Under Siege from Within
Guy T. Sturino
August 01, 2005
Last week I watched helplessly as the Senate passed legislation to protect the gun industry from the people. Since the constitution was written on behalf of “We the People,” and not “We the Corporations,” this action was absurd. The congress has passed another “Fair Trade Agreement” which again is only “fair” to corporations. The impact of these agreements on “We the People” has been absolutely horrible. Each job that has been lost was not only lost to the person fired, it no longer exists for his or her children or grandchildren to move into when they need jobs. The Congress, which again per the constitution is convened to protect “We the People,” has, instead of looking out for us, picked our pockets and moved the country precipitously close to bankruptcy.
The worst thing our government has done is go to war with Iraq. By the agreement of all nations belonging to the United Nations, attacking another country for the purpose of changing its leadership or government is the absolute worst crime that a nation can commit. None-the-less, our government, in the name of “We the People,” has engaged in an unlawful war, a war of aggression totally unsupported by any requirement of defense.
During the past five years it seems that almost every day something which I once believed was an absolute right by virtue of being a citizen of the United States has been challenged. I thought it was an absolute right to challenge a federal election and have all of the votes recounted to ensure that the correct person took office. I was wrong. I believed it was an absolute right that any person could present a bill, or an amendment to a bill, through their Senator or Representative. Again, I was wrong. I believed that the separation of church and state was a given - another absolute right - not to be subject to the dogma of a faith to which I did not subscribe. In that, I was absolutely wrong. While our government seems to have trained legislative weapons of mass destruction on our own society, we are turning our weapons on ourselves.
Our individual civil rights, at least what I thought once were unassailable, inalienable rights, are being attacked by religious zealots, who, unfortunately, believe deep in their hearts that they are the chosen people. Their foundation for action is that simply because they believe, they are more righteous in their pursuits than the rest of us. They know, according to them, that they will experience the “Rapture,” and the rest of us will be relegated to an existence in hell. In schools across the country they are attacking reason with superstition. Today I read in the New York Times that proponents of a bible class in high school have professed that, ". . . documented research through NASA" backs the biblical account of the sun standing still. And, some folks believe it! And, the only reason they can do it is because the rest of us believe in the freedom of the individual to express themselves. It puts those of us who put functioning on intellect ahead of functioning of faith in a seriously handicapped position. Our adversaries have no such belief in individual rights, so they can attack our views without compunction.
I’m over it. There is no way I want anyone in any school to teach my grandchildren that the earth was made in six days, that the sun is motionless in the heavens, and some invisible creature fashioned the first man out of a hand full of clay, and then fashioned woman from his rib so she could serve him. It is time to engage this group of fanatics from within and speak out to those who would deny the intelligence of man. Some would say that it is already too late, too late to get the congress back to the business of serving “We the People,” too late to stop killing people in Iraq, and too late to stop the relentless attack on civil rights and personal liberties from the religious fanatics. If you believe that it is too late, then it is true. I, for one, do not accept that this internal struggle against superstition is over. I will not accept defeat until I can no longer fight; the education, intellect and sensibilities of my grandchildren require it.
The worst thing our government has done is go to war with Iraq. By the agreement of all nations belonging to the United Nations, attacking another country for the purpose of changing its leadership or government is the absolute worst crime that a nation can commit. None-the-less, our government, in the name of “We the People,” has engaged in an unlawful war, a war of aggression totally unsupported by any requirement of defense.
During the past five years it seems that almost every day something which I once believed was an absolute right by virtue of being a citizen of the United States has been challenged. I thought it was an absolute right to challenge a federal election and have all of the votes recounted to ensure that the correct person took office. I was wrong. I believed it was an absolute right that any person could present a bill, or an amendment to a bill, through their Senator or Representative. Again, I was wrong. I believed that the separation of church and state was a given - another absolute right - not to be subject to the dogma of a faith to which I did not subscribe. In that, I was absolutely wrong. While our government seems to have trained legislative weapons of mass destruction on our own society, we are turning our weapons on ourselves.
Our individual civil rights, at least what I thought once were unassailable, inalienable rights, are being attacked by religious zealots, who, unfortunately, believe deep in their hearts that they are the chosen people. Their foundation for action is that simply because they believe, they are more righteous in their pursuits than the rest of us. They know, according to them, that they will experience the “Rapture,” and the rest of us will be relegated to an existence in hell. In schools across the country they are attacking reason with superstition. Today I read in the New York Times that proponents of a bible class in high school have professed that, ". . . documented research through NASA" backs the biblical account of the sun standing still. And, some folks believe it! And, the only reason they can do it is because the rest of us believe in the freedom of the individual to express themselves. It puts those of us who put functioning on intellect ahead of functioning of faith in a seriously handicapped position. Our adversaries have no such belief in individual rights, so they can attack our views without compunction.
I’m over it. There is no way I want anyone in any school to teach my grandchildren that the earth was made in six days, that the sun is motionless in the heavens, and some invisible creature fashioned the first man out of a hand full of clay, and then fashioned woman from his rib so she could serve him. It is time to engage this group of fanatics from within and speak out to those who would deny the intelligence of man. Some would say that it is already too late, too late to get the congress back to the business of serving “We the People,” too late to stop killing people in Iraq, and too late to stop the relentless attack on civil rights and personal liberties from the religious fanatics. If you believe that it is too late, then it is true. I, for one, do not accept that this internal struggle against superstition is over. I will not accept defeat until I can no longer fight; the education, intellect and sensibilities of my grandchildren require it.
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