AMERICAN VALUES

On the first day of legalized same sex marriage in the very chilly state of New Hampshire, USA TODAY posed a seemingly innocent enough question to the newspaper's readers:  "Whose values should be written into law?  What if those values aren't your values?"

A couple of weeks ago, the BBC found itself in very angry cross-hairs when it televised a debate on the eve of legalized genocide in Uganda.  The BBC asked: " Should there be a death sentence of homosexuality?"

Brits and others around the globe were shocked, horrified and disgusted that the BBC would pose such a question as if the issue were even remotely debatable--perhaps in a Nazi Concentration Camp but surely not on the BBC.

Within hours, the BBC had apologized and admitted to doing a very stupid thing.

I wonder if anyone in this fucked up nation will notice that USA TODAY has committed the same horrific gaff--perhaps on an even more profound and even more frightening level.

USA TODAY writes:  "...Vermont and Iowa joined Massachusetts and Connecticut in allowing gay marriage last year despite vociferous opposition from religious leaders. Washington DC's move to legalize it awaits Congressional approval. However, legalization moves failed in Maine and New York. Gay marriage seems to be the bellwether of social and religious clout. This is worth watching as 2010 promises many more battles--particularly on the health care front with state by state skirmishes over reproductive rights (access to birth control as well as to abortion) looming. Whose values should be written into law? What if those aren't your values?"

Let me pose a very simple answer, an answer that should rock you to your very soul when you think about it.

Whose values should be written into law?  Call me crazy, but how about the American values that are already written into law?  I call it the Bill or Rights and the United States Constitution.

Sure, it gets amended from time to time in order to CLARIFY the basic values described in the Bill of Rights--but the values have basically remained the same since 1776.

Until now, apparently. 

USA TODAY rightly looks to the horrors of discrimination that today prevail in this nation but then asks the wrong question.

The right question is how do we, as a nation facing a profound moral, ethical and constitutional crisis address the millions of Americans who have turned their backs on the Constitution and through the corruption and perversion of our political system and the Republican Party legislated and voted in the seeds of a theocratic oligarchy intended to bring down the republic?

A little Webster, if you please.

Values are defined as the ideals, customs, institutions, etc., of a society toward which the people of the group have an affective regard. These values may be positive, as cleanliness, freedom, or education, or negative, as cruelty, crime, or blasphemy.

American values have been long established and codified.  Most of us can cite core American values with ease: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; all men are created equal and have certain inalienable rights, freedom of speech and one of the most American and most basic:  equality of protection under the law.

According to the Oxford University Journal of International Law, "The correlation between a Constitution's basic rights and the values of the society it is intended to regulate is vital to the Constitution's legitimacy.

Our Constitution is made of mighty stuff.  With its values firmly in place, this nation fought a civil war to end slavery, gave women the right to vote, ended segregation and discrimination and delivered legalized marriage to the parents of Barack Obama.

And it is those brilliant centuries old American values that are under attack; and that is partly because the mainstream media like USA TODAY has walked away from its role as a free press in a free society and is now playing the game of participating in the degradation of Constitutionality and the once "sacred"  Bill of Rights.

American values are clear.  Read the Constitution.  And then dread the rise of the Dark Religion called American Christianity.

Comments

[VAL JOHN BARLOW]

Once Again, I Totally Agree with You Dear Fellow Gay Atheist Richard. Malignant Man-Made Religion is the Enemy of All Human Progress and Has Caused Massive Pain and Suffering and Murder and Mayhem Throughout History. Monstrous Religion is the Primary Reason that Gay Americans and Gay Human Beings Worldwide Do NOT Have Equal Rights or Equality and Dignity under the law. Malignant Religion is the Evil Foundation of Homophobia and Hate Worldwide. It is Vital That All Thinking Human Beings and Particularly Gay Human Beings Reject Evil Religion and Actively Work for a World where Reason and Rationality Prevail over the Lies and Falsehoods and Myths and Superstitions of Malignant Murderous Religion. The Wonderful Freedom from Religion Foundation (www.FFRF.org) Has Issued the Following Proclamation in This New Year: AT THIS Holiday SEASON OF THE NEW YEAR,
MAY REASON PREVAIL
THERE ARE NO GODS,
No Devils, No Angels,
No Heaven or Hell,
THERE is Only
Our Natural World.
Religion is But
Myth and Superstition
That Hardens Hearts
And Enslaves Minds.
From the Freedom From Religion Foundation
www.FFRF.org
HAPPY NEW YEAR: May Reason Prevail! There Are NO gods, No heaven or hell ! Just This Natural World !! ENJOY IT TO THE FULLEST !!! And BE GOOD FOR GOODNESS SAKE !!! Not for some imaginary, savage, sadistic, and murderous sky god, who savagely murdered everyone on earth in a Great Flood(Noah)according to the Barbaric Bronze Age Bible! also known as the BuyBull!!! WITH BEST WISHES FROM VAL JOHN BARLOW OF ST LOUIS MISSOURI