Now this is an interesting story:
The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected a Buffalo Grove atheist’s final appeal in his lawsuit challenging the use of state funds to renovate an 11-story cross atop southern Illinois’ tallest peak, ending the legal dispute spanning more than two years.
The nation’s high court on Tuesday declined without comment to review Robert Sherman’s request to hear his case involving the $20,000 grant given in 2008 to the 111-foot-high Bald Knob Cross of Peace near Alto Pass. Lower courts already had ruled that Sherman lacked standing to sue over the grant.
I was asked the other day by a Co-Worker about the CDC’s restriction on public funds for gun research. I noted that the NRA’s position is that the funded research has always been for restricting guns from private hands. Given that it is a Constitutionally protected right, then public funds for restricting rights should be barred.
Still my PERSONAL feelings is that public funds should be used for building schools, and paving roads, and keeping a modest military equipped and paid. There is so much crap that we dump public funds into.
Personally as a non-Christian I find it hard to get bothered by public displays of faith. You see crosses and faith-based billboards all over the South, and I could care less. Still I’d personally rather not pay for any of it, and I don’t see why these good people need my help to erect a monument.
I grew up not far from the Bald Knob Cross and I’ve attended a few sunrise services there. There were usually a number of tour buses full of geezers from around the country that stopped off there.
Beyond its religious appeal, the cross is an important tourist attraction in an otherwise heavily economically depressed part of the state.
As long as the government is handing out money to other tourist traps I don’t see why this one should be excluded.
I’d much rather the government get out of the funding of fripperies altogether but that’s not a choice we have at present.
Why can’t God pay for it?
I never had kids. Why should my tax money pay for schools, school lunches, after school programs and ritalin? I drive less than 500 miles per year, yet my auto insurance doesn’t reflect that as a percentage discount when my premium is due.
How far do you want to take this quasi-logic?
Great points, and I’m writing them down on a post-it for another day of real-deal discussion. And I mean discussion because I don’t want to play with quasi-logic, and I suspect these issues are like Health Care in this country (or guns for that matter) where there is no perfect answer, so it’ll be open-ended.
I would say as a quick thumbnail debate, even those without kids benefit from kids in school, both in the time they spend in school, but also for the education they get. Now that’s not cart blanche on our bloated and inefficient school system, it needs to be trimmed with a chainsaw. But I don’t think it needs to be executed.
Also as for insurance, you should indeed get a low mileage discount, but that doesn’t mean that somebody who drives twice as far as you has twice the risk. Most auto accidents happen in parking lots, and that makes up the bulk of insurance claims.
Definitely a good topic for discussion.
IL has peaks?