Thankfully, there are apparently a few sane Republicans in North Carolina - at least for the time being. As previously noted, the GOP controlled North Carolina Senate was pushing a bill that would have made Christianity the state religion in North Carolina. Why worry about a little thing like the First Amendment of the U. S. Constitution that bars the establishment of an official religion. North Carolina House Speaker Thom Tillis (R-Charlotte) announced yesterday afternoon that the bill
would not be receiving a vote in the full House, which effectively killed the measure for the year. Don't be surprised if Tillis is pilloried by the Kook-Aid drinkers and Christofascists or if the measure is reintroduced in a future legislative session. This bill showed the ultimate agenda of the Christofascists. Here are highlights from Huffington Post on the developments yesterday:
The Republican speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives killed legislation on Thursday that aimed to establish an official state religion.
House Speaker Thom Tillis (R-Charlotte) announced Thursday afternoon that the bill would not be receiving a vote in the full House, effectively dropping the measure. Loretta Boniti, a reporter for News 14 Carolina, broke the news on Twitter, and it was confirmed in a breaking news alert posted on the home page of wral.com, a Raleigh-based television station. Tillis' decision followed several days of national media attention on the bill, which also said that the state government did not have to listen to federal court rulings and was exempt from the requirements of the First Amendment.
The bill, which was drafted by state Reps. Carl Ford (R-China Grove) and Harry Warren (R-Salisbury), was intended to address an issue in Rowan County, where the ACLU has filed a lawsuit against the county commission in an attempt to block commissioners from having a Christian prayer at the beginning of meetings.
The North Carolina measure responds to the ACLU suit by declaring that each state is "sovereign" and no federal court can prevent a state from "from making laws respecting an establishment of religion."
In fact, in a series of cases stretching back nearly a century, the Supreme Court has ruled that the First Amendment does cover state governments. Judicial precedent has held that any such proposals on the establishment of religion must have secular, legislative purpose; cannot inhibit or advance religion; and cannot be "an excessive government entanglement with religion."
An explanation on why Tillis decided to kill the measure was not posted and a Tillis spokesman was not immediately available for comment. The media firestorm regarding the legislation comes as Tillis is considering a bid for the U.S. Senate against Sen. Kay Hagan (D-N.C.) next year. Tillis was not a co-sponsor of the bill, which originally drew 11 GOP supporters, including Tillis' deputy, Majority Leader Edgar Starnes (R-Hickory) and House Appropriations Committee Chairman Justin Burr (R-Albemarle). Three additional Republicans had signed on as co-sponsors since the bill was first introduced on Monday.
The Christofascists represent a clear and present danger to the rights of other citizens and seek nothing less than to subvert the U.S. Constitution - treason by another name. They need to be permanently driven into the social and political wilderness. Let's not forget other religious based evil:
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