Federal Judge Prohibits Prayer at Texas Graduation Ceremony

[mookiemookie]

Originally Posted by Snestorm

There is no, nor can there be a, federal law, as "Congress shall make no . . ."

How can a federal law, which is prohibited from being written, supersede any state law which is not prohibited? The word "Congrees" is again key.

States cannot make laws that contradict the Constitution. If the Constitution says that no law can be made that blah blah blah, that doesn't mean that only goes for the Federal government. It means that it goes for the states also.

"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people"

Not always: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal...eld_preemption

Originally Posted by mookiemookie

States cannot make laws that contradict the Constitution. If the Constitution says that no law can be made that blah blah blah, that doesn't mean that only goes for the Federal government. It means that it goes for the states also.



Not always: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal...eld_preemption

The Constitution does not say "No laws shall be passed".
It does say "Congress shall pass no laws".
The wording is very specific.

[mookiemookie]

Originally Posted by Snestorm

The Constitution does not say "No laws shall be passed".
It does say "Congress shall pass no laws".
The wording is very specific.

States cannot pass unconstitutional laws. Supremacy Clause. This is Civics 101.

[August]

Originally Posted by mookiemookie

States cannot pass unconstitutional laws. Supremacy Clause. This is Civics 101.

Then every gun control law ever passed is just as unconstitutional.

[tater]

Originally Posted by August

Then every gun control law ever passed is just as unconstitutional.

Yes to both.

Jefferson described his Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom as a "wall of separation," and this statute informed the 1st Amendment. It was a good idea then, and it remains a good idea.

Like it or not, any sanction given a Christian prayer (or even "nondenominational" prayer), must also be given to any other prayer that anyone wishes to speak. The state cannot judge between them. It could be blessings upon the graduates one minute, and telling muslim grads to smite infidels the next. Better to disallow both, and keep them where they remain, in the private sphere.

[razark]

Originally Posted by tater

Like it or not, any sanction given a Christian prayer (or even "nondenominational" prayer), must also be given to any other prayer that anyone wishes to speak. The state cannot judge between them. It could be blessings upon the graduates one minute, and telling muslim grads to smite infidels the next. Better to disallow both, and keep them where they remain, in the private sphere.

This. Exactly this.

Originally Posted by mookiemookie

States cannot pass unconstitutional laws. Supremacy Clause. This is Civics 101.

We aren't discussing Civics 101. (That class is 2 doors down, on your Left).
We are discussing the US Constitution.

[mookiemookie]

Originally Posted by Snestorm

We aren't discussing Civics 101. (That class is 2 doors down, on your Left).
We are discussing the US Constitution.

"We're not discussing trigonometry. We're discussing sines and cosines."

"We're not discussing English. We're discussing sentence structure."

"We're not discussing biology. We're discussing cell reproduction."

[Skybird]

August, if you play your radio so loud that you annoy others and they cannot live their lives without listening to you, then it is you who has to decrease the volume. It is not the others needing to take earplugs or move away or make more noise with their radios to "overtune" your radio.

That simple it is. And you know it.

Mookie is right, you are giving a strawman argument indeed - for distraction purposes.

[August]

Originally Posted by Skybird

- for distraction purposes.

Well if that's what you really think then discussing this issue with you is as useless as your opinion on the internal matters of my country.

[Aramike]

Originally Posted by Skybird

August, if you play your radio so loud that you annoy others and they cannot live their lives without listening to you, then it is you who has to decrease the volume. It is not the others needing to take earplugs or move away or make more noise with their radios to "overtune" your radio.

That simple it is. And you know it.

Mookie is right, you are giving a strawman argument indeed - for distraction purposes.

That's different. Listening to one's radio too loudly can actually impede others from going about their business. The problem is not whether or not they like the music, but rather that the music is so loud that it is infringing upon another's right to freely exercise their liberties.

Regarding religion, and specifically this discussion, that isn't the problem. The anti-religious crowd isn't feverish over the "volume" but the "content".