"The whole people must take upon themselves the education of the whole people and be willing to bear the expenses of it. There should not be a district of one mile square, without a school in it, not founded by a charitable individual, but maintained at the public expense of the people themselves." -- John Adams

"No money shall be drawn from the treasury, for the benefit of any religious or theological institution." -- Indiana Constitution Article 1, Section 6.

"...no man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested, or burthened in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief; but that all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinion in matters of religion, and that the same shall in no wise diminish enlarge, or affect their civil capacities." – Thomas Jefferson

Monday, August 1, 2016

Enough Reason Not to Support Trump

Vague policies, abusive language, calls to violence...those reasons, alone, ought to be enough to keep you from voting for Donald Trump. Here are more, if you need them.

TWISTING THE TRUTH

Laughing at Trump’s Acceptance Speech, Part Three

The concept of "free speech" is difficult for some people to understand. Individuals may endorse candidates, however, people who are speaking on behalf of non-profit organizations cannot. A pastor, priest, imam, rabbi, or other clergy, can express their personal preference, just not when they are preaching. On the other hand, any member of the clergy can discuss issues from the pulpit such as abortion, capital punishment, school segregation, and gun control.
At this moment, I would like to thank the evangelical and religious community because I’ll tell you what, the support they have given me, and I’m not sure I totally deserve it has been so amazing and has had such a big reason for me being here tonight. So true. They have so much to contribute to our politics, yet our laws prevent you from speaking your minds from your own pulpits. An amendment, pushed by Lyndon Johnson, many years ago, threatens religious institutions with a loss of their tax-exempt status if they openly advocate their political views. Their voice has been taken away.
This is a lie. The Johnson amendment does not prevent churches from “openly advocating their political views.” It prevents all non-profits from endorsing candidates. They are completely free to discuss political issues and endorse specific legislation and churches do this literally every day. But even when churches deliberately violate the restriction on endorsing candidates, as hundreds of churches have done every year on Pulpit Sunday, urged on by Christian legal groups, not a single one of those churches has ever lost their tax-exempt status. Not one. This notion that churches are being censored is ridiculous. They are bound by the same rules that every other non-profit it. If they’d like to remove that restriction, like any other organization, all they have to do is give up their non-profit, tax-exempt status.

ENABLING BIGOTRY

One of the problems with Donald Trump's candidacy is that it has emboldened racists, white nationalists, and white supremacists. Trump reluctantly "disavowed" David Duke's support, but has been mostly quiet on the subject since then. On the other hand, somehow, members of white supremacists groups continue to be part of his candidacy.

He also has a long history of misogynistic comments.

RNC Gives Full Access Press Credentials to White Supremacist Radio Host
One of the people who had full access press credentials at the RNC was white supremacist James Edwards, a radio host who claims that interracial sex is “white genocide.” He says the RNC explicitly invited him to come and broadcast his show live from the RNC and he interviewed several members of Congress and a Trump adviser.

More White Supremacists at the RNC
Matt Forney, a pro-Trump white supremacist who claims women “want” to be “raped” and “beat[en],” attended the second day of the Republican National Convention with a guest pass and reported live from inside the convention arena for a racist radio program...
The white supremacists are pretty much unanimous in supporting Donald Trump. That fact alone should be enough to vote against him.

The Absurdity of Trump as the Pro-Mother Candidate
Women represent 46 percent of the total U.S. labor force, and 40 percent of American households have female primary breadwinners. In 2014, women made 83 cents for every dollar made by a man. Single women without children earn 94 cents for each dollar earned by a man, whereas married mothers made only 77 cents. As researchers have noted, gender is no longer the factor creating the greatest wage discrepancy in this country, motherhood is.
As President, my father will change the labor laws that were put into place at a time when women were not a significant portion of the workforce. And he will focus on making quality childcare affordable and accessible for all.
Really? Then why didn’t he raise that issue even a single time during the entire last year of campaigning? Why isn’t there a single policy that addresses the gender gap in pay or affordable child care on his website where he lays out his positions and proposals? Not even a hint of one. He’s literally never mentioned either of those subjects before.
And I found it highly amusing that the audience applauded those things. If Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama said those exact same words, they’d be booing and screaming COMMUNIST at them. They were just in a total mob mentality and primed to applaud anything they heard. And if Trump actually did propose anything like that, the Republicans in Congress would shoot it down quickly.
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