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Two things: 1) Roger Williams faced his own Lynch Mob in the form of the Puritans
2) Most Rhode Islanders are pro-gay marriage, and are cool with Roger Williams.
It's not uncommon at all for many of these early Americans to be romanticized about, without the realization that one with their beliefs today would be instantly labeled as a right-wing, reactionary wing-nut (or much worse). Washington, Lincoln, Roosevelt, none of them would have a prayer today. The media would crucify them.
Roger Williams (a Baptist) was forced from MA to RI by the Puritans due to their hard line intolerance for anyone who doesn't subscribe to their beliefs. Everyday, RI/MA liberals are closer and closer to this form of rigidity (there is no room left for the dissenters).
It's not uncommon at all for many of these early Americans to be romanticized about, without the realization that one with their beliefs today would be instantly labeled as a right-wing, reactionary wing-nut (or much worse).
Really? I hardly think Roger Williams would be labeled as a "right-wing reactionary wing-nut (or much worse)." He''d be viewed as being a part of the mainstream of contemporary society.
Quote:
Originally Posted by About.com
Roger Williams was banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony on October 9, 1635. He had pushed forward his views of the need for freedom of religion and the separation of church and state. He was supposed to go back to England but instead fled to what is now Rhode Island. He lived amongst the Narragansett Indians and then founded Providence. This was the first colony to offer all its citizens freedom of worship and was founded upon the idea of separation of church and state.
That's not being "romanticized," it's an historical fact. The true wingnuts, as you term them, are those who want to tear down the wall between church and state. True wingnuts, as you label them, want to reinvent or deny history. That just won't do.
Quote:
Washington, Lincoln, Roosevelt, none of them would have a prayer today. The media would crucify them.
Roger Williams (a Baptist) was forced from MA to RI by the Puritans due to their hard line intolerance for anyone who doesn't subscribe to their beliefs. Everyday, RI/MA liberals are closer and closer to this form of rigidity (there is no room left for the dissenters).
The dissenters, who are determined to move back to clock to a time when blacks couldn't inter-marry and women couldn't vote, can always move to Afghanistan and take their Taliban view of the world with them (there are options). There, they can be a happy majority. But their Talibanical view of the world here in America is extremist. America doesn't agree with these far-right mentalities.
Fact:
Quote:
Originally Posted by ABCNews poll
Support for gay marriage reached a new high in the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll, marking a dramatic change in public attitudes on the subject across the past decade. Fifty-eight percent of Americans now say it should be legal for gay and lesbian couples to wed.
Only 38% do not agree. We call that a minority position.
Times have changed, society has become more open-minded and fair. Those who would stand in the way of America's march toward a more just society are living in an ancient past and render themselves irrelevant. I feel sad for them, to be left behind as America moves forward.
Congratulations, Rhode Island, on joining in this progress!
Bishop Tobin, who is very slow in addressing child abuse by his subordinate pedophile priests in his diocese, of which his is the ultimate authority (and thus is ultimately responsible for), was quick to warn Catholics to not attend pay marriage ceremonies:
Quote:
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) - Bishop of Providence Thomas Tobin says he's "profoundly disappointed" that Rhode Island is likely to legalize same-sex marriage on Thursday, and he's warning Catholics to think hard before going to the weddings of local gays and lesbians.
"Catholics should examine their consciences very carefully before deciding whether or not to endorse same-sex relationships or attend same-sex ceremonies, realizing that to do so might harm their relationship with God and cause significant scandal to others," Tobin wrote in a pastoral letter to the faithful released on Thursday afternoon.
That's high irony for you! "Scandal?" The scandal Tobin should concern himself with is within his own domain!
Merely 15 years ago, the same condition this state now calls
"marriage", was ''abominable and detestable crimes against nature.''
The measure to overturn RI's sodomy law passed in 1998, by a measure
of, get this, 49-40. Rhode Island Moves to End Sodomy Ban - NYTimes.com
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- With hundreds looking on, Governor Chafee signed two bills Thursday that make Rhode Island the 10th state to legalize same-sex marriage. The signing, at 6:50 p.m., drew cheers from hundreds who gathered at the south side of the State House, the location for Chafee's 2011 inaugural address, in which he made clear his desire to see Rhode Island join the states that have made same-sex marriage a reality.
Merely 15 years ago, the same condition this state now calls
"marriage", was ''abominable and detestable crimes against nature.''
The measure to overturn RI's sodomy law passed in 1998, by a measure
of, get this, 49-40. Rhode Island Moves to End Sodomy Ban - NYTimes.com
That's now called "progress".
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High Irony
