Judicial Tyrrany

Posted on June 28, 2013 by Steve Picray

In November of 2008, voters in the state of California passed an amendment to the state constitution stating that “only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.”

In August 2010, a district court judge ruled that this amendment to the constitution was…..unconstitutional. Dare I state the obvious here and say that EVERY constitutional amendment is, by defintion, “unconstitutional.” The reason they are passing the amendment is to CHANGE the constitution.

And this week the Supreme Court of the United States decided that nine people in Washington DC have the power to stand against the will of the people of the State of California who passed this amendment in a direct referendum (every vote counts). In effect, the Supreme Court has said, “You, the people of California, have no say in this matter.”

Well excuse me, but the Constitution of the United States starts with three little words: “We the people.” Lincoln ended the Gettysburg Address by talking about the “…government of the people, by the people, for the people…”.

How the constitution works is like this: We as a nation got together and agreed that this is the basic rulebook for our government. If at any point we as a nation decide to change the rulebook, we propose an amendment. If the amendment passes, then the rulebook is changed. The people of California voted to change the rulebook, and the judges ruling over our country said, “No, you can’t do that.”

To the nine people sitting on the bench in Washington DC I say this: This is not YOUR government, it’s OUR government. Every American should be concerned with this decision, not just those who are against so-called “gay marriage.” Because what the court has done by deciding against this constitutional amendment is to say, “Your vote doesn’t matter. What matters is what we think about the issue.”

So go ahead: pass your laws, Congress. Issue your executive orders, Mr. President. Vote in your elections for issues, citizens. But know that your vote doesn’t matter at all. The only votes that matter are the nine votes in Washington belonging to SCOTUS.

Congratulations, America. To paraphrase Mather Byles, “Which is better—to be ruled by one tyrant three thousand miles away, or by nine tyrants sitting on the Supreme Court?”

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Weddings: Cover Charge or No?

Posted on June 22, 2013 by Steve Picray

I read an article today on Yahoo about a couple that got married, and complained about one gift they received. I’m not even going to mention the elephant in the room and just focus on the issue of weddings.

When my wife and I got married, we hoped for gifts, but did not expect large gifts. We figured people would give us toasters and stuff like that, which they did. We were happy with what we got.

Plus, we didn’t feel like our wedding had to be some big production. We didn’t have much money, and our families didn’t have much money, so we didn’t spend money like fools. My wife bought her dress, we rented my tuxedo and my father-in-law’s tuxedo, but the other three tuxedos (my best man and two groomsmen) were tuxedos that I and my friends owned (we wore them for concerts at our college). We had our wedding at my wife’s church (honorariums for the pastors and, I believe there was something for the church, but I don’t believe it was much). We didn’t use $200 bows for our decorations in the auditorium. We didn’t cater an enormous meal. We didn’t serve imported Sicilian cheese at the reception. We had a nice wedding, and the purpose was achieved.

What was the purpose of our wedding? The woman in this article stated that “Weddings are to make money for your future.” I was under the impression that weddings had one purpose: to unite a man and a woman in the bond of matrimony so that they would forevermore be known as “husband and wife.” I understand that it is customary to invite family and friends so that they can witness the union and celebrate this step in the couple’s life. The guests at some weddings are even told that they are to help the couple when they struggle so that the marriage will endure.

My wedding had one purpose: the start of our marriage. This Canadian woman has the wrong idea about weddings entirely. And it’s not totally her fault. With the breakdown in the values of our culture, weddings have lost some of their meaning. Cohabitating couples get married, and they don’t see it as the “start” of anything. They live together for months or years before they get married, so the wedding doesn’t really change anything, practically speaking. It seems like just an excuse to get everybody together for a party, and then take a nice vacation (honeymoon).

But even if that were the case, I should think that etiquette would demand I not ask people to pay for entrance into the party I’m throwing. If I invite a bunch of people to my house for dinner this weekend, they would be very surprised if they walked in the door to be greeted by me asking for money. That would be crass, and I don’t think they would ever come back.

I guess it all goes back to Luke 14:7-11 where Jesus “…began speaking a parable to the invited guests when He noticed how they had been picking out the places of honor at the table, saying to them, ‘When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for someone more distinguished than you may have been invited by him, and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this man,’ and then in disgrace you proceed to occupy the last place. But when you are invited, go and recline at the last place, so that when the one who has invited you comes, he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher’; then you will have honor in the sight of all who are at the table with you. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.'”

I know this is talking about the seating arrangement specifically, but I believe there’s a principle here that Christ was communicating: humility. If you are humble, people will exalt you. If you throw your weigh around, people will put you down to your place. Wouldn’t it be better to be raised up than to be lowered down?

This Canadian couple would do well to read this passage (and a few others I could name ;-)) and realize that if they weren’t willing to spend $100 per guest with no guarantee of repayment, they should have either invited fewer people or had a less lavish reception. Weddings shouldn’t have a cover charge.

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Hate Speech

Posted on June 13, 2013 by Steve Picray

Is hate speech a good thing? That question is so loaded with different meanings that I can’t answer it. Is it wrong to say evil things about other people? Yes. Is it wrong to demean others? Yes. Is it wrong to call for the injury or death of a group of people based on their beliefs, skin color, or other characteristics? Yes. But should hate speech be illegal? No.

There are those in the United States that are calling for the criminalization of hate speech. This bothers me because the first amendment is the foundation of our bill of rights. Let’s take a look at what this country would look like without the first amendment (and by extension, the other amendments, since you wouldn’t be able to speak out against the government).

There would be no freedom of religion. If hate speech is illegal, churches would be forcibly closed that preach against whatever conventional wisdom says is ok. So the Westboro Baptist Church would be closed, but so would the First Baptist Church, and any other church that preaches the Bible, which says homosexuality is sin, abortion is murder, adultery is sin, and hell is real.

There would be no freedom of information. If the first amendment is gone, then the government could legally suppress information dissemination. Newspapers, blogs, tv stations, and other media outlets would be shut down, people would be thrown in jail unless they “toed the line” with what the government thinks. People would be sent to jail because of things they said on Facebook.

There would be no second amendment. If you aren’t allowed to speak up against the government, they can do whatever they want, up to and including confiscating your weapons, which the second amendment says you have the right to keep for the express purpose of defending yourself against oppressive governments.

You wouldn’t be able to say anything if the government wants to use your house for anything. You couldn’t speak up if the government wants to search your house or belongings at any time of day or night. You would have no rights in court, since your very speech condemns you. Jury trials would be a joke, since people would not want to get in trouble for disagreeing with the government. You couldn’t speak up for those jailed indefinitely. Cruel and unusual punishment? How is anybody going to find out about it if we don’t have freedom of the press?

And so you see that, without freedom of speech, the rest of the “bill of rights” fall like a house of cards. I agree with Evelyn Beatrice Hall who, in her biography of Voltaire, said, “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”

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The Fall of Our Republic

Posted on June 13, 2013 by Steve Picray

JFK QuoteI am tired. Tired of seeing all the bad news about crime. Every day I’m informed about the latest person who was raped, murdered, found dead, gone missing, or abused. Every day I see people calling for the abolition of things that I hold dear. Every time I hear a political news story, I am more stressed at the end of the story than I was before. I think I need a break.

Politically speaking, the country is in bad shape. From my perspective, the lunatics are running the asylum. The majority of Americans are voting for people that do NOT have the best interests of the country in mind. They are voting for people who will give them the most free stuff. This bothers me. I don’t know what the future of our country is, but for the first time in my life I feel like we might not make it. America has been a shining city on a hill for over two hundred years. We’ve stumbled at times, but for the most part we have stood up against the bullies of the world and tried to do what is right. Our country fought against Fascism, Communism, and other -isms that made people less free. But a majority of the citizens in our country have reelected a man into the White House who is a blatant Socialist. These citizens also continue to elect others to Congress who are Socialists.

I don’t understand why this is happening. With the boom of the information age I thought people would be better informed. Unfortunately it seems that people are not better informed, they are just subjected to too much information, so they give up thinking for themselves. We call these people “low information voters.” They don’t understand the issues, and they don’t want to understand the issues. They just want to live their lives, and they will vote for anyone who promises to make their life better. They don’t see how this is going to destroy our country.

And I deal with these people almost every day. I see them on Facebook. I hear them at work. I overhear their conversations in public. I see them on television. And they exhaust me. I am sure there are areas in which I am wrong (and if you can prove it to me I’ll change my view point!), but I know my positions and I stand by them. I don’t know if it’s hopeless for me to continue my attempts to help people understand the reality of the world in which we live, but I feel like I must try. Even as we lose this country to the looters, the moochers, and the thieves, we must continue to fight for what is right. Because if we stop fighting, they win by default. I believe it was Plato who said, “The penalty good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men.” Well, here we are.

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