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Editorial: Air Boats and the Golden Rule February 2nd, 2004
Editorial: A Year of Opportunity January 24th, 2004
Editorial: Sports on TV January 15th, 2004
Editorial: Mad Cow Disease in the US December 26th, 2003
Editorial: Jeb`s Water War November 25th, 2003
Editorial: Citizen Input Needed October 27th, 2003
Editorial: Congrats to Our Commission, Now We Must Help October 17th, 2003
Editorial: Remember Owens Valley September 29th, 2003
Editorial: Gold Plating Reality, Reconstruction Chic September 21st, 2003
Editorial: The Responsiblities of a Journalist August 27th, 2003
Editorial: A Fable: The Great Guano Concord July 24th, 2003
Editorial: Music for Children May 26th, 2003
Editorial: Speak Out May 15th, 2003
Editorial: Parking: Our Biggest Problem? May 2nd, 2003
Editorial: Vote and Vote Well April 22nd, 2003
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The Purpose of Government? | The Purpose of Government?Editorial A brewer in Utah markets a hearty brew called Polygamy Porter. The sales pitch says, "Take a six pack home to your wives." Recent television documentaries and a Salt Lake City newspaper have made it clear that in some corners of Utah there are more wives than husbands. So what does polygamy have to do with the functions of a government? Most people agree that we should have no more government than enough to protect citizens from felons, fires, diseases, bad drivers, drunken airline pilots, et cetera. Good roads, clean rivers and care for the needy also have become things that most tax payers expect for their money. Furthermore, many people give lip service, if not support, for separation of Church and State. Back to polygamy. Polygamy was "revealed" to be morally wrong to church leaders in Utah. It was no coincidence that it became a condition for Utah to become a state. Utah "joined the union" by limiting marital unions. This would seem to be an extreme case of mixing Church and State. Some men and women approve of and apparently enjoy polygamy. Is it the government's business to decide who joins who in holy matrimony? The Cedar Key News editorial board and a lot of other people are confused by our government being involved in who practices polygamy. Cedar Key News neither endorses nor condemns polygamy. We DO support separation of Church and State, both keeping government out of religious practices and keeping religious beliefs out of government policy. Whether it is the Taliban, Puritans or other religious fanatics running the government, individual rights and beliefs get trampled. When free thinkers such as Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and Tom Paine cooperated with the more conventional and Christian revolutionaries to write our Constitution, they must have believed that separation of Church and State could and should work, in both directions. |
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