Lend A Hand

I’ve been hearing about “Separation of Church and State” since I was in grade school. I always thought the meaning and the purpose behind this separation was obvious – to make sure no government agency could force religious beliefs on American citizens. As I get older and the rules and the procedures and the things you couldn’t do or say became more and more ridiculous, I began to wonder how obvious it was to others.

From the First Amendment:

The original statement reads; “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” Our founding fathers likely included this protection of freedom in reaction to the establishment of the Church of England as the official religion of England and some colonies. Thomas Jefferson is credited with the first use of the phrase in a letter, “the clause against establishment of religion by law was intended to erect ‘a wall of separation between church and state.’”

However I am beginning to think enough already. I am beginning to think we have slipped into making the practice of religion anywhere in public a crime.

Lets start by talking about praying in school. While I absolutely agree that no prayer should be mandatory as part of a public school’s daily routine, I don’t understand why it has become so offensive that people get angry anytime someone prays, or admits to praying, in school.

Despite the First Amendment, the people who began our nation included God in many national ways – Let’s face it when it comes to America, God is everywhere. God is in our Pledge of Allegiance, our national anthem, even on our money. Why is this true if our founding fathers wanted separation of church and state? One, I don’t think they believed that a belief in God pointed towards a specific religion or the establishment thereof. Second, and I think more important, our country was founded on the belief that a higher power existed and that He had blessed the creation of our independant nation.

Accepting these references to God doesn’t show a religious preference – not anymore anyway – it shows a patriotism towards what our ancestors set up as the foundation of our country. It shows a national preference. A preference where every citizen can believe whatever they want and act on those beliefs provided they do not infringe on the freedoms of any other.

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I picked up a book the other day titled “Bill of Wrongs – The Executive Branch’s Assault on America’s Fundamental Rights” and written by Molly Ivins and Lou Dubose. While it was the title that grabbed my attention, it was the excerpt on the back of the book that made me buy it:

“To all the daring, courageous,

or just plain stubborn ‘ordinary’

Americans who have ever gotten up

on their hind legs and said,

‘Well, that’s not right, that’s not fair’:

This book is dedicated to you.”

Well that sure sounds like me in a nutshell. I haven’t gotten very far into it yet but what I’ve read is basically about how the First Amendment is ignored when the President or certain other  members of government are involved. The loss of these rights is explained away as measures for security but clearly some of the instances in which Americans rights are stomped on are less for security and more for show.

For years I have noticed the slow destruction of our rights as Americans and/or human beings. For example, in my state it is against the law to not wear a seat-belt when driving or riding in a motor vehicle. Now I agree that people should wear seat-belts and I do wear my seat-belt – not because it is law but because it is the smart thing to do. I also agree with laws that keep children safe with car-seats and seat-belts. But wearing a seat-belt should be a personal choice, not a law. Not wearing a seat-belt causes harm to no one but the person who isn’t wearing one. I can’t  think of one decent justification for making this a law except that fining people who break it raises money for the city. I don’t think that reason is good enough.

And that is when my critical eye turned toward the “rights” of the people and the laws being passed to eliminate them.

The First Amendment promises that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” Basically, we have freedom to practice any religion we want, say and write what we want, gather in a peaceful way to voice our opinions, and ask the Government to fix a problem or right a wrong.

In the book, Bill of Wrongs, I learned that, at every Presidential appearance, the government has the right to designate a certain “free-speech zone” where all protesters are required by law to remain during the President’s appearance. Secret Service usually (if not always) takes advantage of this right and instructs local law enforcement to direct anyone chanting, wearing or displaying in any way anything that might be considered “anti-” the President to a separate area. This is supposedlya security measure but I fail to see how a T-shirt or banner could be used as a weapon against the President…unless the media picking up a negative opinion of the President or his ideas is considered physically dangerous.

You would probably be surprised to learn how many people have been arrested simply for wanting to go to a Presidential event and wear clothing or carry signs expressing an opinion. Of course they are usually not arrested until they refuse to move to and stand within the “free-speech” area which is always out of sight of the President. These charges take up the courts’ time and uses up valuable taxpayer money trying to make them stick when they are clearly (to me at least) unconstitutional.

After all isn’t that one of the founding principles of our country? The right to disagree with our government? And don’t we have the right to express that disagreement right in front of him? Obviously not.

What ever happened to “I disapprove of what you say,  but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”? What does it say about our country when our leader, our President, refuses to follow one of  the primary rights of our nation’s Constitution?

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Wow, long time no see huh?

I know it’s been quite awhile since my last post and all I can say is that. as far as I can remember,  last year was the worst my family has ever lived through. Too many things went wrong and too few went right; financially, medically, emotionally, socially, in every way.

While things were keeping me away I did a lot of thinking about changes I wanted and needed to make both to my business and to my life. I wasn’t sure if blogging was something I wanted to do anymore, or if anyone would benefit if I continued.

Finally I decided I was trying to go about it in the wrong way for me. I am a casual, real, down earth person. Just a woman with a husband, three kids, and a cat. I have lots of opinions and thoughts about the way things are, the way they should be and the way they could be. From time to time people have told me these insights are interesting and I should do something about them.

So I will continue to blog. I’m throwing away the preset monthly topics and plan to ‘wing-it’ a bit more. I think the more real-life tone will add to the blog. Every post won’t have as clear a purpose but I hope you will get at least something from each one. Of course I want to know how all of you feel about this and if you have any suggestions, I will be glad to consider them.

To begin with I would like to chat about something I have been thinking about for the last few days. I’m sure most of you will remember when President Obama said this in a speech to the Democratic National Convention in 2004:

“There is not a liberal America and a conservative America – there is the United States of America. There is not a Black America and a White America and Latino America and Asian America – there’s the United States of America.” -Barack Obama

Do you also remember this little statement attributed to Aesop and repeated by numerous politicians since then:

“United we stand, divided we fall.”?

Even our Pledge of Allegiance talks about our nation “Indivisible”.

And yet we do divide ourselves in all sorts of different ways. Democratic or Republican, Conservative or Liberal, Rich or Poor, Northerner or Southerner, Christian or Jewish or Muslim or well this list could go on and on forever. Are you pro-life or pro-choice? Are you for or against gay marriage? Even groups such as Stay-at-home moms and Working moms have been know to go a few rounds in the ring.

My sons are at that wonderful teen age when everything is still black and white, right and wrong, good and bad. It is a happy place to live but a really, really annoying place to visit.

We’re all wrong. We’re all right. Everything comes to us in shades of grey – really. It is a massive waste of time and energy to fight each other about these things while the world is crumbling apart around us. Who knows? Maybe if we solve some of the big problems plaguing our nation, the little issues won’t matter as much anymore.

If I may have a little literary liberty here…

Only United will we Stand, Divided we can only fall. Looking forward to your comments.

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This month topic was a controversial one – illegal immigration – but I hope I showed both sides of the subject. Obviously illegal immigration is a drain on our country but trying to deport approximately 12 million people probably isn’t a viable solution.

Next month is July – the month of Independence Day and the birthday of our nation. So to celebrate the occasion, I’ll be talking about Patriotism. How to love your country, some important patriots, and what the future of America might mean for those of us who hold patriotism in high regard. And while we’re at it we’re going to have some fun for the holiday.

Enjoy the sun, the fun, and the fireworks.

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While illegal immigrants are criminals who should not have snuck into our country, the companies that employ (or should I say exploit) these undocumented individuals are just as in the wrong.

As citizens, taxpayers, and American workers we need to let our city and state officials know that we demand tough penalties for businesses caught employing illegal immigrants.

First of all, all employers should have to use E-verify to ensure the legality of their hires. Companies should be more than happy to comply since this would protect the companies from “accidentally” hiring illegal aliens and being susceptible to fines for breaking the law.

Second we need to demand high fines and temporary closing down the businesses who exploit illegal workers. Our government has to make it more appealing to not hire illegal immigrants than it is to hire them.

Once the jobs dry up for illegal immigrants, America won’t be the sanctuary that it is now. While I’m not naive enough to believe it will completely stop illegal immigration, it will significantly reduce the number of aliens coming into the country illegally.

So write to your governor, senators, and representatives to demand that they put preventing companies from hiring illegal immigrants high on their list of priorities.

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For this post I’m mostly going to discuss illegal immigrations coming over from Mexico.

About half of the people in Mexico live in poverty with approximately 1 in 5 living in extreme poverty. It is a tough place to live and take care of a family. A few miles away there is a land where the federal minimum wage is $6.55 an hour and going up. Even if they make less than minimum wage they still have a better chance here than where they are now. They know the trip will be dangerous and they know they may even die. But to them it is worth the risk rather than live a life in poverty.

So who can blame these souls for wanting to sneak into America? Do some of them come here to exploit our system? Yes. Do some of them come here fleeing prosecution for crimes committed in their own country? Sure. Do some of them come here planning to work hard and improve their future and their children’s futures? Absolutely.

But do pure motives make up for the fact that they are breaking the law? Do the ends ever justify the means? I can’t say it is. I can only say I have sympathy and compassion for people who feel they have to leave their families and communities behind in order to have a better chance to survive and thrive. Would you condemn a man who stole a loaf of bread to feed his starving family? Probably not.

I want illegal immigration stopped, no doubts about that. But I also think we need to do more for our neighbors to the South.

No doubts about that either.

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Most of the topics concerning illegal immigration I have only studied in depth but when it comes to health care I’ve actually conducted an interview in the health care field who can confirm most of what I read through research.

Since the majority of illegal immigrants work jobs under the table or in low level positions, few of them have health benefits through their employers (one of the reason employers like to hire illegal immigrants.) Some have health care through state aid (at taxpayer expense) but many just use the emergency room as a doctor’s office.

Basically for every ailment, large or small, they go to the E.R. where they have to treat you even without insurance and don’t ask for residency status. Oh, and they don’t ask for payment at the time of service either.

Due to the stack of medical bills unpaid by these illegal immigrants, the government has to dish out millions of dollars every year. Many hospitals find themselves forced to close, file bankruptcy or sell out due to lack of money. Illegal immigration is partially to blame for this tragedy.

Not to mention the patients who have to wait hours for emergency medical treatment due to waiting rooms crowded with undocumented residents.

America’s health care system has enough problems as it is. Insurance rates for patients and doctors are sky high. Even though our premiums keep going up, our benefits keep getting worse.

Do we really need a few million people sucking up our taxpayer money every time they become ill?

Certainly not.

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Oddly enough there are two groups of illegal immigration: those trying to get in and those whom are already here.

The obvious answer to what do we do with those not yet here is to keep them out. Not so obvious is what to do with the 12 million or so illegal immigrants who are already here.

On one side, people and groups believe they should be given amnesty – the right to stay without fear of deportation or legal prosecution.

Some people believe we should have open borders and let anyone in who wants to come in. They also believe amnesty would allow illegal immigrants to climb up out of their present status. Personally I don’t think that’s what would happen. Illegal immigrants are already here acting as if they are doing nothing wrong. They are counterfeiting documents and using fake Social Security numbers.

On the other hand, most people agree that mass deportation isn’t feasible. It seems impossible (and expensive) to deport 12 million people.

I’m in favor of doing our very best to keep illegal immigrants out of our country while making a commitment to work with the illegal immigrants already here. We need to charge fines, ensure that they can be paid, walk each person or family through the steps of nationalization giving preference to children and adults with U.S. born children. Likewise any illegal alien with any type of documented criminal activity, here or in their native country, needs to be deported.

Will this be difficult? Absolutely. Will it take time and cost money? Yup. But I believe that working towards “One nation indivisible” is totally worth it.

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I came across this interesting article on Philly.com.

U.S. officials are putting together songs on Cd’s to attempt to make crossing the border illegally less appealing. The songs are created to sound like up-tempo Mexican folk songs with lyrics about crossings – gone – wrong.

An example of one such songs

“Before you cross the border, remember that you can be just as much a man by chickening out and staying. Because it’s better to keep your life than ending up dead.”

Apparently many of the stations in Mexico that play the songs and the listeners tuning in don’t know who is really behind the bouncy by tragic ballads.

To read more about this form of deterrent: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/world_us/20090524_Agents_hope_border_ballads_strike_a_chord.html

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