[Mr 5 0]

Originally Posted by bmxmon

The city that I live by, Detroit lakes Minnesota, just recently sold a large chunk of land, supposedly to Mills Fleet or Menards. Where did this land come from?? A private citizen, which the city took the land with some rediculious reason, they sold it for upwards of 1-2 million.

So much for the Founders enshrinment of private property rights in the constitution. A right that, once 'legally' abridged renders the individual powerless against his government - if they want his home - which is the antithesis of what the authors of the constitution wanted. This is the result of a 'liberal' Supreme Court that sees government as more important than the people it governs.

Liberalism I feel still has a role in America, but a much smaller role than 100 yrs ago, like I said earlier. The biggest issue that I feel they are just in fighting for is Gay Marriage. In another hundered or so years from now (or whenever it is allowed) I feel it will be looked back apon by future generations with shame, much like racism is today.

Here is where we must part company.

I believe a man has no more 'right' to marry another man than he does to marry his sister. That the marriage laws sensibly and naturally permit only a man and a woman - who were obviously meant for sexual intercourse and subsequent procreation - to marry, is hardly 'discrimination' against homosexuals. Just because a minority group who's sexual proclivity is opposite to the body they inhabit doesn't mean that not meeting their strident demands for marriage rights is automatically 'discrimination', as the gay advocacy groups keep claiming. Permitting that kind of ersatz 'marriage' between two people of the same sex weakens what is an already fragile building block of civilized society.

Marriage is clearly about a man and a woman and artifically stretching it to cover homosexual relations may not appear to have any effect on hetrosexuals, personally, but it's corrosive effect on a basic societial structure would be enormous and very destructive, in time. For what? To please a tiny but vocal and powerful group who find the same sex attractive? Homosexuality is not a result of biological processes and remains a mental choice, for whatever reason. As such, not allowing homosexual relationships to be included and legally viewed as equal to hetrosexual marriage is simply common sense no matter how much the gay groups cry 'discrimination'. Any attempt to equate the former U.S. discrimination shown toward people of color is invalid as homosexuality is not genetic, race is.

I am with you on those environmentalist. I feel that They have done their role, but now need step down. Did you know that trees are actually growing faster than what we can chop them down!!! That doesnt seem to get across too much. Certain things that they fought for I believe are right, like emissions on vehicles or having to go back and plant trees where they were chopped down. Also the regulations about the use of pesticides around bodies of water is an important one, which I feel is important. (remember, I live in the land of too many lakes) They do need to learn where to draw the line, when it becomes too much of a problem for people. I can see the pesticide thing, which is simple to obey, you just have to buy the right stuff. Now if it were that you couldnt run your cars engine 1mile from any lake, alot of people would be in trouble.

As I said, our air and water is much, much cleaner thatn it was 30 or 40 years ago - and we have to keep it that way. Auto manufacturers have reduced tailpipe emissions to practically nothing and the new Hybrid cars will reduce it below that so we are certainly on the right track there.

I also feel that god has no place in government. What I mean by this is that no decision made by the government should be based on god, only the moral beliefs of most americas, or the right decision to make everybody as free as possible. (even if it goes against what most americas feel. Monuments, to me, are fine to have on goverment property, as long as the goverment didnt pay for them or another religious monument is denied on the same property. To me this links back to gay marriage, which in the eyes of god is wrong, but otherwise doesnt affect anybody else.

American was founded and populated by 'God-fearing' people - but the government has always been secular - and we like it that way. Our government has also remained respectful of Christianity (it's major religion) yet our First Amendment allows the free expression of all religious faiths by all Americans as well as those who reject all religion to live in peace and relative harmony. Our secular government respects that a vast majority of it's citizens believe in God and respects that generalized belief - without making it a requirement for citizenship or anything else. Our religion is our personal business. A monument that has the Ten Commandments on it sitting on a piece of land that houses government buildings is hardly violating the longstanding concept (but not in the constitution) of separation of 'church and state'. It simply recognizes the majority religious faith (Christianity) the nation holds and states some very basic rules for living that harm no one by their presence.