This past summer the Supreme Court handed down their Kelo decision, in my mind the worst thing the court has done since Roe v. Wade more than thirty years ago. According to the ruling, government can now use the power of eminent domain to condemn private property and give the land to another private party if it's determined that doing so would be financially advantageous (i.e. more tax money coming into the city or state). In other words if you've been living in the same house for the past forty years, with everything on it paid up, and if the town decides that it could make a lot more money by kicking you off your land and putting a Wal-Mart there instead, it can legally do that now.
Some people's houses have already been condemned under Kelo, and now it looks as though not even the house of God is safe. National Review Online is reporting about a church in Oklahoma that is being told it has to vacate its property, so that the site can be cleared for a Home Depot and other retail development.
I wrote about this a month ago, after hearing some Christian legal quisling on the radio say that Christians should do whatever government tells them to do so that government officials won't "get mad" and take their churches away. And after thinking a lot about it, I've come to the conclusion that there's nothing morally wrong at all for Christians in this country to start defying our government openly and brazenly on some things, especially when it comes to our rights... which God has established, not the state. Our elected officials have by and large failed us miserably, and it's once again falling to the common man (and woman) to draw the line and say "to this point and no further". Better we do that sooner than later, if for no other reason than because forestalling initiative now will mean a far harder task at setting things right down the road.
If we don't do that, well... Welkome to Amerika, komrade.
Mr. Knight, I posted two entries on the Kelo ruling. In October on the ruling itself and my outrage. And, November 6, 2005 a follow up (my words quoted here) "....the House of Representatives "overwhelmingly" passed a bill designed to counter this outrageous use of eminent domain. The bill as passed by the House would withhold federal funds from state and local governments who have the chutzpah to force people to give up their property for commercial development in the name of recieving more tax revenue from the property. The bill now goes to the Senate where a similar bill has been introduced."
ReplyDeleteI dropped the ball during a busy December and haven't read what the outcome of these two bills has been. Perhaps you might let us know if you find out? If they are using it now in OK then it must not have passed or President Bush is holding it up. We need to encourage people to e-mail the White House in that case. Brenda Bowers