Not a day goes by that I don’t worry about the
future of our country. Too many people either refuse to face facts or remain
willfully ignorant of what’s going on in the world. They remain so blinded by
their own preconceived notions and ideologies that they turn their backs on the
truth.
We’re nearly two decades beyond the impeachment
of President Bill Clinton, yet it’s not hard to find someone who still claims
that he was impeached over a (insert crude name for a sex act here.) That’s
simply not true. Clinton was impeached for perjury and obstruction of justice
because he lied under oath in a court case. He also lost his law license
because of those actions, and I have yet to hear of anyone ever being disbarred
because they engaged in oral sex.
That’s just one of many examples of people not
comprehending the truth and therefore not being willing to face facts. Because
they either like Clinton or they dislike Republicans, they continue to put
forth a false narrative that too many gullible people believe.
Need another example? Look back to last week,
when news broke that a federal court ruled that Kentucky cannot deny tax breaks
to the Ark Encounter project being built in Grant County, and Gov. Matt Bevin’s
administration announced it agreed with the ruling and would not appeal it.
Answers in Genesis filed the suit after the administration of former Gov. Steve
Beshear reneged on its commitment to offer the tax incentives.
The court decision did not set well within the
militant atheist community. They immediately took to their blogs and claimed
that the state would be spending tax money to promote Christianity;
specifically the account of the Great Flood and the building of Noah’s Ark, and
that this was a violation of the First Amendment’s “mandate” of separation of
church and state.
Except this isn’t what’s happening at all. The
state is spending no money on the “Ark Park.” Instead, it is granting tax
incentives to the project to recoup some of the construction costs. The
facility will merely not have to pay the full amount of taxes it otherwise
would if not granted the incentives. Instead of the state getting X number of
dollars in new taxes generated from the “Ark Park,” it will get X minus the
money the park gets to keep for itself. The state will still see an increase in
tax revenue from the project, just not 100 percent of the proceeds. Letting an
entity keep more of its revenue for itself is not the same thing as spending
tax dollars on it. No one else’s tax dollars will be spent on the project, not
even any of those paid by the protesting atheists.
The First Amendment prohibits governments from
establishing an official religion or from preventing anyone from practicing the
religion of their choice. It does not require that government and religion be
kept separate. The origin of the phrase “wall of separation between church and
state” in a letter written by Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury Baptist
Association is well-documented, but the flawed use of the phrase in
interpreting the First Amendment has resulted in needless troubles for decades.
The idea that the use of Bible verses in “A Charlie Brown Christmas” as
performed in a Johnson County public school, the presence of a cross on a water
tower in Wilmore or the presence of a picture of Jesus Christ in Breathitt
County equals the government adopting Christianity as its official religion is
a stretch of the largest possible magnitude.
Claiming that allowing Answers in Genesis and the
Ark Encounter to keep some of the new tax revenue it generates that would
otherwise go to the state is a First Amendment violation is a similar stretch. It
might be different if tax money was being appropriated out of the General Fund
to give to Answers in Genesis, but that’s not the case here. No money paid by
anyone else is going to the “Ark Park.”
It’s fine if you have a philosophical
disagreement with a politician. Heck, I have as many or more complaints about
establishment Republicans and Congressional leaders as I do with President
Barack Obama and others of the liberal mindset. You and I may have different
opinions on abortion, Obamacare, national defense or any other issue. But if
you’re going to criticize a specific action, you should do so on a factual
basis. There’s an old saying that you’re entitled to your own opinion, but not
to your own facts.
I heard that some people took exception to my
recent column in which I described the criticisms of some of Gov. Bevin’s
actions as being rooted in cluelessness. I stand by that statement. Just about
every complaint I saw about Bevin’s executive orders cited a falsehood and
relied on a complete misunderstanding of what actually happened, especially
those comments made by non-Kentuckians who got incorrect information from
national blogs and websites.
Feel free to disagree with Bevin’s rescission of
the minimum wage increase for state employees, but don’t claim that his order
took money out of the pockets of those who had already gotten the raise. Don’t
like the decision to take county clerks’ names off of marriage licenses? Go
ahead and complain, but don’t say that it discriminates against anyone or makes
it more difficult for anyone to get a license.
Since those widely-misunderstood executive orders
were issued last month, Bevin’s done even more to draw misguided ire from his
opponents. Following through on a campaign promise, he started the process to
do away with Kynect, Kentucky’s health care exchange which was established
under the Affordable Care Act. That really prompted the cacophony of the
clueless to go into full song, as they claimed that Kentuckians would lose
their health insurance and thousands would die.
Kynect is just one source of health insurance.
The federal exchange and website remain, as do private insurance agents. Saying
that people will no longer have access to health insurance once Kynect is gone
is like saying people will starve if one grocery store closes. There are other
grocery stores, and there are other marketplaces for health insurance.
Again, it’s all right if you have an ideological
difference with the new governor. I don’t agree with all of his plans and
policies and philosophies. But please, if you’re going to criticize a specific
action, do it from a factual base. Don’t make up stuff or claim things that
aren’t true. Educate yourself on the issues. Seek alternative news sources
besides those that reinforce your views. Look beyond your preconceived notions or
ideological persuasions. Don’t be willfully ignorant or intentionally clueless.
Healthy debate is good for society, but only if all the debaters are
knowledgeable.
