<div dir="ltr"><div>Let them secede. <br><br>When the next Sandy and subsequent storms, rising waters, etc comes, it will be much cheaper without them. Let them eliminate the middle persons (we the taxpayers via the federal government) and get their aid directly from their alleged God.<br>
<br></div><div>I'm sure they'll be as successful with God as Rich Perry was when 2/3 of Texas was on fire and more than half of their cattle were lost to extreme drought.<br><br><br></div>w.<br></div><div class="gmail_extra">
<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, Apr 3, 2013 at 3:01 PM, Saundra Lund <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:v2020@ssl1.fastmail.fm" target="_blank">v2020@ssl1.fastmail.fm</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div link="blue" vlink="purple" lang="EN-US"><div><p>I had to read the article twice to make sure it wasn’t Idaho legislators pulling this stunt. My guess would be there are a lot of ID GOPer/TPer troglodytes lamenting that Idaho didn’t make the move first.<u></u><u></u></p>
<p><u></u> <u></u></p><p>Saundra<u></u><u></u></p><p><u></u> <u></u></p><p><a href="http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/04/03/17584491-first-amendment-doesnt-apply-here-nc-lawmakers-push-bill-for-state-religion?lite" target="_blank">http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/04/03/17584491-first-amendment-doesnt-apply-here-nc-lawmakers-push-bill-for-state-religion?lite</a><u></u><u></u></p>
<p>OR<u></u><u></u></p><p><a href="http://tinyurl.com/c7gz94l" target="_blank">http://tinyurl.com/c7gz94l</a><u></u><u></u></p><p><u></u> <u></u></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:12.0pt;margin-left:0in">
<b><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#354d7d" lang="EN">First Amendment doesn't apply here: N.C. lawmakers push bill for state religion<u></u><u></u></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:#333333" lang="EN">By Erin McClam, Staff Writer, NBC News<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:#333333" lang="EN">Republican lawmakers in North Carolina have introduced a bill declaring that the state has the power to establish an official religion — a direct challenge to the First Amendment<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:#333333" lang="EN">One professor of politics called the measure “the verge of being neo-secessionist,” and another said it was reminiscent of how Southern states objected to the Supreme Court’s 1954 integration of public schools.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:#333333" lang="EN"><a href="http://www.ncleg.net/Applications/BillLookUp/LoadBillDocument.aspx?SessionCode=2013&DocNum=2501&SeqNum=0" target="_blank"><span style="color:#336699;text-decoration:none">The bill</span></a> says that federal courts do not have the power to decide what is constitutional, and says the state does not recognize federal court rulings that prohibit North Carolina and its schools from favoring a religion.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:#333333" lang="EN">The bill was introduced Monday by two Republican representatives from Rowan County, north of Charlotte, and sponsored by seven other Republicans. The party controls both chambers of the North Carolina Legislature.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:#333333" lang="EN">The two lawmakers who filed the bill, state Reps. Harry Warren and Carl Ford, did not immediately return calls Wednesday from NBC News. <u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:#333333" lang="EN">The American Civil Liberties Union sued last month to stop the Rowan County Commission from opening meetings with Christian prayers. One of those prayers declared that “there is only one way to salvation, and that is Jesus Christ,” the ACLU said.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:#333333" lang="EN">The bill does not specify a religion.<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:#333333" lang="EN">The <a href="http://www.acluofnorthcarolina.org/" target="_blank"><span style="color:#336699;text-decoration:none">North Carolina ACLU chapter</span></a> said in a statement Tuesday that the sponsors of the bill “fundamentally misunderstand constitutional law and the principle of the separation of powers that dates back to the founding of this country.” <u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:#333333" lang="EN">North Carolina scholars also cast doubt on the bill.<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:#333333" lang="EN">“It has elements of not being American,” Gary Freeze, a professor of politics and history at Catawba College, told <a href="http://salisburypost.com/article/20130402/SP01/130409928/1023/lawmakers-file-rowan-county-defense-of-religion-act" target="_blank"><span style="color:#336699;text-decoration:none">The Salisbury Post</span></a>. “I think it goes far beyond religion and frankly doesn’t have a lot to do with North Carolina or tradition.”<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:#333333" lang="EN">Another professor at the college, Michael Bitzer, told the newspaper that the bill is based on discredited legal theory that the states can declare themselves exempt from federal law.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:#333333" lang="EN">“We saw this in the aftermath of Brown v. Board of Education,” he said, referencing the integration ruling. “The belief is that the states hold more power than the federal government. If the federal government does something, the states can simply ignore it.”<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:#333333" lang="EN">This story was originally published on Wed Apr 3, 2013 10:45 AM EDT<u></u><u></u></span></p><p><u></u> <u></u></p>
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