A spokeswoman for the New Hampshire Democratic Party, someone named Harrell Kirstien, has accused GOP state Rep. David Bates (Salem/Windham) of trying to impose a "Bible belt social agenda" after seeing a video of Rep. Bates speaking and praying at the New England Solemn Assembly in Plymouth Mass. What follows is what prompted the attack from the New Hampshire Democratic Party. (Note to Democrats: It’s called "praying." The place is called a "church." It may seem strange to you, but Christians do that: They "pray" in "churches.") Here is what prompted the attack on Rep. Bates. Judge for yourselves:
I’ve been political my entire life, starting out with Barry Goldwater and The Conscience of a Conservative in the1960's. In 1972 I was a Florida presidential elector for Prof. John Hospers, the first Presidential candidate of the national Libertarian Party which was founded that same year. During the late 1970's and into the 1980's I was a contributing editor and monthly columnist for Reason magazine, and I’ve authored numerous articles in the print and online media about various subjects relating to individual rights and personal freedom. Today I'm a lawyer by profession; I divide my time between New Hampshire and Florida all year long, spending much of my time practicing law in Florida. As an early supporter and past member of the board of directors of the Free State Project, I was drawn to the Live Free or Die state of New Hampshire in late 2003 when it was chosen by a vote of the first 5,000 FSP participants. In 2004 I founded the Republican Liberty Caucus of New Hampshire, and continue today to work within the state political system to advance the traditional NH values of frugal small government, low taxes, small business, free enterprise, and self-responsibility. To all, I say "Come and see what we are building in the beautiful, healthy, livable Free State of New Hampshire!"
Thank you Rep. Bates for your words of wisdom. Rep. Bates is 100 percent correct.
Toto
I think it is important for the pendulum in politics to swing back toward the spiritual. God has been a stranger in the halls of government recently. It’s time to correct that.
But we must take care that the pendulum in politics not swing too far in “God’s” direction, lest we be forced to relearn the lessons of the Reformation. That was a painful lesson for Man to learn, when the Catholic church held total political power and eventually gave us the Spanish Inquisition. I would hate to witness that lesson relearned with modern technology.
We have seen for ourselves what happens in modern history when religious fundamentalists gain total political power. It happened in Iran back in the 80′s. What did the Ayatollah Khomeini do after gaining power? He went to war against Iraq: 8 million people killed.
It’s not an accident that the Mideast is a perpetual war zone–the governments in that area, Israel included, are nearly all religiously oriented, if not outright theocracies.
So please, let us have true religious freedom, but let us also remember that the Founding Fathers were dead set against having a state religion.
Please forgive me for stating the obvious. Sometimes a little review is helpful.
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