Posted on 01/13/2015 6:32:17 PM PST by madprof98
Several hundred people packed the Georgia Capitol’s rotunda Tuesday afternoon in support of former Atlanta Fire Chief Kelvin Cochran, a showing that supporters hoped would boost efforts to pass a “religious liberty” law.
With lawmakers scattered throughout the crowd, representatives of groups including the Georgia Baptist Convention and the national Family Research Council urged proponents to rally against what they framed as a freedom of speech issue. Cochran, recently fired by Mayor Kasim Reed, lost his job over actions he took related to a self-published religious book that many construed as anti-gay.
“I just wanted to come and take a stand for our faith,” said 27-year-old William Powell, one of many in the crowd with red-white-and-blue signs that read: “Standing for our Faith, Religious Freedom, & Freedom of Speech.”
The demonstration came on a day of dueling efforts. Tuesday morning, a coalition of more than 60 clergy from across Georgia announced they opposed efforts to pass religious liberty legislation. Coalition representatives said lawmakers should not invest themselves in controversial or discriminatory legislation.
(Excerpt) Read more at ajc.com ...
I’guess courts don’t give a sh1t about the 1st Amendment anymore.
I guess we all can pick and choose what laws we’ll obey and what laws we’ll ignore or interpret our own way.
`
This is a very interesting situation. The mayor would not have taken this action unless he believed he could get away with it without political consequences. This implies that he believes that the majority of voters either will never notice, or will value sexual nonjudgmentalism above religious freedom and freedom of speech.
(This assumes that an equally competent fire chief with no personal standards for sexual behavior can be found ... which I think is a reasonable assumption.)
"Coalition representatives said lawmakers should not invest themselves in controversial or discriminatory legislation."
The authors of the Virginia Act for Religious Freedom, including Thomas Jefferson, evidently didn't agree with that assertion:
"...Be it enacted by General Assembly that no man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested, or burthened in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief, but that all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of Religion, and that the same shall in no wise diminish, enlarge or affect their civil capacities."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Statute_for_Religious_Freedom
An excellent find.
This is actually an area Republicans should emphasize to pick up traditional Hispanics and even blacks.
Democrats are pro-same sex unions, while both of those minority groups are very traditional of one man - one woman, even if the marriage rate is falling.
We also need to counter the lies that half of all marriages end in divorce, though it serves the destruction of the family blacks and hispanics consider important by saying “don’t bother getting married, it won’t work”.
Is Everything We’ve Been Told About Marriage and Divorce Completely Wrong?
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/05/06/is-everything-weve-been-told-about-marriage-and-divorce-completely-wrong/
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.