law

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Immigration vs. I.C.E.


“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

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What you see above is what is at the base of the Statue of Liberty. I have a hard time believing Pres. Donald Trump and everyone in I.C.E. has ever read these words.

4. Fourth Amendment – Search and Seizure

Constitution Amendment number 4. Protects against unreasonable searches and seizures; requires warrants based on probable cause. (the legal standard is that either a person is in the act of criminal activity, or, being in this country illegally and identified as a dangerous person, he must be removed. It also calls for a warrant for the arrest of that particular person along with what he is charged with). These provision were put in place to protect everyone. No where in the Constitution does it say that these Amendment only apply to U.S. Citizens.

6. Sixth Amendment – Criminal Prosecutions

Ensures the right to a speedy and public trial, impartial jury, confrontation of witnesses, and legal counsel.

We know for fact that these trials, which would be immigration courts, are not happening. Donald Trump has weaponized both the Dept. of Homeland Security, which I.C.E. falls under, and the Justice Department, whose job it is to oversee how justice is being carried out and preserve all right under our sacred Constitution.

We now live under a leader who would not mind being called “king.” To be sure, he is a fascist. Trump consistently claims he does not have any party affiliation. huh?

Today, September 21, 2026, a Venezuelan man was shot in the back for I.C.E. officers while he was delivering food. He has no criminal record and was here legally using the threat of death in his own country for his reason to be here, legally. I.C.E. is now akin to the Gestapo in Hitler’s regime dragging and killing people without fear of being held accountable for their actions.

Just to put a point of Trump’s attack on our Constitution, he has barred three news networks from the White House. This is a clear violation of the 1st Amendment which guantees freedom of the press. It is the first amendment for a reason. Even at the birth of America, it was very clear to the men of that day that the ability to observe and report on all activities must be sacred. These things were not allow under colonial rule.

The only thing we can do is to write, and/or, call out U.S. Representative and our Senators and complain about how our rights are being stripped, and that we cannot count on the Justice Department to do its job.

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Southern Baptists Espousing Racism?


First, I am obligated to give credit to the Sunday Boston Globe (June 13, 2021) for certain of the beginning thoughts here.

Tennessee and Oklahoma have recently passed certain laws in regard to what is taught in public schools about race and racism. At the heart of these laws is a restriction in how racism is taught. This is the result of many factors, not the least of which is the political divide of the very conservative wing of the Republican party and its evangelical proponents. This coming week there is a meeting of the white Southern Baptist ministers in Nashville. These far-right wingers claim to be strict adherants to Biblical law. The difficulty here, of course, is the very definition of Biblical law, every church having its own interpretation.

The Baptist Church of the south split from its northern bretheren in 1848 over the issue of slavery. The historical boundary was laid in place and where the northern churches have been far more inclusive, the southern churches have clung to “old south” ideas. But problematic here is the very nature of church and state. Everyone thinks of the 1st Amendment as the “freedom of speech” amendment, which it is and includes religion, however, within that amendment is a bar against making laws that support any single religious idea. And so, it would seem that the newly enacted laws in Tennessee, Oklahoma and Idaho, along with a dozen more southern states with plans to enact similar laws, fly in the face of the 1st Amendment.

What bothers me most about these very conservative churches is that while they swear they are following Biblical Law, it sounds like their tendency is more towards Mosaic Law, Old Testament, than New Testament Law. Two phrases in the Gospels of the New Testament have always been a guide to me as to how Jesus meant us to live our lives. He was asked twice about how to act and said, in so many words, do unto others as you would have others do unto you, and, whatever you do unto the least of my children, you do unto Me. As far as I can tell, conservative southerners do not follow either of these principles. They seem more comfortable with the “eye for an eye” concept, as rendered in the Old Testament. But they are unwilling to accept that highly educated theologians of all walks have long argued over the veracity of both Old and New Testament verses. The best example of this comes under the guise of Moses. The problem here is that there is no proof that a person by the name of Moses ever lived. To wit, the Egyptians of those days kept very exacting records of events and no where is the name of Moses or anyone akin to him mentioned. This in turn puts into doubt all stories about the Ten Commandments which many historical theologians have placed at more along the lines of 500 commandments.

I only bring up those Biblical references as examples of religious dogma and its affect upon modern society. In our country, Christianity makes up 67% of all beliefs in the U.S. No other religion commands more 2% to include atheists. Of the Christian religions, 25% of all are Evangelicals, 21% are mainline and black protestants, and 21% are Catholic. But, according to today’s Bostn Globe, Evangelical religions have been enduring a decreasing membership which have the southern bishops fearing they are losing out to more centrists beliefs. But, since Evangelicals hold substatial polical sway in all southern capitals, they are doubling down of their efforts to stem the tide. This, as shown above, is coming at the expense of truth in history and society. The 1925 Scopes Trials first brought into view the problems with religion dictating what is taught in our schools. It would seem that nearly 100 years has put this landmark decision into the fog of history and allowed those who have forgotten it to return to more primitive times. It would seem the time has arisen for a second Scopes trial, only this time it must be brought before the U.S. Supreme Court to stem religion’s hold on public education.

It is our responsibility to allow our children the full view of both history and society, and to allow them the purview to make up their own minds as the progress in life. It is ill-advised to allow blinders to be put on our children to hide inconvenient truths, to the stains of our past, the the need for civility and acceptance of all people regardless of their beliefs for if we do not, the ability of our democracy to survive will be put on trial.