The Thirst for Freedom

From Reuters.com:

“The U.S. judge who struck down California’s gay marriage ban never considered his own homosexuality as a reason to recuse himself from the case, he said on Wednesday.

“Former U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker’s comments were his first on what legal observers have been been intensely — but quietly — discussing since the blockbuster case was filed. Some wondered whether his sexual orientation would affect his decision and how it would be received.

“However the group defending California’s gay marriage ban, Proposition 8, refrained from raising the issue in court. Walker eventually struck down Prop 8 as unconstitutional, and the case is currently on appeal.

“The Republican-nominated judge, who had a stormy history with the local gay community, calmly controlled his courtroom during the trial, adding dollops of humor as well.

“The case could set national policy if it reaches the U.S. Supreme Court and is being watched throughout the nation, where same-sex marriage is legal in only five of 50 states.”

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Here is what is being discussed about this at Citizenlink.com:

“And as Ed explains, the question is not whether the judge thinks he can remain impartial. The question is whether the judge’s impartiality might reasonably be questioned ‘from the perspective of a reasonable person.’

“Whelan makes a strong case. It’s not about sexual orientation. Walker stands to gain (at least in his own mind as reflected in the strange ‘findings of fact’ and conclusions contained in his written decision) personally and financially should he “marry” his partner at some point in the future, all made possible by his August 2010 decision. As usual, the mainstream media is totally ignoring this story.

“It would be up to the proponents of Prop 8 to now make the request to the 9th Circuit to have Walker disqualified and his opinion thrown out. That would put the Prop 8 litigation back to square one.”

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So, it turns out that General McChrystal did nothing wrong after all. At least according to a Defense Department investigation. Rolling Stone magazine apparently refused to speak with the investigators.

From CNN.com:

Gen. Stanley McChrystal lost his job when Rolling Stone magazine ran an article in which some of his aides made disparaging remarks about the vice president and others. But a newly released investigation by the Department of Defense inspector general finds neither McChrystal nor any of his aides did anything wrong.

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Illinois recently abolished the death penalty.

I posted a comment about that on one off my Facebook friend’s wall about how this action devalued human life. He asked me what I meant and I wrote the following comment which I hope will be useful to you:

In Genesis there is a description of an increase of violence and murder from the time when Cain killed Abel until the flood.

After the flood God established the first “civil government” type law recorded in the Bible. It predates the Mosaic law and was given to the ancestors of all mankind – Noah and his sons and their families.

That law? “Whoever sheds human blood, by humans shall their blood be shed….”

The reason God gives for that law? “for in the image of God has God made mankind.”

The reason implied by the Biblical context? The death penalty for murder is needed to prevent a complete collapse into violence and murder. The value of each individual human being as made in the image of God needs to be established and preserved by putting murderers to death.

(These quotes are from Genesis 9:5-6: http://bit.ly/gTLPqv.)

So God Himself established that human beings should execute the death penalty for murder and that the reason is because of the value of human beings as the “image of God.”

Therefore, to disregard God on the issue of the death penalty for murder is to devalue human life.

Governor Quinn in Illinois has now cooperated with the legislature in Illinois to devalue human life by abolishing the death penalty for murder.