The Federal Marriage Ammendment; Churches and the Right to Political Speech

It's been about a week or so since the Senate voted on a montion for cloture to bring about the Marriage Protection Act. For those that don't know, it didn't get the 60 votes needed to end debate, meaning that it would have never gotten the 67 required to pass in the Senate (as something that is desired to have become a constitutional ammendment requires a solid 2/3 vote.

Had it passed it would have had to achieve the same in the House (which I suspect would have been easier, as there are more conservatives in the house and less RINO's - Republican's in Name Only). After that it would have had to pass under the same requirements in 75% of the states - either through the legislature or at the ballot box.

A tough job indeed, yet highlighting how important and final ammendments to the United States Constitution really are.

While the lines on this issue are pretty clear, and supporters are legion on both sides, it is something that I truly believe that the country needs.

It's been shown through various social science and sociological studies that for a child to have the best chance to grow up healthy, a crucial issue that that the child have both parents, a mother and a father. Children that do not have that are more likely to become deviant and not grow up to become good citizens of the great nation within which they reside.

Not only that, but religious liberty, one of the highest aspirations of the US Constitution is at stake as well. In a great article that was published a few weeks back in the Weekly Standard, Maggie Ghallagher discussed this in the context of Catholic Charlities of Boston having to pull out of the adoption business because they would not allow same-sex couples to adopt children who they cared for prior to adoption, for one simple reason - the Catholic Church forbid it. Hence, they had to drop out of the business or risk violating the law in Massachusetts.

If this can happen, being only the beginning, in the name of freedom of sexaual orientation and "equal rights", what's next; pastors getting punished for speaking out against such things because it is against what they believe? It's considered punishable "hate speech" in Canada to speak out against homosexauality from behind a pulpit. Would that happen here? It could.

Not only that, but there is a bill floating around the House right now that would protect churches from losing their 501-c3 status as tax exempt organizations if they were to speak out on a political issue. This is a GOOD thing, something in direct connection to what I mentioned above about Canada, but going the RIGHT direction, and not the direction Canada has gone. There are some out there that have not forgotten that some of the greatest statesmen in our country were once clergy; thank God for those that have not forgotten.

Iran just can't keep secrets...

Via Captain's Quarters this morning, comes the tale of how the President of Iran has publicly unvieled the package that the EU, the UN, and the USA desire to present to them as incentive to halt nuclear proliferation for military means. This comes after Kofi Annan asked for the package to be kept close to the vest, by the Iranian Government, opps!

The situation here with Iran doesn't look to be getting better. As I've said before, all of the diplomatic efforts up till now have failed to achieve anything of lasting merit. This latest move continues to reafirm the idea that President Ahmadinejad is playing his hand briliantly, as his government identifies and puts on display those of the Jewish and Christian faiths. The world community is desprately trying to appease Iran in hopes that they will let up with their nuclear ambitions. I simply ask this - did the world not learn two generations ago when the same happened with Hitler? We all know how that turned out. Chaimberland's ghost haunts us even today.

This is not where it ends, but where it begins. Iran is now cracking down on the internet, filtering it like China does (using American software to do so). Never forget that Iran has a plan and a program, that Iran has bragged about fooling the West, and they (the government) have the resolve and patience of world class poker players, waiting and watching with a stalwart face. Dethroning the player that is ahead in the game sometimes takes an upset, and an upset sometimes takes decisive action to become reality.

The fact that all of this is motivated by an apocolyptic idea of bringing the world to the brink, only to have the 12th Imam, "the Messiah", bring it back and reign supreme is something that only Ahmadinejad, Nicole Carpathia, or Damien Thorne could love.