Tag: religious freedom

October 12, 2012
image of VP Joe Biden & Rep. Paul Ryan
VP Joe Biden & Rep. Paul Ryan

Thursday nights Vice Presidential debate between current VP Joe Biden and GOP nominee Rep. Paul Ryan contained topics from domestic issues and foreign affairs. Toward the end of the night debate moderator Martha Raddatz asked, since both men are of the Catholic faith, about abortion. Each man’s answer drew a sharp contrast on the relationship between faith and public policy. I thought Vice President Biden had the correct view.

This is from a transcript hosted by the website Plunderbund but I did view the debate and vouch for the text in this transcript:

September 10, 2012
August 25, 2012
image of Mitt Romney
The 1st amendment won’t allow me to id this guy

Both Mitt Romney and President Obama gave lengthy interviews to the National Cathedral’s magazine, “Cathedral Age”. I believe that we live in a secular republic where the government ought to be religiously neutral. There is no religious test to hold office but this interview did gives us a case study in Christian privilege that some like Mitt Romney believe they deserve. While he tore into the wall between church and state, in another interview he tried to use his religion as an excuse not to reveal his tax returns.

May 30, 2012
screencap of Council President Bruce Hawkins

There is yet another dust up about a city council saying Christian prayers before meetings. Mount Vernon Ohio City Council previously held prayers at the beginning of their meetings then a resident sent a letter of complaint. Once the other people in town heard, then they complained about ending a “tradition”. Add to that mess is the comments the city council president made in a story on a local TV station – that he pledged an oath to God so he sees no problem with having the prayers during the meetings. He’s wrong of course.

Resident Ryan Kitko sent a letter of complaint to the council. He claimed – factually – that Christian prayers at the meeting slighted those who weren’t Christian or who had no religious beliefs.

April 4, 2012
quote image of President Reagan supporting separation of church and state

I had a Facebook friend post the image to the right of this text that shows a quote from President Ronald Reagan that seems to support the separation of church and state. I like to check these kinds of things out because I don’t want to pass on a false quote. When I found out where the quote came from, the story is a lot bigger than this small 300×300 image. Learning the full story shows a classic politician speaking out both sides of his mouth.

March 24, 2012
image of the Catholic protest contraception covervage mandate

Saw in the news on Friday (3/23), in various cities across the country, the Catholic church organized members to protest the upcoming contraception coverage mandate that is part of the Affordable Care Act. Under the guise of religious freedom, Bishops, nuns, and others – mostly men – complained about the mandate. The problem is their protest was for the wrong reason and made them look silly.

At one such protest in Toledo Ohio: