of Intelligent Design to make it into our science classrooms

This last is a point that has shaken my feeling that Ron Paul might kinda sorta be the best candidate… maybe. I saw the following video on Phil Plait’s excellent Bad Astronomy blog. Ron Paul is asked if he believes in the theory of evolution. Check it:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPoCsC8VT9g]

Now, I have to say off the bat that I haven’t lost all respect for Dr. Paul, but I just can’t put my support behind a man that denies one of the most fact-supported theories in science. Another way to put this is I can’t put my support behind a man that believes, against all evidence, that the universe and its inhabitants were magicked into existence 6,000 years ago and can say that in a press conference with no hint of embarrassment.

On a personal note, it leaves me in the precarious position of having not a single candidate that I like. Is it too much to ask for a candidate to have a firm grasp of reality?