Mychal Judge Bill Killed |
May 24, 2002
This is from today's Wall Street Journal:
"Mychal Judge" bill, named for the gay firehouse chaplain who died Sept. 11, is yanked from a House vote. "The White House had a problem with it," a GOP aide says. The bill, which the Senate passed unanimously, would amend a 1976 law giving federal benefits to slain public-safety officers' families; it would extend benefits to Judge's sisters and to estates of nine other victims without spouses, children or parents. A Justice Department memo says the change is unneeded. |
Knowing that Dubya was raised in a bigoted home, we can be assured that his reason for having "a problem with it" is not that the guy was a member of the clergy, but that he was gay. Does he hate gays more than he loves members of the clergy?
Sammi Ruth Fowler
Cliff Responds:
Please keep in mind that atheists are the least likely of any social class (besides homosexuals) to have undergone the particularly religious ritual known as "marriage," currently restricted, by law, to heterosexual couples.
Please see my write-up on this fact in my recent piece, "Atheists Come to Power."
By pointing out the vast differences in marriage rates between religious and nonreligious people, and by suggesting that marriage is, in fact, more of a religious rite than anything else, perhaps we can put the brakes on this move to define "marriage" as a union between a man and a woman, which would be fine except that the amendment takes the additional step of forbiding states from granting to unmarried people benefits that have traditionally been enjoyed by those who have "been to the altar," as they say.
Cliff Walker
Material by Cliff Walker (including unsigned editorial commentary) is copyright ©1995-2006 by Cliff Walker. Each submission is copyrighted by its writer, who retains control of the work except that by submitting it to Positive Atheism, permission has been granted to use the material or an edited version: (1) on the Positive Atheism web site; (2) in Positive Atheism Magazine; (3) in subsequent works controlled by Cliff Walker or Positive Atheism Magazine (including published or posted compilations). Excerpts not exceeding 500 words are allowed provided the proper copyright notice is affixed. Other use requires permission; Positive Atheism will work to protect the rights of all who submit their writings to us.