The front edge of a crowd of hundreds, who looked on as Godless in Chicago editor Rob Sherman entertained the audience with an impassioned defense of his proposition that your tax dollars should not be donated by the Illinois General Assembly to houses of worship, parochial schools and religious ministries. Godless in Chicago photo courtesy of Bob Matter.
The crowd was, for the most part, friendly and polite, with a few enthusiastic hecklers thrown in.
A young Max Pohl helps me out, while I debate, by holding the Dill Pickle that I won last year for being judged the Best Debater at the 2008 Bughouse Square Debates. The pickle is literally bigger than Max. Thanks, Max! Godless in Chicago photo courtesy of Bob Matter.
When I made my presentation, while standing on Soapbox # 2, the vast majority strongly supported my assertion that the Illinois General Assembly should not be engaged in the bizarre practice of donating your tax dollars to a Jewish ministry in Wisconsin, or any religious ministry in Illinois, for that matter.
A group of judges picked one of the twelve debaters as the best at this year's debate. This year's winner was the duo of Lina Thorne and Mars Caulton, who argued in favor of "Abortion on demand without apology." The judges made the right choice. Their presentation was excellent, even though I disagreed with just about everything that they said.
For the past two years, the Bughouse Square Debates were held on the last Saturday, the fourth Saturday, in July, so if you'd like to attend the next one, keep both July 24th (the fourth Saturday in July, 2010) and July 31st (the last Saturday in July, 2010) open in your schedule.
Subscribe to Godless in Chicago and receive an automated e-mail each morning, letting you know what new posts I've added during the past 24 hours.
For more about Rob Sherman, visit www.robsherman.com.
I will continue to fight, one victory at a time, to ensure that your tax dollars are spent only for public purposes, even if I am the only one willing to do so and regardless of what forum I am allowed to tell you about it may be. I need more page views in order to be retained by Chicago Now, the management of which has treated me very, very well, so if you care about this type of issue, please subscribe to Godless in Chicago and encourage others to visit Godless in Chicago and subscribe.
2 Comments
SMK said:
It's a great event. I'm bringing my nieces and nephews next year. A perfect education in America at its best.
Scotti Cohn said:
Hello! I would like to talk to Bob Matter about using a photo he took in a book I am writing about Chicago. Can you tell me how to contact him? Thanks!
Leave a Comment?
What your comment will look like:
said: