A Separation of State & Church Issue-Establishing a Day for a Roman Catholic saint is not Government business (Hearing 1-31-14 House Judiciary): Submitted testimony: I strongly oppose HB2539 on the grounds that Hawaii today desparately needs a State Holiday for one of our Hawaiian Queens before it considers another day dedicated to anyone Religious person or organization. House Bill 2539 violates the most sacred of all principles of our American Values, our Separation of State and Church. The world shows us evidence of the violent agenda of religious states such as Iran and Afganistan. Hawaii is one of the 50 US States, not a religious state in deference to our diverse backgrounds of a variety of faiths and a multitude of faith based churches. There are Churches and Church Schools with abundant freedom, time and funds to celebrate any and all the saints they so desire. HB2539 is definitely not a State issue, rather this is a matter to be considered as a religious matter and thus remain in the realm of the Roman Catholic Diocese and not that of the Government of Hawaii. The only hope for this bill to succeed is to replace the current saint with one of our Hawaiian Queens. Hawaii surely should honor and respect those who have been so proactive for the health and wellbeing of all Hawaii citizens. One such person who has done so much for the people of Hawaii both during their life times and into the present century. For instance, Queen Emma the humanitarian whose works lives on as Queen’s Medical Center. I have faith that the House Judiciary Committee will vote against such HB2539 as written. Thank you for your consideration.
Posted on: Thu, 30 Jan 2014 01:01:19 +0000