For those of you who are fans of Vonnegut, you will appreciate this adaptation….
I will speak about the religious view on Question 1. According to Thomas Aquinas, the highest law was divine law, God’s law. Second place was natural law, which includes thunderstorms, and our right to shield children from poisonous ideas, and so on. Third and last place was human law.
To make a playing card analogy is a clarification. Enemies of the Bill of Rights do the same thing all the time, so why shouldn’t I? Divine law is an ace. Natural law is a king. The bill of rights (human law) is a lousy queen.
This “Thomist” hierarchy of laws is so far from being ridiculous that I rarely meet anybody who does not believe in it right down to their deepest core. Everybody knows that there are laws with more grandeur than those which have been debated and printed in our books of laws. The trouble, and it is big, is there is so little agreement as to how these grander laws are worded. Theologians, both historical and local, can give us hints of the wording, but it takes a dictator to set them in stone. A man who had been a mere corporal in the army did that for Germany and then for all of Europe, you may remember. There was nothing he did not know about divine and natural law. He has fistfuls of aces and kings to play.
Meanwhile, over on this side of the Atlantic, in the State of Maine, we are not playing with a full deck. Because of our Constitution, the highest card anyone can play is a lousy queen, contemptible human law. Having said that, I am proud of the fact that card has been so good for so long. The American Civil Liberties Union goes to court to insist that our government officials be guided by nothing grander than human law. The minute a government person or agency plops down an ace or king, there they are, and lucky for us, you may remember.
Cannot we as Maine citizens hunger for at least a little natural law? Can’t we learn from nature at least, without being burdened by another person’s idea of God?
Sure. Blueberries never harmed anyone, nor the birds and bees, and not milk. God is unknowable, but nature is present and informs us every day. What has she told us so far? That blacks are obviously inferior to whites, for one thing, and intended for menial work on white man’s terms. This is a clear lesson from nature- we should remind ourselves of that from time to time. It allowed Thomas Jefferson to own slaves. Imagine that.
What is most uncomfortable about my lovely state is that its children are not taught that their freedom will vanish, if, when they grow up and in the exercise of their duties as citizens, they insist that our laws, courts, and policemen be guided by divine or natural law.
For the believers and leaders of such out there, I am not saying our government is (or should be) anti-nature and anti-God. I just think it is non-nature and non-God, for very good reasons that could curl your hair. You remember.
Well, all good things must come to an end. How will it end? As all freedoms end. They will end when we surrender our future to the highest laws. Yes, to the holder of the Ace of Spades.
Vote no on question #1. Everyone must be treated equally under the state and U.S. Constitution. Denying civil marriage rights to same-sex couples violates that decent, and yes, human, law. Now you remember.
For those of you who are fans of Vonnegut, you will appreciate this adaptation….
I will speak about the religious view on Question 1. According to Thomas Aquinas, the highest law was divine law, God’s law. Second place was natural law, which includes thunderstorms, and our right to shield children from poisonous ideas, and so on. Third and last place was human law.
To make a playing card analogy is a clarification. Enemies of the Bill of Rights do the same thing all the time, so why shouldn’t I? Divine law is an ace. Natural law is a king. The bill of rights (human law) is a lousy queen.
This “Thomist” hierarchy of laws is so far from being ridiculous that I rarely meet anybody who does not believe in it right down to their deepest core. Everybody knows that there are laws with more grandeur than those which have been debated and printed in our books of laws. The trouble, and it is big, is there is so little agreement as to how these grander laws are worded. Theologians, both historical and local, can give us hints of the wording, but it takes a dictator to set them in stone. A man who had been a mere corporal in the army did that for Germany and then for all of Europe, you may remember. There was nothing he did not know about divine and natural law. He has fistfuls of aces and kings to play.
Meanwhile, over on this side of the Atlantic, in the State of Maine, we are not playing with a full deck. Because of our Constitution, the highest card anyone can play is a lousy queen, contemptible human law. Having said that, I am proud of the fact that card has been so good for so long. The American Civil Liberties Union goes to court to insist that our government officials be guided by nothing grander than human law. The minute a government person or agency plops down an ace or king, there they are, and lucky for us, you may remember.
Cannot we as Maine citizens hunger for at least a little natural law? Can’t we learn from nature at least, without being burdened by another person’s idea of God?
Sure. Blueberries never harmed anyone, nor the birds and bees, and not milk. God is unknowable, but nature is present and informs us every day. What has she told us so far? That blacks are obviously inferior to whites, for one thing, and intended for menial work on white man’s terms. This is a clear lesson from nature- we should remind ourselves of that from time to time. It allowed Thomas Jefferson to own slaves. Imagine that.
What is most uncomfortable about my lovely state is that its children are not taught that their freedom will vanish, if, when they grow up and in the exercise of their duties as citizens, they insist that our laws, courts, and policemen be guided by divine or natural law.
For the believers and leaders of such out there, I am not saying our government is (or should be) anti-nature and anti-God. I just think it is non-nature and non-God, for very good reasons that could curl your hair. You remember.
Well, all good things must come to an end. How will it end? As all freedoms end. They will end when we surrender our future to the highest laws. Yes, to the holder of the Ace of Spades.
Vote no on question #1. Everyone must be treated equally under the state and U.S. Constitution. Denying civil marriage rights to same-sex couples violates that decent, and yes, human, law. Now you remember.
“I don’t see how you can be president without relying on the Almighty.” President George W. Bush
I don’t see how the Almighty could of allowed a G.W. Bush.