| Topic: |
Sociology > Education |
| User: |
"" |
| Date: |
27 Dec 2005 05:29:46 AM |
| Object: |
Churches should not be polling places |
Churches should not be polling places
http://www.baxterbulletin.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051226/OPINION01/512260311/1014/OPINION
Baxter Bulletin - Baxter,AR,USA
Churches should not be polling places
From Donald L. Schonlaw
Oxford:
I feel I need to air a grievance on the voting and the churches. They have
violated my rights to cast a vote on Dec. 13 by ordering me to go to church
to cast my vote on money matters for the state.
Due to sickness at home, I could not vote the early ballot in the
courthouse.
If I were a member of this church, I would be all over the pastor and
deacons for allowing the church property to be used on behalf of money
changers of the state. These workers are paid by the state voting
commission.
A good lawyer could make a case of separation of church and state. Were not
money changers thrown out of the temple and off the grounds?
The money changers have just disguised the way they do things now. I am a
strong believer in strong separation of church and state. This is why they
are tax exempt.
Any city or town has a council meeting place that is a voting place. Also,
town halls and firehouses are voting places.
If I were an IRS representative, I would look very hard at the fine print
of the tax exemption for churches receiving payment as voting places. Even
if that payment came as city equipment and employees working on city time,
used for the benefit of the church that not everyone attends.
Originally published December 26, 2005
**************************************************************
Posting and reading from alt.politics.usa.constitution OR alt.education
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 · Hampton Roads [Virginia] SepChurch&State
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HRSepCnS/
[Its not just Hampton Roads folks who are members, there are members from
all over the U.S. and a couple from overseas as well]
***************************************************************
.. . . 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)
.. . .
****************************************************************
THE CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCIPLE:
SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html
****************************************************************
.
|
|
| User: "Jeff Strickland" |
|
| Title: Re: Churches should not be polling places |
30 Dec 2005 11:58:35 PM |
|
|
<buckeyeelo@nospam.net> wrote in message
news:6d92r157l1ie12b40joqick42mfesfltdc@4ax.com...
Churches should not be polling places
http://www.baxterbulletin.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051226/OPINION01/512260311/1014/OPINION
Baxter Bulletin - Baxter,AR,USA
Churches should not be polling places
From Donald L. Schonlaw
Oxford:
I feel I need to air a grievance on the voting and the churches. They have
violated my rights to cast a vote on Dec. 13 by ordering me to go to
church
to cast my vote on money matters for the state.
I think that the reason for the ballot has no bearing on whether or not
voting in a church is allowable.
Personally, I don't think that voting places should be in churches, I think
polling places should always be in public buildings -- schools, fire
stations, county offices, etc.
I agree with the author that he has a greivance for being required to go to
a church to cast his ballot, I don't think it matters what was on the
ballot.
.
|
|
|
| User: "Mickey" |
|
| Title: Re: Churches should not be polling places |
31 Dec 2005 12:26:30 PM |
|
|
Jeff Strickland wrote:
<buckeyeelo@nospam.net> wrote in message
news:6d92r157l1ie12b40joqick42mfesfltdc@4ax.com...
Churches should not be polling places
http://www.baxterbulletin.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051226/OPINION01/512260311/1014/OPINION
Baxter Bulletin - Baxter,AR,USA
Churches should not be polling places
From Donald L. Schonlaw
Oxford:
I feel I need to air a grievance on the voting and the churches. They
have
violated my rights to cast a vote on Dec. 13 by ordering me to go to
church
to cast my vote on money matters for the state.
I think that the reason for the ballot has no bearing on whether or not
voting in a church is allowable.
Personally, I don't think that voting places should be in churches, I
think polling places should always be in public buildings -- schools,
fire stations, county offices, etc.
I agree with the author that he has a greivance for being required to go
to a church to cast his ballot, I don't think it matters what was on the
ballot.
There is a difference between getting poked in the eye and running
around looking for a finger on which to impale oneself. The complainant
seems ignorant of the distinction. He might seriously consider that at
various times and places people have risked their lives for the chance
to vote and count himself fortunate.
.
|
|
|
|
|
| User: "Joseph Welch" |
|
| Title: Re: Churches should not be polling places |
27 Dec 2005 09:32:57 AM |
|
|
<buckeyeelo@nospam.net> wrote in message
news:6d92r157l1ie12b40joqick42mfesfltdc@4ax.com...
I feel I need to air a grievance on the voting and the churches. They have
violated my rights to cast a vote on Dec. 13 by ordering me to go to
church
to cast my vote on money matters for the state.
Nonsense. You always have the option of using an absentee ballot and voting
by mail, and just because a polling place is located in a church basement
doesn't mean you're being forced to "go to church".
--
JW
***************
"You've done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have
you left no sense of decency?"
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/welch-mccarthy.html
.
|
|
|
| User: "wbarwell" |
|
| Title: Re: Churches should not be polling places |
27 Dec 2005 11:01:26 PM |
|
|
Joseph Welch wrote:
<buckeyeelo@nospam.net> wrote in message
news:6d92r157l1ie12b40joqick42mfesfltdc@4ax.com...
I feel I need to air a grievance on the voting and the churches.
They have violated my rights to cast a vote on Dec. 13 by ordering
me to go to church
to cast my vote on money matters for the state.
Nonsense. You always have the option of using an absentee ballot
and voting by mail, and just because a polling place is located in a
church basement doesn't mean you're being forced to "go to church".
Think of it as a good chance to go to a local church and breathe
Atheist germs all over it.
--
Wassail, Happy Holidays, Merry Solstice, Happy
Saturnalia, mull the wine and pass the eggnog.
Cheerful Charlie
.
|
|
|
| User: "Joseph Welch" |
|
| Title: Re: Churches should not be polling places |
27 Dec 2005 11:59:35 PM |
|
|
"wbarwell" <wbarwell@mylinuxisp.com> wrote in message
news:11r46tg621stnf6@corp.supernews.com...
Think of it as a good chance to go to a local church and breathe
I prefer to think of it as an opportunity to visit a part of our local
community.
Your mileage may vary.
--
JW
***************
"You've done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have
you left no sense of decency?"
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/welch-mccarthy.html
.
|
|
|
|
| User: "Kemba du Formage" |
|
| Title: Re: Churches should not be polling places |
28 Dec 2005 04:12:02 PM |
|
|
wbarwell wrote...
Joseph Welch wrote:
<buckeyeelo@nospam.net> wrote in message
news:6d92r157l1ie12b40joqick42mfesfltdc@4ax.com...
I feel I need to air a grievance on the voting and the churches.
They have violated my rights to cast a vote on Dec. 13 by ordering
me to go to church
to cast my vote on money matters for the state.
Nonsense. You always have the option of using an absentee ballot
and voting by mail, and just because a polling place is located in a
church basement doesn't mean you're being forced to "go to church".
Think of it as a good chance to go to a local church and breathe
Atheist germs all over it.
Sorry, but voting in a church violates my rights. First of all, I
refuse to set foot in a church, the day my parents forced me to
join their church at age 13 was the day I vowed never to enter one
again. Second, I don't trust absentee/mail-in ballots. I've seen
enough elections where the outcome is suspiciously tipped after
such ballots were amazingly discovered after having been missed
during the first count. Ballot boxes and voting machines can still
be tampered with, but it is much harder as the number of people
signing in at the polling place is usually hard to forge. Absentee
ballots are so much easier, there is no way to disprove that all
100% of voters receiving those ballots really voted, and that 100%
of them voted for Henry Cuellar.
.
|
|
|
|
|
|
| User: "Gregory Gadow" |
|
| Title: Re: Churches should not be polling places |
27 Dec 2005 08:37:19 AM |
|
|
In Washington State, the matter has become moot. The state is fast doing away with polling places
altogether and going with all mail-in balloting.
Gone is a century of checks and accountability trails that helped to prevent overt cheating. Gone are
the poll workers representing all of the major parties (Washington has three) watching one another to
help prevent overt fraud. Gone is the comfort of knowing I will get a ballot. Gone is the assurance
that only registered voters who can prove they are registered voters are actually voting. Gone is the
security of knowing that only three or four people -- all of whom were registered as election workers
and thus publicly known and accountable -- touched your ballot between the time you turned it in and
the time the ballot tally was finalized.
Instead, I have to wait on the county to send me a ballot -- despite the fact that, several times in
the last few years, King County *failed* to mail out absentee ballots properly. I have to hope that my
ballot isn't stolen out of my mailbox. I have to hope that none of the dozen or so anonymous people in
the Postal service don't notice that the envelope clearly marked BALLOT comes from a very liberal area
and decide to "correct" the matter. I have to hope that poorer people in my state don't sell their
unmarked ballots for money (there is already a scandal regarding this in Washington.)
Frankly, I would much rather have polling in a church than no polling at all.
--
Gregory Gadow
techbear@serv.net
http://www.serv.net/~techbear
"The President is merely the most important among a large number
of public servants. He should be supported or opposed exactly to
the degree which is warranted by his good conduct or bad conduct,
his efficiency or inefficiency in rendering loyal, able, and
disinterested service to the Nation as a whole. Therefore it is
absolutely necessary that there should be full liberty to tell
the truth about his acts, and this means that it is exactly
necessary to blame him when he does wrong as to praise him when
he does right. Any other attitude in an American citizen is both
base and servile. To announce that there must be no criticism of
the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or
wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable
to the American public. Nothing but the truth should be spoken about
him or any one else. But it is even more important to tell the truth,
pleasant or unpleasant, about him than about any one else."
President Theodore Roosevelt, editorial to the Kansas City Star
May 7, 1918
.
|
|
|
|
|
Related Articles |
|
|
