Bill would establish a state religion in North Carolina

[Black Aliss]

Three guesses which religion gets the honor.

http://www.wral.com/proposal-would-allo ... /12296876/

[laura oz]

I thought there was supposed to be a separation of church and state. The pilgrims came here for religious freedom to escape the oppression of state religion. It's my understanding that the founding fathers went to great lengths to maintain that separation when drawing up plans for the US. They must be spinning in their graves.

[RachelB]

Three guesses which religion gets the honor.

http://www.wral.com/proposal-would-allo ... /12296876/

On "states' rights" grounds, they decide that NC doesn't have to honor the establishment clause. Charming.

Also, how much money are they prepared to lose over this? If I were among their constituents, I'd be pissed that my tax money was being squandered on legislation that couldn't withstand legal challenge.

[GeoBQn]

My father-in-law is the former Executive Director of the Jewish Federation of Raleigh-Cary, and his good friend is the current director. I will be making them aware of this new bill.

[EyeQueue]

Wow...The Republic of Gilead draws ever closer.

[August]

My father-in-law is the former Executive Director of the Jewish Federation of Raleigh-Cary, and his good friend is the current director. I will be making them aware of this new bill.

Oh, I'd guessed Ba'hai, but they went with Judaism instead, I see. Reform or Orthodox? It'll be a bitch to string that wire up around the whole state.

[GeoBQn]

I'm sorry. I should have made it clear. I'd be informing them so they could spread the word in order to stop the bill.

[doggie]

If you listen closely You can hear the duggers praying in joy.

[GodsKnickers]

The US really scares me sometimes.

[GiGi_41]

My father-in-law is the former Executive Director of the Jewish Federation of Raleigh-Cary, and his good friend is the current director. I will be making them aware of this new bill.

I totally understood where you were coming from.

And we are we just going to let the south secede (sp) from the union? FFS!

[Seal]

UGH noooo NC!

[socalrules]

It drives me crazy that politicians waste time and money on a bill that is going nowhere. Even if it passes the NC legislature, it will be blocked by the courts. It amazes me that some people have no problem touting the constitution when it comes to guns but, bring up Christianity, and it doesn't mean jack.

[wild little fox]

I thought there was supposed to be a separation of church and state. The pilgrims came here for religious freedom to escape the oppression of state religion. It's my understanding that the founding fathers went to great lengths to maintain that separation when drawing up plans for the US. They must be spinning in their graves.

George Washington took seperation of church and state so seriously that he would not discuss anything about his faith.

[ADoyle90815]

I guess my dad was wrong about Kansas being the asshole of the US, in fact it's really North Carolina.

[merrily]

Welcome the christian taliban people. I feel so sorry for all the sane persons living in the bible belt.

[August]

I'm sorry. I should have made it clear. I'd be informing them so they could spread the word in order to stop the bill.

No, I got you, I was just funnin'

[RosyDaisy]

On "states' rights" grounds, they decide that NC doesn't have to honor the establishment clause. Charming.

Also, how much money are they prepared to lose over this? If I were among their constituents, I'd be pissed that my tax money was being squandered on legislation that couldn't withstand legal challenge.

Obviously, they don't know what happened the last time the "states' rights" agenda was pushed too far. Anyway, this will get overturned. It is a clear violation of the Constitution.

[Peas n carrots]

I'm not all that familiar with NC, but I understand the demographics have been changing quite a bit in the last few decades? I know Obama won the state in 2008 and narrowly lost it this last election. I'm also aware of a big Hispanic demographic in the state that continues to grow. Raleigh/Charlotte are pretty sophisticated cities that have large, well educated populations. I wonder if this is more of a death throw of the Christian right in the state than the Christian Taliban taking over?

[turquoise]

I'm not all that familiar with NC, but I understand the demographics have been changing quite a bit in the last few decades? I know Obama won the state in 2008 and narrowly lost it this last election. I'm also aware of a big Hispanic demographic in the state that continues to grow. Raleigh/Charlotte are pretty sophisticated cities that have large, well educated populations. I wonder if this is more of a death throw of the Christian right in the state than the Christian Taliban taking over?

Sadly, it's probably not. There's a big difference politically between the cities and rural areas. Last May, Amendment One (state consitututional amendment against marriage equality) failed in the urban areas around Raleigh and Charlotte but passed widely in the rest of the state.

In other news, some N.C. state legislators think it is too easy to get a divorce.

http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/03/29/ ... orous.html

[ThatSnark]

Coming to you live from the great state of North Carolina! I live in one of the ebil liberal cities, but I'm a stone's throw from any of the countless conservative fundie hamlets that apparently make up the voting majority here. My county was one of four out of 100 that voted yes to marriage equality last year. I was floored that my position was in such a minority-- I thought we'd at least go 50-50, not under 5%.

I think what we are seeing here is the fruition of the politicization of the conservative religious movement. They've done their due diligence in laying the groundwork, electing their leaders, and now pushing through legislation that reflects their agenda. It's causing those of us with different beliefs to wake up and realize that moderate hands and minds aren't at the wheel anymore, and it's scary. I grew up believing that cooler heads would always prevail (because that's what the grownups had to tell us Cold War kids), and it's sadly no longer the case.

I'm a Unitarian Universalist, and I'll be forwarding this article on to our social justice folks, as I imagine many people are. Just another front to have to assemble the troops on: marriage equality, immigration rights, farmworker treatment, abortion accessibility, and now state religion. *sigh*

So if you're a constituent here, it's time to drop your representatives a line.

[MonkeyMomma]

What I don't get is why any USian would want the state to be in their religious business ... Even if you are Christian, doesn't it set a dangerous precedent if the state enforces only one particular interpretation of Christianity? What would happen to religious dissidents?

Also, Christian anarchy, I think, would cause a serious problem philosophically for state Christianity.

I'm gonna drink more coffee and see if I can clarify this in a few. :lol:

[salex]

Sadly, it's probably not. There's a big difference politically between the cities and rural areas. Last May, Amendment One (state consitututional amendment against marriage equality) failed in the urban areas around Raleigh and Charlotte but passed widely in the rest of the state.

In other news, some N.C. state legislators think it is too easy to get a divorce.

http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/03/29/ ... orous.html

And didn't they gerrymander the state quite a bit to try to prevent any more liberalish slip ups???

[turquoise]

And didn't they gerrymander the state quite a bit to try to prevent any more liberalish slip ups???

Indeed they did. Check out the shapes of the 1st, 4th and 12th districts, in particular.

http://www.ncleg.net/GIS/Download/Distr ... apMain.png

Edited to add most updated link.

[BravaAmica]

I thought there was supposed to be a separation of church and state. The pilgrims came here for religious freedom to escape the oppression of state religion. It's my understanding that the founding fathers went to great lengths to maintain that separation when drawing up plans for the US. They must be spinning in their graves.

Remember who the pilgrims were- the Puritans. They wanted freedom for *their* religion, not freedom for everyone's religion. And that attitude still prevails in much of the US, I'm sorry to say.

[MissA]

I've always wondered how this would work if it actually happened, given that American Christianity tends to be really schismatic. People are constantly spinning off new variant sects due to (what seems to my jaundiced eye) very trivial differences in doctrine. If we go by strict numbers of believers and if Wikipedia is correct, the official North Carolina faith would be "Baptist".

But that's only slightly more than a third of their population, and I can't imagine their 10% Roman Catholics, 22% Mainline Protestant, and 12% "Other Christians" would be delighted about embracing the Baptist faith.