Used to vote at an elementary school.

Now votes in a church.

I preferred the school.

Mosey [TotallyFarked]

Revek: Our Founding Fathers Were NOT Christians (name of page I didn't make it I just linked it and its not the only one.)
Good for them?
What is your point?
The point is that congress shall make no law respecting religion but its okay for bush to give them money. Why should they get a tax write off? Finally tell me why its okay to hang a religious idol where you vote?

/Won't respond anymore I was just giving my opinion.

Thanks Lars, thread is now Godwined. Only on Fark can we go from an uptight Jewish guy's voting complaints to Hitler and the Pope!

I ask again you seperation fanatics what would you have voters do in tiny towns where the only buildings large enough for adequate voting are chuches? Are they to be excluded from voting because they live in a small town or must they ALL vote absentee? STILL waiting for an answer!

Raging Primate: I have given several VERY good reasons why we sometimes NEED to have our polling places in churches. How about responding to any of the points I raised?

plastroncafe : I agree with you. However, sometimes it may not be possible to remove all the iconography or hide it completely. I voted in a church rec hall. If you didn't know the building was part of a church then there would have been no way for you figure that out from anything inside the hall. However if the church has no rec hall what can a church do to hide a giant cross? In many small towns there are simply NO adequate public buildings for the purpose. In the town I'm referencing they have a miniscule community budget. The city hall has only about three rooms and has almost no parking. The fire hall is also very small and there's no place to put the firetrucks once you empty out the building. This town can't wait for the church to be finished because they will finally have a building that is large enough for hassle free voting.

Plenty of parking? Check
Plenty of restrooms for the poll workers and voters? check
More than one handicapped spot? Check.
Large room sutable for all the voting machines? check
Centrally located for most residents of the town? check

Europeans and Latin Americans have no problems with using churches as polling places. Why should this even be an issue for Americans?

There are plenty of excellent reasons for communities to use churches as polling places. (see the list) Having a voting booth in a church is in no way a state establishment of religion. If that were the case then by that logic we would also have to ban voting in the YMCA because the C stands for "Christian."

What would you have folks do in situations like that? Voting takes place ONE day a year. It is hardly a hardship to enter a building just because there's a cross on the wall. If that offends you so much then the absentee ballot is for you. The guy in this article is a putz whose schlong is way out of joint.

One thing more The US has used churches, meeting houses, and masonic temples as voting places since the birth of the Republic. It really depended on the town. In some places it was the Quaker Meeting Hall, In New England it was the Congregational Church, elsewhere it was in a Masonic Temple or lodge. Inns and taverns were also used from the beginning of the Republic. If our founding fathers had NO problem with folks voting in a church who are we to argue? The ONLY place we prohibit voting in that our founding fathers used was the place our founding fathers enjoyed the most, the local tavern! Delaware for example ratified the Constitution in a tavern. (But keep in mind that there were only like a dozen guys at that meeting.)Ever since day one Americans have voted in whatever building was most convienient to the public whether it be a tavern, a church, or a temple. Large public buildings like Independence Hall were the exceptions outside of large cities.

Lars, I'm not trolling. Why are my arguments silly? I have provided a list of very good reasons why some towns may NEED to use churches as polling places. You have not refuted a single one of my arguments. Ad hominen attacks are not refutation.

Americans have been voting in houses of worship since the first days of the Republic. But I guess the founding fathers had no CLUE as to what they were doing.

And to trow a money wrench to all of you Separation folks. Did you know that the U.S. Capitol was used for chuch services from BEFORE the days Congress moved in until after the Civil War? Apparently the founding fathers had no problems with the heart of a secular democracy being used as a place of religious worship. The founding fathers were very laid back on the issue of "separation". We could learn a thing or two from them.

That's actually upsetting.

I wouldn't have voted, because I can't enter churches. Jewish law forbids me to do so.

Oh, and for the record, I could, however, vote in a Mosque.

Southpaw018: Shut up. You're ruining it for the rest of us.

If you are ignorant of your own religion, that's not his fault, but yours.

culturemock: Jesus dude! If you are so insecure in your faith that going into the house of worship of another religion t

It's not being insecure. "Thou shall have no other God beside me". Heard that one? For a Jew, xtianity is considered idol worship. That's like asking a muslim to vote with a pen made out of pig skin

BravadoGT: I'm a Jew who voted in a church on Tuesday. It never occurred to me that I should be offended, but now, the more I think about it...Hmmm....

Again, if you are ignorant of your own religion and it's laws, that's not the man's fault, but yours entirely

Mosey: You sure are gonna feel funny when they staple that foreskin back on.

Exactly. Hellenization of Jews.

nyil: hooknslice_okc, you miss the issue. The man in question, along with a lot of people who object to having to vote in a Christian church, are Jewish. It isn't a matter of lack of belief. It's a matter of doing something improper, or being seen doing something that looks improper, and . It isn't that a church should be "just a building," it's that it is a "sacred place for a different religion."

It's not even "improper", that's downright against Jewish Law.

Donald_McRonald: But let's not forget that a) there are loopholes for everything and b) this isn't sightseeing - it's voting. Given the distinction, I can't imagine too many poskim would deem it assur (other than the total nuts who say that everything is assur). This guy's just being a dick.

Again, you're completely, completely wrong! It is 100% assur under ANY circumstances but ONE: if you are about to die and it's the only place to be saved

AND, if you can be saved by the people inside the church but you have to convert, you need to let yourself die instead

plastroncafe: I was under the assumption that Jews weren't allowed to enter pagan temples, and what with the whole Poly-theism that is the Christian Holy Trinity...

Your friend was right about the whole thing

One Love,

Why would I mind voting in a mosque? I don't care where my polling place so long as its close and easily accessable. I've voted in schools, community centers, and churches. Of all the places I voted I was in and out of the church with the least hassle but your experience may vary.

Set up an outdoor establishmnet? what if its raining? That's thinking in color. I love how you call the town redneck and bumfark. (Judgemental much?) Like every place close to the Delaware border, lots of subdivisions are going in. Nearly all of those subdivisions are not in the town proper. However, since its the only incorporated municipality in the immediate area its the de facto location where voting takes place. When it was surrounded by farmland the little towns facilities were up to the task but now the town is asked to shoulder a large burden.

Because there has been so much development that is NOT adding anything to the town's tax base there is NO money to expand the city hall or fire department hence the overburdened, inadequate facilities. For someone who claims to "think in color" you sure seem to look at this as if its a black and white situation.

There are plenty of towns where the largest most accessable structure is a church. Since Americans have been voting in houses of worship since even BEFORE the Republic was founded (The Mayflower Compact was passed in a church) people should have NO problem going to a house of worship of whatever denomination to cast their votes. If that was good enough for the founding fathers why is NOT good enough for us?

So One Love were the founding fathers WRONG for allowing voting in Quaker Meeting Houses, Masonic Temples, and Churches? You certainly seem to think so.

Nobody but nobody is promised the right to not be offended. If entering a church is such an abomination to you you can get an absentee ballot. And guess what if you vote absentee your vote STILL counts!

No, Unreconfederate, this has nothing to do with being an attention whore.

I would never vote in a church and not a single orthodox Jew would, either.