Is this what America is?
Has America also become a country that has people working tirelessly to stop construction of a mosque two blocks from Ground Zero? The argument against the mosque is one of intolerance, not reason -- protesting because the terrorist Muslim faith would dare build a sanctuary on top of an American burial ground, is not logical.
That is not what America is.
Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor, Your Huddled Masses...but not your babies.
The Fourteenth Amendment reads:
Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
I understand there is slight ambiguity in that first sentence, but at the same time, it's self-explanatory. If an immigrant has a child while living in America, they become a naturalized citizen. It would seem logical then, that Republicans want to repeal the Fourteenth Amendment, or at least that part of it, as a means to an end for immigration reform. Arizona passed an immigration law that essentially subjects its citizens to on-the-spot inspection of papers, so whether that in itself is unconstitutional is a separate issue.
It seems the absolute opposite of progressive when our Congress discusses such a thing as basically denying immigrants the right to have children.
It's also very alarming when 22 states try to copy Arizona.
That's not America.
Does the Constitution Define Marriage?
Not in explicit terms. However, remember the Fourteenth Amendment? The last part of Section One is a telling line:
...nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
Which law you ask? Proposition 8, declaring that marriage of gays was prohibited. The Equal Protection Clause exists precisely for these occurrences, right? If a judge rules that Prop. 8 violated the U.S. Constitution...where does it become an issue? California has no official definition of marriage, so, legally, gays can get married. They're citizens just like anyone else. Take Massachusetts as a case study. It has no definition of marriage, and therefore recognizes gay marriages, and affords the two people entering into a legal bond all rights they are entitled to, BECAUSE OF THE FOURTEENTH AMENDMENT. So of course a segment of our Congress would want to take away that right.
That's not America.
The Right to Build a Place of Worship
President Obama threw himself into a hornet's nest over the weekend, because he sounded off about the so-called "Ground Zero Mosque." In actuality, the thing is a community center, that would have a few other services besides a place of worship. It can be a school, a gathering place, a restaurant, and a safe-haven.
George W. Bush was never criticized for saying America was at war with a radical sect of a religion, not the religion itself. Why is it when President Obama makes a similar comparison, he gets slammed? I imagine it's mostly because of where this thing is going to be built, no? It might be in bad taste, but it's also a true test of American inclusiveness. Obama said:
“Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as everyone else in this country. (Applause.) And that includes the right to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in Lower Manhattan.”
One snippet of reaction that encapsulates much of the GOP backlash:
A House Republican aide: “Did the Japanese build a monument of the Rising Sun over the USS Arizona? … But this president showed us all long ago he has no sense of what regular Americans in flyover country care about.”
The Daily Show pointed out that there are already hundreds of mosques in Lower Manhattan, and there is already a mosque eight blocks from Ground Zero.
Some conservatives are even destroying their own arguments.
The First Amendment to the Constitution reads:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
If we can't follow even our own freaking First Amendment, what does that make us?
Not America.
Has America also become a country that has people working tirelessly to stop construction of a mosque two blocks from Ground Zero? The argument against the mosque is one of intolerance, not reason -- protesting because the terrorist Muslim faith would dare build a sanctuary on top of an American burial ground, is not logical.
That is not what America is.
Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor, Your Huddled Masses...but not your babies.
The Fourteenth Amendment reads:
Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
I understand there is slight ambiguity in that first sentence, but at the same time, it's self-explanatory. If an immigrant has a child while living in America, they become a naturalized citizen. It would seem logical then, that Republicans want to repeal the Fourteenth Amendment, or at least that part of it, as a means to an end for immigration reform. Arizona passed an immigration law that essentially subjects its citizens to on-the-spot inspection of papers, so whether that in itself is unconstitutional is a separate issue.
It seems the absolute opposite of progressive when our Congress discusses such a thing as basically denying immigrants the right to have children.
It's also very alarming when 22 states try to copy Arizona.
That's not America.
Does the Constitution Define Marriage?
Not in explicit terms. However, remember the Fourteenth Amendment? The last part of Section One is a telling line:
...nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
Which law you ask? Proposition 8, declaring that marriage of gays was prohibited. The Equal Protection Clause exists precisely for these occurrences, right? If a judge rules that Prop. 8 violated the U.S. Constitution...where does it become an issue? California has no official definition of marriage, so, legally, gays can get married. They're citizens just like anyone else. Take Massachusetts as a case study. It has no definition of marriage, and therefore recognizes gay marriages, and affords the two people entering into a legal bond all rights they are entitled to, BECAUSE OF THE FOURTEENTH AMENDMENT. So of course a segment of our Congress would want to take away that right.
That's not America.
The Right to Build a Place of Worship
President Obama threw himself into a hornet's nest over the weekend, because he sounded off about the so-called "Ground Zero Mosque." In actuality, the thing is a community center, that would have a few other services besides a place of worship. It can be a school, a gathering place, a restaurant, and a safe-haven.
George W. Bush was never criticized for saying America was at war with a radical sect of a religion, not the religion itself. Why is it when President Obama makes a similar comparison, he gets slammed? I imagine it's mostly because of where this thing is going to be built, no? It might be in bad taste, but it's also a true test of American inclusiveness. Obama said:
“Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as everyone else in this country. (Applause.) And that includes the right to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in Lower Manhattan.”
One snippet of reaction that encapsulates much of the GOP backlash:
A House Republican aide: “Did the Japanese build a monument of the Rising Sun over the USS Arizona? … But this president showed us all long ago he has no sense of what regular Americans in flyover country care about.”
The Daily Show pointed out that there are already hundreds of mosques in Lower Manhattan, and there is already a mosque eight blocks from Ground Zero.
Jonah Goldberg of The LA Times would have us believe that the uproar over the mosque doesn't exist.
However, Muslims actually do live here.
Some conservatives are even destroying their own arguments.
The First Amendment to the Constitution reads:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
If we can't follow even our own freaking First Amendment, what does that make us?
Not America.
1 comment:
Agreed on all points.
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