Sunday, November 04, 2012



Texas woman forced to cover up 'Vote the Bible' T-shirt at polls

State law trumps the 1st Amendment?

A Texas woman claims she was told that her "Vote the Bible" T-shirt may be offensive and was forced to cover up when she went to vote early at the City Hall in Taylor County, Texas last week, MyFoxAustin.com reported.

Attorney Jonathan Seinz, the president of Texas Values, says Kay Hill was ‘targeted because of her religious beliefs.’  He says he's prepared to defend Hill because he believes she was asked to give up her religious freedom in order to vote.

"This is obviously a religious free expression and no one should be put in a position having to choose religious freedom over deciding to vote," he said.

According to Texas law, a person cannot suggest how another person should vote by word, sign or gesture while in a polling place.
Williamson County said its poll volunteers were following state election laws, and besides there's only one word on that shirt that they have a problem with.

"The shirt did say vote so it did have to do with voting," said Williamson County Public Affairs Director Connie Watson.

Watson says the shirt violates state laws regarding elections.
"Electioneering or loitering within 100 feet of the entrance to the polling place or inside the polling place is not allowed. Electioneering would cover wearing a hat, a pen, a T-shirt or a sign that would indicate a position for a political party, candidate or a proposition," said Watson.

Seinz argues that Hill's shirt did none of that.  "Nothing says that you can't have a shirt that says vote the Bible. The last time I checked Republicans and Democrats, it's not a partisan issue on the bible," Seinz said.

An election worker gave Hill a jacket to cover up the T-shirt. In the end, she was able to vote.

Seinz says if Williamson County doesn't apologize to Hill and allow the shirt to be worn to the polls, they will file a formal complaint with the Attorney General.

Source


17 comments:

Bird of Paradise said...

I hope she brings a big lawsuit againsts these leftists voting officials and makes them eat crow

Anonymous said...

This had nothing to do with voting. It was simply part of the on-going war against Christians, who need to wake up and realize that "turning the other cheek" only gets you slapped again on the other side. Time to start slapping back!

Anonymous said...

The woman either knew the rules about voting and was provocatively challenging them, or was initially ignorant of the rules but provocatively opposed them anyway. In either case her motivation or agenda wasn't clear.
However, such a religious obsession promoting "the Bible" in such a simplistic and vague way is very questionable, and could even question the woman's mental stability.

Anonymous said...

I am a Christian and I disagree with this woman. This is not a denial of free speech. Advocation of a voting stance one way or the other within the polling space is not allowed. It is applied to everyone and every candidate. Its simple and its fair. If she had simply worn a shirt that said Bible, we would not be having this conversation.

Dean said...

9:21 you are a voice of reason. Good job.

Anonymous said...

According to townhall.com, NAACP took over a Houston polling place, talked up Obama and moved some voters ahead of others in line. When asked to turn their shirts inside out, the refused. When polling headquarter where told of NAACP action, the person who notified the NAACP action was told to stand down and the NAACP was okay to stay.

Go Away Bird said...

I,ll bet if she had world a Pentigram or Che T-Shirt she would be allowed the first to vote

Anonymous said...

Go away bird, if she was at that Houston NAACP controlled polling with a Chez t-shirt, she would have been moved to th head of th line.

Anonymous said...

11:00 -wasn't 3:47 just as much a "voice of reason" as 9:21, and said it first?!

Anonymous said...

"Top Ten Signs That You're a Fundamentalist Christian:

10 - You vigorously deny the existence of thousands of gods claimed by other religions, but feel outraged when someone denies the existence of yours.

9 - You feel insulted and "dehumanized" when scientists say that people evolved from other life forms, but you have no problem with the Biblical claim that we were created from dirt.

8 - You laugh at polytheists, but you have no problem believing in a Triune God (Father, Son & Holy Spirit).

7 - Your face turns purple when you hear of the "atrocities" attributed to Allah, but you don't even flinch when hearing about how God/Jehovah slaughtered all the babies of Egypt in "Exodus" and ordered the elimination of entire ethnic groups in "Joshua" including women, children, and trees! And it seems that you holy people have bloody murder in store for all infidels . . . uh . . . I mean . . . unbelievers during your so-called End Times.

6 - You laugh at Hindu beliefs that deify humans, and Greek claims about gods sleeping with women, but you have no problem believing that the Holy Spirit impregnated Mary, who then gave birth to a man-god who was killed, came back to life and then ascended into the sky.

5 - You are willing to spend your life looking for little loopholes in the scientifically established age of Earth (few billion years), but you find nothing wrong with believing dates recorded by Bronze Age tribesmen sitting in their tents and guessing that Earth is a few generations old.

4 - You believe that the entire population of this planet with the exception of those who share your beliefs - though also excluding those in all rival Christian sects - will spend Eternity in an infinite Hell of Suffering. And yet consider your religion the most "tolerant" and "loving."

3 - While modern science, history, geology, biology, and physics have failed to convince you otherwise, some idiot rolling around on the floor speaking in "tongues" may be all the evidence you need to "prove" Christianity.

2 - You define 0.01% as a "high success rate" when it comes to answered prayers. You consider that to be evidence that prayer works to effect a temporary suspension of natural laws in your favor. And you think that the remaining 99.99% of unanswered prayers is simply the will of God.

1 - You actually know a lot less than many atheists and agnostics do about the Bible, Christianity, and church history - but still call yourself a Christian"

Use the Name, Luke said...

"Top Ten Signs That You're an Atheist Troll"

see above

Anonymous said...

Can't face the TRUTH, Lukie boy?

Anonymous said...

A Christian Response to the Top Ten Signs That You're a Fundamentalist Christian:

10 - You vigorously deny the claims of faith by religions, but feel outraged when someone denies scientific "fact" which, when closely examined, amounts to nothing more than reasoned speculation requiring pure faith to accept.

9 - You feel insulted and neutered when religious people recognize order, pattern, beauty, and wonder to the universe but have no problem believing that the complexity and sophistication of life is simply the result of a "blast pattern and sufficient time".

8 - You reveal your ignorance of the definitions of polytheism and Trinity.

7 - Your face blushes red when you learn that such "atrocities" were God's punishment for those who disobeyed his explicit commands in defiance. God has given man many opportunities to reconcile and repent, yet man consistently rejects them.

6 - You cry when you learn that a supernatural event does not somehow deifies humans, and you whimper in embarrassment when you learn that Jesus was God manifested in human form, not a human deified into a God.

5 - You are willing to stake the integrity and validity of science on the speculation and ponderings of extrapolations made from small quantities of fossil and bone fragments, and then applying dating methods that have been proven to be unreliable, all the while ignoring the facts of the universe that surround us.

4 - You fail to see that tolerance comes from a loving God freely offering forgiveness to one who does not deserve it, but you choose to reject it. The tolerance comes in you exercising your choice, for which you must be accountable.

3 - Speaking in tongues and the exhibition of other spiritual gifts is not accepted by Christendom at-large as proof of Christianity. The personal transformation witnessed by billions of people, is evidence or at least an attribution that God is working in their lives.

2 - Your statistics are not representative of what most Christians would clearly claim. You fail to understand that not all prayers are answered in the positive, with some answered "yes", but many also answered as "no" or "wait". It is man who, in his impatience and stubbornness, often rejects the later two, attributing them to a non-answer.

1 - You actually know a lot less about a Christian's personal understanding of the Bible, Christianity, and church history, assuming that a small group represents the whole, but still claim that you are superior.

Anonymous said...

I suppose 1:47 thinks that's a clever response, but it just reveals all the fallacies of at least some Christian "arguments". I expect somebody else will have the time and energy to address them point by point.

Use the Name, Luke said...

Can't face the TRUTH, Lukie boy?

What's so hard about recognizing that you're a troll who continually spews a bunch of falsehoods just to get a rise out of people like me? It is a little harder to face the fact that you refuse to honestly evaluate evidence and correct your lies and that some people will be taken in by them. It's also a bit hard to swallow the fact that attempting to get you to correct them would be a total waste of time. But I suppose I will just have to live with that truth as well.

Anonymous said...

Anon 5:17 AM, you are a typical Liberal--one who makes a brash accusation, then cowardly withdraws into the shadows hoping others do your dirty work. I dare you to respond point-by-point, but cowardice will not give me the satisfaction.

Anonymous said...

Luke seems to think that he has only one opponent (who he of course dismisses as a "troll" in order to deflect any criticism). Some of his several detractors do give one-liners to provoke him (like poking a stick at a bear), but clearly some are trying to give serious replies to his dubious opinions.