Tag Archive

A Controversial View on Freedom of Religion

Published on April 11, 2021 By sirrahc

The issue of “religious rights” and the “free exercise of religion” is a contentious one in the United States. (And elsewhere, of course.) It boils down to “Who is allowed to do what?” and “Who decides?” Naturally, the First and Fourteenth Amendments come up, as does the fan-favorite “separation of church and state”. Incidentally, that […]

Atheism is Patriotic? What the…?

Published on April 7, 2013 By sirrahc

The title of this post is in reference to an article I came across several months ago: “Atheists Claim ‘Religion Is Unpatriotic’”. When I read the headline, my first reaction was, “Are they serious?” If we’re talking about America, then I think the sentiment is, well, questionable, to say the least. It seems that, for […]

Benjamin Franklin’s Advice to a Stalled Congress

Published on July 31, 2011 By sirrahc

In light of the recent, lengthy and tenacious deliberations in the House and Senate over the debt ceiling, cutting & spending, and whether or not to have a balanced budget, I thought some words from one of our most esteemed Founding Fathers, Benjamin Franklin, might be in order. (It’s not the same situation exactly, but […]

Secular Government vs. Secular Society (Part 2 of 2)

Published on March 19, 2011 By sirrahc

In Part 1, I began an excerpt from Sen. Jim DeMint’s book Saving Freedom wherein he explained the difference between having a secular society versus having a secular government with certain religious freedoms. This is clearly what America’s Founders envisioned and what we still have, for the most part, now. When I ‘interrupted’ the Senator, […]

Secular Government vs. Secular Society (Part 1 of 2)

Published on March 16, 2011 By sirrahc

One of the ongoing arguments in the American public square is just how “religious” is our country and how much of that religiosity is — or should be — allowed in our government & society. One side typically has talking points about the Establishment Clause in the Constitution and the Separation of Church & State […]

Governor Bentley’s ‘Christian Brother’ Remarks

Published on January 21, 2011 By sirrahc

Just days after being sworn in as the new governor of Alabama, Robert Bentley has already found himself in a bit of hot water for something he said. In a speech at Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church’s service honoring MLK, Jr., Bentley declared, “Anybody here today who has not accepted Jesus Christ as their […]

Religiously Based Divisiveness

Published on December 3, 2010 By sirrahc

The following is an excerpt from the book The Tyranny of Tolerance: A Sitting Judge Breaks the Code of Silence to Expose the Liberal Judicial Assault, by Judge Robert H. Dierker Jr.: “Religiously Based Divisiveness” Even Justice Stephen Breyer has recognized the danger of attempting to purge religion from public life. In 2005, voting to […]

Newt's War on the SECULAR Socialist Machine

Published on June 13, 2010 By sirrahc

“[E]ven more disturbing than the threats from foreign terrorists is a second threat that is right here at home. It is an ideology so fundamentally at odds with historic American values that it threatens to undo the cultural ethics that have made our country great. I call it ‘secular-socialism.’” — Newt Gingrich A few weeks […]

Mother Teresa Gets Dissed Again

Published on June 12, 2010 By sirrahc

If you’ve been reading AVftR for awhile, you may recall a post I did back in February about a controversy over whether it was legal to put Mother Teresa on the face of a U.S. postage stamp. Sounded reasonable, given the decades of humanitarian work and self-sacrifice given by the woman. But, those who objected […]

The Town that Lost (er, Temporarily Misplaced) Good Friday

Published on April 2, 2010 By sirrahc

Usually at this time of year, the “attacks” center on Easter Sunday, or, more appropriately, Resurrection Day. This time, however, Good Friday got some extra attention. The memo went out to municipal employees last week from Craig Malin, City Administrator for the town of Davenport, Iowa. From now on, Good Friday was “history”. In its […]