Posted on 12/13/2004 9:32:15 AM PST by aynrandy
Those poor pagans.
Studying the magical arts and worshiping the divinity of nature are no easy tasks. Not when helpless trees are being ripped from Mother Earth by jovial Christians celebrating their little winter solstice get-togethers.
But there is hope.
To all my Wiccan, neopagan and belligerently atheist friends, you now have a new hero fighting the theocratic forces of tyranny: Estes Park Town Trustee David Habecker.
It's true that his courageous stand - or rather, courageous sit - protesting the words "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance before each meeting of the town board would be a lot more heroic and credible if he refused to accept a paycheck or use cash.
We'll just guess that Habecker's aware of the "In God We Trust" on all legal tender. And we'll ignore the fact that Thomas Jefferson had the temerity to cite the Almighty Lord him/her/itself in the Declaration of Independence. We won't even mention that freedom of religion does not mean freedom from religion.
But Mr. Habecker, sitting? Is that really the most persuasive protest you could come up with? It's so ... so, uninspiring.
You're not fooling anyone. I sit all day. It's really quite a breeze.
OK, so melodrama is part of the new fun-filled culture war. And yes, Habecker's skirmish against the pending theocracy can only be described as a pebble's throw in the general direction of a (fully armored) Humvee.
Still, he earns points for high drama.
Habecker, who, to my knowledge, has never declared himself a Wiccan, did state his aversion for "under God" in front of a troop of Boy Scouts giving a civics lesson.
How theatrical. How brave.
Habecker's principal point of contention is that he regards the "under God" in the Pledge as an "illegal" injection of religion into government.
Now that is patently absurd.
Who knows? Maybe we're under God, maybe we're not. I'll leave that for Jerry Falwell and Al Sharpton to discuss.
I couldn't care less if God or the Great Gazoo from the planet Zetox persuaded the president to cut tax rates and fight terror. As long as I don't have to spend my refund check on another roll of
Osama-guard masking tape, I'm content.
But the esteemed trustee from Estes Park should realize a fundamental fact of our government: Neither he, nor God, nor a columnist, decides the legality of an issue. The Supreme Court does.
And by throwing out a case in June on a technicality, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the phrase "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance would remain intact.
The Supremes injected a bit of their own high drama to hammer home this point. Their 8-0 ruling came on Flag Day and exactly 50 years after Congress added the phrase "under God."
So "illegal" is a real misnomer.
Now Habecker, and others, have every right to sit it out in protest.
They even have recourse.
Habecker, for instance, can contact his local congresswoman and senators to introduce a bill that would expunge God - or at least, the irritating phrase.
Though, it should be said, there may be some formidable resistance, considering the Senate previously voted 99-0 to oppose the change to the Pledge.
Inconveniently for Habecker, the Party of God is in power in Washington and the citizens of Estes Park also have an avenue of recourse.
They can Gray Davis him.
"When you are being paid to do a job - in this case by the citizens of Estes Park - you should honor that and not your personal issues," said fellow Trustee Lori Jeffrey-Clark, whose husband, Richard, has led a recall effort.
They already have the 246 signatures needed to force a recall, and the Town Board will soon set an election date.
How do you say "see ya" in Wiccan?
David Harsanyi's column appears Monday and Thursday. He can be reached at 303-820-1255 or dharsanyi@denverpost.com .
I love these unimpressive protests.
Like when a high school teacher of mine went on a 24 hour hunger strike against apartheid.
And now there is no apartheid, eh? I guess his hunger strike did the trick! LOL!
Damn, I thought it was about motorcycle gangs! Here its about something entirely different.
I beleive that this is the core that are driving feminist, gay rights, the green party, Peta, and the rest of the liberal left agenda. Certainly Jewish philosphy, Roman Catholic Theology and Liberation theology of the world council of Churches are not the driving force behind these movements and their stated goals.
LOL, too funny - this guy just summed up my entire political philosophy in one concise sentence.
LQ
Yep. sums it up for me too. This columnist is the only conservative at the Post. He's pretty funny
Moral Agenda Ping. A little light humor for your lunch break.
A tempest in a teapot, kind of. But significant, nonetheless. Little annoying deerflies still need to be swatted down.
Let me know if anyone wants on/off this pinglist.
Not entirely true. No apartheid in South Africa but the white folk are leaving and taking the money and technical expertise with them. SA is just a few years behind Rhodesia where reverse apartheid reigns supreme.
For your information, most Wiccans believe in God and are not afraid to worship her in public. This man's protest has nothing to do with paganism since they believe in God, in one form or another, but comes from some secularist perspective. Some people have a odd aversion to all religion, while having a oddly fanatical belief in the separation of church and state.
The latest on this story is that Habecker has won an injunction on the recall election from a Federal Judge in Denver. He has been quoted in a local letter to the editor as saying, in some meeting in Ft. Collins, that he wants the Pledge removed from all public schools. This has really POed the people of Estes Park, my hometown for 20 years.
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