Quote:Presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke (D., Texas) said he would strip religious institutions of their tax exempt status if they oppose same-sex marriage.

"We are going to stop those who are infringing upon the human rights of our fellow Americans," the former congressman said during CNN's Equality Town Hall on Thursday.

CNN host Don Lemon pressed O'Rourke on the particulars of his plan for LGBT Americans.

"Do you think religious institutions like colleges, churches, charities, should they lose their tax exempt status if they oppose same sex marriage?" Lemon asked.

O'Rourke answered with an unequivocal yes, and stressed that as president, he would make punishing religious organizations a priority.

"There can be no reward, no benefit, no tax break for anyone or any institution, any organization in America that denies the full human rights and the full civil rights of every single one of us," O'Rourke said.

His remarks sparked condemnation from Republican lawmakers. Sen. Ben Sasse (R., Neb.) said O'Rourke's approach would criminalize any and all "religious convictions [that] don’t fall in line with his progressive politics."

"This extreme intolerance is un-American," Sasse said in a statement. "This bigoted nonsense would target a lot of sincere Christians, Jews, and Muslims. Leaders from both political parties have a duty to flatly condemn this attack on very basic American freedoms."

Religious liberty groups said O'Rourke's proposal threatens fundamental constitutional rights. Luke Goodrich, an attorney with the nonprofit firm Becket Law, said the government should not target religions based upon their traditional beliefs.

"Stripping the tax-exempt status of religious groups simply because they hold beliefs that the government dislikes is blatantly unconstitutional,"Goodrich said in a statement. "It's also foolish because those groups provide billions of dollars in essential social services to their communities. Churches and ministries should be allowed to hold centuries-old beliefs without fear of government retribution."

O'Rourke has previously expressed his support for abortion up to the day before birth, telling a crowd at the College of Charleston, "this is a decision that neither you, nor I, nor the United States government should be making."

He is struggling to gain traction among Democratic voters, and faces the strong possibility of missing out on the fifth Democratic presidential debate in November due to weak polling.

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Quote:"This extreme intolerance is un-American," Sasse said in a statement. "This bigoted nonsense would target a lot of sincere Christians, Jews, and Muslims. Leaders from both political parties have a duty to flatly condemn this attack on very basic American freedoms."

Good luck with that. O’Rourke is probably speaking for about 40-45% of the public on this.

(10-11-2019 11:54 AM)Native Georgian Wrote:  

Quote:"This extreme intolerance is un-American," Sasse said in a statement. "This bigoted nonsense would target a lot of sincere Christians, Jews, and Muslims. Leaders from both political parties have a duty to flatly condemn this attack on very basic American freedoms."

Good luck with that. O’Rourke is probably speaking for about 40-45% of the public on this.

Not all Democrats hate religion.

Not a fan of ben shapiro, but y'all should listen to his monologue today on this issue. His blood was boiling.

He shares my concerns over the inability for this country to co-exist into the future. Dems are getting dangerously close to a point of no return.

(10-11-2019 11:59 AM)bullet Wrote:  

(10-11-2019 11:54 AM)Native Georgian Wrote:  

Quote:"This extreme intolerance is un-American," Sasse said in a statement. "This bigoted nonsense would target a lot of sincere Christians, Jews, and Muslims. Leaders from both political parties have a duty to flatly condemn this attack on very basic American freedoms."

Good luck with that. O’Rourke is probably speaking for about 40-45% of the public on this.

Not all Democrats hate religion.

True. But some non-Democrats do, too. Add it all up... yeah I think you’re looking at about 40-45%.

I hope I’m wrong. But I think we are headed down some very dark paths in this country. I don’t see a lot of hope right now. We’ll see what happens.

Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce you the the Bible's Anti-Christ.

Man, that guy is off the hinges. Now, do you believe me when I told you that he was an idiot and a doofus? He'll say anything just to get elected. Perhaps in a few more elections cycles when this country really goes Satanic then perhaps he'll have a chance. Today, not so much, we're not at that juncture yet. Today there are still enough Christians and other religious groups that won't fall for that line.

Que pendejote.

Does this apply to mosques as well?

(10-11-2019 12:18 PM)BuffaloTN Wrote:  Does this apply to mosques as well?

*Eventually*, yes. Muslims will get a temporary pass at first, both because people like O’Rourke and his fellow-travelers are genuinely afraid of the violent pushback that such a confrontation would provoke. And also because they’ve been waiting to take-down certain types of Christian organizations for a long, long time, and will give that a higher priority at first.

But in the long-run, Muslims and Jews will feel the love, too.

Ben always has good points but I absolutely HATE that voice. He sounds like a basement residing millennial. LOL

(10-11-2019 12:01 PM)Native Georgian Wrote:  

(10-11-2019 11:59 AM)bullet Wrote:  

(10-11-2019 11:54 AM)Native Georgian Wrote:  

Quote:"This extreme intolerance is un-American," Sasse said in a statement. "This bigoted nonsense would target a lot of sincere Christians, Jews, and Muslims. Leaders from both political parties have a duty to flatly condemn this attack on very basic American freedoms."

Good luck with that. O’Rourke is probably speaking for about 40-45% of the public on this.

Not all Democrats hate religion.

True. But some non-Democrats do, too. Add it all up... yeah I think you’re looking at about 40-45%.

I hope I’m wrong. But I think we are headed down some very dark paths in this country. I don’t see a lot of hope right now. We’ll see what happens.

We're about 1/3 Dem, 1/3 Republican, 1/3 Independent.

You might get to 20-25%.

(10-11-2019 12:31 PM)Native Georgian Wrote:  

(10-11-2019 12:18 PM)BuffaloTN Wrote:  Does this apply to mosques as well?

*Eventually*, yes. Muslims will get a temporary pass at first, both because people like O’Rourke and his fellow-travelers are genuinely afraid of the violent pushback that such a confrontation would provoke. And also because they’ve been waiting to take-down certain types of Christian organizations for a long, long time, and will give that a higher priority at first.

But in the long-run, Muslims and Jews will feel the love, too.

The Democrats are already going after Israel. US Jews aren't far behind.

Beto is a recidivist douche

How did this guy get 48.3% of the vote when he ran for US Senator in Texas?

This is just insane. Talk about an abuse of 'separation of church and state'. The state would be directly favoring some religions over others based on beliefs.

and don't you morons give me this 'discrimination' crap. What difference does it make if some organization 'recognizes' your union or not?

(10-11-2019 04:32 PM)Captain Bearcat Wrote:  How did this guy get 48.3% of the vote when he ran for US Senator in Texas?

Good question.

1. O’Rourke had not yet said (at least, not in public) many of the batsh*t things he has said since the election ended.
2. Cruz is a polarizing/divisive figure.
3. 2018 was a good year for Team Blue, nationwide.
4. O’Rourke was able to create a huge fundraising network that previous Texas Democrats had been unable to do since Lloyd Bentsen (his last campaign was 1988).
5. Regardless of “issues” or individual candidates, Texas has shifted in a Blue direction since Trump rode down that escalator. That shift has been exaggerated IMHO but there has been some legitimate change.

(10-11-2019 11:59 AM)bullet Wrote:  

(10-11-2019 11:54 AM)Native Georgian Wrote:  

Quote:"This extreme intolerance is un-American," Sasse said in a statement. "This bigoted nonsense would target a lot of sincere Christians, Jews, and Muslims. Leaders from both political parties have a duty to flatly condemn this attack on very basic American freedoms."

Good luck with that. O’Rourke is probably speaking for about 40-45% of the public on this.

Not all Democrats hate religion.

But they all hate America

Beto King of pandering idiots. This is why gubment should not in the marriage business. Marriage is first and foremost a religious institution. Gubment sho.uld only recognize "domestic partnerships".

(10-11-2019 04:32 PM)Captain Bearcat Wrote:  How did this guy get 48.3% of the vote when he ran for US Senator in Texas?

He would not get close to that now.


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(10-11-2019 04:32 PM)Captain Bearcat Wrote:  How did this guy get 48.3% of the vote when he ran for US Senator in Texas?

Because Ted Cruz ran a campaign that was almost Claytie Williams bad.

(10-11-2019 04:45 PM)Native Georgian Wrote:  

(10-11-2019 04:32 PM)Captain Bearcat Wrote:  How did this guy get 48.3% of the vote when he ran for US Senator in Texas?

Good question.

1. O’Rourke had not yet said (at least, not in public) many of the batsh*t things he has said since the election ended.
2. Cruz is a polarizing/divisive figure.
3. 2018 was a good year for Team Blue, nationwide.
4. O’Rourke was able to create a huge fundraising network that previous Texas Democrats had been unable to do since Lloyd Bentsen (his last campaign was 1988).
5. Regardless of “issues” or individual candidates, Texas has shifted in a Blue direction since Trump rode down that escalator. That shift has been exaggerated IMHO but there has been some legitimate change.

He had a huge ground network too.