Glenn Beck is an idiot, first class. Watch these short video clips and then read on.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCltZqFl4rk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3ylhwDmeE4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sD1LMFWEgt0
Not too truthful about the facts you offer or how you interpret them, are you Mr. Beck? BTW...yes, freedom is a fundamental principle. Life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness are fundamental. No one is taking or has taken these rights from you, Mr. Beck, or from anyone who believes in or holds the same faith that you do for that matter. Yes, the First Amendment does say that congress shall pass no law in respect to a religious establishment and shall not infringe upon the free exercise thereof. Unfortunately, for whatever reason you are confusing this amendment with the spiritually elitist idea that just because people believe in God and follow the Bible that they should be the ones to formulate all the rules, rules that not only infringe upon the rights of your fellow Americans, but rules that are heavily exclusionary towards those who do not believe the same as you do and who do not live as you do. The changing laws of this country are not against you or your faith. What the laws are reinforcing is the notion that we are all equal with one another...it doesn't matter if you are an Atheist, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Fundamentalist, Episcopalian, Satanist, Pagan, Catholic...the list goes on forever, right? No one is taking your faith, Mr. Beck. No one is taking your Bible. No one is taking your church or your freedom/right to worship the deity of your choice. No one is asking you to marry two men, two women, or even suggesting that you should approve of such lifestyles, and in regards to this particular statement your faith does not entitle you to treat those whom you do not like or approve of in any manner you wish. Am I getting through here? Not likely. I suppose I should dumb it down a little for you. Your faith (religiously/spiritually speaking), your God, your Savior, or your holy book cannot and should not be used as a shield while you denigrate individuals or groups that believe or live differently than you do. THAT is why the laws are being changed. Are you familiar with the line from the Declaration of Independence that says that to secure these rights governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed? This is something that is always used in efforts to derail gay rights, because you get people crawling out of the woodwork proclaiming that these laws were passed in total disregard of the lack of consent within the gay rights issue. Many people didn't vote FOR it but AGAINST it, right? Sooo...if people didn't allow for a gay rights bill to pass how the hell did the government make it happen anyway? Isn't that against the basic principles of this country? Is the government blatantly trampling the rights of the straights and religious in this country? No. Don't you know, Mr. Beck, that if the application of a law is exclusionary towards the rights of groups/individuals that the government, going through the proper channels of course, may reassess the situation and the law involved and may choose to strike it down on the grounds that FUNDAMENTAL rights are being denied. Don't forget the phrase "pursuit of happiness." This is where many, not all believers mistakenly think/believe that their own pursuit of happiness is of more value than the rights and pursuits of happiness of other individuals or groups who do not believe and practice in the same manner. For many believers included in their packaged deal to devote themselves to God or Jesus or whatever, included is the right to subjugate others. That is why laws were changed. It had dick to do with your religion and everything to do with following the true spirit and expression and intent and interpretation of our founding documents as they were meant to be. The government saw that there was a problem, a biggie, so to speak. Citizens of this country were being denied rights. When these same individuals tried fighting for their rights there were many people spouting out that God intended marriage to be between a man and a woman, that homosexuality was an abomination because God said so, and yada-yada, plucka-plucka. Remember, Mr. Beck, the government may not pass legislation in regard to any religion. There can be no favoritism of ANY kind. It doesn't matter what you think your God or any god for that matter is telling you. So, trying to defend the notion that gays and lesbians somehow may be justifiably denied rights based on your tenement faith and based on the even more deplorable interpretation of your Bible and what you think God wants, is moot. In addition, just because you think this country was founded on the Bible (one of the WORST lies ever in United States history), and just because your chosen deity supposedly refutes and condemns homosexuality, all of that is most certainly NOT your free ticket to treat people in any manner that you wish. Neither does it give you or anyone for that matter the allowance and right to treat the rights of those individuals you do not agree with and who live differently than you as somehow less valuable than yours. You have your head so far up your ass, Mr. Beck, you need a timeout. Go stand in the corner.
