Freethought & Rationalism Archive

PopeInTheWoods · 01-22-2002, 10:02 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by ChurchOfBruce:
<strong>The state with the lowest divorce rate in the US is my home state, Massachusetts. If you can find a more secular state in the US, good luck. </strong>

Massachusetts gets loads of secular points, but still needs to dump the stupid "no alcohol sales on Sundays" laws (apologies if you've already done so, it's been a few years since I've been there).

Andy (PITW)

MassAtheist · 01-22-2002, 11:06 AM

Quote:

Massachusetts gets loads of secular points, but still needs to dump the stupid "no alcohol sales on Sundays" laws (apologies if you've already done so, it's been a few years since I've been there).

This has been taken care of. I believe it was in the last election - a whole bunch of the "blue laws" were repealed.

On the down side, we still have a blasphemy law on the books (as far as I know).

Quote:

Whoever wilfully blasphemes the holy name of God by denying, cursing or contumeliously reproaching God, his creation, government or final judging of the world, or by cursing or contumeliously reproaching Jesus Christ or the Holy Ghost, or by cursing or contumeliously reproaching or exposing to contempt and ridicule, the holy word of God contained in the holy scriptures shall be punished by imprisonment in jail for not more than one year or by a fine of not more than three hundred dollars, and may also be bound to good behavior.

SLD · 01-22-2002, 11:31 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by MassAtheist:
[QB][/QB]

Hmmm. That's an interesting law. We don't have that one on the books in Alabama. (Yet, anyways). Wasn't Massachusetts also the last state with an official state religion? Congregationalist, I believe, and lasted up until the 1830's? Or is it still on the books also?

It isn't often that us Alabamians can make fun of Massachusetts for being too religious. <img src="graemlins/notworthy.gif" border="0" alt="[Not Worthy]" />

SLD

PopeInTheWoods · 01-22-2002, 01:23 PM

In reply to MassAtheist regarding blue laws:

Most excellent! To be fair, many states still have such Sunday restrictions. Or they delegate such decisions down to the county and municipality levels, where things can really get bizarre. In this part of Ohio businesses need a separate license to sell booze on Sundays.

We now return you to your originally scheduled thread.

Andy (PITW)

jrichardstevens · 01-23-2002, 01:41 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by lpetrich:
<strong>However, if Linda Bowles followed 1 Corinthians 14:33-34, she'd put herself out of business; it's fun to think of that part of the Bible every time I see some obnoxious female fundie.

Also, where is the "religious left"? I see very little evidence of that -- where are those who wave the Bible at right-wingers?</strong>

----

Actually, the religious left does not hold the Bible as ultimately authoritative. The big distinction between the right and left is not simply political (though the two divisions have a great deal of overlap), but one of philosophy and epistemology.

The left, or "liberal" side of Christianity holds that God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit speak directly to man, and these communications are much more authoritative than any scripture.

FYI.

Captain Pedantic · 01-29-2002, 08:49 AM

There was a remark in that column about "taxpayers have no choice but to shell out money for this liberal filth" or something.

I must just ask why these people don't realise that those who quite enjoy liberal filth also pay taxes. Pretty much everyone pays taxes. It's like when these same people say "We don't pay our taxes so these gay people can have social groups!" No, but that's what people who want gay social groups pay their taxes for, and their money is, unfortunately for your argument, worth exactly as much as the money you pay.

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01-22-2002, 01:23 PM	#54
PopeInTheWoods Veteran Member Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: Rochester NY USA Posts: 4,318	In reply to MassAtheist regarding blue laws: Most excellent! To be fair, many states still have such Sunday restrictions. Or they delegate such decisions down to the county and municipality levels, where things can really get bizarre. In this part of Ohio businesses need a separate license to sell booze on Sundays. We now return you to your originally scheduled thread. Andy (PITW)

01-29-2002, 08:49 AM	#56
Captain Pedantic Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: UK. Posts: 588	There was a remark in that column about "taxpayers have no choice but to shell out money for this liberal filth" or something. I must just ask why these people don't realise that those who quite enjoy liberal filth also pay taxes. Pretty much everyone pays taxes. It's like when these same people say "We don't pay our taxes so these gay people can have social groups!" No, but that's what people who want gay social groups pay their taxes for, and their money is, unfortunately for your argument, worth exactly as much as the money you pay.

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