|
|
|
Snake
SFN Addict
USA
2511 Posts |
 Posted - 10/19/2001 : 18:07:28
|
OR a better question, should it happen here?
http://www.sullivan-county.com/identity/dance_pound.htm
-------
Town bans dancing and it won't stop there
By Lewis Loflin
Who could ever think one could be jailed or fined for simple country
dancing at an everyday restaurant? Welcome to Pound, Virginia a
decaying coal town in Southwest Virginia a few miles from the Kentucky
state line. Because religious fanatics have taken over local government,
a better name is Iran in the Smokies.
Note: Most citizens of Pound and Wise County are not raving
fundamentalists.
Here local Christian fundamentalists believe that not only
government but all facets of your private affairs should be subordinated
to their religion. Why ban dancing? They claim it may cause sin.
Like Sullivan County, Tennessee they are seeking to use nonsense
claims of safety and noise as an excuse to demand a license to dance.
They also intend never to issue that license or will make it so expensive
or hard to get the restaurant closes down.
The owner of the Golden Pine Restaurant has already taken this
religious cult to court and won, but they changed the law around and are
back in court. As of 9/7/01 town of Pound has been barred from citing the
Golden Pine until the case to be heard in federal court.
The facts are that state courts just won't protect the civil rights of
citizens in most cases from abusive local governments. That is why
fundamentalists want an end to federal civil rights law so corrupt local
judges will give them a free hand to terrorize anyone they want.
I warned over two years ago in Sullivan County these
fundamentalists and their allies were never going to stop with just a
strip bar, now it's becoming anything they don't like for any reason. To
make matters even worse, recent Supreme Court decisions allowing
police to jail citizens for even the most petty offenses -- like seatbelt
laws -- will give these criminals an open season on everyone.
Just like Sullivan County, the Pound police hang around a business
to intimidate clients and harass the owner with their presence. The
affected citizen has to hire his own lawyer while local government uses
our tax dollars for theirs. What will be next?
If you value your privacy and personal freedom, then make a stand
and speak out or the next time it will be you!
http://www.sullivan-county.com/identity/dance_pound.htm
Rap Crap is to music what Paint by Numbers is to art.
|
|
|
James
SFN Regular
USA
754 Posts |
 Posted - 10/19/2001 : 18:29:03 [Permalink]
|
I have got to start looking at prices on one-way flights to Europe...
Prayer is nothing more than "spiritual masturbation". -theatheistknight |
 |
|
|
HardCore
New Member
USA
10 Posts |
Posted - 10/19/2001 : 20:49:17 [Permalink]
|
It's not just Jerktown, Appalachia. Try Tampa, Florida, lapdancing capital of the world! The city fathers have always lost in court over the years, but they instituted a new 6 foot separation ordinance prior to hosting the Superbowl. They didn't want the city to seem so sleazy to all the visitors. Hell, half the guys came down just to visit the nudie bars! Cops were going undercover, staking out customers, and generally making asses of themselves. One club owner bravely fought on. Others were intimidated. But guess what . . . when the crowds arrived for Superbowl the harassment stopped! They wouldn't arrest an out of town high roller. Now they are turning up some dirt on the mayor, who has been guilty for years of shady practices and sweetheart deals. Perhaps if you can level some "morals" charges against the funnymentalists they will back off. A smart club owner and a private detective or two can find something, and everybody has something to find, even (especially) the moral guardians.
Why is the Popemobile bulletproof? |
|
|
|
Trish
SFN Addict
USA
2102 Posts |
Posted - 10/19/2001 : 23:10:42 [Permalink]
|
quote:
I have got to start looking at prices on one-way flights to Europe...
Prayer is nothing more than "spiritual masturbation". -theatheistknight
I wouldn't go running off right away there James. What about the new laws they're trying to pass in the UK about anti-religious statements, etc?
"Say what you will about the sweet miracle of unquestioning faith. I consider the capacity for it terrifying." ~Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. |
|
|
|
comradebillyboy
Skeptic Friend
USA
188 Posts |
Posted - 10/20/2001 : 14:38:22 [Permalink]
|
many true believers want to force their beliefs on others.
not that long ago the alabama legislature and the fundi nutso governor outlawed sex toys. dildoes are (were, i dont know if it has been overturned in court yet)illegal in alabama. the fundis want to keep our sex lives as pure as theirs are purported to be.
i suspect that people who are so concerned with others private sexual behavior are kind of twisted themselves.
comrade billyboy |
|
|
|
Tokyodreamer
SFN Regular
USA
1447 Posts |
Posted - 10/20/2001 : 17:31:14 [Permalink]
|
quote:
not that long ago the alabama legislature and the fundi nutso governor outlawed sex toys. dildoes are (were, i dont know if it has been overturned in court yet)illegal in alabama.
Yes, they still are...
quote:
the fundis want to keep our sex lives as pure as theirs are purported to be.
i suspect that people who are so concerned with others private sexual behavior are kind of twisted themselves.
Yes, they are...
------------
And if rain brings winds of change
let it rain on us forever.
I have no doubt from what I've seen
that I have never wanted more.
|
|
|
|
@tomic
Administrator
USA
4607 Posts |
Posted - 10/20/2001 : 17:55:28 [Permalink]
|
I've been thinking about trying to get into Canada as a refugee. The secret password at the border is: Go Maple Leafs!
@tomic
Gravity, not just a good idea...it's the law! |
|
|
|
gdaye
New Member
Canada
18 Posts |
Posted - 10/20/2001 : 18:29:32 [Permalink]
|
Uh - @tomic - that will only work for Ontario and Nova Scotia. In Quebec it's "Go Canadienes"; in Alberta it's "Oilers Rule", and so on. Different sayings for different provinces.
Btw - Ontario and Alberta contain the largest number of athiests - nearly 25% of the population; while Quebec, nominally Catholic, has the lowest percentage of church-goers.
Nolle Illegitimus Carborundum |
|
|
|
James
SFN Regular
USA
754 Posts |
Posted - 10/20/2001 : 21:07:53 [Permalink]
|
quote:
quote:
I have got to start looking at prices on one-way flights to Europe...
Prayer is nothing more than "spiritual masturbation". -theatheistknight
I wouldn't go running off right away there James. What about the new laws they're trying to pass in the UK about anti-religious statements, etc?
Ah, true, but I didn't mention any specific countries. I thinking something more along the lines of the Mediterranean, maybe the island of Ibiza... 
Prayer is nothing more than "spiritual masturbation". -theatheistknight |
|
|
|
Randy
SFN Regular
USA
1990 Posts |
|
|
Randy
SFN Regular
USA
1990 Posts |
Posted - 10/20/2001 : 21:21:49 [Permalink]
|
....and yet another "the constitution be damned" story, this one here in Texas.
From the Austin American Statesman:
Perry praises school prayer
It may be illegal, but it's needed, governor says after praying with students in East Texas
By Ken Herman
American-Statesman Staff
Saturday, October 20, 2001
PALESTINE — The prayer was sincere, direct and — offered in the gymnasium during second period at Palestine Middle School — about as out of bounds as it could be.
"We recognize, Lord, that all authority comes from you," said the Rev. Roy Duncan as students stood in the bleachers at an event Thursday featuring Gov. Rick Perry.
At the end of the prayer, offered "in Jesus' name," Perry, like many of the students, responded with "Amen."
It was the kind of organized prayer banned in public schools since a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 1963.
And, according to Perry, it's exactly what Texans need and want more of. In the aftermath of unprecedented national calamity, it's a natural, he said.
"Absolutely I'm sensing it," he said of a rekindled, post-Sept. 11 interest in returning prayer to public school. "And I'm sensing it strongly."
Perry has a message for Texans who might be upset by a public school prayer that caters to a majority: "Be tolerant."
Texas Education Agency spokeswoman Debbie Graves Ratcliffe said her department has heard no complaints about prayer in public schools in the wake of the recent attacks. Told of the prayer at the Palestine school, she said, "It's a problem."
"Because the students were required to attend this assembly, the school could be subject to a legal challenge," she said after conferring with education agency lawyers.
Perry, a member of Austin's Tarrytown United Methodist Church, acknowledges there is a substantial legal hurdle involved in restoring open prayer in public school. But he wants it done.
"Why not?" he said. "They took it out. They can sure put it back in."
Laredo businessman Tony Sanchez, Perry's probable Democratic opponent in November 2002, also favors returning prayer to public school.
"I want children to be allowed to pray in school. I don't want children to be coerced and forced and intimidated," he said.
Sanchez, a Catholic, acknowledged the difficulty of writing school prayer legislation, but said, "I think we can get to something people are very comfortable with."
Houston lawyer John WorldPeace, the only other announced Democratic candidate for governor, favors allowing school districts to decide whether to allow prayer at school functions.
Current law does not prohibit students from praying in school. It does bar the kind of organized prayer offered at the Perry event. During an East Texas swing on Thursday, Perry said he has heard from many Texans who want to restore organized prayer in schools. In Henderson, he got unsolicited evidence of his claim.
"Let me ask you one thing," said John Ben Perry, no relation to the governor. "Any chance of returning prayer in public school?"
The governor responded by saying he favors it.
Later, Perry said, "That's not the first time in the last 40 days that I've been asked that. I think any time the country or an individual finds themselves in a time of crisis, the natural instinct — even people that are not particularly religious on a regular basis — they look to a higher power and ask for help," he said. "That's a natural response, I think."
Is Perry ready to make it a campaign issue?
"Sure. Absolutely. I mean who is going to be against that?" he said.
The answer is several civil liberties groups, People for the American Way and the Texas Freedom Network, an Austin-based organization that monitors the political activity of religious-based organizations that work to blur the line between church and state.
"Some people, and it sounds like the governor may be one of them, are confused about the difference between the right to pray in school, which is an absolute right, and the right not to be coerced to pray," said Samantha Smoot, the Texas Freedom Network's executive director.
And just as Perry sees this as the right time for a renewed look at school prayer, Smoot believes it is precisely the wrong time.
"It does seem that at a time when so many people are striving for religious tolerance and compassion, this is a particularly poor moment to overlook the fact that Texans are not going to all be comfortable with the same prayer," she said.
But Perry believes this should be a majority-rule situation.
"From my personal perspective, I think that a prayer life and a country that respects a higher being, our God, is a stronger country. I believe that, and I think the vast majority of the people in Texas and in this country believe that," he said.
Perry also sees no problem in sorting out what kind of prayer would be proper in a public school populated by students of many — and sometimes no — religion.
"I happen to think we all pray to the same God," said Perry. "I'll let the theologians split the hairs and do all those kind of things. . . . And how we pray in public, those that would find that to be offensive, I would ask them to be tolerant."
Prayer has been banned in public schools since the June 1963 Supreme Court decision sparked by atheist leader Madalyn O'Hair's lawsuit challenging daily Bible readings in Baltimore public schools.
In June 2000, in a further refinement of the 1963 decision, the Supreme Court said the Constitution bars school-sponsored prayer over public address systems at sports events.
Palestine Middle School Principal Peggy Herrington said the decision to include prayer during Perry's Thursday visit was made by Sen. Todd Staples, R-Palestine, who organized the event.
"I have not seen anything that says it is not (legal)," he said. "No one has shown me anything that says it is not."
"I considered that it's a good thing to see people not so reserved in their expression of their beliefs. It was a voluntary, nonstudent-initiated activity," said Staples. "They weren't required to pray."
Peter Montgomery, communications director for People for the American Way, said the middle-school prayer falls into the banned category he called "captive-audience prayer."
"And it's not OK," he said.
Asked about the potential problem posed by offering a prayer of a specific denomination, Staples said, "You certainly serve a menu at lunchtime. It may not be to everyone's liking, but you could choose something else."
|
|
|
|
ZaphodBeeblebrox
Skeptic Friend
USA
117 Posts |
Posted - 10/21/2001 : 01:28:41 [Permalink]
|
I believe that a much repeated Quote from Monty Python's Search for the Holy Grail, comes to mind, "I Fart in your General Direction!" and a lot of other things, much less savoury!
Those little Bastards make me SO ANGRY, I'm practically destroying my Keyboard, just Typing, this!
Welcome to the CHRISTIAN States of America, New, and definitely, Not Improved!
If you Ignore Your Rights, they WILL, go away.
Edited by - ZaphodBeeblebrox on 10/21/2001 01:29:16
Edited by - ZaphodBeeblebrox on 10/21/2001 01:30:01 |
|
|
|
balistic
New Member
USA
10 Posts |
Posted - 10/22/2001 : 08:49:09 [Permalink]
|
I live in Provo, Utah. Its illegal to dance in public on a sunday here.
The population is about 90% Mormon.
I moved here for a job about three years ago from Nevada. The two states share a border, but not much else. I used to live ten miles miles from the "Moonlight Bunny Ranch", and grew up with a slot machine in my room (dad designs them) . . . now I live in a state that has an official porn czar, and that still has laws against fornication and sodomy.
I sometimes feel like I'm observing an alien culture.
---------
Brian "balistic" Prince
http://www.bprince.com |
|
|
|
ZaphodBeeblebrox
Skeptic Friend
USA
117 Posts |
Posted - 10/22/2001 : 09:19:20 [Permalink]
|
So, did you ever Sample the Brothel. But, seriously, I'm going to Las Vegas in January, is there anyone there that you could, uh, Recommend ...
But, back to Utah. Other than Salt Lake, I've heard that Provo, is Mormon Central.
So, which do they Hate more, the Fact that you're an Artist, or a Freethinker
If you Ignore Your Rights, they WILL, go away. |
|
|
|
balistic
New Member
USA
10 Posts |
Posted - 10/22/2001 : 10:12:33 [Permalink]
|
As far as brothels go, I don't know from first-hand experience, but I've heard that most of the girls that work at those places are rather, erm, homely. But then I know a couple girls from my senior class who went into that line of work who were fairly attractive, so maybe you just have to comparison shop.
There was an ex-prostitute from the Mustang Ranch who ran for Lt. Governor a couple times . . . don't think she ever won, but didn't do too poorly either. Ran on a moderate Republican platform.
Here in Provo, I've never really sensed hostility . . . its more like the locals get confused or frightened by anything obviously external. Its a very "get-married-young-and-buy-a-house-and-have-some-kids" culture, and people who don't fall into that pattern elicit head scratching.
I'm 21, single, and live by myself . . . I think I'm the only single person in my apartment complex of about a hundred units. The same conversation happens whenever I bump into a new tenant:
"Hi, we just moved in. I'm John and this is my wife Jane."
"Hi, I'm Brian. Welcome to the neighborhood."
"Is your wife not around?"
"I'm single."
"Oh, so you're a student at the Y (BYU)?"
"Nope."
"Soooo, you have room mates?"
"Nope, just me."
"What ward are you in?" (Mormons worship in certain temples depending on what geographic "ward" they live in)
"Oh, I'm not a member."
"So, uhm, what are you doing here?" (Yes, I have been asked this. Dozens of times.)
"I moved out here from Nevada for a job a couple years ago. I'm an artist."
By this point, they're usually too mentally paralyzed to continue the conversation. I think a lot of people just assume I'm gay and try to avoid further eye contact.
I have a lot of Mormon friends, but most of them moved here from other places, and therefore have some idea of what the real world is like. The ones who were born and raised here are often so blissfully ignorant that I find them much tougher to get on with.
I've given up even dating Mormon girls, because no matter how casual they play it, it always turns into husband shopping. As soon as she determines that you aren't her "eternal partner", regardless of the kind of chemistry you thought you had, the relationship is over.
Its a bizarre place . . . not hostile, just loopy.
You will never see more ridiculously wholesome-looking young blond couples than you will driving up University Avenue in Provo.
---------
Brian "balistic" Prince
http://www.bprince.com |
|
|
|
balistic
New Member
USA
10 Posts |
Posted - 10/22/2001 : 22:05:13 [Permalink]
|
I've actually not been to Vegas much . . . I lived near Reno, which, in my opinion, is a kickin' little city.
Professionally, I'm an artist at a small animation studio. We're currently producing episodes of a computer-animated educational series about math, but we've also done art and animation for a couple videogames, as well as some preproduction for feature films. My main thing is lighting and textures, I don't get into character design or animation too much.
I also do some fine art on the side . . . I'm primarily interested in photorealism as a means of increasing viewer acceptance of synthetic images . . . I've made a couple completely synthetic scenes that have fooled professional photographers.
I produce some experimental electronic music too, but that's just a lark really . . . something to do when the visual stuff gets frustrating.
Anyway, there's loads of stuff at the URL in my signature, if you've got some time to kill.
edit: not sure why my reply is showing up before your message snake . . . weird.
---------
Brian "balistic" Prince
http://www.bprince.com
Edited by - balistic on 10/22/2001 22:08:24 |
|
|
 |
|
|
|
Topic Locked
