Steve over at Distance wrote an excellent post titled American Legion Call For End Of Free Speech and Steve Calls for Arming The People. A long title, yes, but chock full of good points. I dread the day when I have to bust a cap in the tax man who comes around to collect my tithe to the Holy American Church. But make no mistake, I will bust a cap in him (it wouldn’t be a her, because women would be back in the kitchen by then). I’m already mega-pissed about the faith-based initiative, and wish there was a way to calculate exactly what percentage of my tax dollars it eats up. Any accountants out there? A “faith-based tax calculator” has seemed like a good idea for a website for a long time, but I’d have no idea how to find out an exact number. If I could figure that number out, I’m more than half-serious when I say I’d refuse to pay that part of my taxes on grounds of it violating my non-religious principles.






It makes me dizzy when I consider the circular logic that is used to support faith-based initiatives.
Truth be told, calling it “circular logic” is perhaps too generous. Basically, those who say this country was founded on principles of faith are either unmitigated liars or lack sufficient critical and deductive reasoning skills which should automatically disqualify their opinions from carrying any weight whatsoever when it comes to making and implementing policy.
Things like this make me nervous.
I do not like the notion that some monumental asshat can go ex parte and start creating all sorts of dumb shit that I do not agree with and then ask me to pay for it. However, I can accept the fact (well, sort of) that those monumental asshats were either voted into positions of power fair and square or beat the voting system and that as a citizen of this country, I have to live with the fact that majority rules. I just shrug my shoulders and think “cheaters always prosper.” I’m pretty good at tolerating things I don’t like, though. Win some, lose some.
What I cannot tolerate is bait-and-switch. And what I really REALLY can’t tolerate is cutting slack. You want slack? Buy some goddamned rope. You want the government to cut you slack because you believe in Jesus, Mary, Mohammed or Vishnu but you don’t want to have to play by the rules? Well, guess what. I want a million bucks. I want a unicorn, a slurpee machine in my house, and I want smoking to be healthy for you.