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…James Madison (who was the main author of the US Constitition) put the point this way:

It is the duty of every man to render to the Creator such homage and such only as he believes to be acceptable to Him. This duty is precedent, both in order of time and in degree of obligation, to the claims of Civil Society.

It is important to note that Madison was making this case not in the context of arguing for permitting the free exercise of religion but rather in the context of arguing against the establishment of any religion by law. His point was that no one ought to be compelled to affirm as true a religious tenet he took to be false and that no one should be compelled to participate in a religious rite that violated his own understanding of his religious obligations.

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On one side is the CEO of the world’s largest company, the president of the United States and a growing chunk of the Fortune 500. On the other side is a solo wedding photographer in New Mexico, a 70-year-old grandma florist in Washington and a few bakers.

One side wants the state to conscript the religious businesswomen and men into participating in ceremonies that violate their beliefs. The other side wants to make it possible for religious people to live their own lives according to their consciences. (Tim Carney, Washington Examiner)

Who should decisions be left up to – you, the free market, or Government? 

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As Steve points out, the hypocrisy is strong with the Left.  Along with Apple, Angie’s List (who has been advertising heavily on TV as of late (at least in my local area) also decided to weigh in on the Indiana RFRA, saying that it would not continue with a planned $40 million expansion of their HQ.  Curious, though, not even a whisper of pulling out of the other States that have similar laws on the books.  After all, if you ACTUALLY read the RFRA law (which I did), it doesn’t do what Angie’s List claimed (or, pretty much most of the Left) but it decided

Sidenote: Again, hypocrisy of the Left – they were VERY happy to see Apple and A.L. to weigh in as “Corporate Citizens – but HATE the idea of Hobby Lobby having the same “personhood”?

to go along with the rhetoric anyways.  So, if a company decides that it actively fights against my beliefs, I shall not do business with them:

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Oh, before I forget – I have YET to hear back from either one of these chuckleheads who obviously didn’t understand that one just doesn’t go after bloggers simply because you believe your (un)lofty position of having won a political race makes you BMOC everywhere.  Unlike newspapers who buy ink by the barrel (and have to buy more when they need it), we simply pay a set price to kill off as many pixels as we want.

So when we last left the Saga of the Poli-tics “Do you know who I am” Demanders, Dennis Senibaldi and Al Letizio, the latter had decided to actually send me an email. Well, emails sent to me (or any other Grokster) are covered for “usage”.  I answered it in a fashion that I thought was rather nice (given the range of options possible).  After all, from our Policies and FAQ page (written at the time we opened the doors):

I am the benevolent tyrant of GraniteGrok. Since I own it and pay the bills, I get to make all the rules (yup, he who has the gold makes the rules).

and

Anything you send is fair game for us and we may use it on the site. Exceptions to this policy is only if you ask us not to. However, if we judge the email to be nasty, we still may post it and skewer it and its (lack of) critical thinking.

So, Al Letizio both sent in another email AND I put it in the category of “nasty” in terms of consequences (emphasis mine, as always):

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Nope, this is preparing the 2016 political battlespace; from Betsy’s Page (emphasis mine):

As we observe all this manufactured outrage, get used to it. This is just a skirmish before the real battle – the efforts to persuade the public that whoever is the 2016 GOP candidate is eager to conduct a war on gays and women and whichever other group the Democrats want to motivate to vote against Republicans. I noticed that my students who are mostly 10th graders and not all that politically aware about the day-to-day stories on current events all knew about Indiana’s law and the ensuing outrage. Young people are more likely to vote on cultural issues rather than economic or foreign policy issues. This skirmish is preparing the ground for 2016. The Republicans should figure out how they’re going to defend against such attacks or, what happened to Romney, will happen again.

The Progressives have just signaled that they will stay ensconced in the Culture War knowing that Republicans have already disarmed themselves.

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Frankly, this outrage about Indiana is yet another “two minute of hate” set up by the Left given that for 20 years, the Feds have had the same Religious Freedom law in place (and 20 other states).  Yet:

Moral: a Red State enacts a Religious Freedom law and the Left is screaming. over POSSIBLE discrimination.  Yet, Obama is playing footsie with a Theocratic regime that outright KILLS gays and is funding ISIS that throws gays OFF BUILDINGS?

And no outrage at all?  Thus, this is all about the narrative to, once again, demonize those that stand up for deeply held religious faith and to shut up and destroy them.

There is no tolerance on the Left, for all their bluster and any tactic that wins is morally acceptable (this is a direct result of the Left’s war on time honored, time tested absolute values for mere Relativism in which what is good is now bad in a cultural heartbeat (generally based on what the Left wants politically).

Doubt me?  Look at what retiring US Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid admitted to today:

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Ah yes, that So, last post I decided to relay to you, readers, of the intent by politician (re: from the Latin “poly” meaning many and “tics” meaning blood sucking parasites only out for their own good) Dennis Senibaldi  to intimidate me to pull down the GraniteGrok posts that Grokster Kimberly had put up about the malfeasance done in Windham.  Certainly his supporters have come up to call what Kimberly put up as inaccurate and, in some cases, outright lies in the various posts here.  After all, they pouted, the Examiner.com pulled their posts down and they are a FAR better site than GraniteGrok.  Yet when challenged, NONE of them could actually point out a single data point that was in error.

Naw, it just means they did an almost instantaneous takedown after receiving the demands from Dennis Senibaldi and Al Letizio but extended no loyalty or due process for Kimberly and just caved.  Political and Journalistic courage be damned (and their First Amendment protections) so it seems.  And I have waited most patiently to hear back from Dennis Senibaldi who said that he would “contemplate” my offer over the weekend to write a rebuttal AND tell us where Kimberly was in error.  As Howie Carr oft says, however, when the phone don’t ring you know its for you.  No lovely phone call, no loving emails – I’m crushed.

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From Austrian economist, Ludig Von Mises:

Many people are still haunted by the idea, which dates back to the preliberal era, that a certain nobility and dignity attaches to the exercise of governmental functions.  Up to very recently public officials in Germany enjoyed, and indeed still enjoy even today, a prestige that has made the most highly respected career that of a civil servant.  The social esteem in which a young “assessor” or lieutenant is held far exceeds that of a businessman or an attorney grown old in honest labor.  Writers, scholars, and artists whose fame and glory have spread far beyond Germany enjoy in their own homeland only the respect corresponding to the often rather modest rank they occupied in the bureaucratic hierarchy.

There is no rational basis for this overestimation of the activities carried on in the offices of the administrative authorities.  It is a form of atavism, a vestige from the days when the burgher had to fear the prince and his knights because at any moment he might be spoliated by them.  In itself it is no finer, nobler, or more honorable to spend one’s days in a government office filling out documents than, for example, to work in the blueprint room of a machine factory.

After all, they work for us – although lately, many are thinking the opposite. 

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