03.18.07

You Worry Too Much.

Posted in Supreme Court at 3:29 pm by JEG

A favorite line from one of my favorite movies: Parenthood.

I know that folks have passionate views. That’s what makes this country great. So I have a hard time getting all worked up about a butthead college student who decides to hang a banner extolling the virtues of “Bong Hits 4 Jesus.”

After he unfurled his 14-foot “Bong Hits 4 Jesus” banner on a Juneau, Alaska, street one winter morning in 2002, Mr. Frederick got a 10-day school suspension. He has a date tomorrow at the Supreme Court in what is shaping up as an important test of constitutional rights

Truth be told, Jesus is probably laughing to himself thinking, “My goodness, what a quack this kid is.” Even Jesus recognizes that college kids do stupid things. I did ‘em, and you all did too, regardless of how perfect you think you might be.

Is it offensive to Christians? Probably, but it’s not even close to some of the “art” that has been protected over the years! Here’s a perfect example:

The New York Performance Works presented twelve performances of the play “’Tis a Pity She’s a Whore.” The postcard that was sent to prospective theater-goers showed an illustration of the Virgin Mary with the Immaculate Heart. The inscription “’Tis a Pit She’s a Whore” was written across her. The New York Performance Works said the play was not about Catholicism.

Christian-bashing is nothing new, particularly in a day and age where it’s glorified by the media, academia, and the “artistic” community. Does it bother me that someone has enough hostility toward Jesus that he would hang a banner dedicating his pot-smoking habit to the Lord? Yeah, but it’s not a battle worth fighting. Ignoring this type of nonsense is the best course to take. Let’s focus instead on the big battles.

07.28.06

Rich gets it right, and misses the point

Posted in Politics, Judiciary, Supreme Court at 12:43 pm by JB

Rich Lowry on National Review Online makes a good point on the remarkable self-restraint being shown by courts in New York and Washington on the issue of same-sex marriage recently, but I find a larger point very interesting.

Like every other endeavor, people don’t like to be wrong.  Except for the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cali, which has a staggering rate of overturns by the SCOTUS, most judges don’t like to be overturned on appeal.

With the nomination of Roberts and Alito to the SCOTUS, the balance has shifted, if ever so slightly… O’Connor always gave the lower courts the possibility that even the wackiest of rulings would be upheld, so they had more opportunity to do stupid stuff- making laws from the bench- with that in mind.

Now that the Supremes have a balance towards sanity, the lower courts have to rein themselves in a little, or get the proverbial smack-down by the 9 in the really neat robes.  Just my theory. :)

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