When any government employee is selected or elected by the people, he or she must take an oath of office. I took it myself several times and administered the oath to hundreds of others. The crucial part of the oath is a promise to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.
This oath is especially important for the men and women in whose hands we place the future of our nation and the safety and security of 320 million people. If placing the Constitution first is not the concern of a Congressman or Senator, he or she should be forced from office.
I am obligated to remind everyone that the Bill of Rights is the guideline for every public official and that our founding fathers considered the first amendment the most important promises ever written.
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
The right-wing has violated the first line of the first amendment for years and no one in our government has made an effort to halt these egregious actions. Allowing the Christian religious right lobby to influence policy and legislation is a direct violation of the oath taken by these men and women.
Ted Cruz is known as the “worst senator in Washington.” He has earned that title. During his first year in the senate, 2013, it was Cruz who did nothing with the exception of lobbying to shut down the government. In 2016 Cruz declared his candidacy for the Republican Party’s presidential nomination. For a year-and-a-half he and Trump waged a disgusting and embarrassing battle; the nastiest and most immoral man survived.
Cruz capitulated after the 2016 convention and began to serve the vile man who had personally attacked his wife and his father. He became a hypocrite in a thinly veiled effort to remain relevant and achieve his future goals.
Cruz’ base is small. In 2016 he won the Iowa caucus for a single reason. Evangelicals strongly supported the hollow man from Texas. They were a good fit. Cruz, a fake-Christian, was supported by a group of fake-Christians.
Far too many Americans believe that Christianity is the only valid religion. Not only is this distorted belief in direct conflict with the first amendment, it is pure ignorance. All religions and the right to reject religion are protected by the Constitution. When an elected official supports one religion and rejects all others, he or she is violating their oath of office.
Cruz is once again attempting to use his fake-religious beliefs to gain prominence and regain some level of credibility. Cruz wants an investigation into the policies of Yale Law School.
Yale has an all-encompassing non-discrimination policy. Any group which prevents or attempts to prevent the rights of others is denied certain forms of funding. Recently the campus’ LGBTQ community asked the university to include Christian groups in this policy for their attacks on the gay and lesbian community. Yale agreed.
Although this is the right thing to do, Cruz is attempted to gain favor with Christian groups. He should be forced from the senate. Cruz is violating the Constitution and therefore his oath of office.
A bit of information my readers might find interesting. In the United States Christian leaders are witnessing a decrease in the numbers of new ‘converts.’ The religion which is experiencing the largest number of new converts is the religion of Islam. The fasting growing group related to religious beliefs are atheists and agnostics. I am one of more than 83 million Americans who reject all organized religion, and that number grows every day. We share a single commonality; all of us either don’t believe in a god or have doubts that a deity exists.
Recent polls show that two owners of the Republican Party, the Christian Religious Right, and the NRA gun lobby, are losing support from the greater majority of Americans. Cruz support group is diminishing along with the right-wing’s base.
A “new and improved” America is coming. The revolution has begun. We, who support the Constitution, fought our first battle on November 3, 2018, and we will win many more. We have the numbers and the energy to defeat the enemy; right-wing politicians.
“The Truth Lives Here”
Op-ed by James Turnage
Image courtesy of DonkeyHotey
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