tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5890312.post1354425183051832448..comments2024-03-19T23:09:02.136-04:00Comments on Collecting My Thoughts: Normahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11502895616873273470noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5890312.post-18737752359812097682007-10-11T23:31:00.000-04:002007-10-11T23:31:00.000-04:00I am from Dayton, a normally quiet city, where I g...I am from Dayton, a normally quiet city, where I go to school with and am a good friend of Andrew Larochelle. I would just like to express my thanks to anyone who reads this for taking an interest, because this situation has brought so much awareness to the issue at hand. All this means so much to Andrew and this whole experience is just sort of surreal. Who would have thought that our friend would be appearing on national news, defending what's important to so many people in this country. We're all so proud of him and are behind him 100%. We do believe in God. We want the U.S. government to realize that the Constitution guarantees freedom of religion, not freedom from religion. These decisions give rights to people who don't believe in God and are trying to deny them to those who do believe in God. We are so happy that the Architect has reversed the rule and hopefully our nation will stand by this in further decisions.God Bless America! :)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5890312.post-33245636721217054442007-10-10T17:02:00.000-04:002007-10-10T17:02:00.000-04:00I don't know much about architecture, but from a l...I don't know much about architecture, but from a legal standpoint Ayers is being only slightly overcautious. The government is not supposed to endorse religiosity (or lack thereof). If the Eagle Scout wanted a religious message from himself to his Grandfather, he could write it personally (and indeed his grandfather probably would have found that more endearing than a typewritten message) on the certificate. The government, however, probably shouldn't be talking about religion or politics. And at least to me, though perhaps not Reps. Musgrave and Tancredo, "God" is a religious word, not merely a <A HREF="http://www.blogdenovo.org/archives/000104.html" REL="nofollow">ceremonial</A> one drained of spiritual meaning.<BR/><BR/>Religious endorsements that are internal to the government (such as the opening prayer before Congress commences work, etc.) are very different from ones that are issued from the government to the citizenry. And it is not the government's job to speak for individual citizens -- it has to speak for the democratic majority without discrimination against minorities.PGhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09381347581328622706noreply@blogger.com