Ohio Governor John Kasich, who is trying to run for President, gave a so-called national security strategy speech at The National Press Club on November 17th. What is Kasich’s strategy? Christian propaganda into non-Christian areas of the world. To Ohioans like me, this is classic Kasich – pandering to religious conservatives rather than offering sensible, rational, and secular policies to solve problems.
Dr. Ben Carson, who is running for the GOP nomination for President in 2016, stopped in my hometown for a visit on Wednesday. WTOL in Toledo had video and a reporter on the scene and she asked about his recent comments about Muslims. He didn’t back down and in fact according to Ben Carson, Ben Carson can’t be President.
Today is Constitution Day. This is when we celebrate the date, back in 1787, when delegates to the Constitutional Convention signed the document in Philadelphia. Our Constitution is currently under attack by conservatives who really believe religion should trump the document of democracy and equality. We need to let our members of Congress know that this is a wrong move.
Back in June the so-called “First Amendment Defense Act” was introduced:
Federal court Judge David L. Bunning ruled against Rowan County Kentucky clerk of courts Kim Davis, Wednesday. Davis had refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples after the June 26th US Supreme Court Obergefell v. Hodges decision. The main points are that Davis’ religious freedom isn’t taken away in doing her sworn duty as clerk but her ‘no marriage licenses’ policy injures all residents of Rowan county.
The 28 page decision is full of delicious statements and rebuttals against Kim Davis’ lame arguments against doing her sworn duty. Here are some highlights:
An evangelical Catholic group asked central Ohio Catholics to change the argument against same-sex marriage to ‘a child-focused civil institution that unites children with their mothers and fathers.’ The group wants to move the debate into the schools. It reminds one of how religious conservatives fought against abortion and real sex education by forcing schools to adopt abstinence-only sex education curriculum. We know how that turned out.
Soon after the US Supreme Court ruled that LGBT couples could be legally married in all 50 states, many political and religious conservatives lost their minds. Some politicians, like Ohio Rep. Nino Vitale (R-Urbana) either don’t understand civil rights or they just really hate not being able to be bigots. Vitale wants to pass a law that will protect pastors from having to perform same-sex weddings which is already covered under the 1st amendment.
