Again, a needed-to-be-said.

So, “One Nation, Under God, Indivisible” has had the “Under God” part of it snipped out. Looking through my friends pages, I see all sorts of opinions, not at all the semi-chorus of almost-consensus on the opinion that I might expect from minds that get along with mine. So the courts have said that this inserted line is a Bad Thing. People wonder about the sanctity of old favorite songs such as “God Bless America”. I hate to say this, fans, but every time I sing that song, either I sing “GODS”, plural, as loud as I can, or else I don’t sing. It’s by no means as universal a favorite as some people might like to think. Sure it’ll still get air time after this, but maybe not as much, if you’ve got to hold a Betan vote before you sing it in any sort of official capacity. Anybody got a nice rousing USAdian patriotic song from any other religion? Hm. I’m feeling a Wiccan patriotic song filking in my blood, suddenly.

But religion is such a hot button for many, many people. There’s one young lady on the LMB list who flames up any time a button of hers is pushed. Religion’s one of the buttons. There are people who just can’t help responding when the topic under discussion is something they care passionately about.

Perhaps it would help if I took a few bytes from TBQ’s blog and changed the topic a little. Let’s talk about chocolate.

"...The fact that I'm not talking about that brown stuff which comes inside of a Hershey's wrapper does not, in any way, mean I'm denying the existance of chocolate. It means I'm not talking about chocolate. Chocolate will continue to exist whether or not I talk about it."

And then, one could wonder if the brown stuff you find in a Hersheys' wrapper is chocolate at all, really. Some people will defend their chocolate to the death. Some people will sneer at anyone else's idea of chocolate: 94% cocoa solids or nothing!

Some people are even allergic to chocolate.

But you know what? As long as the people with the allergies are kept safe, and everybody has a fair chance at getting the kind of chocolate that they're after, it's all good. We don't need a government proclamation saying "This chocolate right here is good old All-American Chocolate, the Official Chocolate of America," because some people are going to get pissed off and say "That's not chocolate!” and some people are going to be smirking about it because it’s THEIR chocolate that gets all the fame, and the people who are allergic to chocolate, and especially the people who are allergic to something that’s in the particular variety of chocolate that the government endorses, are going to get all pissy and call up the ACLU... again.

It’s pretty bloody stupid to be arguing about what kind of chocolate is the best, or legal, on taxpayers’ money and time, don’t you think? Save it for after work and debate merrily and happily away, with my blessings.

Please help.

Anyone at all that’s familiar with Canada, please:

What is, in your opinion, the best place to live in Canada and why?

Letter to the Editor, getting posted wherever I damn well can.

Dear Editor,

Pres. Bush's statements regarding the decision of the 9th Circuit Court on the Pledge of Allegiance appall me.

There are two things that the President perhaps overlooked. The US was founded so that the citizens might have freedom of religion, the freedom to worship in whichever way they chose. The way that they set about doing so was to mandate the separation of church and state.

"Separation." This means that the two things, "church", and "state", do not get involved in each other.

America is a nation of people who, separately and individually, value the relationship that each separate person may *or may not* have with the Almighty that *may or may not* exist. Or not.

The rights of the US may be descended from legal codes that were worked out based on the common-sense rules of conduct laid out in a particular holy book. These same rights of the US clearly say that church and state are not, and never have been, the same thing in this country.

I would like to ask President Bush to please leave his personal faith in whatever Almighty there may or may not be, whatever name he may or may not address it by, out of his presidency and any decisions he may make in office. President Bush has no right to make any executive decision or official statement as to the existence or nonexistence of any divine or supernatural power.

It has been argued time and again that if any one person is offended by the wording of "One Nation, Under God," then that person should just not say that, then. What if the wording were "One Nation, Under No God?" Perhaps the people who do believe in a God could just skip that line.

Judges have no business affirming or denying the existence or the public faith in any God in the public square. The very fact that the phrasing of the Pledge of Allegiance was brought to court is proof that there are people in this nation who do not agree with God being an issue in any official setting. That's not to say that public officials should denounce the idea of God.

Let's substitute the idea of “chocolate” for “God” here for a moment. Some people cannot imagine a world without chocolate. Other people are deathly allergic to chocolate. Some people like chocolate. Some people don't.

Now, with that, let's discuss “One Nation, With Chocolate, Indivisible.” You mean you're going to force chocolate on everybody, regardless of whether they like it? Oh no, people who don't want chocolate can just skip it. “One Nation, Without Chocolate, Indivisible?” You mean you'd deny people their chocolate? An outrage!

Why discuss chocolate in any sort of official setting at all? What's the point of bringing it up? Certainly, there should be laws to ensure that the people who want chocolate can have a chance to get it; that's up there under “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” And certainly there should be legal structure in place to keep people who can't have any chocolate or they'll go into anaphylactic shock from accidentally getting any.

“One Nation, Indivisible.” Let's not allow chocolate, God, or lack thereof separate us as a nation.

Sincerely,
Joan Laurel Baldridge

npr

waiting for my aunt to arrive & listening to NPR. Fun.

On lines only rarely said to relatives:

"Don't mind the dildoes in the bathtub."

Someday I'll get it, the high-speed connection

On dial-up now. Whee, happy, joy and stuff. Much fun to be had by all. Testing for trip, y'see. Going to Iowa tomorrow morning, starting. Whee-ness.