http://www.talk2action.org/story/2007/10/2/11595/7881
Critical Mass: Bishops Advise Supreme Court On The Laws Of God
By Rob Boston
Tue Oct 02, 2007 at 11:59:05 AM EST
[excerpt]
Don't you wish you had the opportunity to personally lobby the members of
the U.S. Supreme Court on issues that concern you?
It's rare that anyone gets that chance. The nine members of the court are
supposed to be somewhat aloof and to isolate themselves from the pressure
groups and high-powered lobbyists who regularly cruise the halls of
Congress, seeking to button-hole members of the House of Representatives or
Senate.
But once a year, many of the justices sit through a lecture where they are
patiently instructed on how to vote on a number of important constitutional
issues. This event takes places in the context of a worship service. It is
called the "Red Mass."
The Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., working with the John Carroll
Society, sponsors this special service, so named for the red vestments the
presiding member of the clergy wears. The annual event takes place the
Sunday before the first Monday in October, the opening of the Supreme
Court's new term.
This year's service at St. Matthew's Cathedral took place Sept. 30. It was
attended by six members of the high court - Chief Justice John G. Roberts
and Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, Samuel A. Alito, Anthony M.
Kennedy and Stephen G. Breyer. (Members of Congress and other government
officials also were present).
By some unspoken tradition, the homilist at the mass usually takes a swipe
at separation of church and state - albeit sometimes in carefully couched
language - and speaks out against legal abortion, stem-cell research,
same-sex marriage or other issues that may be occupying the church's
leadership. In previous years, some bishops have even used the mass to carp
about the lack of tax support for Catholic schools.
[end excerpt]
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You are invited to check out the following:
The Rise of the Theocratic States of America
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/theocracy.htm
American Theocrats - Past and Present
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/theocrats.htm
The Constitutional Principle: Separation of Church and State
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html
[and to join the discussion group for the above site and/or Separation of
Church and State in general, listed below]
HRSepCnS · Historical Reality SepChurch&State
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HRSepCnS/
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.. . . You can't understand a phrase such as "Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishment of religion" by syllogistic reasoning. Words
take their meaning from social as well as textual contexts, which is why "a
page of history is worth a volume of logic." New York Trust Co. v. Eisner,
256 U.S. 345, 349, 41 S.Ct. 506, 507, 65 L.Ed. 963 (1921) (Holmes, J.).
Sherman v. Community Consol. Dist. 21, 980 F.2d 437, 445 (7th Cir. 1992)
.. . .
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USAF LT. COL (Ret) Buffman (Glen P. Goffin) wrote
"You pilot always into an unknown future;
facts are your only clue. Get the facts!"
That philosophy 'snipit' helped to get me, and my crew, through a good
many combat missions and far too many scary, inflight, emergencies.
It has also played a significant role in helping me to expose the
plethora of radical Christian propaganda and lies that we find at
almost every media turn.
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THE CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCIPLE:
SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html
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