July 25, 2016 by IdealisticRebel

Who is DNC Chair Maria Fudge

It is now the turn for the Democrats to make speeches and put their issues and plans out there for the American people to think about. Al Gore will not becoming and I am disappointed. But I am looking forward to Bernie’s speech and to what the Democratic leaders have to say. I will be listening closely to Hillary. I am waiting to hear about Mother Earth, Unions, trade agreements, making all Americans free and equal. I want to hear how we will adjudicate criminal sentences fairly. I want to hear that women will finally become legally equal and that Human Trafficking will be taken out of the shadows and made a major felony.I Want to hear that there will be more funding for Domestic Violence shelters. I want more community education on how to stop violence in the home and in the community. I could give you a long wish list but I am going to listen to the speeches. May America be blessed with what it needs most.

Namaste,

Barbara

Who is DNC Chair Marcia Fudge?

by LAUREN VICTORIA BURKE

Image: US-VOTE-DEMOCRATS-CONVENTION — Congresswoman Marcia Fudge (C) gestures to the crowd as she speaks during Day 1 of the Democratic National Convention at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, July 25, 2016.SAUL LOEB / AFP – Getty Images

As Rep. Marcia Fudge stepped into an unexpected role today as Chair of the Democratic National Convention, she made it her business to open the official procedures with a command for unity and respect.

“We’re all Democrats and we need to act like it,” began the congresswoman from Ohio, who also promised a “different kind of convention than the one we saw last week.”

Congresswoman Marcia Fudge will gavel sessions in at the start of business and close business at the end of the night. Though Fudge says she was made Chair weeks before an e-mail controversy ended DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s time as head of the DNC, Fudge will now take center stage.

“I know there are many of you in this room who don’t know me,” Rep. Fudge said to the thousands of delegates gathered in the arena. “I intend to be fair, I want to hear the varying opinions here. I’m gong to be respectful of you, and I want you to be respectful of me.”

Fudge, 63, is no stranger to leadership roles. She served as the the first African American and the first female Mayor of Warrensville Heights, Ohio from 2000 to 2008 and before that she was a prosecutor. Fudge was the President of one of the oldest African American sororities, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, from 1996 to 2000. In 2008, after the sudden death of Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, Fudge was elected to Congress and in 2013 she was elected Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Image: Democratic National Convention: Day One — Donna Brazile gives a thumbs up during the first day of the Democratic National Convention at the Wells Fargo Center, July 25, 2016 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. An estimated 50,000 people are expected in Philadelphia, including hundreds of protesters and members of the media.Jessica Kourkounis / Getty Images

“We have three Black women now running this convention: Rep. Marcia Fudge, Donna Brazile and Leah Daughtry,” Melanie Campbell, President of the National Coalition of Black Civic Participation, told NBCBLK.

Donna Brazile is the interim DNC Chair.

Leah Daughtry is the CEO of the Convention for the second time, having held the role for the first time in Denver in 2008. In an interview with NBCBLK in November, Daughtry promised “the most diverse and the most forward-looking convention that we’ve had in recent history.”

“I’m prepared. I do believe that we will have some people who may not be pleased with what is going on, we anticipate that… I’ve been around here for the last few days, I’ve heard the disruptions so I don’t think it’s going to be any different once we get inside the hall,” Rep. Fudge told NBC News’ Alexandra Jaffe today. Yesterday there was a well attended rally at Philadelphia’s City Hall in support of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT). Tonight Sanders will address the convention.

Colleagues and those in the advocacy community know Fudge well.

“Marcia Fudge has been a fighter and a warrior for African Americans and all Americans for justice. Even before coming to Congress and she’s continued that tradition fighting for working people, fighting for women and the underdog. It’s not really a surprise that at a time of great crisis in our nation she was chosen to Chair this great convention,” Rev. Barbara Williams Skinner told NBCBLK.

“Marcia Fudge has so many capabilities that every time I see an opportunity for her to excel I say I wish the whole nation and the world would know her as well as I do. She’s good,” said Rep, Charlie Rangel (D-NY) to NBCBLK during an interview in downtown Philadelphia.

“She has a great legislative record. She’s well thought of and well respected,” said NAACP President Cornell Brooks before speaking on a panel on the Black agenda in Philly.

“I think we just need to run our convention and let the email scandal take care of itself. I can’t get into it, I haven’t even read the emails, thank goodness, so I can’t even discuss them with you. I just want us to do what Democrats do, we’re gonna run the convention, we’re gonna make sure that everybody understands that it’s fair, that everyone has an opportunity to say what they want to say, and we’re gonna move forward,” Fudge told NBC today.

America's Liberty Bell; Philadelphia, Pennsylvanis

America’s Liberty Bell; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

July 24, 2016 by IdealisticRebel

The Reality of Black LIves Matter

Many are speaking ill of the organization Black Lives Matter. Many untruths are being said but these people are members of the organization and are speaking truth. I hope this will clarify issues for some people. Ultimately, I believe all lives matter. However. I do believe for America it must start with Black Lives Matter. We have been a racist country since our founding. The issue of slavery has been the ghost rattling keys in our closets.

I wish the Founding Fathers had succeeded in their attempts. They did try long and hard. They decided it would be a less emotional issue for Americans to handle after we had been a country for a while. They meant well. But it is still here and it is now an abyss which divides America.

I want this to be healed. I want an end to racism and soon. I don’t want more people to die.

Let today be the day you look inside your heart of hearts and find the racism that is still lingering and hiding. Pull it out, vow to look at all people as your brothers and sisters. They truly are. We are equal. Murdering each other, lynching, hating will not change the fact that all color of people are equal. We are all children of the Universe, made from the same matter as the stars. Let us accomplish what the Founding Fathers weren’t able to do: make America truly, now and forever equal. equal for all of us.

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July 22, 2016 by IdealisticRebel

A Funny Response to an UnFunny Night

We are in that lovely part of the election cycle called “the Conventions”. I decided that we needed to think of the RNC with a little change of perspective. I found some and I would like to share it with you. The video is really funny and right now funny is the thing we need. So I hope at least some of you will laugh and the internal pressure will decrease for a little bit. If you don’t like it, blame it on the heat and forgive me.

Namaste,

Barbara

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Trump on etch a sketch

July 20, 2016 by IdealisticRebel

New Brain Mapping

I am really excited about this huge advancement in what we know about the brain and what we will be able to accomplish with this new information, We could make strides in education, special needs and in mental illness. It is a wonderful time to be alive. This is a huge leap for all of mankind.

Namaste,

Barbara

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New brain map identifies 97 previously unknown regions

By Susan Scutti, CNN

Updated 1:40 PM ET, Wed July 20, 2016

GPS Moonshots: Mapping the Brain

Story highlights

New human brain map contains 180 areas per hemisphere, including 97 previously unknown regions
A “classifier” can identify these brain areas in new people

(CNN)A new 21st century map of the human brain contains 180 distinct areas in each hemisphere, including 97 previously undiscovered territories, research published Wednesday in the journal Nature revealed. It’s not quite Google Maps, but the new optic still provides the most detailed understanding of the cerebral cortex to date, based on the freshest data from the latest technologies.

The new map “is a major revision and updating” of previous maps,” said David Van Essen, senior author of the study. “Most of the new areas are in regions we associate with higher cognitive function,” he said.

This is version 1.0, and as new data comes in, there will be revisions, said Dr. Greg Farber, director of technology development at the National Institute of Mental Health, echoing the authors of the research.

A 180-area multimodal human cortical parcellation on inflated left and right hemisphere surfaces.

“You know what maps of the world looked like in 1500 and you know what they look like in 1950? I think in terms of resolution and quality, we moved from 1500 to 1950,” said Farber. In time, he said, we’ll get better definition, but he would be “very surprised” to see major changes to this new “parcellation” as Van Essen refers to it.

“This is going to give us more insight into the brain,” said CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta, who is also a practicing neurosurgeon. He added the idea of a complete cortical map has been thought about “as far back as I can remember.”

How did they do it?

To create the colorful map, “We brought together a variety of methodological improvements,” explained Matthew Glasser, first author and a doctoral student in neuroscience.

First, they dipped into the wealth of data gathered by the sophisticated technologies employed in the Human Connectome Project, a National Institutes of Health initiative.

This is a key reason the map is more precise than previous versions — the team began with finer-grain detail than available in the past, including brain images collected from 210 healthy young adult participants in the NIH project.

Next, instead of focusing on just one biological property of the brain — architecture, function, connectivity or topography — the researchers combined all four criteria to draw border lines around each “country” within the cortex.

A 180-area multimodal human cortical parcellation on the left and right hemisphere surfaces.

Finally, the team took in the brain’s entire breadth, unlike neuroscientists of past generations who looked at only part of the cerebral cortex.

Yet developing an actual map required more than gathering data. Imagine superimposing photos of 210 unique bodies. Though the many different bodies would never line up perfectly, a rough picture of the human form would emerge — you would still see the separate features of arms and legs, eyes and ears.

Similarly, the team compared all 210 brains. Seeing an area of unusual thickness of myelin (insulation for nerve cells) or a hotspot of connection activity, they would align all the brains according to that feature. Eventually, a picture of the “typical” brain appeared.

Know thyself

The key to each of us rests within our skulls. Our brains contain both history and identity — our most intimate memories from the past live, unseen, beside our future hopes and dreams.

This image shows the pattern of brain activation (red, yellow) and deactivation (blue, green) in the left hemisphere when listening to stories while in the MRI scanner.

The cerebral cortex is an outer layer of brain tissue. Its surface area is pizza-sized, but it has been crumpled to fit inside the skull and the result is the brain’s most distinctive feature — the many folds and wrinkles. Roughly 20 billion of the brain’s total 100 billion neurons reside in the cerebral cortex.

Brain cells communicate based on how they are wired together. Technology does not yet allow us to trace every instance of individual neurons speaking to each other, but it is possible to untangle the connections between regions, which reveals how the brain processes information. The result is nothing short of what we see, feel, think and remember.

Naturally, creating an accurate map of the cortex has been the holy grail for many a neuroscientist.

New cortical territories

The new map identifies 180 areas for each hemisphere, including 97 new territories along with 83 previously known regions. Each area has been defined based on the fact that they are “similar within themselves, but different from their neighbors,” explained Glasser. Each has a unique microstructural architecture (including thickness of the cortex), plus a unique pattern of activity and connectivity with other brain areas.

Image shows a map of myelin content (red, yellow are high myelin; indigo and blue are low myelin) in the left hemisphere of cerebral cortex.

“Think of each brain area as having a unique fingerprint to it,” said Glasser.

The newly identified areas mainly reside in regions of higher cognitive function, Van Essen explained. A dozen distinct cortical areas, for instance, have been identified within the area known as the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, which is involved in planning, working memory and abstract thinking, among other functions.

They also discovered some areas with atypical “topological” structure from person to person. For example, area 55b “is an island of language processing snuggled in between regions with completely different functions,” said Van Essen, who is co-principal investigator of the NIH’s Humgan Connectome Project. Long overlooked, the area is small and easily buried in the noise of signaling between other regions.

“We have started, but by no means finished, our characterization about what is different about these new areas,” said Van Essen. He explained the map provides a framework but more research needs to be done to understand both circuitry and meaning.

Finally, perhaps as important as the map itself, the team created a “classifier” to recognize the cortical areas in any brain studied. The classifier — a computer program, Glasser explained — can be compared to post office-designed software which is able to recognize individual letters of the alphabet across many different people’s handwriting in order to read addresses and sort mail.

The machine-learning classifier can identify the unique architecture, function, and pattern of connections of each region and “then it goes to new subjects and it can find that ‘fingerprint’ and that’s how it identifies the areas,” said Glasser.

Their experiments showed the classifier could detect nearly 97% of the areas in new subjects, even in instances where someone had atypical or unique brain structures.

How the map will be used

Going forward, practical uses include the brain map becoming a tool for learning and teaching neurosurgery residents, and even planning operations, said Gupta, though the differences between people, slight though they may be, would still necessitate surgeons performing their own tests while planning brain operations.

Farber believes the map suggests that “sooner, rather than later,” doctors will be able to take an MRI of a person and say “you have autism” or “you are addicted to cigarettes.” In other words, thanks to the new schematic, increasingly sophisticated technologies should shortly be able to diagnose brain disorders.

“We think the field as a whole will start framing and formulating new questions based on the map,” Van Essen said.

July 19, 2016 by IdealisticRebel

Human Trafficking

636045257698558441-CHILD-SEX-HEROIN-1

CINCINNATI — She said she was ashamed that she traded her 11-year-old daughter for sex to get heroin, but the judge pointed out that April Corcoran never offered an apology to the child.

“You showed no kind of mercy,” Judge Leslie Ghiz said.

In turn, Ghiz said she’d have no mercy on Corcoran and sentenced her to 51 years to life during her sentencing Tuesday in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court.

Corcoran, 32, of Warren County, pleaded guilty in June to multiple counts of complicity to rape, of human trafficking and child endangering involving the child. Corcoran also admitted giving the girl heroin sometimes as a reward. The child vomited each time.

Ghiz allowed Corcoran to read a statement in court.

“I made selfish, horrible choices that will affect (the girl) for the rest of her life,” Corcoran said. “I am consumed by guilt and shame every day.”

That didn’t move the judge.

The girl was sodomized, raped, forced to perform oral sex and frequently videotaped by Corcoran’s drug dealer in his Camp Washington home, prosecutors say. The encounters happened between February and June 2014.

Shandell Willingham, 42, who faces the same charges as Corcoran, has been convicted in Indiana on unrelated drug charges as well as on child pornography charges. He was returned to Hamilton County last month. A hearing in his case is set for Aug. 10.

CINCINNATI.COM

Child sex for heroin allegation ‘sad, but not surprising’

The girl’s grandparents told the judge they hoped for justice for their granddaughter and that others would be protected from Corcoran. The girl’s grandmother spoke quietly in court.

“I saw my granddaughter. I heard her small voice,” Sylvia Corcoran said. “It was horrific. How could she (Corcoran) do this? I don’t know if my granddaughter is going to be able to have a normal life.”

The girl, now, 13, is living out of state with her father and stepmother.

Ghiz said she had to take breaks while reading everything that was admitted into the court case.

“I can honestly say that, in three-and-a-half years on the bench, this is by far the worst thing that has come before this court,” Ghiz said. And she’s seen everything from thefts to physical harm done by people addicted to heroin, she said.

“I don’t know that you grasp the damage that has been done to this poor child,” Ghiz said, noting that the girl is undergoing medical care, has had suicidal thoughts and is taking medications.

Corcoran’s lawyer, James Bogen, said his client has been “sickened and disgusted” by what she’s done since she’s been jailed.

Dr. Daniel Bebo of UC Health told the court that when someone’s in withdrawal from opioids or heroin, “There’s a lot of leeway to what they’ll say or do.”

But he confirmed Bogen’s statement in court about addicts: “They still know right from wrong.”

Staff writer Kevin Grasha contributed.

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This case sickens me and makes me feel that we can never save every child. But we can and we will. The sentence this woman received was just and fair. What she allowed her daughter to live through is beyond description.

What a sad way to begin your life. That little girl needs a lot of counseling and people who care about her to surround her with positiveness, love, support and patience.

So in the middle of wars, insurrections, domestic terrorism, Domestic Violence, rape; we must not forget the human trafficking that continues to go on. You can help. If you see or hear something suspicious report it. Better to be wrong than to let something terrible happen to someone.

Human trafficking is increasing in infrequency and young people of all colors are being taken and sold. This is just slavery, pure and simple. Every human being has a God given right to live free, to make their own decisions and to never be owned by another human being. I believe that sentences for human trafficking should always be life without parole. The cost of the crime should be worse than people want to pay.

Namaste,

Barbara

Human trafficking in Romania

July 18, 2016 by IdealisticRebel

Domestic Violence has not slowed down

There is so much violence happening in the world I want to make sure a special group knows we have not forgotten about them… the women who live in battering, violent relationships.

We have not forgotten your day to day struggle trying not to be beaten, injured or murdered. We know your children are in harm’s way and live in fear.

You continue to be important to the police, hospital staff and shelter staff in your communities. Everyone of you is vital. We are still here for you and will always be here for you. Use your Hotlines, talk to your counselors and remember that it is a crime for anyone to hit anyone else. This is a form of domestic terrorism. Some states are looking at passing laws that would make it a crime for anyone, of either sex, to own a gun once they have been found guilty of Domestic Violence.

It is hard to understand how a soldier who saved the lives of women and children in the Middle East could come home and beat his own family or kill them; but it happens. We haven’t been there and lived through what they have had to. So contact some one at the base and tell them what is happening and they can help you get the specific help your abuser needs.

Never stay in an abusive relationship for any reason. It isn’t your fault. If his boxer shorts came out of the wash pink and you end up with a black eye, get out. Yeah, you might still love him. He may tell you he is sorry and feel sorry for that moment of time but he isn’t capable of really loving anyone. If you stay, at some point, you will have been hurt enough that you might pick up his gun and shoot him before he kills you.

It is better to live without this twisted sort of love, than for your children to have watched him put roses on your casket. He will teach them that you deserved what he did and they will grow up to resent you. Living in a shelter is a new start and a grave is the end of this earth plane.

Published July 18, 2016 on Foxnews.com

Jason Earl Armstrong Jr. and surveillance video of Armstrong on July 1, 2016. (FBI)

The FBI is hunting a man wanted in the killing of his wife, a Fort Bragg soldier.

The FBI is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of 27-year-old Jason Earl Armstrong Jr., Fox 11 Los Angeles reported Saturday.

A federal warrant charges him with killing Iris Armstrong in the couple’s Fort Bragg home in North Carolina July 1.

She had been stabbed and beaten, the station reported.

The FBI said Armstrong was captured on a surveillance video using his wife’s debit card shortly after the murder, the station reported.

He has ties to South Carolina; Atlanta; New Orleans; Amarillo, Texas; Phoenix and Los Angeles.

Iris Armstrong was a human resources specialist assigned to the 189^th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion of the 82^nd Airborne Division Sustainment Brigade, the Fayetteville Observer reported. She joined the Army in 2012.

The couple’s two children are safe, according to the FBI.

Lt. Col. Jeremy St. Laurent, commander of the 189th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, told the Observer Iris Armstrong was an outstanding soldier and well-liked.

“Our thoughts, prayers and condolences go out to her family, friends and loved ones during this very difficult time,” he said.

iseeviolence

July 16, 2016 by IdealisticRebel

The Question of Race Relations

Diversity is beautiful.

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8 in 10 Seek ‘Major’ Focus on Race as Most Say Relations Are Worsening (POLL)

By CHAD KIEWIET DE JONGE

A vast 83 percent of Americans say the next president should place an “especially major” focus on trying to improve race relations – which, following the Dallas police killings and high-profile shootings of blacks by police, majorities see as bad and getting worse.

Sixty-three percent in a new ABC News/Washington Post poll say race relations generally are bad and 55 percent say they’re worsening, sharply more negative views than just two months ago. Only a third say relations are good and just one in 10 say they’re getting better.

See PDF with full results here.

This translates into a broad desire for progress. Not only do 83 percent say the next president should put an especially major focus on trying to improve race relations, nearly half in this group also say it’s “extremely” important. Just 12 percent don’t want a major focus on the issue, and few of them feel strongly about it.

To the extent race relations influence the presidential campaign, Hillary Clinton may benefit: the public trusts her more than Donald Trump to handle the issue by 58 to 26 percent, with Clinton preferred by 89 percent of Democrats, 55 percent of independents and a quarter of Republicans. She also leads Trump by 66-21 percent on the issue among those who think the next president should focus heavily on race relations.

Racial Groups

Clinton-Trump gaps on race relations span racial groups in this poll, produced for ABC byLanger Research Associates. Though her advantage expands to 74-12 percent among nonwhites (a broadly Democratic group), Clinton also leads Trump on the issue by 15 points among whites, 50-35 percent. Among whites who think relations are deteriorating, though, Trump’s trust deficit with Clinton disappears.

Seventy-two percent of blacks, 65 percent of Hispanics and 63 percent of whites say race relations currently are bad. Half of blacks, and 55 and 56 percent of whites and Hispanics, respectively, also say they’re getting worse.

Blacks and Hispanics are 11 points more apt than whites to say the next president should put a major focus on the issue. But the big difference is in how many call this extremely important: Just 40 percent of whites who favor a major focus on race relations, vs. 67 and 64 percent of blacks and Hispanics, respectively.

Other Groups

Pessimism about race relations is higher among young adults, 73 percent, compared with 61 percent of those older than 29. Americans without a college degree are 10 points more likely than those with a college degree to think relations are poor and 14 points more likely to think the situation is getting worse. Both groups contain higher shares of minorities.

City dwellers are 10 points more likely than rural residents to view relations as generally poor, but the latter are 9 points more apt to think things are getting worse. And women are 8 points more likely than men to think relations are worsening.

Democrats and liberals both split on whether race relations are getting worse or merely staying the same. By contrast, majorities of independents and moderates – as well as about two in three Republicans, conservatives and evangelical white Protestants – think relations are declining.

In the largest political difference, four in 10 liberal Democrats think race relations are worsening (a plurality says they’re staying the same), compared with two-thirds of conservative Republicans.

That said, improving race relations is a bigger priority for Democrats and liberals; more than nine in 10 say the next president should be someone who puts a major focus on the issue, and among them, six in 10 say it’s extremely important. While three-quarters of Republicans also favor a major focus on race relations, only 35 percent say it’s extremely important.

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Peace is what most of us want. Peace is what we need. One of the things we need to bring about peace is to end all racism. I didn’t used to think racism remained a real problem. I worked with people of color, volunteered with them and envied their ready-made tans. But as time has gone on I have realized that other Caucasian people felt differently. With the election of Obama and the re-election, I realized that I was different from most Caucasians that I knew. Now I am speaking up about race relations and I am sorry for all the innocent lives of color that have been lost. Black people have a right to worry about their children. So do Muslim parents, Asian parents and indigenous parents.

Bob Marley was right. There is One Family, One Love, and One World. If we destroy it, we are all responsible; if we heal it and ourselves we all get credit. May peace be the word you wake up to in the morning and the last word you think of before you go to sleep.

July 14, 2016 by IdealisticRebel

A New Perspective

Full Poem:

I was not born on the upper rungs of the ladder, though I am white. My paternal grandfather raised a family of eight washing windows and I am so proud of him. He had the work ethic. My maternal grandfather went to Chicago to work during the Depression to support his immediate family and the extended family who crossed over from the old country. He was a tool and dye maker. He sent money home to Cleveland to buy food so my grandmother could cook food and feed all of them. My pride in them as people is immense and I inherited my desire to make the world a better place comes from their example.

In truth, I never talked about people of color. They were there but they weren’t people of color. They were just people we knew. Archie Bunker introduced me to racism, bigotry and hatred.

When I heard this young boy’s poem, I was touched. There are people who get it. And they tell others and some of them get it and they tell others and on and on. I challenge all of you who are non-haters, non-racists, non-bigots to tell someone who you really are. Speak up. This is the time before we find ourselves in another World War. The world is shaky right now, but we can stabilize it with our voices and our actions.

We can want or even demand that our elected officials stop the racism and hatred, but it truly is our job. This is our world and we are the ones who are responsible for speaking, nay yelling, out the truth. Black Lives Matter, Women are equal even if not legally, refugees deserve compassion and assistance, women deserve equal pay for equal work, Muslims deserve to worship in their own way. Everyone does except for those who feel their way is the only right way and non-believers deserve to die.

I believe we can get past this without a war. I believe that love, peace, forgiveness and compassion is where we begin.

Namaste

Barbara

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friends

People of color everywhere are friends and share life’s ups and downs.

July 12, 2016 by IdealisticRebel

A Brief Message

Hi, All

It’s The Sister, with a brief explanation

It’s been some days since you’ve heard from the IdealisticRebel. This is because a) we’ve been traveling and b) her computer died

We are working on getting the replacement broken in and she should be back with you all soon.

Namaste,

Amy

July 8, 2016 by IdealisticRebel

Separation

In 1801, members of the small Baptist church in Danbury, Connecticut, wrote a letter to President Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) congratulating him on his recent election. At the time, Baptist’s were a minority religion. In New England the Congressional Church was prominent. Jefferson assured them that they had nothing to worry about. Their letter had expressed worries about being in the minority. They were afraid they would lose their rights and be forced to become Congregationalists.

A few months later, the President answered their letter. jefferson said,in effect, that the First Amendment to the Constitution had erected a “wall of separation” between church and state that meant Connecticut could not interfere with the Baptist’s religious freedom.

“Believing with you that religion is a matter with lies solely between Man and his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship. that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should ‘ make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,’ thus building a wall of separation between Church and State.

Jefferson’s metaphor of the wall between church and state became enormously influential, Although not part of the Constitution, Jefferson’s metaphorical wall has been recognized by the Supreme Court as a guiding concept in the relationship between church and state. It has been cited by many American political and religious leaders.

Jefferson’s letter remains a cornerstone, an influential interpretation of First Amendment cause and a cornerstone of religious liberty in the United States.

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