Blame Texas

Posted by Cynical Sarah on February 9, 2006

I’m sure many of us have heard of those crazy, little-known laws that are still on the books in some states. You know the ones I’m talking about – laws like it’s illegal to spit on the sidewalk in Texas, or it’s illegal to walk your pet alligator in town without a leash in South Dakota.

Most of those kinds of laws aren’t really enforced and are left in the books because of neglect and laziness pretty much. I did fine one strange fact like that though that appears to be fully in affect still.

Did you know to be elected in the state of Texas, one must believe in a supreme being. Yes, to be elected you must believe in God, or a god of some sort. So much for the separation of church and state, not that I believed there was much separation to begin with.

If you think about it, this really explains a lot about the Bush clan. If there’s any one example of a person in power who is letting their religious beliefs dictate how they govern, it’s President George W. Bush.

The only time Dubya has toned down his strong religious beliefs and stance on topics like abortion and gay marriage has been during election years. Otherwise he’s pretty much made it well-known that he would do his best to change abortion laws and try to prevent gay marriage.

I don’t want to get into the debates for either issue, but there’s a reason why church and state are supposed to be kept separate. It was never intended that one religion would dominate and factor into how the country is governed.

Someone might argue that our nation was founded on Christianity since it was Christian groups that settled in America seeking religious freedom. So to follow in their footsteps it’s ok that our government follow Christian based moral and ethical beliefs. But if we want to truly follow their original ideals, we have to respect other religions that have also settled in the U.S. and also those people with no religious beliefs at all.

To do that, our government has to keep church and state separate. It should be basic morals, ethics and general common sense that determine what laws we have in affect and how our country is governed.

For instance, if two consenting adults want to be married, the government shouldn’t have any say as to whether or not they can based on religion, gender, race or whatever. A gay couple should be able to be legally married. However, the churches have every right to say who they will and won’t marry in their churches.

That being said, of course religious beliefs are going to play a factor in how a person decides what they believe is wrong or right when it comes to making laws. The difference is that it should be A factor, not THE factor, in making those decisions. Some common-sense and a sense of what’s realistic have to be factors too.

I suppose Dubya has an excuse though, now that we all know it was required for him to be religious for him to even venture into politics in his home state. Texas set the tone for him with that requirement and he’s taken that with him all the way to the White House.

I don’t care how big your state is or how many cowboys you’ve got, I blame you, Texas, for all of our nation’s current problems.

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