Are fair trials are for Christians only?

Tamara Semiklose and her husband own a small stable in Florence, SC where she gives beginner riding lessons to middle and low income children. They have been married for 16 years and have 3 beautiful children who are honor students and have never been in trouble. Mr. Semiklose, a navy veteran with several Good Sailor Awards has worked for at the same company for the past 13 years.All in all they are a typical American family.

2 years ago, they entered into a property dispute over a horse with a neighbor and one time good friend. Mr. Semilkose decided to take this neighbor to court to regain their property or to be compensated appropriately for it. It should have been a simple civil trial in which the parties presented their evidence as it pertained to the case at hand. In the courtroom of Judge Eugene Cooper however, the “facts” of the case and the question of religion, if you are not a Christian anyway are apparently two different matters. The lawyer for the defendant, Attorney Gary Finklea apparently thinks that if you practice a religion other than Christianity, you are not entitled to the same protections under the law.

During the trial, it became known that Mrs. Semiklose is a Pagan and has been for over 25 years. (Note here that Mrs. Semiklose was not a plaintiff in this matter, only Mr. Semilkose who is NOT a pagan was a party to the lawsuit.) This information was presented to the jury in the form of questions to each witness for the prosecution. Questions such as, “Do you believe in God? Are you Wiccan? Do you have morals?” were repeatedly asked of anyone who was believed to be part of the circle of people that Mrs. Semilkose worshiped with. This line of questioning was objected to, but the Judge allowed the questions to be asked and insisted they be answered because it “established moral credibility”. These questions were not asked of the defense or of the witnesses who where known to be Christian or who identified as protestant when asked.

In the end, the case was settled in favor of Mr. Semiklose in spite of this public display of discrimination by the defense and the Judge however what exactly did they win? Mrs. Semiklose as well as her circle had been “outed” in a court, she lost three riding students as a result and her business has yet to recover. While at the time, they were outraged by the treatment they had received at the hands of the court, they decided to let things drop and try to pick up their lives at that point and go on.

However, early this year a damaged tree from the property of the same neighbor fell on one of their horses. It was a clear case of fault and they asked only that the vet bills be paid by the responsible party; however the case again ended up in the Florence county Magistrates Court to be settled.
This time, as the Semiklose’s interviewed lawyers to take their case; they were quoted outlandish retainer fees or told outright that the lawyer would not take their case because of Mrs. Semiklose’s religion. Mr. Semiklose decided that because the case appeared to be very straightforward he would represent himself. He was prepared to be questioned about his religion, but was sure that this time it would not be an issue because he was not Pagan.

Much to his surprise on April 10, 2007 in Judge Langley’s courtroom the defense attorney, Mr. Finklea, again began his barrage of questions regarding the prosecutions moral “rights” to be in court. The questions this time centered on his wife (who was not even present in the courtroom). “What religion is your wife? Is your wife Wiccan? Do you go to church? Do you go to your wife’s services?”. Again, this was allowed to “establish moral credibility”. However questions regarding the defendant’s drug record, her time spent at rehabilitation, her custody loss of her children and her husbands arrest record were all marked as off limits to the prosecution. Once more the jury found in favor of Mr. Semiklose and awarded him the amount he was requesting. This time however the Semiklose’s and their circle of friends decided that this could no longer continue to be the status quo of courtroom conduct in America.

The laws against discriminating because of race, religion or creed exist in this country for good reasons. American values are founded on the fact that you can receive a just and fair court ruling based on the facts of the case not the color of your skin or the book you worship from. This is fundamental to who we are as a country and how democracy works. It is easy to uphold these laws with people who are similar; however the very fabric of our society relies upon the laws being upheld for those who are completely different from us. Each and every one of us, no matter what our religious leaning, is responsible for making sure that those entrusted to uphold the law and speak for us in court are held to the highest standard of conduct. Please contact both of the Judges and the Attorney involved in this article (information provided in the link below...) and let them know that in the United States of America, We the People will not tolerate religious discrimination in our courts, in our laws or in our lives.

Click Here for Links Page and Contact Information

Our Childrens Blood

Our founding fathers are spinning in their graves at how quickly their dream of a self governed America is unraveling. They fought against British rule and the inequity of taxation without representation. However in this very county today we are being ruled by a group of people who have as much disdain for us as England had for the colonies. We are no longer being “represented” by our elected officials. Our constitution is on its death bed and yet, how many American’s can you talk to today who blithely state, “I hate politics, I don’t vote, and they all lie anyway”? This attitude is one that is deeply troubling and must be reversed.

If we don’t feel that our government leaders are honest, it is WE who are to blame. If you can’t manage to get your head out of the TV set long enough to write a letter to your representative or make a phone call to a senator and let them know you are watching and what you expect of them, how can you expect that they will NOT become corrupt? We have let the government “run itself” for so long that the machine now thinks it can decide for itself what is best for the people.

If “We the People,” do not care enough to collectively rise up and put the government machine back into its place it is ourselves that will pay the price. What is it going to take for YOU to get off your ass and turn off the TV? Your children’s blood will be running in the street as they give their lives to take back by force what you gave away out of apathy and laziness.

Read, get informed, write a letter, give money, talk to people, demand the truth, Vote, organize, resist, don’t give your rights away; pick something and get it done this month! Just because you cannot do everything is not an excuse to do nothing and even though you are only one person, if you do what you can, it will be enough.

Holy Wars... What are they good for?

When you consider the state of the world today you can clearly see that the need for people to be “right” about their religion is leading us to war, hatred and evil.

As I look around the world I see nothing but diversity. There a millions of different types of animals and plants. If you look at just a small group of ants, you see that each one is different and unique. There is no one way to breath, more than one way to eat, more than one way to grow, more than one way to build. Nothing in the universe exists in only one “true” way. It would be stupid for us to take a dolphin out of the ocean and tell it that it is breathing wrong and has to breathe exactly like we do because we know the “TRUTH” of breathing.

Why would a God who created such unique, diverse and individual ways to be for each and every living thing on this planet suddenly loose all imagination when it comes to religion? If each of us could truly accept that other people can have a different but equally valid experience of the divine how much better our world would be. If you could say to your neighbor, “this is what I have experienced, would you like to see? Can you teach me what you have known of God”?

Instead of bashing each other over the head saying stop breathing the wrong way, we could be sharing in the wonderful diversity that God gave us to experience his/hers/their/it’s ecstasy.

It is stupid to argue over what can be measured… just take out the measuring device and measure. It is also equally stupid to argue over what can not be measured… since there is no measuring device; there is no way to know.

God is unknowable… let there be peace.

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Granny can’t get her medication but Paris can keep her tax cut.

"Cutting the deficit during a time of war requires us to restrain spending in other areas," Mr Bush said in his weekly radio address.

Mr Bush said the budget for the year starting in October 2007 would underline the need to tighten spending on domestic programs - including on education, energy and health.
The Washington Post newspaper said domestic spending would increase by 1% - less than inflation.

What this means is that the middle class working people of America (i.e. YOU unless you make several million dollars a year) will continue to bare the brunt of this “war on terror”. We will continue to see the cost of our everyday necessities go up in order to fund the brutal illegal war in Iraq.

What really makes me angry with this whole thing is that the “media” is complicit in the raping and pillaging of our nation. The average American will not see the connection between the war, the profits for the elite few, and the tax cuts for millionaires that are bought with the blood and backs of our middle class workers.

WE are the soldiers in the streets of Iraq and Afghanistan. WE are the people working 2 and 3 jobs just to maintain the standard of living we had 10 years ago. WE are the ones who will be choosing this next year between diapers for the baby or glasses for our 8 year old. WE are the ones PAYING for Bush’s “tax cuts” for the RICH.

Does Paris Hilton REALLY need to keep a tax cut when the rest of us are paying for it?

Am I the only one who sees the problem with this picture?

Pay it Forward!

I was just a little girl when my brothers car slid into the ditch during a snowstorm. He shoved me down on to the floor and the car tipped as it was about to roll over... and then came to a crashing halt. The engine died and in the stillness I could hear my brothers heartbeat. We were lucky that night because following us was an older couple who stopped to help. This was in the days long before cell phones.. back when we actually had to go out of our way to help one another. They picked us up... they drove us all the way back home and then took my brother back to the car to pull it out of the ditch. And the only thing that they asked for in return was for us to "Pay it Forward", in fact they wouldn't even give us their full names.

I think back on that incident often now as our world seems to be getting more and more self centered.. as our lives are taken up by only what we want.. and not by what we can give back. Today, when you see a car slide into a ditch, most people will reach for their cell phone and keep on driving..

So I am charging each of us to do something out of our way for someone this week... without expecting anything in return for it. Just tell them to "Pay It Forward". Let's start a whole new wave of kindness in this war torn world.

By the People

What I had once supposed was the right of passage for hippies in the 1960's.. had become for me a trial of hope. Were we only a few.. "left wing moon bats", not informed about the "reality" of the war? Or was I on the side of good, the side of sanity?

As the day built, more and more people came.. the news media, of course, maintains that there were less than 100,000 people there. But I know better. Everywhere you looked there were people. Their ages ranged from 6 months to 90 years old from all walks of life.

What struck me most about this march was the unity in calling for an end to this horrible war, and the knowledge that our government has become corrupt. The level of anger, frustration and contempt for our current president was obvious, as was the deep sense of love for our country. This was not a group of people trying to "change" America.. this was a large group of Patriots reclaiming what has been lost in the last 6 years.... A government OF THE PEOPLE, BY THE PEOPLE AND FOR THE PEOPLE.

These were people that had "skin in the game". They were loved ones of soldiers in Iraq or of soldiers killed there. They were soldiers themselves, and others who are being ground down under the weight of the debt.This "peace" movement is about so much more than peace, it so much more than it was in the 60's.

It's not about love and peace this time... it's about fighting for our country from domestic enemies and restoring our place in the world as the example of goodness and democracy.It's time to turn off the TVs folks.. it's time to get to the streets. This country of ours is not a reality show.... it is all we have really to pass onto our kids. Let us pass on something worth having.