this post was submitted on 27 May 2024
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[–] [email protected] 17 points 7 months ago (2 children)

I'm out of the loop. What's prompted this? I assume it's something to do with Supreme Court Justice Alito?

[–] FancyManacles 16 points 7 months ago

Apparently this flag has been used recently by Drumpf's supporters, specifically those that think the election was stolen, and it was seen flying outside Alito's summer home.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 7 months ago (3 children)

Reposting a comment I made a few days ago, since it's still relevant:

I was curious about the flag, so did a little reading. Apparently the "Appeal to heaven" is referring to John Locke's writings regarding the right to revolution:

And where the body of the people, or any single man, is deprived of their right, or is under the exercise of a power without right, and have no appeal on earth, then they have a liberty to appeal to heaven, whenever they judge the cause of sufficient moment. And therefore, though the people cannot be judge, so as to have, by the constitution of that society, any superior power, to determine and give effective sentence in the case; yet they have, by a law antecedent and paramount to all positive laws of men, reserved that ultimate determination to themselves which belongs to all mankind, where there lies no appeal on earth, viz. to judge, whether they have just cause to make their appeal to heaven.

(Second Treatise of Civil Government. John Locke)

Locke’s contention was that no man had inherent power to regulate or restrict divine arbitration in civil affairs. Even in dire circumstances, he alleged, natural rights transcended the political process.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Too bad it's been repurposed as a symbol for Christian Nationalism

[–] Viking_Hippie 11 points 7 months ago

Well it was explicitly anti-secular to begin with, so never something a SCOTUS judge should be flying regardless of the christofascists adopting it.

[–] Viking_Hippie 10 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Locke’s contention was that no man had inherent power to regulate or restrict divine arbitration in civil affairs. Even in dire circumstances, he alleged, natural rights transcended the political process.

So, in the context of today, he's basically arguing for SCOTUS to be replaced with a religious tribunal and any secular constitution with "natural" (read: religious dogma) law. THAT doesn't sound like something a SCOTUS judge should be advocating either..

[–] stoicmaverick 3 points 7 months ago (1 children)
[–] Viking_Hippie 1 points 7 months ago
[–] [email protected] 4 points 7 months ago (1 children)

What's extra funny is that Locke invested in the slave trade. Slaves, the men who are deprived of their rights.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 months ago (1 children)

It makes sense when you realize that they didn't think black people were people.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago

Aye. Liberalism, inconsistent since its inception, huh?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 7 months ago
[–] nifty 5 points 7 months ago

Almost all the GOP, including Alito, wouldn’t be allowed into Heaven if you go by anything Jesus said

[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 months ago

I’m thinking of writing a song. What do you think of recording over this sick beat?

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Iwgam4Jj1yI

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago

Just to clarify, that base needs to be a lot more flared for it to be safe. Otherwise it definitely looks like Alito's style.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago

The pine tree flag has a pine tree and the words “an appeal to heaven” on it.

The phrase refers to John lockes writing where he asserted that when arbitration through laws and courts failed, the wronged parties have the right to “an appeal to heaven”, a veiled reference to violence in revolution.

The ideas was that if it gets bad enough, pull out the tool and let god figure out who’s right.

The pine tree gets a lot of attribution but the one that seems the least like bullshit is the pine tree riot, where in order to preserve British naval might the crown sent surveyors out to mark the best pine trees with a broad arrow so they could be used as masts in British ships and made it illegal to cut marked trees otherwise.

Some people cut the trees and they were found at a sawmill. The mill owners were charged and ordered to pay, and the crown bought off their lawyer so they wouldn’t be able to mount a defense.

The mill owners got a group of people together and attacked the sheriff who represented the crown while he was sleeping, beat him up, mutilated his horses and ran him out of town on them.

They were charged less than a pound each plus court costs for this. It’s famous because even though that was a decent amount of money for the time, it was just money and it meant that discontent among the colonists could be harnessed by moneyed people at no bodily cost to them.

People don’t like the pine tree riot now. It’s a pretty weird and uninspiring event unless you cast yourself in the role of a beloved local business owner.