Thx droomi.

I can see that I have misunderstood some of your previous "liberal" postings. I guses I take the same tact sometimes. By your response I would perceive we are probably more aligned in principle than I first assessed.

I fear our governments for much the same reasons.

I fear the "natural man" in us all, but I especially fear the "human nature" of the unelected who are the primary force that drive our national/state/community policies. "For what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature." James Madison

I fear the judges (unelected) who have "absolute immunity." They can violate the law and strip anyone who stands in front of them of their rights, their freedoms, even their very lives, and they have NO ONE to whom they are personally accountable. They cannot be voted out of office (except in just a few remaining states) by "We The People."

I fear the legislators who themselves are alligned with the profession of the judicial department of government [liaryers - violating the separation of powers doctrine] who have personal and professional agendas and committments contrary to the interests of their clients and their constituency.

I fear the executives (unelected administrators/bureaucrats) who invent/impliment/direct public policy and are themselves irresponsible (human nature again) and who are accountable to no one except a superior bureaucrat, who themselves are accountalbe to no one.

I fear the armed and dangerous private armies of municiple corporations who's primary objective is to justify their existance (by creating crime) and who themselves have "qualified" immunity from their own criminal acts, and who's secondary objective is to generate revenue (taxation without representation?) for the corporations who employ them.

I fear the fact that the ultimate power of the people (an educated jury), has been stripped of it's usefulness to the people to protected us from the unscrupulous ethics of our legislatures run amock. I likewise fear that the people are dumbed down and kept uneducated by the "public" administrators who are charged with educating our children. Children who are raised up not knowing who they really are, not knowing their true potential as free soveriegns of this great nation of ours. I likewise am appalled at these judges who themselves "TAMAPER" with the jury by instructing them that they must rule on a case by the particular opinion the judge imposes, rather than exercise their ultimate "RIGHT" to rule upon the law according to their own concience. see Georgia vs. Brailsford.

Yes, ... I fear my government because I remember what my fore-fathers spilt their blood for. I remember that my freedom was bought at a terrible price and wrested from the tyranny of an oppressive government, which interestingly was insignificant compared to the oppressions and horrors wrought by those men depicted above.

Because I fear my government, I stand for and will defend to the death our "RIGHT" to the ownership and possession of guns. It matters not that today, my government appears passive and relatively peaceful. I know not what tomorrow brings and I remember too many yesterdays that tell a different story.

Purp

droomi,

You state: "Oh, by the way, religion is taxed in China too......much like I believe it should be in America."

The power to "tax" is the power to distroy. Too many Supreme Court cases support this statement. see eg. Crandall vs. Nevada.

If government can "tax" one's religion, how do you square that with one's 1st Amendment right to the "free exercise" of one's religion?

My take is: Giving my government the power to destroy a "RIGHT" I have retained to myself, through the mechanism of "taxation" is unconsienable [sp?}. "Registering" is likewise unconsienable [sp?]. It flies in the face of our freedoms of assembly, speech, and the establishment of a religion ... and the free exercise thereof. We do not need to ask permission to do that which we possess the "RIGHT" to do. To require one to ssk permission (Register? Tax?) is tantamount to a grant of privilege, which can be take away on a whim. Such is NOT a "RIGHT" and therefor not "free."

Purp

Sage,

I'll clarify.....then it'll make sense.

The "right" to religious freedom is one thing......the "right" to make a profit off of it is another.

There you have it folks. adroomi is a socialist. He feels all religions need goverment control. And of course, how could we assume people actually want to live in freedom?

droomi,

I can respect your position.

I too don't particularly appreciate my donated sweat equity to a cause I believe worthy being diverted to the private gains of individuals who grow fat in their fine twined linens, and luxury cars, etc. MY option is to not support them, thereby putting into action my own responsibility.

However, the "free" exercise of religion puts that responsibility on the people who so exercise it, NOT the government, who's sole purpose is to "PROTECT" our rights, NOT "REGULATE' them. Is our freedom of the press any more important than our freedom to exercise our religious beliefs? I think not. Yet, newspapers, radio, and TV likewise "profit" from their exercise of their 1st Amendment rights also.

Where does one draw the line? To say that a religion cannot "profit" from voluntary donations opens the door to the government "regulating" our press, or preventing our right to meet on a cigar forum, on-line, sponsored by a profit-making business, for us to share our views of our government. I think it unwise to open the door to permisive regulation because government has no concience and knows not where to limit its own powers. If we support government regulating our rights in one area that appears on the surface to be a popular view, we subrogate all our rights and relegate them to privilege granted by the very creature of our own creation, ... government.

Purp

Sage,

You're absolutely right. As much as I feel that we should be able to tax the profit makers in religion, it's an impossibility without disrupting our constitutionally protected rights. This is why we don't tax. Our system works.

Mo, nobody is listening to you........please see your way out of the room....men are talking here.