Wes Vernon
The Dis-United States?
By Wes Vernon
There were reasons, way back when, that this nation became the United States of America, not the Republic of America. One of several factors that contributed to the thinking of the framers of our nation and the crafting of its Constitution was an unwritten understanding that we are all different. No two human beings in the entire world act alike, do alike, and think alike. That circumstance cannot be an accident. Similarities or resemblances maybe – but no carbon copies. (Even twins often have notable differences). How did that happen? Believers will tell you to ask "The Man Upstairs." The bottom line is we have had to accommodate ourselves as a nation to our differences and, however imperfectly, "live and let live."
So why don't we "just get along?"
As with so many other situations in life, we are much better at theory than in practice.
Comes now an edict from the state of California – which in this second decade of the 21st century in no way resembles the Golden State of Ronald Reagan's day. California has just added South Carolina to the growing list of states banned from state-sponsored travel.
And what, pray tell, was South Carolina's heinous crime?
(Gasp!) South Carolina law (according to an internet report) has been called out because it "enables" private faith-based adoption and foster care services to operate according to their religious beliefs. That, in the state of California's view of the world, adds up to "discrimination." Never mind that we all "discriminate" every time we make choices in life. And no, this in no way has the slightest resemblance to the widely abhorred "discrimination because of age, race, or ethnicity." Moreover, let us re-emphasize here that we are talking about private faith-affiliated entities, not those that derive money from the taxpayers at large or invite the general public to enter in order to conduct business transactions.
Private choices no longer allowed
That difference cuts no ice with Xavier Becerra, Attorney General of California, the self-defined "Golden State," where occasional rumblings are voiced these days by some of its denizens suggesting a possible future separation from the rest of the U.S. (Careful. In this era of the increasingly Dis-United States, one may hear invitations not to "let the door hit you on the way out.")
The California AG cites State Assembly Bill 1887, the 2017 state law that authorizes the denial of state-sponsored travel to South Carolina (as Mr. Becerra interprets it). Let us pause here to take a stand against "any form of discrimination," as it has been outlawed by Civil Rights statutes.
Yes, we fought a Civil War against slavery, but it also eventually led to a ban against publicly enforced race bigotry and related person-to-person offenses. That battle is behind us and has no bearing on what we're discussing here. Some people interpret anti-discrimination injunctions as mandating unisex restrooms in public places. Every well-crafted law takes into consideration two watch-words: Reason and Sanity. Without them, no credible law is worth the paper on which it is inscribed.
Again, we are talking about private faith-based entities. Good grief. Is nothing sacred? (No pun intended).
© Wes Vernon
April 5, 2019
There were reasons, way back when, that this nation became the United States of America, not the Republic of America. One of several factors that contributed to the thinking of the framers of our nation and the crafting of its Constitution was an unwritten understanding that we are all different. No two human beings in the entire world act alike, do alike, and think alike. That circumstance cannot be an accident. Similarities or resemblances maybe – but no carbon copies. (Even twins often have notable differences). How did that happen? Believers will tell you to ask "The Man Upstairs." The bottom line is we have had to accommodate ourselves as a nation to our differences and, however imperfectly, "live and let live."So why don't we "just get along?"
As with so many other situations in life, we are much better at theory than in practice.
Comes now an edict from the state of California – which in this second decade of the 21st century in no way resembles the Golden State of Ronald Reagan's day. California has just added South Carolina to the growing list of states banned from state-sponsored travel.
And what, pray tell, was South Carolina's heinous crime?
(Gasp!) South Carolina law (according to an internet report) has been called out because it "enables" private faith-based adoption and foster care services to operate according to their religious beliefs. That, in the state of California's view of the world, adds up to "discrimination." Never mind that we all "discriminate" every time we make choices in life. And no, this in no way has the slightest resemblance to the widely abhorred "discrimination because of age, race, or ethnicity." Moreover, let us re-emphasize here that we are talking about private faith-affiliated entities, not those that derive money from the taxpayers at large or invite the general public to enter in order to conduct business transactions.
Private choices no longer allowed
That difference cuts no ice with Xavier Becerra, Attorney General of California, the self-defined "Golden State," where occasional rumblings are voiced these days by some of its denizens suggesting a possible future separation from the rest of the U.S. (Careful. In this era of the increasingly Dis-United States, one may hear invitations not to "let the door hit you on the way out.")
The California AG cites State Assembly Bill 1887, the 2017 state law that authorizes the denial of state-sponsored travel to South Carolina (as Mr. Becerra interprets it). Let us pause here to take a stand against "any form of discrimination," as it has been outlawed by Civil Rights statutes.
Yes, we fought a Civil War against slavery, but it also eventually led to a ban against publicly enforced race bigotry and related person-to-person offenses. That battle is behind us and has no bearing on what we're discussing here. Some people interpret anti-discrimination injunctions as mandating unisex restrooms in public places. Every well-crafted law takes into consideration two watch-words: Reason and Sanity. Without them, no credible law is worth the paper on which it is inscribed.
Again, we are talking about private faith-based entities. Good grief. Is nothing sacred? (No pun intended).
© Wes Vernon
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