[In case it needs to be said: I don't agree with every word of everything I link to. --L.]
- Federal District Court Rules "National Day of Prayer" Unconstitutional
- A Wisconsin federal district court held yesterday, in a suit brought against the President by the Freedom From Religion Foundation, that the law requiring the President to declare a National Day of Prayer is unconstitutional under the Establishment Clause of the 1st Amendment. The NDoP will still be held this year; the judge added a 30-day stay on his order to allow time for appeals, as is customary, and that extends past the first Thursday in May, so President Obama will still issue the proclamation this year.
But this? Is still a huge step forward for non-believers in America, or those who do not "pray" in the traditional sense of the word, or just those who understand the concept of separating church and state and would like to see it upheld. And it deals a hefty blow to the dominionist types, who are forever arguing that America is a Christian nation, to be told outright that even a non-sectarian and inclusive (for some value of "inclusive", which pointedly does not include atheists or agnostics) Day of Prayer, when mandated by law, is unconstitutional. [...]
Thank you, Judge Crabb. Thank you for standing by the Founders' true intentions (both James Madison and Thomas Jefferson spoke about the problematic nature of government urging religious expression) instead of the revisionist history that would create America as a nation of faith, and to hell with the rest of us. Thank you for refusing to dismiss the case when the Obama administration asked you to. From the bottom of my godless heart, thank you.
- Friday Blogaround
- Victor: Rep. Steve King Physically Grabs Think Progress Blogger When Asked to Account for His Justification of IRS Attack
Cara: The Importance of Consent in Everyday Situations
Fannie: Male Sports Star Accused of Rape Again, Will Not Be Prosecuted
Tigtog: Friday Hoyden: Jane Goodall
Ope: 'Feminists, Womanists' Battle Across Racial Lines
Latoya: Erica Jong Wonders if Oprah is "A Professional Negro"
[Interjection: Jesus HRM Effing Christ. --L.]
EastSideKate: Observation
BAC: In Memoriam – Dr. Helen Ranney
- Today in Rape Culture
- [Trigger warning.]
- Feel the Homomentum!
- Obama extends hospital visitation rights to same-sex couples…
Um…wow. Okay. Granted, I'd prefer that he just issue an executive order extending marriage rights to same-sex couples, but federally-mandated visitation rights is a very, very important interim mandate.
My one concern is whether this is going to cause the huge network of Catholic hospitals (or any of the smaller religiously-affiliated hospitals, many of whom already have ridiculous policies like denying emergency contraception to rape survivors) to stop accepting Medicare/Medicaid. Because that, of course, would be bad for everyone, including same-sex couples, dependent on Medicare/Medicaid in small communities where such a hospital is the only option.
- An OYD Airline Rant
- Here, evilpuppy from Incoherent Ramblings From a Coffee Addict, who, expending great energy, spoons, and emotional well being tried to file a complaint on the completely despicable treatment doled out by the staff at United Airlines, and received this condescending and otherwise completely, well, jack-assed and ignorant response from someone who should have a working knowledge of how an employee on an airplane should treat a person with a disability. Not in an email response or even in a letter form; this response was delivered face to face. All of this after she already went to the trouble of pre-arranging accommodations for a wheelchair and made sure to note with the ticket agents — multiple times — that she would need assistance on the plane.
…I am not sure I have ever patronized any business where it was standard procedure for other paying customers to assist a person in lieu of the paid employees who are standing around. It just seems lately that airlines are giving me more and more reasons to not give them more money than I can afford to basically be treated like crap.
The Link(s): Fri, Apr 16th, 12pm by Lee Salazar, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. Terms and conditions beyond the scope of this license may be available at leesalazar.com.