Ark. Votes Against Church-State Proposal

[Rose Siding]

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- The state House on Friday voted against affirming the separation of church and state in a resolution brought by a legislator who said he was fed up with a religious undertone at the Capitol.

The House voted 44-39 against the proposal. Only two Republicans voted for it, and one of them, Rep. Jim Medley, said he had intended to vote no but didn't get to his machine in time to change his vote.

Democratic Rep. Buddy Blair said he offered the measure because he was tired of conservative colleagues "making every issue into a religious issue."

"It's unbelievable to me. They have just voted against the U.S. Constitution and the constitution of the state of Arkansas," Blair said.
...
"It's clear that our founding fathers, that they wanted Christian beliefs," Lamoureux(R) said. "The separation of church and state is not in our Constitution."

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-church-and-state,0,3818843.story?coll=sns-ap-nation-headlines

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. Gee and I was telling somebody this afternoon that thngs like

this were going to happen... and he said no way jose

[punpirate]

2. Who could have imagined...

... the combined power of TV evangelists, Karl Rove and mobile home living....

There's the will of the people for ya....

[EC]

4. No, the will of the pols

maybe they should let the people vote on this...I'd hedge to bet that all the people who normally don't vote would be out to vote against this...

[punpirate]

5. That's the point about...

... representative government--who voted them in? I'd surely hope that more people would come out to vote on a referendum, but more than in a general election? Doubtful.

These are the politicians chosen by the people of Arkansas, such as they are....

[mitchtv]

6. you're kidding yourself

Arkansans are Taliban wing of the GOP( slightly to the left of OK.)They would vote a Protestant version of the Inquisition, it they could.

[dbt]

19. You might want to spend a few years here before you say that.

[mitchtv]

27. ok ok Kansas is worse,

strictly flyover . I would never step foot in any of these god forsaken freeper heavens.not one plug nickel.The decent peope in those states have been silenced and the real Christians have stood by and allowed themselves to be silenced.

[annabanana]

7. I wouldn't advise it..

not with the right wing noise machine the way it is..... And the people so uninformed.......

[Toots]

22. And diebold will count those votes for you

Wake Up!!!!!!! You are living in yesterday. This is the New Bush* Amerika

[QC]

10. "mobile home living"

Yeah, the poor folks have really run this country into the ground. Damn them! Why can't we let rich guys with nice teeth and prestigious club memberships run the country? They would never allow this sort of thing.

[punpirate]

15. I think you get my drift...

... the uneducated, uninformed and mostly indifferent let their lack of knowledge and their prejudices inform their votes. They are the ones watching the blow-drys on Fox News and voting for the "rich guys with nice teeth and prestigious club memberships"--and their friends.

Cheers.

[QC]

17. Ah, so it's only low-income types who are "uneducated, uninformed,

and mostly indifferent" and "let their lack of knowledge and their prejudices inform their votes."

We all know that description never applies to, say, aerospace workers who live in McMansions or lawyers who golf at the country club on Wednesday afternoons. :eyes:

Yes, I get your drift, alright.

[punpirate]

18. Pick your fight with someone else...

... and don't put words in my mouth.

I said lack of knowledge and indifference and prejudice reflect the votes for such people as those described in the original post. That's true.

You're the one saying that description "never" applies to those at the top. Those are your words, not mine. You'd very much like to turn this into a black and white, is or is not debate--exactly the same tactic used by a certain wealthy hick in the White House right now, and exactly the same tactic used to promote the very policies to which I objected, as described in the original post.

Education is one of the great liberalizing forces in society--for people of all income.

I think you've made some erroneous assumptions here--which I assure you are wrong.

[QC]

20. Yes, there are definitely some erroneous assumptions here.

Do you know who won the majority of voters making under $50,000 a year?

John Kerry.

George Bush won every other income demographic. He also won the majority of voters with bachelor's degrees, while those with a high school education or less went with Kerry.

So the popular DU notion that Bush was inflicted on us by the "hicks" is simply bullshit. The truth is, bourgeois white people did more than their part to put him in office. But it's easier to blame the hayseeds than to acknowledge that the same income/educational demographic that dominates DU is a big part of the problem with this country, hence the casual, constant trashbashing that your posts in this thread exemplify so well.

And no, I'm not at all interested in picking a fight, just in pointing out the class prejudices that abound on this site. They're a big part of why most working people no longer believe that the Democrats are their friends.

[dbt]

21. WELL said, QC!

Thank you very much for an injection of sense into this alleged discussion. Having said that, let me point out that it was vote fraud that put bu$h's sorry ass into the White House BOTH TIMES.

:hi:
dbt

[Straight Shooter]

26. Thank you, QC!

It took me 3 years to convince a friend that people who live in mobile homes aren't "white trash." He finally "got it" when he figured out they were hard-working decent people who can't afford anything else and don't want to throw away their money on the high cost of rent.

I know people who can afford "ego houses" and prefer to live in a mobile home. And they're called "manufactured homes" now, anyway.

Everyone deserves the right to live in a home they can afford, however humble it may be in the eyes of others.

[William Bloode]

24. Yup,

We poor rurals get the shaft and take the heat for voting for *, but the poor voted in a majority for Kerry. * got the middle class white male vote and most of the upper class.

[readmoreoften]

30. Bush won those w/ bachelor's degrees but lost

MASSIVELY among Americans with advanced graduate degrees.

[progressoid]

31. Thank you for making that important distinction

nt

[Erika]

3. Theocratic fascism in redneck states

Falwell/Robertson corporates are a smiling.

[rodeodance]

8. pinch me-is this a state is USA?--dah--rather frightening to me!!

[Erika]

9. Arkansas, the new Taliban state

I have relatives in both Texas and Oklahoma. On my last visit, I was tempted to go into Arkansas, but didn't really have the time. I told myself I would find the time on my next trip. After reading this, I emailed the governor's office that I would never visit a state which wanted to introduce theocratic government. That's not what America is about. The Taliban, yes.

[Behind the Aegis]

14. Don't go!

For whatever reason you choose, but I don't go because the roads are HORRIBLE! The interstate (40) going through Ark. is like a small taste of Hell...but coming from Okla-HELL-ma, you'd think I'd be used to it (although the roads here aren't that bad, just boring).

[QC]

11. Interesting thing about the state-bashers...

90% of them block their profiles so that we don't have any idea where they live.

[mitchtv]

28. here's one who doesn't hide it

I love California and my native state of NY. Where i don't fear for my life.they are supporting, along with NJ & New England, and the upper midwest all those Welfare Queen , leech states that now run this country.

[atreides1]

29. I Live in Tucson Arizona

I've only rode through Arkansas on a Greyhound bus, and that was back in 1982. But even those from that state on this site have to agree that this vote isn't very complimentary. I have even lived in a trailer home when I was first stationed in Ft. Campbell Kentucky.
It wasn't that bad and my neighbors were both other military and local civilians.

To have anyone state that the founders wanted Christian beliefs shows a complete lack of reality on that person's part. If they had wanted Christian belief's to dictate the law of the land they would have included it into the Constitution.

I guess the trouble with representative government is that once elected the politicians forget who they're supposed to represent,
and what they are sworn to support and defend.

[usregimechange]

12. What the hell is wrong with this country! nt

[0rganism]

13. Buddy Blair's going to have a serious re-election challenge on his hands

There's nothing that Americans hate more in a politician than "Godless atheism." It's the #1 deterrant to voting for a public official; even Wiccans and Satanists scored better than atheists on the survey I saw. And this was a national poll.

Religious fanatic? No problem. Just don't be one of them god-hatin' commie fags.

[rukkyg]

16. If he got elected in Arkansas

I don't think this will hurt his reelection chances.

[LinuxInsurgent]

23. American Taliban

ever rising...

[Dark]

25. Many of our founding fathers were deists and atheists. n/t

[NoodleBoy]

US Constitution: Article VI, Paragraph 3, last line

"...no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States."

That makes it quite clear: no religious belief is to be used as a guide for Government or as a qualification for an elected official.

[DU GrovelBot]

32. ## PLEASE DONATE TO DEMOCRATIC UNDERGROUND! ##

==================
GROVELBOT.EXE v3.0
==================



This week is our first quarter 2005 fund drive. Democratic
Underground is a completely independent website. We depend almost entirely
on donations from our members to cover our costs. Thank you so much for
your support.

[FlyByNight]

33. I wonder when they're going to start...

burning heretics at the stake?

Such breathtaking ignorance... and stupidity.