Posted by Pamela on January 09, 1997 at 12:09:05:
In Reply to: Re: Madalyn Murray O'Hair Petition (?) posted by Tyler Bradley on January 09, 1997 at 11:04:21:
: Zealots of this sort are both harmful and necessary. Harmful in the sense that the thinking is easily transformed from benign to malignant cancer. Necessary in the sense that there are equally rabid groups on the opposite side of the issue who are just as dangerous
: I do agree with Amanda and Pamela that there are Constitutional difficulties in banning free speech, especially over the airwaves. In that respect, she/they, whichever the case may be, is doomed to failure.
: However, in areas where there is taxpayer funding or a captive general audience, religious issues are to be left out. It is one thing for a kid to carry a Bible for personal study into a public school, but a very different one when having OUR (not one exclusive group's) currency marked with that motto. An issue currently going on in my state of Ohio is the Governor's push, with some taxpayer dollars already spent, to make the State Motto read, "With God All Things Are Possible". This is reprehensible, and I feel fortunate to have a group such as the ACLU watching out for these hidden and insidious encroachments on public issues. We just do not live as Puritans or Shakers anymore.
Speaking of taxpayer funding and insidious encroachments, I was just checking out the American Atheists' web page (http://www.atheists.org/visitors.center/intro.html) and their literature makes the claim that American taxpayers are supporting christianity through tax dollars. AA points out that churches and businesses owned by churches are tax exempt. Also there are no taxes on properties owned by churches, including land (20% of privately owned land is held by churches, according to AA). Therefore, the rest of the taxpayers have to pay more (about $200 per year per person) in order to support this policy. Anyone care to comment on this issue?