Atheists can be jailed in Kentucky for not acknowledging God
by Michael Smith (Veshengro)
In the US State of Kentucky you can be jailed, under a State Homeland Security law, for 12 months for refusing to acknowledge “Almighty God”.
The law was sponsored by Tom Riner, a Baptist minister and Democratic representative, and according to The New York Times Riner is reported to say: “The church-state divide is not a line I see. What I do see is an attempt to separate America from its history of perceiving itself as a nation under God”.
Since the law first came onto the Kentucky statute in 2006 it has been challenged by American Atheists, overturned, and then reinstalled upon appeal. Now the American Atheists are once again hoping to overturn the law by submitting a petition to the U.S. Supreme Court in a bid to overturn this Kentucky homeland security law.
They have issued a press release that reads: "Acknowledge Almighty God” or Go Directly to Jail. Everyday in Kentucky, due to a 2008 homeland security law, atheists and agnostics are potentially forced to assert that the public safety of their state is dependent on 'Almighty God' or face criminal charges, including up to 12 months in jail."
Speaking of Riner, State Senator Kathy W. Stein said: “Tom is as pious as he is persistent. He's also prone to legislative stunts that are embarrassing and expensive for this state”.
The state has ran up huge amounts in legal fees after losing several cases to the American Civil Liberties Union. Maybe for the state it is time to tell this Baptist minister on which station to get off and not get onto the train again.
Riner also does not understand the Constitution, it would appear, which makes for a separation of state and church and the “under God” was inserted into the Pledge not until well after World War Two.
The United States has religious freedom, guaranteed by its Constitution and as a representative Riner would do well to understand that otherwise he has no right to be a representative, and everyone, theoretically, according to the Constitution of the United States, has the right to believe or not to believe, and the US was not founded as a “nation under God”. Far from it.
But then again the so-called Christians like Mr Riner do not understand that and also not what Jesus was all about and do not follow His teaching in the slightest way.
Riner's like will be very quick to condemn Muslim theocracies but are trying themselves to turn the United States into just that. Hypocrites the lot of them and a plague unto their houses.
© 2013
