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A question primarily for non-Americans
Pat Condell, in his latest video, "Wake Up America" says he sees "...America's Constitution as the anchor of Western Civilization". As an American, this line jumped out at me. Although I'm somewhat humbled he thinks my country's First Amendment is so important, I'm having a hard time believing the US could be the last "oasis of freedom on this planet".
Does anyone else view it this way? Seeing how religious the US is now and how secular other countries are, the US could be the last oasis? Is your country going down some slippery slope now?
Does anyone else view it this way? Seeing how religious the US is now and how secular other countries are, the US could be the last oasis? Is your country going down some slippery slope now?
Tags: Condell, Constitution, Pat, US, freedom
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Stephen Moore on -
Is the CRF absolute, or can the legislature ignore it?
Here in Victoria (Australia, not BC :^þ ), we have the Victorian Charter of Rights and Responsibilities. Any new legislation proposed in the legislature has to be checked for its complience with the Charter, but the legislature can still pass a bill into law that does not comply with the Charter. It would have to be an exceptional circumstance to be acceptable to the voters (at least, exceptional enough that the majority party is not voted out of Government), but it can be done.
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Permalink Reply by Stephen Moore on
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Seems somewhat similar to to the VCRR, though ours is an Act of Parliament rather than part of the State Constitution.
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Permalink Reply by Trance Gemini on -
There is also a problem with our Charter in the "Notwithstanding" clauses which essentially means that any of the rights where a notwithstanding clause is applied is not guaranteed. (similar issue to what you are talking about).
In addition, the rights granted to religion in the BNA Act were not removed due to political pressure and lobbying by the Catholic Church.
If I recall correctly there are also certain rights missing like the right to own property although I'd have to check into this again.
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Permalink Reply by Dave Rogers on -
Any new legislation proposed in the legislature has to be checked for its compliance with the Charter
Is there a judicial review? What power do the courts have in your parliamentary system after the law is passed? In the US, the Congress usually does at least a sniff test if something is Constitutional before passing it into law. However, if they do pass the law anyway, it can be challenged in the courts all the way up to the Supreme Court. There, they have the power to overturn the law and deem it unconstitutional.
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Permalink Reply by Stephen Moore on
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There can be judicial review of an Act's complience, but it basically amounts to a statement of whether an Act is or is not in complience with the Charter; if found not to be in complience the Act still stands as law. It basically amounts to waving a finger whilst saying "That's naughty. Have a think about what you've you've done," but then not giving any punishment.
But there are the usual checks and balances of a modern democracy in that if an Act (or part of an Act) is found to be unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of Victoria or the High Court of Australia then it is struck down.
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Permalink Reply by david hartley on -
You'll find in the West that politics is already religously dominated through what the true faith really is. I learnt the hard way over their symbolisms hidden meanings. I don't want to go too deeply in to the medical side of it, for over the last few years now youtube has had a number of videos just off of the 9/11 conspiracy, but containing some of the same threads. In Zeigeist, which depending on what interests you you may not have picked up on, the beginning section carries a powerful disection of the idea of reincarnation from a political perspective. there is however a deeper meaning to some of these and other symbolisms especially. For many of the heiroglyphs of egypt, as a case in point i believe carry a psuedo-medical range of surgical medical damage that has helped create the overarching threat of any thing that anyone finds near or dear to them being destroyed being destroyed in the Abrahamics triumvirate's rush to create an Armeggeddon Where the only winner is monotheism and the gaggle of secret societies that make up all religions. Oh just a little aside.
T
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Permalink Reply by david hartley on
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These damages also are contributors to the onset, prevalance and onset of many of the diseases that afflict us and possibly a direct cause of many. Zeitgeist falters at the last by introducing a polical scenario of a tresource based economy where machines do all the work. Almost theism's wet dream of Eden. Eugenics ideals tagged on to a programme that attacked everything that theistic eugenics is about. Dr Goebbel,s department working overtime very sneaky.
The other programme that builds to the point was 'The Money Masters' where it exlained that the Federal Reserve is a private concern and it prints debt to the Goverment not money. There are now only approxiamately 4 countries in this world that print their own money the rest of us are in hock to private banks. The Fed is not only modelled on the Bank of England there's a lot of European money in their and your Government has absolutely no say in monetary piolicy.
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Permalink Reply by david hartley on
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So back to our original point of european politics already being religised, as it were everything done 'in the name of god' ,yours is not yet at that stage and we over here that live in a fascist theocratic monarchy appreciate your good luck not to. We fully understand the pernicious nature of parliaments being faith puppets to the monarchy here and in Rome. The worrying trend of overtly religious Supreme Court judges and the quasi-religious blatherings off of the T.V. from both press and politicians means we here and in many other places round the world recognise these cynical ploys and worry. You were created free and equal and it's a dream that people elsewhere dare not even think about and you are ready to throw that away by being silenced by the same system that has held us in check for thousands of years. Don't lose it America you're not only the dream now but that of all the ages.
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Permalink Reply by Tarquin St John Sh'gn'sty on -
I see the American constitution as either one of the most disingenuous or naive political documents ever written. Perhaps that's why American governments have the tendency to ignore bits when it suits them or permit bits to be cynically misinterpreted by vested interests.(the whole gun ownership thing is a graphic example.)
America seems to have one of the most corrupt political systems of any democracy and is one of the most jingoistic.It also the most feared and/or hated nation on earth. I do not now,and have never seen America as possessing any positive qualities my country lacks.
Pat Condell is an opinionated,bombastic ignoramus who makes entertaining polemics and preaches to the converted. I take him about as seriously as I do Micheal Moore.
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Permalink Reply by Aaron S. (USA) on -
One note on polygyny - as someone raised in a polygynous household, I'll personally stand up for people's right to have whatever kind of marital relations they want. The problem with those particular polygynous groups isn't with polygyny, it's with forced polygyny, and the majority of Mormon fundamentalists don't allow it. My parent's group, for instance, even took a further step and strongly advised women not to get married before 18, despite our state's laws allowing marriage for 16-year-olds, and I don't think I've ever seen a woman marry a dramatically older man there. My own parents are the worst example I can think of (my father is 10 years older than my mother), but they were married before they became fundies.
Undoubtedly there are some groups that abuse underage girls, but you can't take the few cases that ALWAYS make it onto TV and then assume that they're all like that. The reason why it gets onto TV is because it's unusual.
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Permalink Reply by Klaus Motan on -
...seeing US as an oasis of freedom is such a crazy point of view, only US citizens and a few people from some officially despotic countries can understand - the rest of the world, especially the citizens of really free and democratic countries tend more to see the States as the primary threat for freedom and peace in the world, cause of their unscrupulous imperialistic politics, their aggressive economic system and behaviour, their unstopped common and atomic armament and their tendency to behave themselves as a kind of "world-police" and to intermingle in every national affair in the world. And, last but not least, for their very corrupt government and (sorry to say so) ignoring and stupid citizens, which, for example, protest against a governmental regulated health care system, meaning this communistic !!! and a threat to freedom...
For sure, the States may be the country of the free, but it´s only a freedom for the rich and wealthy, not for the common people. Is it a mark of personal freedom, if I got the right to carry my personal weapon to protect mine and myself, but have a police and government (which is, in a advanced and democratic civilisation, actually obliged to do this job) too corrupt to do so ? Is it a mark of freedom, if I have an indirect election system, that was abandoned by nearly all civilisated countries centuries ago cause of it´s whacked and uncorrect showing of peoples meaning, and call it democracy ? Is it a mark of freedom, to have a legal system, allowing everyone to go to law with everyone for nearly everything, but serves mostly the one that could afford the most skillful pettyfogging lawyer ? ...and so on...
It´s true, that the US Constitution was one of the first democratic ones, but that was more than twohundred years ago, meanwhile nearly all western countries have fetched over the US a long time ago.
I guess, the States are one of the worst places to live there, not least cause of the reluctance of their people to undergo a basicallly change in their behaviours and their view of the world and their place within. As I told before, sorry to say so, cause I guess, most US-citizens in here are different, but that´s a statement from an Austrian, which means, from a citizen of a democratic, socially advanced and wealthy country, who wouldn´t want to live in the States, not for much money...
p.s. you maybe should remember, that there are a lot of western countries (especially in Europe) possessing a cultural history for thousand or more years, not only for a few decades, calling them the cradle of a variety of western civilisations and seeing them as an anchor too - maybe they´re right...
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Permalink Reply by Creature on -
...seeing US as an oasis of freedom is such a crazy point of view, only US citizens and a few people from some officially despotic countries can understand - the rest of the world, especially the citizens of really free and democratic countries tend more to see the States as the primary threat for freedom and peace in the world, cause of their unscrupulous imperialistic politics, their aggressive economic system and behaviour, their unstopped common and atomic armament and their tendency to behave themselves as a kind of "world-police" and to intermingle in every national affair in the world. And, last but not least, for their very corrupt government and (sorry to say so) ignoring and stupid citizens, which, for example, protest against a governmental regulated health care system, meaning this communistic !!! and a threat to freedom...
For sure, the States may be the country of the free, but it´s only a freedom for the rich and wealthy, not for the common people.
Thank you for that, Klaus. I really wish more of us would, instead of getting defensive, take what you've just said into consideration.
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