Ramblings From Justin Penney

So the House Blocks Court on Pledge Case Rulings. Yeah... what happened to checks an balances? In case anyone needs a refresher here it is:

• The Legislative branch (House of Representatives and Senate) make laws.
• The Executive branch(President and his administration) and in charge of carrying out (executing) the laws
• The Judicial branch decide arguments about the meaning of laws and if they are against the Constitution

Pretty simple and direct. No one part is too powerful. Well... this bill is totally stepping all over that. The talk about "activist judges" is a nice little marketing spin thought isn't it?

They also seem to totally neglect the fact the "Under God" wasn't even in the original pledge! Add to that that a large part of the founding fathers were deists and the references to God in the Constitution take on a completely different meaning. Oh there's that whole freedom of religion thing as well. I'll also repeat that here just in case:

Amendment I Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

To break it down:

• No laws establishing a religion.
• No laws stopping an individual from practicing a religion.
• No laws restricting speech.
• No laws restricting the press (media)
• You can assemble groups in a non-violent way. This generally is regarding protesting.
• You can petition the government when you do not agree.

I don't see any "banning" going on. The 10 commandments aren't goign to be banned, "Under God" isn't going to be banned. They just cannot be sactioned by the government. I can only imagine the stink if statues of Buddha were placed in court houses. The same senators passing this bill would be strict constitutionalists on that day!