Little by little, year by year, organized religion is losing its grip on the social fabric of this country. The day will come when religion is no longer relevant enough to matter. I doubt I'll live to see it, but I've seen the changes that have occurred during my seventy-five years, and I'm confident it will happen.
"Faith in one form or another is good," Armagost said. "I think it's something that we all need at the start of each day."
Sorry, congressman, but WRONG. There are literally millions of Americans who get up in the morning with NO faith, let alone faith in an undemonstrated deity, who live and love and conduct their lives just fine, thankuverymuch. Indeed, if you could be bothered to read this piece, you would discover that many of your colleagues in the Colorado government number among those who do without either a religion or a god.
I'd suggest that you to give this data some due consideration, but I also realize that's a larger than average ask.
"Faith in one form or another is good," Armagost said.
I'm gonna stop you there.
Faith that motivates a person towards positive actions towards his fellow man is good. Faith that condemns injustice is good. Faith that encourages love, peace, and mercy is good.
Faith that motivates a person to (or fails to condemn a person who engages in) bigotry, hate, division, self-righteousness, selfishness, and injustice is bad. Faith that does nothing to oppose those things is bad. Faith that says, "Oh, no, we don't like those things" and then votes for politicians who support those things for whatever reason is bad.
Faith is judged by its works.
A good person who does good things and has no faith is better than a bad person who does bad things and has faith.
How is freedom of religion being upheld when you are demanding everyone in a room (not a church room) follow your religious traditions? No one said you cannot pray, or even you cannot pray at work, but when you start a meeting with everyone else, expecting everyone to pray with you is not freedom of religion. The fact that so many of these legislators choose anonymity points to the fact that there is not freedom of religion in the statehouse. What are the consequences for not participating in the prayers? How will the prayer pushers respond to their peers who do not wish to pray? It has never been simply ignored, so it isn’t about religious freedom, it’s about religious supremacy in a mild form. It does lead to more concerning acts when it’s ignored, hence the FFRF.
I have such mood whiplash for Colorado now. On the one hand, loads of Nones in positions of power- and in numbers 𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 proportional to the wider population!
"One of them is a Republican… though he still believes in a “higher power,” sees faith as generally good, and harbors disdain for church/state separation:"
Sorry Mr. Armagost, but written history doesn't bear out your assertion. Faith of one form or another has brutalized humankind.
You say you are an agnostic, yet you believe in a higher power. Have you ever seen evidence to convince you of the existence of that higher power? If so, please share that information with the rest of us.
In 2011, he self-published a book, “Dreams from Our Founding Fathers: First Principles in the Age of Obama.” In it, he accused Obama and other Democratic leaders of "a lust to control the lives of their fellow citizens" and the former president of having a "palpable cockiness" and a "messianic posture."
Little by little, year by year, organized religion is losing its grip on the social fabric of this country. The day will come when religion is no longer relevant enough to matter. I doubt I'll live to see it, but I've seen the changes that have occurred during my seventy-five years, and I'm confident it will happen.
"Faith in one form or another is good," Armagost said. "I think it's something that we all need at the start of each day."
Sorry, congressman, but WRONG. There are literally millions of Americans who get up in the morning with NO faith, let alone faith in an undemonstrated deity, who live and love and conduct their lives just fine, thankuverymuch. Indeed, if you could be bothered to read this piece, you would discover that many of your colleagues in the Colorado government number among those who do without either a religion or a god.
I'd suggest that you to give this data some due consideration, but I also realize that's a larger than average ask.
While it appears that Colorado is heading the right direction, we do need to remember that it also sent us Lauren Boebert.
"Faith in one form or another is good," Armagost said.
I'm gonna stop you there.
Faith that motivates a person towards positive actions towards his fellow man is good. Faith that condemns injustice is good. Faith that encourages love, peace, and mercy is good.
Faith that motivates a person to (or fails to condemn a person who engages in) bigotry, hate, division, self-righteousness, selfishness, and injustice is bad. Faith that does nothing to oppose those things is bad. Faith that says, "Oh, no, we don't like those things" and then votes for politicians who support those things for whatever reason is bad.
Faith is judged by its works.
A good person who does good things and has no faith is better than a bad person who does bad things and has faith.
How is freedom of religion being upheld when you are demanding everyone in a room (not a church room) follow your religious traditions? No one said you cannot pray, or even you cannot pray at work, but when you start a meeting with everyone else, expecting everyone to pray with you is not freedom of religion. The fact that so many of these legislators choose anonymity points to the fact that there is not freedom of religion in the statehouse. What are the consequences for not participating in the prayers? How will the prayer pushers respond to their peers who do not wish to pray? It has never been simply ignored, so it isn’t about religious freedom, it’s about religious supremacy in a mild form. It does lead to more concerning acts when it’s ignored, hence the FFRF.
BREAKING: Cannon has issued her first blatantly pro-Trump ruling against the DOJ. And weirdly, she ruled against a DOJ motion Trump didn't even oppose. https://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/2023/06/judge-cannon-rejects-doj-request-to-shield-identity-of-dozens-of-government-witnesses-in-trump-classified-docs-case/
OT: Another day, another SCOTUS scandal. It has come out that Alito's wife made a very lucrative real estate deal with an oil company at the same time husband Sammy was ruling to restrict the EPA's authority over them. I'm sure it was all perfectly above-board and ethical, though. Yeah, right. https://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/2023/06/conservative-justices-spouse-leased-land-to-oil-and-gas-company-while-he-wrote-opinion-restricting-epas-work/
I have such mood whiplash for Colorado now. On the one hand, loads of Nones in positions of power- and in numbers 𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 proportional to the wider population!
On the other hand, Loony Boobert.
My neck hurts.
"One of them is a Republican… though he still believes in a “higher power,” sees faith as generally good, and harbors disdain for church/state separation:"
0 for 3. Take him off the list, Hemant.
BREAKING: Club Q shoooter sente3ned to 2200 years in prison. For real.
https://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/2023/06/lock-this-animal-away-club-q-mass-shooter-sentenced-to-over-2200-years-in-prison-after-killing-five-at-lgbtq-nightclub/
OT: Now they're trying to FORCE girls to wear skirts. Fortunately that's a bit too extreme even for this SCOTUS. For now, at least. https://www.wonkette.com/charter-school-fails-to-convince-scotus-that-girls-are-fragile-vessels-who-must-wear-skirts
"Faith in one form or another is good."
Sorry Mr. Armagost, but written history doesn't bear out your assertion. Faith of one form or another has brutalized humankind.
You say you are an agnostic, yet you believe in a higher power. Have you ever seen evidence to convince you of the existence of that higher power? If so, please share that information with the rest of us.
OT - They even have their own beer these days!
𝐌𝐚𝐧 𝐀𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐖𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 '𝐅𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐚 𝐌𝐚𝐧' 𝐁𝐞𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐭 𝐏𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐕𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐬
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/man-arrested-after-waving-florida-man-beer-at-passing-vehicles/ar-AA1d3Vlj?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=e046a0e3a71846acbfb3d05bb6eee376&ei=130
OT - More proof that DeNazi is clueless, and that every accusation is a confession
𝟐𝟑 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐑𝐨𝐧 𝐃𝐞𝐒𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 “𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧” – “𝐑𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤 𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐟𝐟”
Hating Obama
In 2011, he self-published a book, “Dreams from Our Founding Fathers: First Principles in the Age of Obama.” In it, he accused Obama and other Democratic leaders of "a lust to control the lives of their fellow citizens" and the former president of having a "palpable cockiness" and a "messianic posture."
https://buzzloving.com/23-times-ron-desantis-was-a-terrible-human-ron-is-not-someone-who-can-just-walk-it-off/
OT:
House Armed Services Committee passes amendment to make it illegal to communicate with MRFF
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/6/26/2177690/-OMFG-House-Armed-Services-Committee-passes-amendment-to-make-it-ILLEGAL-to-communicate-with-MRFF
"Godawful Bird app"
love that description.