Arkansas Blog

And Jesus said, "Ta-Dah!"

/click my name

Brummet's excerpt of Thomas Paine dovetails nicely with my own beliefs but I could understand a legislator opting out.

If I were in the Leg for unselfish reasons to serve my fellow citizens and had many things to accomplish in legislation I could see this act as costing me votes. Although I agree with the view I would be hampered from accomplishing needed reforms and gaining few if any votes,

As a quote attributed to the Marine Corp asks. Is this hill worth dying on?

Should I give future opponents a simple way to grab what I consider uninformed votes? A simple mass mailout sites my vote and declares that I am "Anti-Christian", "anti-religion" and thus "Anti-American"!

This act would accomplish virtually nothing yet hamper my ability to enact needed reform. I say don't kick that tarbaby. (If an African American male uses the term tarbaby in reference to Joel Chandler Harris' Uncle Remus would that be misinterpreted as racist?)

The cliche of win the battle yet lose the war comes to mind.

In summary, don't condemn legislator if they do not support this act, they could simply be keeping their powder dry for important issues.

>>The cliche of win the battle yet lose the war comes to mind.<<

My oh my, this is where I usually get my chops smacked by some who see most issues in stark black and white. I catch it from both the left and the right because while I believe strongly in believing something, I also believe strongly in achieving something. For this reason I sometimes hold my nose and vote for the lesser of two evils hoping they will help achieve even though they may not toe the line on some of my specific beliefs about issues. I find myself generally deciding issues strategically rather than from gut reaction. I've watched my religious loved ones vote for years for those who would make abortion illegal while refusing even to listen to those who wish to make it rare - because that is a compromise they are unwilling to make, even tho less would be an achievement in their eyes.

All that to say, I agree Citizen, though I identify myself as agreeing very much with Thomas Paine, I also fear that a lone voice in the wilderness doesn't accomplish anything for today, but a seriously effective voice in the legislature could certainly help guide the body toward a more Paine-like decision.

Rev Mojo...hAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!! love it

Although I am a great admirerer of Paine, I think the Ledge is better off not wasting time w/irrelevant bullshit legislation like this. Not that they won't waste time w/other irrelevant bullshit. But sad to say, I agree w/CiCi. Who needs this? Only in such an age where a considerable strata of the electorate is ignorant of history and a Vice-Presidential candidate can claim that hostile questioning from reporters violates her 1st Amendment rights to free speech can a Thomas Paine be villified.

Again, who needs this? There will be other opportunities to vote on principle about issues that matter.

Weak..

Paine is what made this country great... not the feared Bible banging profiteering naysayers who will be against this for all the wrong paranoid reasons.

This country desperately needs to honor the Paine's... and discuss them long and often. It's extremely important. Nothing like the last twenty five years demonstrates that.

Honoring Paine is simply be honoring the freedom of expression... and though Paine didn't agree with the fundies of his time... he certainly would have fought for their right to express themselves.

Any thinking fundie (I know.. that's hard to find) today would be well served to honor that.. or at least save their powder for another day.

"QUOTE= Eureka Springs - This country desperately needs to honor the Paine's... and discuss them long and often. It's extremely important. Nothing like the last twenty five years demonstrates that."

Amen...errr....right on!

I'm a fifth-grade teacher, and an intrical part of teaching civics is providing students with our primary sources: the founding documents. This is critical in understanding what "We the People" really means. Today, as they did over 230 years ago, those documents instill in students the belief that all our voices are important. Everyone of our citizens are given the right to pursue liberty. Futures do not have to be inevitable and "Little voices" can make dramatic impacts on events. That is Thomas Paine's greatest contribution to our country. His pamphlet, Common Sense, spoke to ALL the voices in the 13 colonies during a time of great fear and indecision. He gave a vast number of citizens a vision of what each could do, 176 days before the Declaration of Independence. A belief that power should radiate from the citizens. That message is still paramount to all our students today. For that pamphlet alone, Paine needs to be recognized everywhere as a intrical part of the American miracle.

Mark Wilensky,
author of "The Elementary Common Sense of Thomas Paine: An Interactive Adaptation for All Ages"
www.NewCommonSenseBook.com

The power of one individual can and has changed the course of history for the better.

One man - Thomas Paine - contributed major achievements that changed history. He brilliantly unraveled many societal problems and equally brilliantly gave us solutions. If we ignore our humanitarian benefactors, such as Paine, we offer no evidence to our youth or young in spirit of how we advanced to have the individual freedom and the standard-of-living benefits we enjoy today. These came about by determining "what is right" through reason.

Therefore, for the hope of a future; for further discoveries to solve societal problems, the life of this Great Author, Genius, and Liberator (Thomas Paine) should be made widely known to our youth and young in spirit: For they are the hope of a better world as we face one with enormous alarming problems.
Jack