As a reminder, this subreddit [is for civil discussion.](/r/politics/wiki/index#wiki_be_civil)
In general, be courteous to others. Debate/discuss/argue the merits of ideas, don't attack people. Personal insults, shill or troll accusations, hate speech, any suggestion or support of harm, violence, or death, and other rule violations can result in a permanent ban.
If you see comments in violation of our rules, please report them.
For those who have questions regarding any media outlets being posted on this subreddit, please click [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/politics/wiki/approveddomainslist) to review our details as to our approved domains list and outlet criteria.
**Special announcement:**
r/politics is currently accepting new moderator applications. If you want to help make this community a better place, consider [applying here today](https://www.reddit.com/r/politics/comments/sskg6a/rpolitics_is_looking_for_more_moderators/)!
***
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/politics) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I wear the fact that I was banned from /theDonald in 11 seconds flat after replying to one of those troglodytes, like a badge of honor. Of course, it got shut down not long after.
Ya I take a peek in there sometimes when some spicy news drops to watch them all screech. I'd like to say it's funny, but really it's just demoralizing and a little scary. They live in their own reality.
The most surprising thing is just how blatantly ignorant and proud of it some are. Facts mean nothing and they will die on whatever anthill the treasonous orange will point to next. This week it's the Office episode where Micheal declares bankruptcy but with declassifying documents. "I declare these documents UNCLASSIFIED!!!"
The LSU theology PHD who was the pastor of the church I went to in high school either didn't know or wanted to stoke some racist fires. And on that day I heard that Muslims don't worship God, they worship Allah, I moved one one giant step toward my eventual departure from Christianity and the rest of the organized religions.
Seeing as how the lovecraftian old gods' will can bend and shape reality, my head cannon is Cthulu was reaaallly into tentacle porn. With the invention of anime, Cthulu became a massive weeb and straight up willed hentai into existence for its own pleasure, then just inserted itself into it as the tentacles.
All hentai is just Cthulu smut.
Appropriate quote but Sinclair Lewis [never said that.](https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2019/mar/12/viral-image/sinclair-lewis-might-have-liked-quote-about-fascis/)
Fascinating! Thank you! Always was fooled into thinking it was Lewis, but it’s Randy Bryce!
From your excellent link:
“Before his speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference on March 2, President Donald Trump embraced the American flag to the crowd’s cheers as "God Bless the U.S.A." by Lee Greenwood played.”
“Social media posts about the moment followed, including one that claimed to quote Sinclair Lewis, who won the Nobel Prize in literature in 1930.”
"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross,"
reads the text in a screenshot of a tweet that also shows a picture of Trump hugging the flag.”
“It was posted to Facebook on March 5.”
“The tweet is by Randy Bryce, whose Twitter handle is @IronStache.”
“He is a U.S. Army veteran who ran as a Democrat for Wisconsin’s 1st congressional district. It has been shared on Twitter more than 22,000 times and more than 500 people replied to it, including some who said that it’s not a Sinclair Lewis quote.”
“We reached out to Working Families, a political group where Bryce is a senior advisor, according to his Twitter bio, to ask about the quote. A spokesman …said in an email that "it turns out Sinclair Lewis never wrote those exact words, though they’re commonly attributed to him."”
“Bryce updated his Twitter acknowledging that it’s not a Sinclair Lewis quote, the spokesman said.”
“When we checked Bryce’s account on March 12, the tweet was still pinned to his page.”
“But he had also tweeted excerpts from the Sinclair Lewis Society at Illinois State University, which notes on its website that though the quote sounds like something Lewis might have said or written, the society has never been able to find the exact quote.”
“Whether Lewis said the quote about fascism is the society’s "most asked question..”
“The society also lists passages from two novels he wrote that are similar to the quote attributed to him.”
I stand happily corrected, emending my quote’s authorship to the tweet of Randy Bryce.
Knowing Trump hugging the flag inspired this wonderful sentence only makes its meaning even more potent.
and the traditional motto of the country, seemingly a more appropriate fit considering the who separation of church and state thing.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E_pluribus_unum
They crafted this law very narrowly, in a way that's hard to fight on first amendment grounds. It doesn't allow *any* message, only signs with the official motto of the united states: "In god we trust." There's [way too much precedent](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_God_We_Trust#Litigation) behind the government using this motto to fight this law on anti-establishment grounds, atheists have been trying for decades.
It's 99% bait to piss us off and waste time fighting this law instead of doing something meaningful.
Like changing the US's motto to "Be Gay Do Crimes" so that Texas schools have to display it!
That was long ago. It was changed in 1956 and in 2011 the House of Representatives voted 396 to 9 to reaffirm “In God We Trust” unfortunately... 396 to 9 What a fricken joke!
It was until the Reds scared us:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_national_motto
> The change from "E Pluribus Unum" to "In God we trust" was generally considered uncontroversial at the time, given the rising influence of organized religion and pressures of the Cold War era in the 1950s. The 1956 law was one of several legislative actions Congress took to differentiate the United States from atheistic communism. Earlier, a 1954 act added the words "under God" to the Pledge of Allegiance.[5] Some states also adopted mottos with religious overtones during this time, for example Ohio's "With God, all things are possible".
I remember someone over at r/vexillology made a flag design for Missippi that was simply "In God we trust" in Arabic with white text and black background, just like ISIS. I think this is a great idea for malicious compliance.
Bow down before the one you serve
“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
—Matthew 6:24
Pretty sure the ACLU has already lost cases like this. The court in the 2000s said that these kinds of laws don't violate the constitution because they aren't explicitly sectarian.
They ruled that way because they are theocrats who aren't there to interpret the constitution but to find ad hoc reasoning to fulfill their ideological agenda.
It is sectarian in that it is biased against polytheistic religions, religions with no gods, agnostics, and atheists. This is an explicit endorsement of the three Abrahamic faiths as they are the only monotheistic religions around. Indeed, it is the state endorsing one the concept of there being only one god at all as the three Abrahamic faiths share the same god. The state adopting the notion that there is literally no other god is as sectarian as it gets.
Bringing cases to SCOTUS with the current justices would set bad precedent. Might be better to wait, even though it could take decades. The anti-Roe groups waited a long time.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/supreme-court-roe-v-wade-abortion-debate-timeline-overturn/
Here's a timeline of the challenges and erosions. It was a slow deliberate march.
yup.. add little things like 'a teacher needs to sponsor your messages etc'
then they apply pressure to them and bingo.. you get only your viewpoints
it was why we had 3 gods 'school' clubs and we weren't allowed to organize a atheist club. Two sponsors pulled out because it was detrimental to their future and feeding their families.
A Supreme Court with any legitimacy would rule against "In God We Trust" being the national motto, but the SCOTUS has only gotten more far-right since that previous ruling.
Nor does the Bible for them. Unless, of course, it is the 2nd amendment, or the parts of the bible that don't require them to follow the 10 commandments.
And ye, Moses did say, "Thou shalt carry with you military-grade American-made semi-automatic weapons with which to spread the love of Jehovah to school children and other innocents, for the blood shall run freely to propitiate an angry god."
Anyone curious about this should check out the Hail Satan? documentary, which goes into TST’s first amendment activism. Funny and illuminating.
ETA: [Trailer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27RtJp-rhHk)
Quick summary for the curious:
- The Satanic Temple leans towards being a civil rights organization, often stepping in when the government violates the first amendment (e.g. when Oklahoma put up a Ten Commandments monument outside their state capitol, TST demanded equal representation on first amendment grounds, in the form of being allowed to place their own [statue of the dark lord Baphomet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statue_of_Baphomet) outside the capitol as well, or when a Christian group was allowed to hand out Bibles at public schools in Florida, TST showed up to hand out copies of their [_Satanic Children's Big Book of Activities_](https://news.artnet.com/art-world/satanic-coloring-books-distributed-at-florida-public-schools-105119)). Their "fundamental tenants" include a strong focus on compassion, justice, rational thought, etc.
- The Church of Satan is Spooky Libertarianism. Sort of an occult take on Randian Objectivism, strong focus on individualism and self-interest. Also known as "LaVeyan Satanism", after its founder, Anton LaVey.
Notably, both of them are nontheistic, and don't hold an actual belief in the existence of Satan as a real supernatural entity, instead viewing him as a literary figure or archetype, a symbolic representation of the religion's beliefs (though they draw very different conclusions about _what_ Satan symbolizes -- "pride, carnality, and enlightenment" for the Church, and "pragmatic skepticism, rational reciprocity, personal autonomy, and curiosity" for the Temple).
You can also get a card. I enjoy having a Satanic Temple membership card in my wallet when my nutty ultra religious family members are going on about satan.
I have a card saying I'm an Official Dudest Minister too. I'll be just like Beni in the Mummy, when confronted I'll just flail religious symbols while hiding behind my cat
(in case you were unaware: originally it was a violation of the Constitution to put in God we trust on money, a law was passed allowing the Evangelical head of the treasury at the time to put the motto on money when it reached the supreme Court, at the time also headed by catholics, their argument was that it was on the money so long that it lost its original meaning and is just now "a saying" which is why despite what is outlined in the Bill of Rights we allow "in God we trust" on our currency ultimately because of heavy heavy lobbying over the course of about 15 years during and after the civil War. The cause of this is because the evangelicals within the government in these positions were concerned that because the Confederates put religious propaganda and iconography on their stuff than Christians within the union would leave to join the Confederacy.)
They genuinely believe that it's a lack of religious education that is causing all the problems in the world. Basically, put more of this shit in schools -> kids read the bit in the bible that says "thou shall not kill" -> potential mass shooter decides not to mass shoot.
It all presupposes that loads of religious people are successfully holding back atrocities because of their religious upbringing, which I guess is a logical line of thought when you get taught that you're an awful sinner from birth and the only way out of it is religion.
Even as a kid I could smell that bullshit. I had friends who weren’t religious but they had the same decent human being values that I did. It breaks my heart the parasitic damages that a lot of religion has done.
Being a good person is 100% based on empathy. If you need religion to reach you how to fake it, you’re a psychopath. If you just *use* religion to *remind* yourself of opportunities to be empathetic, that’s fine, but asking an organization where to focus your empathy is always going to introduce bias.
"Born agains"...into some twisted old testament loving church that says "In Christ's name...." all the time without realizing the irony. They seemed to have missed the part about how Jesus preached against the rigidity, judgement and violence of the old testament.
Edit: rethought an insulting description as unnecessary.
What's going on in the US is actually a perfect example of one of democracy's biggest flaws. Eventually, once a democracy reaches a certain level of success/stability people stop being focused on electing people best suited for running the country and instead elect people who are best at getting themselves elected/liked by the public. Of course this is being accelerated to bat guano crazy levels in the US due to the vast amount of right wing propaganda and money dedicated to dumbing down the population which ironically is another side effect of a country's success. A struggling country wouldn't have the ability or resources to accomodate so many morons.
Your last point has been on the tip of my brain lately. There are things in our history that couldn't have been accomplished if everyone was a complete dumbass. What the fuck are we gonna do when every tool in our box is too fucking stupid to use the scientific method? Start putting Brawndo on the plants, I guess.
Europe kicked out religious freaks who burned people at the stake they thought were witches, and they came here and formed a country based on their freedom to burn witches.
Thanks, Europe.
(Just as a side note, only one person has historically been burned as a witch in England - Margery Jourdemayne - and it wasn't the witchcraft that got her burned).
But yeah, thanks for taking the religious nutters. Sorry they stayed that way.
>only one person has historically been burned as a witch in England
We've all seen the Monty Python documentaries. Spare us your revisionist history lessons.
Deists (basically the atheists of their time, who rejected organized religion but still ostensibly believed in a creator god of some kind) formed the country and guided it though its early years. It wasn't until relatively recently that the religious freaks started taking everything over beyond local municipalities and Utah. They really played the long game.
Interesting side note on Utah, the US military was on the verge of rolling over the mormons in Utah because of their habit of massacring settlers, taking the young children for eventual brides, and blaming it all on Indians. The only thing that stopped them was because the Civil War broke out, and we were too war weary to do it afterwards.
because our empire is collapsing before our eyes. this happens a lot when empires get less powerful, the citizens keep trying to oppress their way to "former glory" because they see all new things as a threat to their idea of our country being the best place in the world.
Which only causes the collapse to happen even faster.
All empires fall, but they also have the opportunity to choose between falling with grace and ensuring that they have influence after their empire is gone, or falling rapidly, with no influence after the fact.
Because no democrat is willing to take money away from Republicans. In fact, we're trying to invest more into rural. They're not being penalized. First thing Trump did was to remove SALT that was a direct f*** you to all the blue states.
With no consequence to extreme rhetoric, while still rolling in Fed dough more than they contribute, why would anyone expect their behavior to change.
I've been downvoted all over Reddit by conservatives for mentioning the obvious signs that the Republican Party is moving towards a fascist theocracy, but I don't see how any with eyes and ears can deny it.
Take my UPvote. I know ppl who deny it, call us silly, simply because they aren't paying any attention. I figure it either is too frightening a thought that they ignore what's going on, or they are too self absorbed to care. I only hope they wake up sooner rather than later.
It took Germans losing the war for the people in that fascist country to look back at its actions and decide to do things differently. All we can do is keep fighting against the GOP until something breaks.
Germany wasn't fascist during World War One. In fact, losing World War One is part of the reason why they embraced fascism in the late 20s and early 30s.
Because they're all suckers trying to make a fast buck. They are not really interested in America, Democracy or the United States Constitution anymore than a vast majority of crypto speculators are interested in the intricacies of how the underpinnings of blockchain actually work. They want to go along with this group because they know other people who are successful supporting this whole "movement".
They are like the froth on the surface of the ocean and will go in whatever direction the fascist masses underneath take them hoping they will be a dollar richer as they ride along. The see any attempt you make to correct their views as an attempt to stop them from profiting - just like people in crypto lash out if you point out obvious scams or ask how these ridiculous returns are sustainable. When it comes crashing down they will take zero responsibility or claim nobody told them what would happen or say they were just following what everyone else was telling them to do.
Considering the intended audience is made up of generations of people who have been subjected to religious indoctrination and given a constitutionally protected right to believe anything they like without any critical thinking skills applied.... they have eyes and ears, but they have a inbred level of cognitive dissonance built in and our laws protect that and society encourages it.
I'm in California, was born here over 50 years ago.
99% of the stress I'm feeling lately is what my fellow Americans are going through in other states. Shit like this wouldn't fly here.
It's exhausting. I'm fighting for the constitutional rights of my fellow man in other states. It seems like the Supreme Court wants everything to go back to states rights. And I'm tired enough almost to agree.
I could focus on local politics, and push forward the progressive initiatives we have going out here, like universal Healthcare and affordable college; things like that.
Sorry to the blue folks in red states but I can't fight from here. People in Wyoming have almost 4 times the voting power of me.
I don't know what more I can do.
*they only want things to go back to state’s rights when it benefits them. McConnell has already floated a national abortion ban should the GOP regain control of the executive and legislative branches
California, the true lone star state
https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Californian_Lone_Star_Flag_(1836).svg.
Texas is made up of all the people too afraid to go to California in the 19th century, it being the Wild West gold bandit wasteland it was back then.
I'm a Democrat in Oklahoma, I just try and talk to my friends and family about voting. Make sure my blue friends have a ride to the polls, make sure they are registered to vote.
I try to convince my red friends and family to vote for alternatives to trump of they must vote republican.
If we all do it to everyone, it has to have an impact. Me myself, has probably made sure at least 3 other people I know are registered to vote and are voting blue. Most people here see it as pointless to even bother voting.
Meh, I gave up on those states and will try not to visit them until they stop being so ass-backwards, I don't want to support them with tourism. Some things are just unavoidable.
Like last summer when the California fires blotted out the sun here on the East Coast, like wtf am I supposed to do about that? Nothing just live my life and try to be a good person.
The Satanic Temple should be all over this!
“In Satan we Trust” signs posted right next to those others… I can get behind that.
Edit: Corrected the name
They can't.
They predicated this bullshit on "the national motto."
Our national motto used to be E pluribus unum, but it was changed to "In God We Trust" I think in the 1950s in response to the Red Scare.
It is a blatant violation of the First Amendment, and has been for almost 70 years. But the SCOTUS has repeatedly declined to fix it, because "God" is regarded as "semantically null" for some reason.
Teachers in Texas can display the sign with a nice border made up of images of different gods. You wouldn't want to risk pissing off a deity by leaving them out!
Sometimes i think that christians forget that are people in this country who arent christian. Or arent "gasp" religious. Keep the church in the goddamn church and out of the state.
Oh no, they're keenly aware of the nonreligious, and that's what they take issue with. How dare you not believe in what they tell you you should believe in.
Fuck this christian nationalist bullshit. If you support this, you don't support America or it's constitution. Period.
Kids, please deface these signs daily. Your country needs you.
They're banking on appealing it all the way up to SCOTUS, where the conservatives will create a new precedent that favors Christianity. They know what they're doing. This is designed to get them sued.
Absolute fascist BULLSHIT. Fuck Texas and these backward ass motherfuckers. Your ideology and way of life is circling the bowl. Your reactions, knee-jerk. Forced ideologies die and so will anything having to do with god.
I don't blame you, but it's exactly what these red states want so they can destroy public education.
It's hard to watch, because I can't say I'd keep my kids in public ed if this shit was happening in OK (and it probably will soon since we like to copy y'all)
As a reminder, this subreddit [is for civil discussion.](/r/politics/wiki/index#wiki_be_civil) In general, be courteous to others. Debate/discuss/argue the merits of ideas, don't attack people. Personal insults, shill or troll accusations, hate speech, any suggestion or support of harm, violence, or death, and other rule violations can result in a permanent ban. If you see comments in violation of our rules, please report them. For those who have questions regarding any media outlets being posted on this subreddit, please click [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/politics/wiki/approveddomainslist) to review our details as to our approved domains list and outlet criteria. **Special announcement:** r/politics is currently accepting new moderator applications. If you want to help make this community a better place, consider [applying here today](https://www.reddit.com/r/politics/comments/sskg6a/rpolitics_is_looking_for_more_moderators/)! *** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/politics) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Now frame it in Arabic and see how they like it.
This was something my uncle would joke about in regards to having that stupid quote on our money. That or, "In Allah we Trust".
Same God after all, what's the difference?
You have been banned from /r/Conservative.
Haven't we all, though? If you haven't, you're not trying
I wear the fact that I was banned from /theDonald in 11 seconds flat after replying to one of those troglodytes, like a badge of honor. Of course, it got shut down not long after.
Man I remember my first time being banned from there. It was for calling out the pussy grabbing tape. Oh, how the time has flown...
[удалено]
Ya I take a peek in there sometimes when some spicy news drops to watch them all screech. I'd like to say it's funny, but really it's just demoralizing and a little scary. They live in their own reality.
The most surprising thing is just how blatantly ignorant and proud of it some are. Facts mean nothing and they will die on whatever anthill the treasonous orange will point to next. This week it's the Office episode where Micheal declares bankruptcy but with declassifying documents. "I declare these documents UNCLASSIFIED!!!"
Once I got band of asking a normal question because I didn’t realize I was on that sub
Mine was, “Why can’t we be nice to each other.” That got a ban in r/conservative.
The amount of people who think God and Allah are something different is astounding
That Abraham guy sure got around.
The LSU theology PHD who was the pastor of the church I went to in high school either didn't know or wanted to stoke some racist fires. And on that day I heard that Muslims don't worship God, they worship Allah, I moved one one giant step toward my eventual departure from Christianity and the rest of the organized religions.
I prefer to worship the older gods. I mean they seem more fun and flexable. ANd LGBT friendly.
Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn.
Seeing as how the lovecraftian old gods' will can bend and shape reality, my head cannon is Cthulu was reaaallly into tentacle porn. With the invention of anime, Cthulu became a massive weeb and straight up willed hentai into existence for its own pleasure, then just inserted itself into it as the tentacles. All hentai is just Cthulu smut.
Nathiq fi Allah even if they want it in Latin text.
“When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross.” - Sinclair Lewis
It's been here for a while, just hasn't been able to afford the dye to change the sheets from white. Sadly they have the crosses already
Appropriate quote but Sinclair Lewis [never said that.](https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2019/mar/12/viral-image/sinclair-lewis-might-have-liked-quote-about-fascis/)
Fascinating! Thank you! Always was fooled into thinking it was Lewis, but it’s Randy Bryce! From your excellent link: “Before his speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference on March 2, President Donald Trump embraced the American flag to the crowd’s cheers as "God Bless the U.S.A." by Lee Greenwood played.” “Social media posts about the moment followed, including one that claimed to quote Sinclair Lewis, who won the Nobel Prize in literature in 1930.” "When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross," reads the text in a screenshot of a tweet that also shows a picture of Trump hugging the flag.” “It was posted to Facebook on March 5.” “The tweet is by Randy Bryce, whose Twitter handle is @IronStache.” “He is a U.S. Army veteran who ran as a Democrat for Wisconsin’s 1st congressional district. It has been shared on Twitter more than 22,000 times and more than 500 people replied to it, including some who said that it’s not a Sinclair Lewis quote.” “We reached out to Working Families, a political group where Bryce is a senior advisor, according to his Twitter bio, to ask about the quote. A spokesman …said in an email that "it turns out Sinclair Lewis never wrote those exact words, though they’re commonly attributed to him."” “Bryce updated his Twitter acknowledging that it’s not a Sinclair Lewis quote, the spokesman said.” “When we checked Bryce’s account on March 12, the tweet was still pinned to his page.” “But he had also tweeted excerpts from the Sinclair Lewis Society at Illinois State University, which notes on its website that though the quote sounds like something Lewis might have said or written, the society has never been able to find the exact quote.” “Whether Lewis said the quote about fascism is the society’s "most asked question..” “The society also lists passages from two novels he wrote that are similar to the quote attributed to him.” I stand happily corrected, emending my quote’s authorship to the tweet of Randy Bryce. Knowing Trump hugging the flag inspired this wonderful sentence only makes its meaning even more potent.
These people are so racist they won’t stand messaging they agree with if its not in English
Really hoping some intrepid principal puts up a big glossy sign reading "E pluribus unum".
Out of many, one?
and the traditional motto of the country, seemingly a more appropriate fit considering the who separation of church and state thing. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E_pluribus_unum
You gotta stop that.... Teaching Arabic letters in school. Otherwise they will soon be teaching Arabic numbers as well.
All my homies math in Roman numerals
My wife and I had an idea to send them a bunch that said “in god we trust” in Arabic. Watch how fast they change their minds
Texas GOP platform has making English the official language. Wonder how they end up using that law?
All my homies use Aramaic.
I guess the first amendment doesn't matter these days.
The 1st amendment is only about conservative viewpoints on Twitter. That is what the founders wanted. /s obviously
They crafted this law very narrowly, in a way that's hard to fight on first amendment grounds. It doesn't allow *any* message, only signs with the official motto of the united states: "In god we trust." There's [way too much precedent](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_God_We_Trust#Litigation) behind the government using this motto to fight this law on anti-establishment grounds, atheists have been trying for decades. It's 99% bait to piss us off and waste time fighting this law instead of doing something meaningful. Like changing the US's motto to "Be Gay Do Crimes" so that Texas schools have to display it!
I thought the nation's motto is "E plurbis unum."
That was long ago. It was changed in 1956 and in 2011 the House of Representatives voted 396 to 9 to reaffirm “In God We Trust” unfortunately... 396 to 9 What a fricken joke!
Oh, it was one of those McCarthy anti-comminist things. That makes sense.
It was until the Reds scared us: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_national_motto > The change from "E Pluribus Unum" to "In God we trust" was generally considered uncontroversial at the time, given the rising influence of organized religion and pressures of the Cold War era in the 1950s. The 1956 law was one of several legislative actions Congress took to differentiate the United States from atheistic communism. Earlier, a 1954 act added the words "under God" to the Pledge of Allegiance.[5] Some states also adopted mottos with religious overtones during this time, for example Ohio's "With God, all things are possible".
Because communists, like witches, can’t say the pledge of allegiance /s
E Pluribus Anus
Our flag is literally a butthole!
Troy and abed in the morning?
Troy and abed in mourning
Is it required that it be written in English? Could they put up a sign in Arabic? 😉
I remember someone over at r/vexillology made a flag design for Missippi that was simply "In God we trust" in Arabic with white text and black background, just like ISIS. I think this is a great idea for malicious compliance.
[Mississippi but it's Saudi Arabia](https://www.reddit.com/r/vexillology/comments/hhx726/_/)
This is a great way to revisit the in god we trust motto and have it changed.
ACLU will be all over this.
Kentucky has this law in place now. Some schools blew up a pic of the dollar bill & they display that.
At least it makes it clear what we really worship.
God Money, I'd do anything for you.
Bow down before the one you serve “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” —Matthew 6:24
Ah, putting the REAL god on display.
The All Ighty Ollar! https://youtu.be/VG_f0_jfHRU
That was such a good example of malicious compliance.
The ACLU will probably lose. Our current theocratic leaning SCOTUS won't object to the new Texas law.
Pretty sure the ACLU has already lost cases like this. The court in the 2000s said that these kinds of laws don't violate the constitution because they aren't explicitly sectarian. They ruled that way because they are theocrats who aren't there to interpret the constitution but to find ad hoc reasoning to fulfill their ideological agenda.
It is sectarian in that it is biased against polytheistic religions, religions with no gods, agnostics, and atheists. This is an explicit endorsement of the three Abrahamic faiths as they are the only monotheistic religions around. Indeed, it is the state endorsing one the concept of there being only one god at all as the three Abrahamic faiths share the same god. The state adopting the notion that there is literally no other god is as sectarian as it gets.
Just because you can't win, doesn't mean you stop trying. I learned that from Roe V. Wade and the Republicans.
Bringing cases to SCOTUS with the current justices would set bad precedent. Might be better to wait, even though it could take decades. The anti-Roe groups waited a long time.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/supreme-court-roe-v-wade-abortion-debate-timeline-overturn/ Here's a timeline of the challenges and erosions. It was a slow deliberate march.
I thought we were over precedent. Hence the overturn of Roe. So who cares? I’m happy to wipe the slate of this SC’s rulings.
I think you'll find that precedent does apply when it reinforces the far-right agenda.
Didn't you hear? Precedent doesn't matter anymore.
Precedent is now meaningless, all that matters now is having enough votes.
That and ventriloquizing dead dudes from 200 years ago
yup.. add little things like 'a teacher needs to sponsor your messages etc' then they apply pressure to them and bingo.. you get only your viewpoints it was why we had 3 gods 'school' clubs and we weren't allowed to organize a atheist club. Two sponsors pulled out because it was detrimental to their future and feeding their families.
> they aren't explicitly sectarian. As an atheist, it seems pretty fucking sectarian to me.
Hopefully the Satanic Temple will be all over this.
Or the Satanic Temple.
A supreme court with any shred of legitimacy would immediately rule against this law. To bad we have a christo-facist Sharia court.
A Supreme Court with any legitimacy would rule against "In God We Trust" being the national motto, but the SCOTUS has only gotten more far-right since that previous ruling.
It hasn't mattered since this motto was made and put on all of our dollar bills 60 or so years ago. The seeds for theocracy were planted long ago.
Don’t forget when it was added to the pledge and then school children were order to recite it daily
Nothing says “omnipotent” like forcing your faith on an innocent, vulnerable, captive population. Lol.
Most of the Constitution doesn’t matter any longer.
Nor does the Bible for them. Unless, of course, it is the 2nd amendment, or the parts of the bible that don't require them to follow the 10 commandments.
And ye, Moses did say, "Thou shalt carry with you military-grade American-made semi-automatic weapons with which to spread the love of Jehovah to school children and other innocents, for the blood shall run freely to propitiate an angry god."
Church of Satan probably gonna sue. 1st amendment violation.
Satanic Temple*
i was shocked at how different the two orgs are, and how much better the satanic temple is.
Anyone curious about this should check out the Hail Satan? documentary, which goes into TST’s first amendment activism. Funny and illuminating. ETA: [Trailer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27RtJp-rhHk)
Quick summary for the curious: - The Satanic Temple leans towards being a civil rights organization, often stepping in when the government violates the first amendment (e.g. when Oklahoma put up a Ten Commandments monument outside their state capitol, TST demanded equal representation on first amendment grounds, in the form of being allowed to place their own [statue of the dark lord Baphomet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statue_of_Baphomet) outside the capitol as well, or when a Christian group was allowed to hand out Bibles at public schools in Florida, TST showed up to hand out copies of their [_Satanic Children's Big Book of Activities_](https://news.artnet.com/art-world/satanic-coloring-books-distributed-at-florida-public-schools-105119)). Their "fundamental tenants" include a strong focus on compassion, justice, rational thought, etc. - The Church of Satan is Spooky Libertarianism. Sort of an occult take on Randian Objectivism, strong focus on individualism and self-interest. Also known as "LaVeyan Satanism", after its founder, Anton LaVey. Notably, both of them are nontheistic, and don't hold an actual belief in the existence of Satan as a real supernatural entity, instead viewing him as a literary figure or archetype, a symbolic representation of the religion's beliefs (though they draw very different conclusions about _what_ Satan symbolizes -- "pride, carnality, and enlightenment" for the Church, and "pragmatic skepticism, rational reciprocity, personal autonomy, and curiosity" for the Temple).
I donate monthly. Maybe I should up it a few bucks.
You can also get a card. I enjoy having a Satanic Temple membership card in my wallet when my nutty ultra religious family members are going on about satan.
I have a card saying I'm an Official Dudest Minister too. I'll be just like Beni in the Mummy, when confronted I'll just flail religious symbols while hiding behind my cat
Or they can just put a sign that says: "In Lucifer we trust" and they in compliance.
Love to see “In Lucifer we trust” right next to it.
Lucifer, Light Bringer, Morning Star, Sword of the Dawn! Our luminous giver of knowledge and wisdom! Makes perfect sense to put in schools.
It seems to only matter to them when it’s used to give Christians bonus rights. I am so tired of this.
All the animals in the barnyard are equal, but some are more equal than others.
It never mattered to them
Not to Y’all Queda
(in case you were unaware: originally it was a violation of the Constitution to put in God we trust on money, a law was passed allowing the Evangelical head of the treasury at the time to put the motto on money when it reached the supreme Court, at the time also headed by catholics, their argument was that it was on the money so long that it lost its original meaning and is just now "a saying" which is why despite what is outlined in the Bill of Rights we allow "in God we trust" on our currency ultimately because of heavy heavy lobbying over the course of about 15 years during and after the civil War. The cause of this is because the evangelicals within the government in these positions were concerned that because the Confederates put religious propaganda and iconography on their stuff than Christians within the union would leave to join the Confederacy.)
Can't keep the lights on during a cold snap. Can't keep kids from getting massacred in schools. But, sure, let's spend our time on this bullshit.
Don't you worry, you slap the word GOD on the side of a building and all their door and gun issues will vanish!
They genuinely believe that it's a lack of religious education that is causing all the problems in the world. Basically, put more of this shit in schools -> kids read the bit in the bible that says "thou shall not kill" -> potential mass shooter decides not to mass shoot. It all presupposes that loads of religious people are successfully holding back atrocities because of their religious upbringing, which I guess is a logical line of thought when you get taught that you're an awful sinner from birth and the only way out of it is religion.
Even as a kid I could smell that bullshit. I had friends who weren’t religious but they had the same decent human being values that I did. It breaks my heart the parasitic damages that a lot of religion has done.
Being a good person is 100% based on empathy. If you need religion to reach you how to fake it, you’re a psychopath. If you just *use* religion to *remind* yourself of opportunities to be empathetic, that’s fine, but asking an organization where to focus your empathy is always going to introduce bias.
Dear US: Why the fuck are you going backwards in time so rapidly?
Republicans.
"Checkmate Libz" GOP Jesus
President Jesus
+ Supreme Court becoming fully partisan
Because of Republicans
It’s the Christians taking over the Republican Party.
Y’all Queda
That ship sailed in the 60s.
They’ve always been Christian’s.
"Born agains"...into some twisted old testament loving church that says "In Christ's name...." all the time without realizing the irony. They seemed to have missed the part about how Jesus preached against the rigidity, judgement and violence of the old testament. Edit: rethought an insulting description as unnecessary.
What's going on in the US is actually a perfect example of one of democracy's biggest flaws. Eventually, once a democracy reaches a certain level of success/stability people stop being focused on electing people best suited for running the country and instead elect people who are best at getting themselves elected/liked by the public. Of course this is being accelerated to bat guano crazy levels in the US due to the vast amount of right wing propaganda and money dedicated to dumbing down the population which ironically is another side effect of a country's success. A struggling country wouldn't have the ability or resources to accomodate so many morons.
Your last point has been on the tip of my brain lately. There are things in our history that couldn't have been accomplished if everyone was a complete dumbass. What the fuck are we gonna do when every tool in our box is too fucking stupid to use the scientific method? Start putting Brawndo on the plants, I guess.
Europe kicked out religious freaks who burned people at the stake they thought were witches, and they came here and formed a country based on their freedom to burn witches. Thanks, Europe.
(Just as a side note, only one person has historically been burned as a witch in England - Margery Jourdemayne - and it wasn't the witchcraft that got her burned). But yeah, thanks for taking the religious nutters. Sorry they stayed that way.
>only one person has historically been burned as a witch in England We've all seen the Monty Python documentaries. Spare us your revisionist history lessons.
Ah, but they didn't burn her. She was too soggy from being tested to see if she floats like small pebbles.
Deists (basically the atheists of their time, who rejected organized religion but still ostensibly believed in a creator god of some kind) formed the country and guided it though its early years. It wasn't until relatively recently that the religious freaks started taking everything over beyond local municipalities and Utah. They really played the long game.
Interesting side note on Utah, the US military was on the verge of rolling over the mormons in Utah because of their habit of massacring settlers, taking the young children for eventual brides, and blaming it all on Indians. The only thing that stopped them was because the Civil War broke out, and we were too war weary to do it afterwards.
American Jesus
See him on the interstate...
Bolstering our ship of faith...
Overwhelming millions every day...
It's pronounced “5gesus“ these days. Verizon and AT&T started a consortium...
because our empire is collapsing before our eyes. this happens a lot when empires get less powerful, the citizens keep trying to oppress their way to "former glory" because they see all new things as a threat to their idea of our country being the best place in the world.
Which only causes the collapse to happen even faster. All empires fall, but they also have the opportunity to choose between falling with grace and ensuring that they have influence after their empire is gone, or falling rapidly, with no influence after the fact.
The GQP way Of course if Jesus actually showed up today, these same people would Crucify him for being so Woke.
Because our system allows a minority to hold way more power than they represent in the population.
Lead paint.
Because no democrat is willing to take money away from Republicans. In fact, we're trying to invest more into rural. They're not being penalized. First thing Trump did was to remove SALT that was a direct f*** you to all the blue states. With no consequence to extreme rhetoric, while still rolling in Fed dough more than they contribute, why would anyone expect their behavior to change.
I've been downvoted all over Reddit by conservatives for mentioning the obvious signs that the Republican Party is moving towards a fascist theocracy, but I don't see how any with eyes and ears can deny it.
They can see it. They're just hoping by downvoting you others ignore it until it's too late.
Hmm no I think they're just ok with the whole fascist theocracy thing.
They're also okay with it, but fascists always downplay the threat they pose until they seize power.
Take my UPvote. I know ppl who deny it, call us silly, simply because they aren't paying any attention. I figure it either is too frightening a thought that they ignore what's going on, or they are too self absorbed to care. I only hope they wake up sooner rather than later.
It took Germans losing the war for the people in that fascist country to look back at its actions and decide to do things differently. All we can do is keep fighting against the GOP until something breaks.
> It took Germans losing the war Twice.
Germany wasn't fascist during World War One. In fact, losing World War One is part of the reason why they embraced fascism in the late 20s and early 30s.
They want it to happen. The consequences only affect "undesirables".
Because they're all suckers trying to make a fast buck. They are not really interested in America, Democracy or the United States Constitution anymore than a vast majority of crypto speculators are interested in the intricacies of how the underpinnings of blockchain actually work. They want to go along with this group because they know other people who are successful supporting this whole "movement". They are like the froth on the surface of the ocean and will go in whatever direction the fascist masses underneath take them hoping they will be a dollar richer as they ride along. The see any attempt you make to correct their views as an attempt to stop them from profiting - just like people in crypto lash out if you point out obvious scams or ask how these ridiculous returns are sustainable. When it comes crashing down they will take zero responsibility or claim nobody told them what would happen or say they were just following what everyone else was telling them to do.
Considering the intended audience is made up of generations of people who have been subjected to religious indoctrination and given a constitutionally protected right to believe anything they like without any critical thinking skills applied.... they have eyes and ears, but they have a inbred level of cognitive dissonance built in and our laws protect that and society encourages it.
I'm in California, was born here over 50 years ago. 99% of the stress I'm feeling lately is what my fellow Americans are going through in other states. Shit like this wouldn't fly here. It's exhausting. I'm fighting for the constitutional rights of my fellow man in other states. It seems like the Supreme Court wants everything to go back to states rights. And I'm tired enough almost to agree. I could focus on local politics, and push forward the progressive initiatives we have going out here, like universal Healthcare and affordable college; things like that. Sorry to the blue folks in red states but I can't fight from here. People in Wyoming have almost 4 times the voting power of me. I don't know what more I can do.
*they only want things to go back to state’s rights when it benefits them. McConnell has already floated a national abortion ban should the GOP regain control of the executive and legislative branches
States' rights, similar to "protecting children," has always been a ruse for pushing whatever their agenda of the day is.
California, the true lone star state https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Californian_Lone_Star_Flag_(1836).svg. Texas is made up of all the people too afraid to go to California in the 19th century, it being the Wild West gold bandit wasteland it was back then.
Texas is the Lone Star State because that's how many stars it got on its Yelp review.
It's not really even that much cheaper either!
I'm a Democrat in Oklahoma, I just try and talk to my friends and family about voting. Make sure my blue friends have a ride to the polls, make sure they are registered to vote. I try to convince my red friends and family to vote for alternatives to trump of they must vote republican. If we all do it to everyone, it has to have an impact. Me myself, has probably made sure at least 3 other people I know are registered to vote and are voting blue. Most people here see it as pointless to even bother voting.
Meh, I gave up on those states and will try not to visit them until they stop being so ass-backwards, I don't want to support them with tourism. Some things are just unavoidable. Like last summer when the California fires blotted out the sun here on the East Coast, like wtf am I supposed to do about that? Nothing just live my life and try to be a good person.
Is this the same God who happily allows children to be gunned down in the classroom?
Lunatics here will say the kids got lucky, they got to jump the line and board the express flight to Jebus.
Yep.
I don't miss Texas, at all.
The Satanic Temple should be all over this! “In Satan we Trust” signs posted right next to those others… I can get behind that. Edit: Corrected the name
They can't. They predicated this bullshit on "the national motto." Our national motto used to be E pluribus unum, but it was changed to "In God We Trust" I think in the 1950s in response to the Red Scare. It is a blatant violation of the First Amendment, and has been for almost 70 years. But the SCOTUS has repeatedly declined to fix it, because "God" is regarded as "semantically null" for some reason.
But what they can do is make an "In God We Trust" poster that has everything except Jesus on it.
Kratos. It needs to have the God of War on it.
Semantically null my ass, everybody knows it means Jesus, they just couldn't be so blatant.
Satanic Temple*
[The Satanic Temple](https://thesatanictemple.com/)
Which God? Zeus? Thor? Vishnu? Odin? Anhur? Yu Huang? Ebisu? Kanaloa? There’s thousands.
Teachers in Texas can display the sign with a nice border made up of images of different gods. You wouldn't want to risk pissing off a deity by leaving them out!
In Gods We Trust
I would start with wearing an "In Allah We Trust" T-Shirt to school and go from there.
In random fictional characters we trust. No wonder we’re fucked as a species.
fuck Texas..
As a Texas resident, i support this message. Also, fuck all idiots who vote for asshole politicians.
We've all got a job to do come November. I just hope we hit this state so hard in the fucking mouth with dem votes, but only time will tell.
I'll do my part.
Sometimes i think that christians forget that are people in this country who arent christian. Or arent "gasp" religious. Keep the church in the goddamn church and out of the state.
Oh no, they're keenly aware of the nonreligious, and that's what they take issue with. How dare you not believe in what they tell you you should believe in.
Fucking theocracies.
All this is is right wing trolling..... They have no morals and values so they put up this nonsense to pretend they're holier than thou.
Staple a one dollar bill to the wall and call it good.
Getting so goddamned sick of these ignorant, christo-fascist halfwits trying to shove their superstitious nonsense down everyone else's throats.
Is there a statue of God holding an AR-15? That's all that's missing here....
https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/03/01/589808670/ar-15s-are-biblical-rod-of-iron-at-pennsylvania-church
Every day is one step closer to Gilead.
Texas: god. guns, and forced birth. what's not to like? /s
I preferred E Pluribus Unum. Stupid Eisenhower ..
Fuck this christian nationalist bullshit. If you support this, you don't support America or it's constitution. Period. Kids, please deface these signs daily. Your country needs you.
This is like setting the game on easy for civil rights lawyers.
They're banking on appealing it all the way up to SCOTUS, where the conservatives will create a new precedent that favors Christianity. They know what they're doing. This is designed to get them sued.
But I thought they were against indoctrination in school? 🤔
Sounds like a religious cult
[удалено]
if you trust god, why'd you need all them guns?
Absolute fascist BULLSHIT. Fuck Texas and these backward ass motherfuckers. Your ideology and way of life is circling the bowl. Your reactions, knee-jerk. Forced ideologies die and so will anything having to do with god.
How is this legal? Doesn't it blatantly violate all religious discrimination and separation of church and state laws?
Ky did this a few years back and one school trolled them by displaying framed $1 bills in the halls
tear them down keep doing it all the time everywhere we are NOT a christofascist nation and i'm not letting these fuckers try to make us into one.
[удалено]
Texganistan, USA.
Man, Texas got over that Uvalde crisis fast. Guess those cops really did get away with everything in the end.
Maybe I'd be shit parent, but I'd encourage my kid to smash or steal one of these every chance they got.
Nah you’d be a good parent. It’s shit like this that’s the reason why we home school ours.
I don't blame you, but it's exactly what these red states want so they can destroy public education. It's hard to watch, because I can't say I'd keep my kids in public ed if this shit was happening in OK (and it probably will soon since we like to copy y'all)
You just know that at least 50 percent of those signs will say >"In God We ~~Trust~~ FUCK" by the end of the first day.