Conservative Culture

It was a question about those “living as spouses” in households. Did the State Constitution (Defense of Marriage Act) nullify the Domestic Abuse Law? The Court of Appeals (3rd Circuit) had voted 2-1 that the Domestic Abuse law was unconstitutional. Then Judge Cupp dissented from the ruling. This dissent turned out to be the correct ruling in the eyes of the Supreme Court of Ohio. Here is s summary .

The Ohio State Supreme Court has ruled that the state’s domestic violence statutes are not in violation of its Defense of Marriage Amendment. This decision comes as the result of the ruling in Ohio v Carswell. The Court’s decision “reinforces that all domestic violence victims are entitled to lifesaving resource and protections promised by the domestic violence law,” says the NNEDV.

Sue Else, president of the National Network to End Domestic Violence, says that the ruling is “a huge victory for domestic violence victims across the country.”

The question regarding Ohio v Carswell was whether or not the domestic violence statute of a family or household member was in violation of the Ohio Defense of Marriage Amendment. The Ohio Defense of Marriage Amendment states that the state of Ohio “shall not create or recognize a legal status for relationships of unmarried individuals.” The domestic violence statute included abusers “living as a spouse” as domestic violence offenders. Many thought that since the Defense of Marriage Amendment prevented the state from legally treating non-family members as family members then non-married couple could not legally be involved in domestic violence. The Court’s decision has ruled that this is not true and that these abusers can be charged as domestic violence offenders and prosecuted as such.

What puzzled me was why it was even an issue. Violence could be prosecuted regardless of marital status. Then I found out that the Domestic Violence Law escalates with each incident as to its severity… from a misdemeanor to a felony. So if you are a creep who likes to beat up your live in non-spouse… you will still be in trouble. Can you say… “whatcha gona do when they come for you?”

Tags: Marriage Expansion, Ohio

Islam the religion of peace. The greatest public relationship spin ever. Right Truth has this great article on the governments promotion of Islam. Read the whole article but here is some of it.

The United States Department of State launched a series of web pages on the US government’s official State Department website in Oct., 2002 that extol the virtues of Islam as the fastest growing religion in the United States. When I reported the web address and the content of the web page in 2002—and another Muslim web page in 2004—thousands of angry Christian Americans flooded the State Department with emails. The web page was pulled in four to five hours—or so I thought. In reality, the State Department merely changed the URL making it appear the page was pulled. The new URL was http://usinfo.state.gov/products/pubs/muslimlife/. Throughout President George W. Bush’s entire “war on terrorism” the Islamic web pages have been part of the State Department’s website. There has not been a single outcry from the American Civil Liberties Union [ACLU] that the US government is promoting a religion—which it is. There have been no outbursts from atheists that the US State Department violated the constitutional separation of Church and State by openly promoting a religion. Those who hate Christianity have been mute. So, also, have been the advocates of Christianity who should be asking the Bush-43 Administration why the Department of State has devoted a portion of its website to extolling the virtues of Islam. (read more)

He also notices this great quote about the fact that there is no common ground with Islam and Christianity/Judaism.

There is no common ground between Islam and Christianity. And, there is no common ground between Islam and Judaism. And finally, there is also no common ground between Islam and atheism. Islam has no interest in finding common ground with any other religion nor with the free enterprise system. Nor does Islam have any interest in preserving the American way of life. If that is so, why does the US government, its educational system, and the American media go to such lengths to coddle Islam? (Jon Christian Ryter)

Texas Fred has this also.

My issue is the Muslims in America that are in the process of forcing their beliefs on everyone else, the Borg Mentality that says you will be assimilated or you will die, in other words, a religion of peace that is NOT, a religion that demands that they be allowed to worship in their own way but don’t afford that same freedom to others, even in OUR own land… (more)

Before any lib goes off the deep end (too late) I should say this. That anyone has the right to worship God as their conscience dictates as long as it is peaceful. I believe the jihadists are the “Borg” of our century. It is the assimilate or die mentality that ought to awaken America. No group should be allowed to undermine and destroy the ability to live and worship as a free people. Christians have no problem if Muslims wanted to meet for worship and prayer. What is unacceptable is the hell bent attitude of Jihadist to destroy Christians and other such infidels. Tolerance is on the side of Christians… it is the Jihadists who are Intolerant.

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 That is the question being raised by the BBC news article and specifically name Ohio since it was the key “swing” state in the last election.The BBC noted that the religious “right” helped the election process in 2004, especially in Ohio. But they note a shift in a new movement called the religious “left”. One of the star interviews was Joel Hunter of a mega church in Longwood, FL. This is the same Joel Hunter from the failed “Air America” radio program.

America’s so-called “religious right” has been one of the pillars of Republican Party support in recent decades, but signs are emerging that those once secure foundations might be shifting.

In both George W Bush’s presidential victories, he managed to secure a vast majority of the evangelical Christian vote

In 2004, the “hot button” policies curtailing abortion and same-sex marriage were seen as being crucial to Republican electoral success in, for example, the key swing states of Ohio and Florida.

But in last November’s Congressional races - where Democrats regained control of both the House and the Senate - some Republican defeats came at the hands of a new religiously-inspired movement, which some are calling the “evangelical left”.

I disagree with the assessment that the Republicans lost because of what the BBC called the subtle shift. It might be said that it was so subtle that it wasn’t noticeable.  What the real problem is that too many people we disappointed by the continual “elect us so we can change things” and then watching moderate Republicans (who ran as conservatives) act like liberals.

Any shift in allegiance isn’t based on reversing the trend but rather on the continued liberalization of the churches. Churches that support the killing of infants in the womb, openly support gay marriage and have become enamored by the Climate change issue never supported Bush. Rather they have been actively working for a number of elections to defeat the conservatives.

If Republicans stand by their values of life, secure borders, limited government and lower taxes (while acting on those values) they won’t see any shift away. But if they pursue a course similar to former Governor Bob Taft and current Sen. Voinovich then there will be trouble ahead for the party and the support they once garnered from the “religious right”.

However, they should be less concerned about the religious part and concentrate on the conservative part. It has never been about religion… as much as it has been about those people who have generally held more conservative views of life and the Constitution.

Tags: Conservative, Marriage Expansion, Ohio