***Ronald Reagan:”We establish no religion in this country, we command no worship, we mandate no belief, nor will we ever. Church and state are, must remain, separate. All are free to believe or not believe..our Constitution..protects the free exercise of all religions..this fine line requires government to be neutral.”

I. The political “pro-life” agenda is, without doubt, THE single most un-American, un-Constitutional effort in American history. It is a gross violation of basic American principles. Mandatory motherhood?????

***Isaac Backus [1781]: “As religion must always be a matter between God and individuals, no man can be made a member of a truly religious society by force or without his consent, neither can any corporation that is not a religious society have a just right to govern religious affairs.”

II. Anti-abortionism is Nazi law brought to America. See Himmler’s January l6, 1937 radio broadcast on the two “abominations” he planned to eradicate. See official German 1933-1945 law on abortion and homosexuality. See Nazi theology on the role of women. See Auschwitz inmate badges: purple for Jehovah’s Witnesses, pink for homosexuals, yellow for Jews [plus red, green, black badges for other “undesirables”]

***Justice Brandeis [Olmstead]: “the most important 4th Amendment point was the spirit behind the Amendment, which was to ensure privacy: “The makers of our Constitution undertook..to protect Americans in their beliefs, their thoughts, their emotions, and their senses. They conferred, as against the Government, the RIGHT TO BE LET ALONE – the most comprehensive of rights and THE right most valued by civilized men..The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in the insidious encroachments by men of zeal, well-meaning, but without understanding.”

III. Alito as bad historian, I: “Roe was egregiously wrong from the start. Its reasoning was exceptionally weak, and the decision has had damaging consequences.” This IS a description of the McConnell/Roberts “court” history from day 1. From cruelty to corruption, McConnell/Roberts decisions range from “Ledbetter,” to “Heller,” to “Citizens United,’ to “Shelby County,” to “Hobby Lobby,” to “Janus,” to “Espinoza.” America is factually less safe, less fair, less honest, less just because of the McConnell/Roberts “court.” In future law classes, these will be held up as examples of “exceptionally weak” reasoning and violations of basic American principles [as some are NOW].

***Randall Terry: “Our goal is a Christian nation. We have a biblical duty..are called by God to conquer this country. We don’t want equal time..don’t want pluralism.”

IV. Alito as bad historian, II” “The Constitution makes no reference to abortion, and no such right is implicitly protected by any constitutional provision.”
A]. the Constitution doesn’t contain “corporation,” yet, since 1886, the “supreme court” has GIVEN corporations many [false] “rights.”
B]. the Constitution doesn’t mention checks or balances, or separation of powers, or co-equal branches, or states’ rights, or many other American rights – yet they exist.
C]. sex is not in the Constitution. Are Americans not entitled to have sex because its not in the Constitution?
d]. “women” are not in the Constitution. Is Alito confirming what other right-wing authoritarians have said: keep women “in their place” [barefoot, pregnant, in the kitchen]???

***George Washington: “Government, being among other purposes, instituted to protect the consciences of men from oppression, it is certainly the duty of Rulers, not only to abstain from it themselves, but according to their stations, to prevent it in others.”

V. In 1692 Salem, 19 innocent people were executed. All but one among prosecutors was a minister. The 164l Massachusetts legal code was based on three books from the Christian Bible: Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy.. The three top capital crimes: idolatry, witchcraft, blasphemy.

***Paul Weyrich: “..it is war. It is a war of ideology..a war of ideas..a war of our way of life..to be fought with the same intensity and dedication as..a shooting war..” [1981]

VI. Alito as bad historian, III; “The inescapable conclusion is that a right of abortion is not deeply rooted in the nation’s history and traditions.”
A]. Amendment IV: “The right of the people to be secure in their persons…”
B]. Amendment IX: “The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparge others retained by the people.”
C]. James Madison [1792]: essay on ‘property’: the “larger and juster meaning” of the term. It “embraces every thing to which a man may attach value and have a right”. in the broader sense it meant that “a man has property, in his opinions..property very dear to him in the safety and liberty of his person..in the free use of his faculties..In a word..he may actually said to have a property in his rights.”
D]. Amendment III: “No soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house…” Constitutional scholar Amar: “…this amendment was, even at the Founding, understood as connected to sexual privacy issues..colonists expressing hostility to Parliament’s Quartering Act placing soldiers “abed” with America’s “Wives and Daughters.”

***Robert Jeffress, pastor, First Baptist Church of Dallas, has called gays “miserable,” “filthy,” “degrading.” “What a lot of people miss is, America is not a church where everyone should be welcome regardless of race and background.” “Islam is wrong. It is a heresy from the pit of hell. Judaism – you can’t be saved being a Jew.” In a 2011 sermon, he called the Catholic Church a corrupt version of Christianity that sprang from ancient Babylonian cults.

VII. Christian fundamentalists , 1774-1802, presented petitions to the Virginia General Assembly that to require a person to support even the religion of his choice denied him his freedom of choice and his right to religious liberty; Virginia evangelicals [1776] demanded separation of church and state; Baptist preacher John Leland advocated radical separation of church and state, and rejected the idea America was a Christian nation; 1785 Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom: to compel anyone to support religious opinions hi did not share was tyrannical.

***Pat Robertson: “You say you’re supposed to be nice to Episcopalians and the Presbyterians and the Methodists and this, that and the other thing. Nonsense. I don’t have to be nice to the spirit of the Antichrist.” [700 Club]

VIII. Alito as bad historian, IV: [..”abortion not deeply rooted in history and tradition..”]
A] During the 14th Amendment debates, John Bingham and allies expressly declared on the floor of Congress, they envisioned overturning “Barron,” and creating a reconstructed America in which basic rights of expression, religion, property, privacy and fairness promised against the federal government would apply with equal force against states.
B] In “Meyer,” the Court said liberty must include “the right of the individual to contract, to engage in any of the common occupations of life, to acquire knowledge, to marry, to establish a home and bring up children..”
C] In “Katz,” the Court held the 4th Amendment could apply even f no technical property-rights had been violated. Justice Harlan: the ket 4th Amendment issue was whether the government had violated a person’s “reasonable expectations to privacy.”
D]. In “Poe,” Justice Harlan stated a law making it criminal for married couples to use contraceptives is “an intolerable and unjustifiable invasion of privacy in the conduct of the most intimate concerns of an individual’s personal life.” The Constitution protects not only rights expressly specified..but all rights “which are fundamental; which belong..to the citizens of all free governments.”
E]. In “Griswold,” Justice Douglas said a general “right to privacy” could be found ‘nestled between the lines of the Bill of Rights.” Griswold invalidated a Connecticut criminal law prohibiting the use of birth control. A fundamentalist church worked behind the scenes for years to maintain that Connecticut law – and requested the public not know this.
F] In “Baird,” Justice Brennan said: “if the right to privacy means anything, it is the right of an individual, married or single, to be free from the unwarranted government intrusion into matters so fundamentally affecting a person as the decision whether to bear or begat a child.”

***Barry Goldwater [1991]: “Religious factions will go on imposing their will on others unless the decent people connected to them recognize religion has no place in public policy. They must learn to make their views known without trying to make their views the only alternative.”

iIX. Christian Reconstructionists envision a society where government posts would be reserved for the righteous, as long as they are male. There would be thousands of executions yearly, with stoning preferred because it would turn deaths into “community projects.” Sinners marked for death would include adulterous women or lying about virginity, blasphemers, witches, children who strike parents, and gay men. Eliminated; unions, Social Security, public schools, unemployment benefits, environmental laws, secular government.

***Republicans on Rape”. “If a woman has [the right to an abortion], why shouldn’t a man be free to use his superior strength to force himself on a woman? At least the rapist’s pursuit of sexual freedom doesn’t [in most cases] result in anyone’s death.” [Lawrence Lockman; R-ME}

X. Alito as bad historian, V: {no abortion rights in USA history or tradition}
A]. 1923 and 1925 Supreme Court rulings on parental rights. [only some parental rights???]
B}. landmark 1942 “Skinner” case: the right to reproduce “one of the basic civil rights of man”
C]. 1952, Supreme Court invalidated stomach pumping for evidence; 1985, Supreme Court invalidated surgical removal of a bullet lodged in a suspect’s shoulder [limits on gov’t’s ability to invade a person’s body]
D]. overturning “Roe” would violate a woman’s “equal protection of laws 14th Amendment rights – because only women are affected [ no men are denied medical procedures of similar nature]

***Republicans on Rape” “Even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that is something that God intended to happen.” [Richard Mourdock – R-TX]

XI. “When Religion Becomes Evil,’ by Charles Kimball, poses “The Five Warning Signs of Corruption in Religion:” absolute truth claims, blind obedience, establishing the “Ideal” time, the end justifies any means, declaring holy war.
Public evidence shows YOU that the far religious right zealots pushing the “pro-life” agenda have already crossed many of the above “red lines.” Kimball states [121] that U.S. reconstructionists are only one step removed from their counterparts with plans for n Islamic state.

***Jerry Falwell: “I hope to see the day when as i the early days of our country, we won’t have any public schools. The churches will have taken them over and Christians will be running them..We must never allow our children to forget that this is a Christian nation. We must take back what is rightfully ours.”

XII> “When does Human Life Begin?” – Arthur Caplan [Aug/Sept, 2014; Free Inquiry]: those arguing for embryo “personhood” “fail to acknowledge..that conception does not always create an embryo life, much less a baby. In fact, it usually does not…The biggest empirical problem is the scientific fact that a large percentage of embryos lack the capacity, under any circumstances to become human beings. During that period of embryonic development…’…….’preimplantation development’ – up to 50% of human conceptions fail to survive..many embryos that. result from conception – indeed the majority of them – lack the capacity to become living human beings…Science and medicine know this..To argue that personhood begins at conception is to reach for a moral stance that the facts simply do not support..When a fetus has developed a brain that can support its basic biological functions, probably around 6 months of life, it can be reasonably argued that personhood has begun.”

***Pat Robertson: “The Constitution..is a marvelous document for self-government by Christian people. But the minute you turn the document into the hands of non-Christian people and atheist people, they can use it to destroy the very foundations of our society.”

XIII. Where does it all end? Alito’s language opens the door to bans on forms of birth control [pill & IUD] that prevent implementation of fertilized eggs – because this might not “..serve legitimate state interests.” It could lead to using biometric monitoring to police pregnancies, where women are held criminally liable for miscarriage and stillbirth – prosecution which has ALREADY occurred.
“A study by the National Advocates for Pregnant Women documented 413 cases between 1973..and 2005 in which pregnant women were detained or their autonomy was severely limited by authorities, including arrests, forced medical intervention and forced detention in hospitals.” [Laura Harrison, 7/14/19; Wash. Post]

***Ralph Reed: “What Christians have to do is to take back the country..I honestly believe that in my lifetime we will see a country once again governed by Christians..and Christian values.”

XIV. “When Your Rapist Demands Custody” – Michaela Haas [Sept/Oct, 2019; Mother Jones]: 12-year-old Tiffany was raped by an 18-year-old, made pregnant. He raped another young girl, got 5-15 years in prison. Tiffany dropped out of school, “stayed afloat working odd jobs.” When Tiffany applied for state assistance in 2017, the male judge without looking at circumstances, granted Tiffany’s rapist joint custody and ordered her to live within 100 miles of him, give him her address, ordered her son’s birth certificate to have the rapist’s name added.
This also happened to 18-year-old Noemi, raped by a co-worker. A prosecutor and judge allowed him to plead down to 3rd degree sexual assault. She got a restraining order against him, but when she applied for Medicaid, the state contacted the perp – who demanded visitation rights, which a court granted. Every other week Noemi is forced to leave her 7-year-old daughter with the rapist for the weekend. What could possibly go wrong????????????????????
1/3 f states allow this. Co-parenting with your rapist means you get to relive the rape repeatedly – and all the PTSD, depression, fear, anxiety, unable to work that come with that. “Serving the interest of the state”???????

***Republicans on Rape”. “Rape victims should make the best of a bad situation.” [Rick Santorum; R-PA]

XV. Invalidating “Roe” threatens an entire chain of Supreme Court rulings and basic American principles. American history and tradition show deference to individuals making their own, private, decisions about the most private of all human actions. Letting politicians interfere violates ALL American history.
If YOU can’t control YOUR sex life – YOU have NO rights – the “state owns you [Nazi Germany, Russia].
What could be more un-American than that????

P.S. #1: There are two other “religious liberty” cases awaiting June decision by the McConnell/Roberts ‘supreme court.” One would allow public prayer on the50-yard line of high school football games. The third would take the unique rural Maine school case and generalize to ALL 13,800 American public school districts – FORCING taxpayers to subsidize private religious schools [that they might not attend]. A major right-wing “wish list” helper.
The Founding Fathers worked against this. See 1776-1800 state constitutions for VERY EXPLICIT language – my favorite is the 1776 North Carolina constitution, Articles XXXIV.
If the McConnell/Roberts ‘court’ rules “as expected” [why is that said?] – there aren’t many more McConnell/Roberts decisions necessary to create the theocratic plutocracy the far right has planned for, funded, demanded.

P.S. #2. Does it strike you, being a “reasonable person” – that 5 people, all raised in the same fundamentalist church, will now get to make law that church’s official position on abortion [and other things, some of which they’ve ALREADY done] as being just a little suspicious??? Might you, being a “reasonable person” begin to think this whole chain of events had been choreographed – like the entire thing was on a “conveyor belt?”
Might a “reasonable person” think this was all just too convenient; that just maybe “justice’ had been rigged???

P.S. #3 Might YOU, as a “reasonable person” be inclined to think that the unauthorized expose of the McConnell/Roberts plans is the REAL reason for anger? That now too many [332 million] people know what was supposed to be an unstopable surprise? Might a “reasonable person” think that just maybe whomever revealed the plans is not a villain, but a hero?
Is it time for the 5 reactionary “justices’ to resign – in disgrace – for the mockery of justice that was attempted here? Is it also time for certain “Senators’ to resign – in disgrace – for the mockery of procedure and lawmaking they’ve perpetrated? How many crimes are greater than trashing the Supreme Court? Well, perhaps planning a coup – like January 6, 2021???
How many ways does a “reasonable person” spell ‘treason?”

P.S. #4 – Does it strike YOU funny/sad, that both Canada and Mexico have legalized abortion – and America, the home of modern democracy – is now going the way of a repressive reactionary theocracy?
Isn’t there something rotten here??? Something really un-American
How tragic, the McConnell/Roberts ‘court’ has brought the policies of Hitler and Stalin here.
OR – is it the return of the policies of the Puritans?
When do the public executions begin?
Are they free, or do we need tickets?
Tickets will be sold at the “right’ churches!!!!!!
Praise be.

Brutality and cruelty come in many forms.

Hitler Junior is savaging Ukraine – to “save them from the “nazism” of their Jewish leader.
To “save” the Ukrainians – he’s blowing up hospitals, schools, shopping centers, homes, businesses, civic infrastructure.
To “save” Ukrainians – his troops are raping mothers in front of their children, raping elderly women, murdering young children, looting homes, looting museums, destroying Ukrainian culture.
To “save” Ukraine – he’s creating a world food shortage – which threatens to starve millions of innocents.

“Christian” leaders and politicians in Oklahoma, Texas, Mississippi are “saving” ignorant Americans from their “sins” – by legal force, according to THEIR interpretation of ONE fundamentalist interpretation of ONE religion>.
These “Christians” are demanding that others live by THEIR religious dogma – by force if necessary.
These “Christians” have ancestors: the Ku Klux Klan, who had their own special legal rulings – “Dred Scottt” and “Plessy.. The KKK was followed by other “Christians” in the “White Citizens Counsils,” who used “Jim Crow” laws.

Brutality and cruelty comes in many forms.

Hitler Junior is testing world civilization to see whether democratic-leaning “civilized” nations will stop his many aggressions: cyber warfare, bombing Syrian civilians, invading other nations, etc.
Hitler Junior and his klepto cronies first victimized the Russian people. They have then spread their poison around the world in secret bank accounts.
Hitler Junior claims HE can wage war on an innocent country – BUT – that nation is NOT allowed to do anything to defend itself by, in any way, attacking Russia. That would be “unfair.”

“Christian” politicians have claimed America “needs” their “pro-life” legislation in order to “purify” itself from their reproductive “sin.” And, America MUST “Purify” itself from the biological “sin” of homosexuality.
These “Christian” politicians are testing America to see if America knows its own legal foundation and heritage – as described in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution and Amendments.
These “Christian” politicians claim their invasion of other American’s most private lives is for “the sinners'” own benefit – just like Hitler Junior claims for Ukraine.

Brutality and cruelty comes in many forms.

The McConnell/Roberts “supreme court” claims it, and it alone, understands what the Founders meant by “Congress shall make no aw respecting an establishment of religion..” They DO NOT, by the Founders’ own words.
State constitutions, 1776-1800, forbade a “religious test” for office [Article VI], meaning a “pro-life” requirement for judges is un-Constitutional.
8 state constitutions forbade an active minister from serving in their state government.
Nearly all said: “There shall be no establishment of any one religious sect in this State in preference to another..”
North Carolina’s 1776 Constitution, Articles XXXIV: “..neither shall any person, on ANY PRETENSE WHATSOEVER…’ be compelled to attend a church he didn’t want, to pay for church properties, support a ministry he didn’t believe.

Brutality and cruelty comes in many forms.

Keep real First Amendment, 1776-1800 state constitutions, state laws forbidding taxpayer money going to ANY church – when the 5 reactionary fundamentalists, all raised in the same church, issue their “expected” decisions in June.
Remember their arrogance also, as stated by the usual hitman of bad decisions recently: “We cannot allow our decisions to be affected by any extraneous influences such as concern about the public’s reaction to our work.” GOT that? – they don’t want to hear from YOU “sinners,” about what they’re doing to YOUR life.
“Their work” is “saving” YOU from Your “sinful” reproductive choices, from not wanting to hear/see a person pray on the 50 yard line, from not wanting to be forced to to support a church YOU don’t attend. The historically ignorant religious zealots on the McConnell/Roberts “supreme court” – say to YOU: “DON’T QUESTION US – WE KNOW THE TRUTH, YOU DUMMIES HAVE NO CLUE.”

Welcome to the fascist state of real life Gilead. Or – perhaps, welcome back to 1692 Salem. The Puritans on the U. S. “supreme’ McConnell/Roberts “court” will make you better people despite your failings. And if YOU don’t accept this “wisdom,” they’ve created a new “Scarlet Letter” for you – to be enforced by religious zealot civilian vigilantes.

Brutality and cruelty come in many forms – usually by dictators and right-wing zealots.

The incredible irony: “the irresponsible blue states” are the ones who have subsidized the RED low-tax states for over 80 years – the states who often cry “government waste” and “cut taxes”!!!!! The RED states are – in effect – stealing the wealth produced by somebody else; which in Republican Talk, makes the RED STATES the “takers” and makes the Blue states “the makers.”!!!!!
But, then again, if nothing else, the Repubs are noted for “the BIG LIE’ !!!!!

“Fact check: Blue states actually fund red states [GOP is promoting opposite stance]” – Stephen Ohlemacher [12/10/17; Assoc. Press]
– Repubs “have spent months promoting the MYTH that rd low-tax states are subsidizing blue high-tax states because of the deduction for state and local taxes.”
– Associated Press fact check finds “it’s actually the other way around..in a big way.
– Repubs want to eliminate the deduction in the 2017 tax Reverse Robin Hood cut.
– it’s true taxpayers in the high-tax states benefit most from the deduction. However “these states send far more tax dollars to Washington than residents in low-tax states.”
– “most high-tax states send more money to Washington than they get back in federal spending.”
-“Most low-tax states make a profit from the federal government’s system of taxing and spending.”
– Mississippi got $2.l3 for every tax dollar sent to Washington; West Virginia got $2.07; Kentucky got $1.90; South Carolina got $1.71.
– New Jersey got back 74 cents for every ax dollar sent to Washington; New York got 81 cents; Connecticut got 82 cents; Massachusetts got 83 cents; California got 96 cents.

“Blue States subsidize red states. Red states want even more:’ Bruce Schulman [11/2/17; Wash. Post]
– “South Carolina..despite its long history of opposition to the federal government, takes in $4 in federal spending for every dollar its citizens pay in federal taxes.”
– “At its core, the debate over the SALT deduction reflects a fundamental disagreement about the nature of American public life. Are the states “with their acts together” the ones that keep taxes lowest or the ones that provide good schools, safe roads, the best job opportunities and the highest incomes?”
– latest U>S. News educational survey of educational quality: South Carolina was #50
– list of best states for employment: “Trump-loving” West Virginia was #50
– “In the 1940s and 1950s, representatives of the nation’s poorest sections, led by southern members of Congress, reframed their historic antipathy to the federal government [for more money]”
– “by 1962, the relationship between state income and grants had reversed itself and slightly favored poorer regions such as the South.”
– highway construction benefited low-tax states; the federal government paid 90% and “poorer states eagerly participated..the federal government injected billions of dollars of highway funding into the South.”
– “The flood of federal money into the emerging Sunbelt – provided by states in the Northeast and industrial Midwest..grew so pronounced..it became the subject of a heated debate during the 1970s..[as] the Sunbelt boomed while the old industrial heartland faced an almost catastrophic decline.”
****I’d assume you history buffs realize this means the “winners” of the Civil War are now subsidizing the “losers” of that war,” among other ironies]


So, the Republican BIG LIES. just keep coming – one blatant propaganda piece after another. Some of them, like this one, absolutely shameless.

Matthew 6: 5-6: “When you pray, do not do as the hypocrites do, for they love to pray standing in the synagogue and on the corners of streets, so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward. Instead, when you pray, enter into your room and shut the door, and pray to thy Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret shall reward you openly.”

A football coach wants to pray on the 50 yard line. He’s filed a lawsuit. Ask yourself: WHO is paying for the lawsuit? Supreme Court suits can cost multiple millions. Ask yourself: WHICH legal team is supporting this case? WHO finances them? Ask yourself: why is it “necessary” to pray on the 50 yard line? WHO stands to gain if the McConnell/Roberts “court” supports his concept of his “religious rights?”

Where does this end? Will we now see pre and post-game prayers at mid-ice, mid-court, mid-pitch, home plate? If YOU have meetings with various public and private officials, will YOU be forced to sit through a prayer session? Will transit drivers ask YOU to pray with them before your journey starts? Will YOU be required to pray with your dentist before he/she work on your mouth? Will pilots, after flight attendants give instructions, ask you to pray with them before YOUR flight? Will YOU be required to pray before the cashier rinks up your purchases?

What if YOU don’t want to be forced to pray? Will YOU be denied services? Ask yourself: what if this man hadn’t been “a Christian?” Would we be discussing this if the prayer had been a Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist prayer? Or – a satanic ceremony? A Native American prayer?

If the Mcconnell/Roberts “court” rules for this man – how many prayers could YOU be forced to say each day – at a store, at YOUR cafe, to get your car out of a parking lot, to get on “public” transit?????

Are YOU gullible enough to believe this is only about one man praying [at the 50 yard line]??? What forces in America [world-wide] want to inject THEIR. religious beliefs into YOUR. life??? Do research people!!! WHO has been saying for over 30 years “there is a religious war in America?” WHO has said publicly that other religions, not theirs, are lesser, invalid faiths? WHO has already tried to bend laws so they can deny YOU. services [legal prescriptions, adoptions of children, legal medical services, etc.]???

Read Charles Kimball’s “When Religion Becomes Evil.” Think on Kimball’s “The Five Warning Signs of Corruption in Religion” [absolute truth claims, the end justifies any means…] Why does Kimball suggest the Taliban and the American “religious right” are on a continuum? Is it perhaps that the Taliban has an extremely “conservative” interpretation of Islam, and the “Christian right” has an extremely “conservative” interpretation of what it says is “Christianity?”

Do. You. want modern day “Puritans” telling YOU. how to run. YOUR. life?????????????

1776 – 1800. U.S. Constitutional. Law:
– 1792 Delaware, Article I, Section l: “no man shall or ought to be compelled to attend any religious worship..against his own free will… Article 29: “There shall be no establishment of any one religious sect in this State in preference to another…”
– 1798 Georgia, Article IV, Section 10: “No person within this State shall, upon any pretence be deprived of the inestimable privilege of worshipping God in a manner agreeable to his own conscience..”
– 1792 Kentucky, Article XII, Section 3: “That all men have a natural and indefeasible right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own consciences…”
– 1776 Maryland, Article XXXIII: “..wherefore no person ought by any law be molested in his person..on account of his religious persuasion..nor ought any person be compelled to frequent or maintain..any particular ministry..”
-1780 Massachusetts, First Part, Article II: “And no subject shall be hurt, molested, or restrained.. for worshipping God in the manner and season most agreeable to the dictates of his own conscience.”
– 1784 New Hampshire, Part One, Article I, Section 5: “Every individual has a natural and unalienable right to worship GOD according to the dictates of his own conscience..and no subordination of any one sect..to another, shall ever be established..”
– 1776 New Jersey, Article XVIII: “That no person shall ever..be deprived of the inestimable privilege of worshipping Almighty God in a manner agreeable to the dictates of his own conscience; nor, under any pretence whatsoever, be compelled to attend any place of worship…..no establishment of any one religion…”
– 1776 North Carolina, Article XXXIV: ” shall be no establishment of anyone religious church..neither shall any person, on any pretense whatsoever, be compelled to attend any place of worship contrary to his own faith or judgment..”
– ***** 1791 U.S. “Bill of Rights,” Amendment I: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…”

The historically-challenged McConnell/Roberts “supreme court” wants to examine whether a high school football coach should be allowed to publicly pray on the 50 yard line, in the presence of others. Major issue: whether formally, or informally [peer pressure, pressure] members of either football team will feel COMPELLED – against “the dictates of his own conscience” – to attend, so as not to feel hostile, or not be a “member of the team.”

Previously, the 9th U.S, Circuit Court of Appeals said; “Context matters. At issue in this case is not, as Kennedy attempts to gloss it, a personal and private exercise of faith. At issue was – in every sense of the word – a demonstration, and because Kennedy demanded that it take place immediately after the final whistle, it was a demonstration necessarily directed at students and the attending public.”
Meaning, Kennedy is not “shutting the door and praying privately.”

Barry Goldwater: “Religious factions will go on imposing their will on others unless decent people connected to them realize that religion has no place in public policy.”
Robert E. Lee: “Is it not strange that the descendants of those Pilgrim Fathers who crossed the Atlantic to preserve their own freedom of opinion have always proved themselves intolerant of the spiritual liberty of others?”
George Washington: “I have often expressed my sentiments, that every man..ought to be protected in worshipping the Deity according to the dictates of his own conscience.”
[above 3 quotes courtesy of the Harper Book of American quotes]

“Freedom of religion” means both freedom of and freedom from. You cannot have one without the other.”i

Abraham Lincoln: “At what point, then, is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us; it cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of free men, we must live through all time, or die by suicide.”

The Founding fathers had four main fears: corruption, slavery, religion, mobs. Unfortunately, we have seen all four brought to life in recent years

CORRUPTION was the Founders’ number one fear. The word “CORRUPTION” appears in Madison’s incomplete notes 54 times in the 110 day Convention. The Founders desired a “virtuous” republic, where the natural impulses of men were limited by government structures; hoped to inspire “virtuous” men to run for office.

SLAVERY – in modern form, racism, has been a devastating “original sin” for America. Unscrupulous politicians have often used it as a “divide-and-conquer” strategy. Unfortunately, that has often worked.

That they would be forced to obey a RELIGION they didn’t support was a major concern. We have numerous quoters by Founders expressing this deep fear. For definitive documentation of these fears, please research 1776-1800 state constitutions. My favorite is the 1776 North Carolina , Articles XXXIV [“..on any pretense whatsoever..”]

MOBS. The Founders planned a democratic republic that operated on REASON. Thus, freedom of speech, press, petition, assembly – citizens would talk among themselves. Free public schools and libraries.

John Adams: “The declaration that our People are hostile to a government made by themselves, for themselves, and conducted by themselves, is an insult.”

From 2010 forward, America faces an increasing crisis of many things combining, not the least is confidence in itself. Historians Suzanne Mettler and Robert Lieberman’s “FOUR THREATS’ discusses the crisis in historical context. A significant problem is that never before has America faced all FOUR THREATS simultaneously – now we do.

The FOUR THREATS; POLITICAL POLARIZATION, WHO BELONGS?, ECONOMIC INEQUALITY, EXECUTIVE AGGRANDIZEMENT.

Independent watchdog “Freedom House” downgraded the United States from #31 to #51 for backsliding on democratic fitness qualities. “The Economist” said America had declined from a “full democracy” to a “flawed democracy” by 2017.
WHY? For perspective, research the “14 characteristics of fascism.” Think very hard, how much and on how many of those 14 do you find evidence of American descent to a “flawed democracy” or, worse, already there?

Mettler and Lieberman: the four key attributes of democracy: free and fair elections, the rule of law, the legitimacy of the opposition, and the integrity of rights.

Recently, elections are becoming less free and fair [“dark money,” misinformation, foreign meddling]. For some, public office has become a chance for wealth. Basic rights have been challenged. Increasing “us-them” polarization.
Mettler and Lieberman are NOT alone in concern. Democracy is fragile. Laws, rules, norms only go so far. People, in and out of government, have to WANT to operate in “democratic” ways.

Recently, America has witnessed what can happen when one person, with the help of “enablers,” decides they don’t want to play by the rules/norms/expectations. Result? CORRUPTION.

For confirmation and perspective, consult truth-telling publications like “Mother Jones” and “The Atlantic”; listen to what our foreign friends say; read and THINK. Ask uncomfortable questions.
WHY do the “happiest people on earth” live in Scandinavia? WHY is America less fair to ordinary people, like it was 1947-1973? Political conduct in Congress changed after the 1994 election – WHY and WHO was responsible? Find unspun IRS-GAO-CBO statistics on American income distribution, pre-1980, versus, post-1980.

A number of books on CORRUPTION exist To understand 202X America, you MUST read at least one. 2022 America is NOT an accident – that is the first thing you need to dispel.
“American Kleptocracy” “Kleptopia”. “On Corruption in America”. “Corruption in America”. “Dark Money”
“Shadow Network” “The One Percent Solution” “Democracy in Chains” “How Democracies Die”

Key books on ECONOMIC INEQUALITY:
‘TheSpirit Level”. “Divided the Perils of Our Growing Inequality”. “The Price of Inequality” “Big Box Swindle”
“Capital in the Twenty-First Century” “Fulfillment Winning and Losing in One-Click America”

POLARIZATION Sorry, but all EVIDENCE points to one segment/party creating this for economic/political gain since the 1980s, if not 1960s.
“Evil Geniuses”. “Broken Government” “It’s Even Worse Than It Looks”. “Authoritarian Nightmare”
“Twilight of Democracy”. “American Nightmare” “The Fascism This Time” “American Fascists”
“It Was All A Lie”

SO – what are. YOU. going to do? Do. YOU. care about what happens to America? Is a country where “only” a high school grad a MORAL society??? How can “we” allow an economy where 2/3 of the people have an excellent chance to struggle or fail??? If the “most important person in the world,” the American president, makes $400,000 – why does ANYBODY make $l million, let alone $1 billion?

1947-1973, America reached close to a perfect “middle class” society. WHY did “we” allow that to be stolen from us??? WHO did the theft? Answers from these:
– Don Barlett & James Steele”s “The Betrayal of the American Dream” [double Pulitzer Prize winners]
– Hedrick Smith’s “Who Stole the American Dream?” [Pulitzer Prize winner]
– Charles Lewis, Bill Allison, Center for Public Integrity”s “The Cheating of America”

Teddy Roosevelt: “We, here in America, hold in our hands the hope of the world, the fate of the coming years; and shame and disgrace will be ours if in our eyes the light of high resolve is dimmed, if we trail in the dust the golden hopes of men.”

SO – will we “die by suicide”??? Will we insult ourselves by trashing OUR own government? Will we “trail in the dust the golden hopes of men”??? Will “we” continue to listen to media morons, internet idiots, greedy kleptocrats posing as “saviors”??? Have “we” learned. ANYTHING. from our parents, schools, churches???

“Freedom”. isn’t free. YOU have to WANT it. Not just for yourself, but all 331 million of “us.”

The reactionary right wing – which tries to call itself “conservative” – MUST have “enemies.” They MUST have somebody, ANYBODY – to hate. Then, they can manufacture “reasons” why you too, should hate.

Hate those untermenschen; hate those “traitors”; hate those “undeserving’ people; hate those “enemies of the people”; hate “socialists”; hate “fags”; hate liberals; hate public health workers; hate those elderly election volunteers; hate doctors and nurses; hate abortion providers; hate labor unionists; hate workers who want livable wages; hate “communists”; hate Jews; hate Muslims; hate “Mexican rapists”; hate immigrants; hate “fake news” mainstream media; hate teachers trying to “indoctrinate” your kids; hate airlines workers trying to force you to wear a mask; hate those “freeloaders” on welfare; hate women’s libbers; hate women who refuse you sex; hate those people attending the “wrong church”; hate Black people; hate Latinos; hate Asians; hate transgendered people; hate “fraudulent voters”; hate gun control advocates; hate anybody who supports “separation of church and state” [like theFounders!!!]; hate people who “aren’t real Americans”; hate people who say you’re racist or intolerant.

The right MUST have enemies because then they can “divide and conquer”; then they can manufacture “wedge issues”; then they can misdirect your anger away from the the people who are guilty to the “Other_ – fake bogeymen, fake “devils”. And the real perps walk free [usually to the bank].
Quite often, the real perps are those who are funding the “enemies” search. Front groups with innocuous and patriotic sounding titles to cover the “dark money” trail.

Immigration is a current “hot” issue. There are a reported 60-80 million displaced and refugee people on earth. Many want a better life, many have smartphones. Many want to get to the tolerant and advanced “Western” liberal democracies.
People in the “target” countries have their own fears: what will X number of “them” mean to our culture, our jobs, our way of life? Unscrupulous politicians, world-wide, use people’s apprehension about being “overwhelmed” by X numbers of foreigners. “Elect me, I”ll make sure those “XX” people don’t get in and ruin our country.”
If his/her promise to “solve” the immigration crisis is all you wanted, then the amoral politicians DOESN’T. have to explain what else he/she is going to do – no matter how evil and corrupt.
And – neither they nor anybody else tells you what the REAL cause of millions of people leaving their homes and businesses. They don’t have to – you bought the lies.

The reactionary right MUST have enemies because they can’t tell you the truth – and still get elected. Numerous right-wing politicians have already confessed that. One former “conservative” political operative of some 20 plus years wrote a book about this. Because of all the lies, the only way to reform that party was to “burn it to the ground.”

ARE. YOU. THINKING/ The liberal 1933-1976 period produced Social Security, the G.I. Bill, union rights, Medicare, civil rights laws. Americans were the happiest people on earth, envied world-wide. The “conservative” 1980-202X era produced tax cuts for the rich and corporations, outsourcing American jobs, declining lower 90% incomes, the 2008 Crash which hurt the lower 90%, increasing polarization [due to lies]. The happiest people on earth live in Scandinavian social democracies. All fact-based analysis is based upon pre and post-1980 statistics.
Right-wing Republican presidencies since 1968 are known for criminality, corruption, impeachment and resignation, major scandals and constitutional crises. Nixon was forced to resign because principled Republicans told him he had to go. Trump wasn’t forced to resign because there are now few principled Republican politicians.
Besides all this, Republican administrations are known for LIES, and, lists of enemies.

The right MUST have enemies because they operate in a climate of fear and chaos, the twin smoke screens obscuring what they”re planning and doing. If they get you angry, they know your fears will overcome your rational thinking.

Follow the bouncing “enemies of the people” in recent years. Previously it was public health workers, doctors and nurses, trying to give you “fake news” on COVID. Previously it was elderly elections volunteers and those dastardly “fraudulent voters” stealing elections. Recently it was “un-American” teachers “indoctrinating” your kids. Now it appears the new “enemy” is Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse, and the more evil Daisy Duck and Minnie Mouse. [does it bother you, scare you, that the right wing is using government power to punish Mickey, Donald, Daisy, and Minnie for exercising their free speech rights?}

Hang on – it is only April. There are 6 more months before the 2022 elections. Would you care to bet on what new “enemies of the people” the right wing will find hiding under your bed? Maybe you should set up an office pool on who/what new “enemies of the people” will be “discovered” to be?

We’ve already had one right-wing, Republican, reign of terror looking for “enemies of the people.” It was known as “the McCarthyism era.” Reactionary, fear-mongering, Republicans instituted a witch hunt for all the “communists” under your bed, or in the government. Some were angry that a Republican president wasn’t reactionary enough.

Given the right wing’s track record, odds are just about ANY. American could wind up on the “enemies of the people” list. Give them enough time – and – YOU’ LL be on it too..

“It is the old practice of despots to use part of the people to keep the rest in order.” {Thomas Jefferson]

Galileo’s house arrest. Rachel Carson” “silent Spring” attacked. Spanish Inquisition
300 whites lynched i South, 1830-1860. Colin Kaepernick unsigned
Joan of Arc burned, 143l. corporate advertisers restrict content. McCarthyism
American women can’t vote, 1789-1920. “Jim Crow,” 1865-1965
Nazis burn “subversive un-German books in 90 cities, May 10, 1933
1873-1957, American postal authorities censor mail under the “Comstock Law”

***** Heinrich Heine: “..where they burn books, thy will ultimately burn people also.”

Jew burnings, 12th – 16th centuries. HUAC “Un-American” purge, 1940s
1852 – “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” banned in Russia. Jesse Owens banned, 1936 –
American labor union activists persecuted, murdered, 1870s – l930s; harassed and fired, 1930s –
Servetus burned [heretical medical theories], 1553. Supreme Court “packing”
1939 – “The Grapes of Wrath” burned on East St. Louis courtyard steps

Censorship has been exercised by many groups: churches, government, corporations, activists.
Censorship has existed in many forms: murder, banning, sabotaging, story suppression, disinformation, threats, limiting what is discussed, criminalization, self-censorship.

THE object: CONTROL. Control of money, power, facts, narrative, people’s lives, inconvenient information, women, dissident groups, unpopular books, “heretics,” the law……..

***** George Orwell: “Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.”

1692 Salem witch scare. the “tobacco defense”. “gerrymandering” and “election fraud”
Jan Hus burned, 1415. Muhammed Ali loses boxing title. “don’t be the first to stop clapping”
Senator McCarthy gets all books world-wide in government libraries offensive to him burned, 1953

***** Lenin: “Truth is the most precious thing. That is why we should ration it.”

1829, Georgia, Virginia, Missouri anti-literacy laws deemed necessary “because an un-educated Black population made white citizens feel more secure against both abolitionists and slave uprisings.” [Missouri state website]
“Mother Jones,” September-October, 2021: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ bill signing text forbidding teaching racism was embedded in American society to uphold white supremacy “echoes an op-ed article published in the Richmond Enquirer in 1856”

Justice Potter Stewart: “Censorship reflects a society’s lack of confidence in itself. It is the hallmark of an authoritarian regime.” [“Ginzberg,” 1966]

Orchestrated. Campaign
– American corporations have waged a fierce, never-ending war against labor unions. The issue: control of workers and greed.
– the American “religious right” has waged a 50-year war on America. the issue: control of people’s lives by religious dogma and political power.
– the combined reactionary right forces have waged a 150-year war against the American legal system. The issues: CONTROL of ideas, people’s lives, power, GREED.
– the combined reactionary right have waged a 150-year war against the truth – which they MUST do in order to impose their will. The issues: control the narrative, TRUTH, power, GREED.
– the NUMBER ONE CENSORSHIP: voter suppression. Continuing the “stolen election” fraud, Republicans across America have passed numerous bills, in their words “to ensure election integrity.” The goal/result: to eliminate the “wrong voters” – people likely to vote against Republicans. Along with gerrymandering, pushed since 2010, allows Republicans to pick their own voters.

Attack Dogs
– I: the “conservative” media morons and internet idiots routinely savage ANY criticism of “conservative” [reactionary]words, actions, laws. These campaigns are designed to kill at birth any attempts to bring forth the truth.
– II: “conservative” media morons and internet idiots, other mouthpieces also routinely claim “anti-conservative” [reactionary] “BIAS.” As explained by Rich Bond, Republican Party chair [1992]: “There is some strategy to it [bashing the ‘liberal” media]…if you watch a great coach, what they do is ‘work the refs.'” Also by William Kristol. Republican neoconservative: “I admit it, the liberal media were never that powerful, and the whole thing was used as an excuse by conservatives for conservative failures.”
– III: self-censorship – the result of fear induced by attack dogs I and II; publishers, editors, writers avoided irritating corporate advertisers; didn’t tell stories, no matter how critical and truthful.
– IV: results of I, II, and III: hundreds/thousands of critical stories that DIDN’T GET TOLD: topics sensitive to the top 1%, corporations, “out of bounds,’ not raised, not discussed [tax evasion, monopoly power, job loss,etc….]
-V: legal wars. “Mother Jones,” January-February, 2022: “The Legal War Against Mother Jones”: a billionaires lawsuit because of an unfavorable report, “..lawsuits aren’t necessarily about winning [they won]. Some are just about inflicting as much pain as possible.” See also Soley’s “Censorship INC” pages 88 forward about SLAPP lawsuits [silencing].
– VI: still being played out is another form, the use of government power to silence/punish criticism, most recently in April, 2022. Florida’s governor [running for 2024 president] and the Republican-controlled legislature removed a provision giving Walt Disney World’s private government autonomy around Orlando. Reason: Disney World criticized a Republican law on teaching about sex in public schools.

School Censorship – the cost of not knowing???

– 1920s: United Daughters of the Confederacy demanded any book saying the South fought to keep slavery or said the slaveholders were cruel to be banned.
– 1996: Alabama school board members and Governor Robert James required an insert in biology textbooks: “Since no one was present when life first appeared on Earth..any statement about life’s origins should be considered as theory, not fact.”
– 2000s: Texas public school text: there were both cruel and kind slaveowners; many [slaves] may not have been terribly unhappy…for they knew no others [conditions]”
– 1/30/2019 Palm Beach Post: “The Florida Legislature is considering a bill that would give public school students alternative facts to so-called “controversial theories” of science such as evolution and climate change..pushed by the Florida Citizens Alliance, which thinks Florida’s kids..”indoctrinated in a public school system that undermines their individual rights and destroys our founding principles and family values.” [Frank Cerebino]
– 2020s: private Christian academies texts: God is the singular causation of history; America founded as a Christian nation; unequivocal praise for capitalism coupled with demonization of social charity [Jan., 2022 “Church & State”]
– 11/21/21 Washington Post Weekly: “Republicans have concluded..a manufactured moral panic over critical race theory and diversity can help them win elections..Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, is worried about the long-term impact of this orchestrated national onslaught against books and libraries..”We get three to five reports every day..no one parent should be telling the community what everybody else should be reading.”

***** General/President D.D. Eisenhower: “Don’t join the book burners..don’t be afraid to go to your library and read every book.”

Corporate censorship – beyond the “tobacco defense”
– Soley: “..when government capitulates to private groups and commits speech-stifling acts, the acts described as “censorship.” When private entities commit the same acts, they are described as exercises in ‘property rights,’ ‘editorial control,’ or..’business policies.’..speech-stifling acts by private parties occur more frequently..are enforced daily, are deeply rooted, and go unnoticed..”
– for in-depth discussion: Lawrence Soley: “Censorship INC The Corporate Threat to Free Speech in the United States”; Alex Carey: “Taking the Risk Out of Democracy Corporate Propaganda versus Freedom and Liberty”; Herbert Schiller: “Culture Inc. The Corporate Takeover of Public Expression”; Andy Roth, Mickey Huff, Project Censored”s series.

The Internet – more disinformation than “information” ???
– is the internet more destructive than constructive? [think very carefully]
– Maya MacGuineas: “Capitalism’s Addiction Problem” [The Atlantic; April, 2020]: “..the new powers in the digital age have built their business models on strategies – enabled and turbocharged by self-improving algorithems – that actively undermine the. principles that make capitalism a good deal for most people.”
– Jack Davies: “Can Democracy survive the Internet?” [Mpls Trib; 9/27/20]: “..one human weakness makes the internet…perhaps the greatest threat democracy has ever faced: our universal desire to see ratified our own opinions and biases..”confirmation bias”…we ignore sites that might give us reasons to question our assumptions..”
– and then there is this: the increase in mental health issues, especially in young people. People tempted to, and committing, suicide – because of social media. Some professionals have already labeled this a ‘crisis.”

“Free Speech”? – there used to be standards, rules, laws, customs, norms – and now?????
– is everything now “the Wild West”? Can I say anything, in the name of “free speech,” especially on the internet???
– is the 1791 idea of “free speech” and “free press”. now so out of date that what was once thought “positive” and “good’, now so destructive and negative it threatens a polite, respectful decency toward our fellow citizens?
– if I label myself not a “journalist” but an “entertainer’, can I throwout “red meat” and get away with it [ and perhaps “earn” a multi-multi million dollar yearly salary]?
– if seven people are beaten to death after a false viral message [May, 2018] – do we just blow this off [as an accidental cost] of our “right” to suggest/say/imply just about anything about anybody – without proof?
– can I now yell “fire” in a crowded theater and get away with it [it was just a prank, officer]?

It may, chronologically, be 2022 – but how far have we come from 12th century Jew burnings, the Spanish Inquisition, 19 innocents murdered in 1692 Salem, Galileo’s house arrest?

In the end, have “we’ just devised more sophisticated ways of Burning Books and Burning People?

But, then, some of us are afraid of our own children – that they may be “weaker” then we thought; they they may be more curious than we’d like; and worse of all – that they may reject us and our ideas.
SO – we demand that. NO. children will read a book we don’t like; that. NO. children will learn something we don’t want them to; that. NO. children will think for themselves; that we will deliberately try to teach. ALL. children demonstrable falsehoods.
AND – we firmly believe this will make our country “great again.”

***** Soren Kirkegaard: “There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to
believe what is true.”

It is time for a second American revolution – against the same oppressive forces – to re-achieve the intent, goals, and express language of the first.
The first American Revolution was against a corporation [Boston Tea Party], a king, an official [“established”] church.

The word “corporation” is not in the Constitution. TheFounders didn’t trust corporations. ALL “corporate rights” have been GIVEN. them by the Supreme Court, beginning with 1880s corruption of what the 14th Amendment meant.

Under Article I, Section Nine: “No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States..” Having revolted against English nobility, the Founders didn’t want nobility re-established. But it has been.

Under Article VI, Section 3: “but no religious test shall EVER. be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.”
Under Amendment I”. “Congress shall make. NO. law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..”
Under 1776-1800 state constitutions, such as 1776 Delaware, Article 29: “There shall be no establishment of any one religious sect in this State in preference to another..” 1776 New Jersey, Article XVIII: “That no person shall. EVER, within this Colony, be deprived of the inestimable privilege of worshipping Almighty God in a manner agreeable to the dictates of his own conscience..”
1776 North Carolina, Articles XXXIV: “..there shall be no establishment of anyone religious church or denomination in this State, in preference to any other; neither shall any person, ON ANY. PRETENSE. WHATSOEVER, be compelled..to pay, for..any house of worship, or for the maintenance of any minister or ministry, contrary to what he believes right”

America is now ruled by corporations. They control “our” economy. They own “our” government – through legalized money laundering by Supreme Court fiat.
America has a new, legalized nobility. The titles of duke, countess, earl, duchess, have been replaced by CEO, top 1%, masters of the universe. Nobility of birth has been replaced by nobility of wealth. Palaces replaced by gated mansions.

The Founders number one fear was “corruption.” Then it was corruption of “placemen” around the king. No it is the corruption of “campaign contributions – legalized by Supreme Court fiat. Everything in America is for sale – if one has enough wealth, power, connections – pretty much the definition of nobility!!!!!

With historical memories of European Wars of Religion, 1517-1648, and the English Civil War [around religion], the Founders sought to prevent that in America.
Article One’s prohibition of an “established church” has been attacked by fundamentalist churches since the 19th century. In the last 50 years, fundamentalist churches have waged religious war on America.
In violation of Article VI, “no religious test,” religious zealots have instituted a new religious test for office” electing “pro-life” judges and politicians. In these last 50 years, those “pro-life” judges and officials have enacted a number of laws based on. THEIR. interpretation of holy scripture [of THEIR churches] – a clear violation of Amendment One.
“Religious liberties”/”freedom” has now become a “get-out-of-jail-free” card, to be played whenever [a trans-Atlantic flight], where ever a zealot chooses; to oppose any rules/laws – a clear violation of the Constitutional rights of others to be free from a zealot’s religious beliefs.

America, 2022, is NOT a happy land. Much of the division and discontent can be traced back to violations of basic American principles by corporations, the rich aristocracy and religious zealots. A basic premise of America is “..the Pursuit of Happiness..” – on your reasonable and considerate terms – above all, when you don’t hurt others.
The “Pursuit of Happiness” by the lower 99% of Americans has – FACTUALLY – been damaged by the greed, selfishness, and zealotry our Founders rebelled against: corporations, nobility, official church.
In their eagerness to achieve a plutocratic theocracy, they have perverted much of what was sacred and good about America. Nothing has been “out of bounds” in their quest to re-write the rules of America.
Lies and twisting of “original intent” have been central to this evil and monstrous mission to create a “utopian” vision of America. And – like virtually all utopian dreams, there have been millions of innocent victims – the rest of the American population.
In in doubt about what has been said here, please check the “14 characteristics of fascism.” With very little effort you will see many of those have been accomplished in America.

It is time for a Second American Revolution – to reclaim what the First American Revolution achieved.

On April 5, 2022, Oklahoma legislators “approved a near-total ban on abortion.” The Republican governor “..has vowed to sign ‘every piece of pro-life legislation’ that comes to his desk.”

The Founding Fathers had four main fears: corruption, slavery, religion, and mobs. This kind of legislation is EXACTLY what they wanted to prevent by Amendment One’s “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..” Short and concise – and vulnerable to demagoguery.

What isn’t short or concise are the 1776-1800 state constitutions on religion. Edwin Gaustad’s “Faith of the Founders” lists them on pages 134-145, or look them up. Four prohibit a “religious test for office” [Article VI]; 8 prohibit an active minister from serving in their government; 10 had explicit language explaining in detail their opposition to people being forced to live by another’s religious beliefs; 11 HAD “established” churches – all gone by 1830.

My favorite is the 1776 North Carolina Constitution, Articles XXXIV:
“That there shall be no establishment of anyone religious church or denomination in this State, in preference to any other; neither shall any person, on any pretense whatsoever, be compelled to attend any place of worship contrary to his own faith or judgment, nor be obliged to pay, for the purchase of any glebe, or the building of any house of worship, or for the maintenance of any minister or ministry, contrary to what he believes right, or has voluntarily and personally engaged to perform; but all persons shall be at liberty t exercise their own mode of worship…”

NOT “ON ANY PRETENSE WHATSOEVER..” shall any American be forced to live their lives by the tenets and dogma of “pro-life” legislation – an attempt to impose “an established church” beliefs on people “at liberty to exercise their own mode of worship” – or none at all.

Equally troubling, Oklahoma, like many other Republican-run theocracies are enacting these “pro-life” religious beliefs into law “in anticipation of a pending Supreme Court decision in the Mississippi law that bans abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy.”
“From Florida to Idaho, GOP-led state legislatures have been operating as ifRoe had already been struck down.”
****** Think on that. The McConnell “assembly line” of “justice” is cranking up “in anticipation” of what the 6 Republican “Justices” – or are they the 6 “partisan hacks”???? about to do. For perspective, please check on “justice” as handed down in Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union/Russian Federation. “In anticipation” of the expected ruling.

Please – tell me how any of the current Republican religious-based laws, on a variety of things, honor what the 1776 North Carolina Constitution prohibits – which is what “..no law respecting an establishment of religion..” means.
Along with that – how does one practice “..the free exercise thereof [of YOUR religious beliefs] – if a state or the McConnell/Roberts Court imposes the beliefs of religious zealots on YOU????????????

If Americans don’t control their own bodies, don’t control their own reproductive lives – YOU have NO rights. YOU belong to “the state.” The state – as in Soviet Union/Russian Federation, as in Nazi Germany, as in numerous “established churches” in 18th century Europe.
As in theocracy – like 1692 Salem witchcraft trials, 19 people executed. As in 1641 Massachusetts state law based on three books of the Christian Bible: Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy. The first capital offense was idolatry, the second witchcraft, the third was blasphemy.

Oklahoma has just put itself on a continuum with 1641 Massachusetts. How soon before people are stoned, burned at the stake, hung, pressed to death for idolatry, witchcraft, blasphemy??? How soon before mobs of self-righteous “pro-life” vigilantes hunt down “criminal” women??? How soon before the fictional “Handmaid’s Tale” becomes reality in “pro-life” Gilead/Amerika????? o

Churchill is back in Ukraine, rallying his people and the world against tyranny
An evil man is back, trying to rebuild lost glory; promising to make his nation great again; daring the world to stop him.
America has witnessed the return of Huey Long. Father Coughlin is on the air again.
Criminal empires built on drugs, not alcohol; gangsters terrorize innocents on American streets with gun battles.
The “forgotten man” is forgotten again – by those who have the money.
Soup kitchens replaced by food shelves; the hungry/starving with us srtill.
Fascism is alive with modern “Silver shirts” and neo-Nazis; now they have guns.
American Firsters are back; likely ignorant it didn’t end well the first time.
Suffering from the Great Depression [16 years], replaced by suffering from COVID [2 years].
Income inequality back since 1980; half of Americans living paycheck-to-paycheck.
Bing Crosby and melodic big band music replaced by music with an edge.
The “Dust Bowl is replaced by by a significant western drought.
Tom Joad is now part of the “Great Resignation.”
1936’s Rhineland remilitarization replaced by the 2014 Crimean invasion.
For now [April, 2022] “Austrian Anschluss” has been prevented in Ukraine.
The 1936 banning of Jesse Owens from amateur track replicated by “suspension” of Colin Kaepernick.
The 1932 WW I vets “Bonus March” on Washington forcibly stopped by the U.S. Army; the January 6, 2021 assault on the U.S. Capitol was not.
Assaults and lynching of Blacks replaced by assaults on Asian-Americans; Blacks still discriminated against.
“Politicals” sent to Dachau replaced by Ukrainians forcibly deported to Russian interior.
Threat of war hangs over Europe again; the new dictator threatening nuclear weapons use; Western nations once again debate wider war protecting democracy.
Unemployed millions now replaced by underemployed/underpaid millions.
Movies in theaters replaced by movies electronically on demand at home.
The agony of the Spanish Civil War replaced by the agony of Ukraine.
Falling birth rates of the Great Depression replicated by COVID.
The rich largely prospered in the 1930s; the rich have exploded into millions of millionaires, and thousands of billionaires [which they earned “all by themselves”]
The Republican Party did everything possible to sabotage FDR’s recovery from the Great Depression; the current Republican Party does everything to sabotage recovery from greed.
l930s homeless were that because they had no jobs; 2lst century homeless often homeless with jobs. Hoovervilles replaced by homeless camps and people living in their cars.
The 1930s witnessed too many people under-nourished and skinny; recent times feature too many people over-fed and over weight.
Baseball has been replaced by pro football as the dominant American spectator sport.
There was talk of “revolution,” but FDR’s “New Deal” prevented that; today there is talk of armed “revolution” by “patriots” wanting to install the anti-FDR.
Then the family farm was threatened by nature; now by corporations.
Clubbing/killing of union activists replaced by sophisticated “consultant” anti-union industry; then millionaire owners, now billionaire owners, refuse to share the wealth [which they “earned all by themselves”]
1930s wives forced to retire to give jobs to men; now women stay home because of child care issues.
1930s Supreme Court controlled by “conservatives” thwarting Depression relief; McConnell/Roberts Court “conservatives” thwart democracy.
Few 1930s people had “health care”; now many have “health care”, still go bankrupt from “health care” bills.
Proof money doesn’t buy happiness: Americans are NOT the “happiest people on earth”; that honor annually goes to “Scandinavia.”
Then Americans frightened by a fictional radio broadcast of Martians invading New Jersey; now Americans frightened by fictional Fox “News” propaganda.
Then religion was primarily a personal thing one did in their home and community; now religion has been politicized by zealots demanding to run YOUR. life – by THEIR. dogma.
Then Congress sought to limit A & P to 10% of retail; now WalMart and Amazon allowed to dominate retail.
Then we had simple cars anyone could fix; now we have “advanced” computerized vehicles that can only be fixed in dealer garages.
Then it was possible for one adult to support a family; now two adults might be able to support a family.
Then few people had much money or many things, life was insecure; now the upper half has more money and things, life still insecure for too many.
Then graduating from college could lead to a prosperous life; now graduating from college means lots of debt.
World population was 2 plus billion, most were poor; now world population is 9 billion plus, most are poor.

So – the question is: how much have we “advanced” ?????

Perhaps, it is time to reconsider:
– “that the government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.”
– “We, here in America, hold in our hands the hope of the world…shame and disgrace will be ours…if we trail in the dust the golden hopes of men.”
– “If you have a chance to help people and you don’t do it, you are wasting your time on this earth.”
– “..the only thing we have to fear is fear itself – nameless, unreasonable, unjustified terror..”

WHO are we??? WHY are we here??? Do we HEAR the music???