Muslims in Lower Manhattan

The most disheartening aspect of the debate on the Islamic cultural center in lower Manhattan is that much of the debate is focused on turning American Muslims into a scary other who are undeserving of the full rights granted under the Constitution.

Muslim Americans are part of the fabric of New York and the U.S, and they have been a part for a long time. Muslim Americans have also been apart of the American story that began on 9/11. Approximately, 50 Muslims were murdered in the 9/11 attacks and the majority of people murdered by Al Qaeda and it's associates are Muslims. American Muslims volunteered to serve in our government's response to 9/11 and some died. Muslims in other countries have made the decision to side with the U.S. and many of those who allied themselves died as a result of that decision.

Muslim victims are part of the story of 9/11, they are part of the story of the response to those attacks, and Muslims Americans will continue to be a part of the story of this nation's recovery from that day.

Not only do Muslims have the Constitutional right to have space in Lower Manhattan but they are every bit as deserving as any other group.

Marriage and Smokies for All

As evidenced by the presence of little smokies, the marriage of my moms-in-law was, is, and will be eternally valid because the presence of little smokies at a wedding is what makes the marriage valid and legitimate.

However it is good to know that with today's court ruling in California, legal recognition for all marriages is a little closer to being a reality in the U.S.

San Francisco on the Buffalo Bayou

I wonder if Liturgygeek will like Texas a little more bit because of this?

Elections Have Consequences

The Senate joined the House and today passed the Matthew Shepherd hate crimes legislation. The bill was attached to a defense appropriations bill and 58 Democrats and 9 Republicans voted for the bill. Russ Feingold(D-WI) opposed the bill because of elements relating to Afghanistan in the defense appropriations section and Robert Byrd(D-WV) was not present to vote.

Also from the hill today comes word that the healthcare bill that goes to the Senate floor will probably have a public option. Most moderate Democrats appear mollified by the knowledge that they will have a chance to vote to strip the public option provision. If a public option is in the bill then its opponents need 60 votes to strip it out of the bill, and if it is not included proponents need 60 to insert it. This news makes it very possible that the final bill will include some form of a public option.

This is good news and a reminder of why many of us worked, contributed money, and voted for President Obama and the Democrats.

Justice in America

Legal authorities in Switzerland caught film director Roman Polanski and are holding him for extradition back to the United States. After pleading guilty to raping a 13 year old girl, Polanski fled after a plea deal fell through. A strange combination of Hollywood types and neo-con columnists in the Washington Post are defending Polanski. In bit of glaring obliviousness Woody Allen is among those defending Polanski.

There may be legal reason that might mitigate the issues that surround Polanski's sentence. That is why we have lawyers and appellate courts; to argue and decide these cases. However, we should not lose sight of what he confessed to doing. Polanski admitted that he gave a 13 year old girl a combination of wine and quaaludes and then raped her. Not only is this illegal but it is morally reprehensible. There could very well have been misconduct on the part of the judge and prosecutor, and if there is then Polanski's lawyers have a professional and legal obligation to bring any possible misconduct before the court in an effort to defend him. What is not needed is a bunch of morally oblivious Hollywood and Washington elite defending the indefensible.

Meanwhile in Texas, Governor Rick Perry(R-TX) fired 3 members of the State Forensic Commission. The commission was scheduled to listen to evidence related to the case of Cameron T. Willingham but the meeting had to be cancelled. In an article in the New Yorker, David Gann makes a very compelling case that when the state of Texas executed Willingham they executed an innocent man.

In Washington D.C., Federal District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly granted a habeas petition filed by a Kuwati citizen named Fouad al-Rabiah. In her ruling, Judge Kollar-Kotelly declared that American interrogators tortured al-Rabiah even though they had no evidence that he was guilty of anything more then being in Afghanistan during the U.S. invasion. In fact her ruling seems to indicate that U.S. officials knew his torture induced confession was unreliable but they held him in custody anyway. In other words, we tortured a man we knew was innocent.

In the U.S., if you are rich, powerful, and famous then there are plenty of rich, powerful, and famous people who will defend you. However, if you poor or of the wrong skin pigmentation then there is no greater crime you can commit then to be innocent when the government thinks you are guilty.

This Week in Misogyny

Democrats for Life kicked Rep. Tim Ryan(D-OH-17) off its board because Rep. Ryan supports legislation that attempts to reduce the need for abortions by increasing access to contraception.  Ryan responded by calling Democrats for Life "a fringe group", and also said "I can't figure out for the life of me how to stop pregnancies without contraception."  I am glad that Rep. Ryan realized that much of the anti-abortion movement is in reality anti-woman and anti-sex.  

In Ohio a Republican state legislator named John Adams introduced a bill that would make it illegal for a woman to get an abortion without the written consent of the father.  If the woman cannot identify the father then there can be no abortion.  There are also criminal penalties for women seeking abortions without the father's permission.  This is some high quality misogynistic wankery that puts a man in complete control over the body of any woman he impregnates; 13th amendment be damned.  Nice job Mr. Adams, you have the set the bar on misogynistic wankery pretty high.

Maj. Charles Emerson Winchester

is now out of the closet.  Read his interview here.

Yay Iowa

The Iowa Supreme Court struck down the Iowa law that limited marriage to being between a man and a woman.  The court rejected Polk County's argument that gay and lesbian couples are not the same as heterosexual couples because straight couples can procreate.  Instead the court held that the purpose of marriage "is to provide an institutional basis for defining the fundamental relational rights and responsibilities of people in committed relationships."  Since that is the case then legally preventing gays and lesbians in a committed relationship from marrying fails the principle of equal protection.  The court also concluded that "the benefit denied by the marriage statue is so closely correlated with being homosexual as to make it apparent the law is targeted at gay and lesbian people as a class."

According to the Iowa Supreme Court sexual orientation deserves special scrutiny because "gay and lesbian people as a group have long been the victim of purposeful and invidious discrimination as group, there was no evidence that sexual orientation bears any logical relationship" to a person's "ability to perform productively in society." The Iowa court also said that sexual orientation is central to a person's being and that gays and lesbians are not politically powerful enough to overcome the discrimination over sexual orientation.

The court dispatched the arguments made by Polk County with relative ease.  For example, it dismissed the best interests of the child argument by noting that the state allows other "less than optimal parents."  

Iowa's Supreme Court also addressed the religious issue.  It acknowledged that some religious people hold a sincere belief that marriage would undermined by extended marriage rights to gays and lesbians but the court also acknowledged "other equally sincere groups have espused religious views yielding the opposite conclusions."  "These contrasting opinions, the court finds, explains the absence of any religious based rationale to Iowa's same-sex marriage stature." The court is also emphatic that this decision relates only to the civil contract known as civil marriage and "does not prescribe a definition of marriage for religious institutions."

This a complete victory for supporters of same sex marriage.  The decision was unanimous and Justice Mark Cady, who was appointed by Republican Governor Terry Branstad, wrote the opinion.  It is a great day to be in Iowa.

The opinion is here and a summary can be found here.  Follow the celebration at liturgygeek.

Getting Over It

Andrew Manis was one of my seminary professors, is an award winning writer, and is a person I greatly admire.  He wrote this op-ed on whether Obama's election really marks the end of racism.  Andy wrote an award winning biography of Birmingham's Fred Shuttleworth, and racism and civil rights are his areas of expertise.  You can order the the Shuttlesworth biography here.

I Could Get Used...

To having Democrats in charge.  The Lily Ledbetter act passes the Senate but the bill must go back to the House due to some minor changes.  President Obama should soon sign the bill into law.  Republican Senators Arlen Spector, Lisa Murkowski, Olympia Snow, Kay Bailey Hutchinson, and Susan Collins all voted Yea.  

The full roll call vote is here