Frivology

John Whitehead asks, “Why don’t you let religion into our schools?” … or, more accurately … “Why don’t you let CHRISTIANITY into our schools?”:

The first incident involves Wade, a fourth grader from Colorado. Wade’s class was given a “Hero” assignment, which required each student to pick a hero, research the person and write an essay. The student would then dress up and portray the chosen hero as part of a “live wax museum” and give an oral report in front of the class.

However, when the 9-year-old chose Jesus as his hero, school officials immediately insisted that he pick another hero. You have to wonder whether school officials would have objected had Wade chosen the Dalai Lama — or even the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. — as his hero.

After Wade’s parents objected, the school proposed a compromise: Wade could write the essay on Jesus. He could even dress up like Jesus for the “wax museum.” However, he would have to present his oral report to his teacher in private, with no one else present, rather than in front of the classroom like the other students.

via Why is religion taboo in American schools? | Reporter-Times / MD Times.

I’ll answer with a story of my own.

When I was a Freshman in High School, I entered my first biology class with youthful glee.  Over the summer, I had purchased - through a church rummage sale - a used micrsocope kit and a used chemistry kit.  I spent a lot of time looking at everything I could find under the microscope and experimenting with all sorts of chemicals in the family garage.  I was excited to start off in biology, and it showed.  I even read ahead in my textbook and was pretty eager to give answers.

It wasn’t long before we were assigned our very first report - an oral one no less, so I can relate to the kid above who had to do an oral report.  Each of us would draw, from a hat, a piece of paper that had a part of human physiology on it.  My choice?  The immune system.  Now, this was back nearly twenty years ago.  The hot-button issue at the time was AIDS, and I, being a pretty media-savvy kid, had heard a lot about it.  I’d also heard about the fact that the religious didn’t want us to talk about AIDS and especially about ways to prevent AIDS.  Many had mentioned, in fact, that it was a disease given to us by god to punish homosexuals.  Being a young, bright scientist, I wanted to set the record straight, so I chose AIDS to do my report on.

My mom drove me to the public library and for a week I studied HIV and AIDS relentlessly.  By the time my first draft was ready, I knew the ins and outs of the history of AIDS, where it started, who it affected, and WHY it affected hose people in particular.  I knew all the ways it could be transmitted, what it did to the body, and how it ended up killing it’s victim.  Iwas ready to bring truth to the classroom… unfortunately, the classroom wasn’t ready to receive it.  Upon inspection of my first draft, my science teacher made one of those faces that one makes when stuck between a rock and a hard place - in his case a student who really wanted to learn and an admistration terrified by religion - he told me that he’d have to talk to the principal about whether or not I could give my report.

I was two things… crushed that my hard work was going to get shot down, and confused as to why it was so terribly controversial to talk about a disease.  If HIV had been transferred solely through blood transfusions or solely through saliva, it wouldn’t have been questioned at all.  It might have even gone under the radar if heterosexuals had been the ones to pass the virus through their communities - but because this particular disease spread through the homosexual communities first, it was taboo.  Taboo to talk about it’s history.  Taboo to talk about how one contracts the disease.  Taboo to talk about how to prevent the contraction.  Taboo to talk about what the virus does to the body.  Taboo because of religion.

I tried to fight the decision a little, but it rapidly became clear that I had no voice in this world.  The school was afraid of controversy and I was too small a fish to worry about.  My science teacher tried to get me interested in a new subject, but it wasn’t the same and as a result my interest in science waned because my school gave up on my rights to free speech, my right to learn, because they were afraid of what a church might do.  When I re-did my oral report, I picked a new part of the body - one which allowed me to explore sociopaths and deep depression - so I could tell the group exactly what sort of things lead one to suicide.

So I hope people like Mr. Whitehead will understand when I look upon poor little Wade without a single ounce of pity or remorse.   If the church is going to influence schools so much that they are afraid to allow students to learn about things not related to religion, then the church is going to have to suffer with the inevitable backlash - the rest of us not wanting the church anywhere near our schools.  If that means that Wade can’t tell his classmates about how Jesus Christ is his hero, then so be it.  Save that sort of thing for Sunday School, where it belongs.  If Wade had, instead, chosen Muhammad as his ‘hero’, what do you think Mr. Whitehead would have said?  Praise Allah?

You won’t believe this, but in this case it’s Christians complaining that they are being persecuted because children in Canada are being taught ethics and religious culture.  I can see where they’re coming from on this.  I had to take a few culture courses in High School and there are plenty on my required list for my college GE credits.  The effort is to make people understand all of the different people in the world.  Oddly, though, this doesn’t seem to sit well with Christians who want to teach their children to hate and revile those of other religions.

Paul Donovan, the principal at Loyola High School in Montreal, told the National Post his school has initiated a court challenge against the class, which he said does not ask students to distinguish between right and wrong.
"What it essentially says is that religion is just, ‘You like tomato soup and I like pea soup, so don’t be all offended because someone likes tomato soup. It’s really just a matter of preference,’" he said. "Religion could be Wiccan or Raelian or any of the new movements or atheism or agnosticism."

This, apparently, is terribly offensive, and persecutes Christians who want to teach their children that tomato soup is the only soup anyone is allowed to like, and those who like pea soup will burn in soup hell.

Another disturbing bit…

A Voice of the Martyrs blog post commended the students for their opposition to state religious teaching.
"We believe that the state has no right to mandate religious education, force students to learn the content of other religious and to deliberately seek to undermine the religious convictions of those who refuse to accept a relativistic view of truth," VOM said.
"It is the right and responsibility of parents to train their own children according to their own religious beliefs, not those of the state," the persecution watchdog group said. "Religious courses, if offered, should be optional or alternatives provided. But the state must not mandate what religious content will or will not be taught to children, especially against the wishes of their parents."

Train?  Train?  Beyond potty-training, do you really "train" your children?  They aren’t dogs.  You can’t click a little toy and offer them a treat when they sit down when they’re told.  They are human beings.  Geez.

Wow.  I noticed a link today in my RSS reader to an article stating rather boldly that "Conservative Groups Declare Obama’s Stimulus Bill a War on Prayer".  Now, rightfully, seeing that this was a link to Fox News, I probably should have avoided clicking on it all together, but silly me, I did.  It seems all of the fuss is over the fact that the bill *shock, horror*, obeys the constitution.

According to the bill, which the Democratic-controlled House passed despite unanimous Republican opposition, funds are prohibited from being used for the "modernization, renovation, or repair" of facilities that allow "sectarian instruction, religious worship or a school or department of divinity."

Critics say that could include public schools that permit religious groups to meet on campus. The House provided $20 billion for the infrastructure improvements, of which $6 billion would go to higher education facilities where the limitations would be applied.

Let’s get this straight.  First, the Neocons don’t want us to spend any money in the first place, because spending is bad (though Dubya didn’t seem to believe this).  Then, when it comes out that the stimulus bill actually includes text that obeys the constitution, they start whining that their base - the fundies - won’t be getting some of it.

As if this isn’t ridiculous enough on it’s face, there’s comments on the news story.

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Ever since the inauguration, I keep reading the same phrase (or hearing it uttered) over and over and over and over again… "Well, Christians are the majority, so we get what we want.  Shut up, Atheists." 

This is also characterized in this article at AlterNet, recounting some recent comments.  "Pilgrim" says:

Why can’t atheists keep their incessant whining to themselves instead of continuously denigrating believers who outnumber them?

I personally don’t give a hoot what atheists believe, and I wish they would just shut up and stop belittling those who don’t see things the way they do.

Things are not going to change because of their continuous grousing and ridiculing.

Well, Pilgrim (I feel like John Wayne suddenly), what you really need to realize is that our push to restore the separation of church and state isn’t just for our own, fat, atheist egos.  It’s because it’s fairer to everyone - including you.  Right now, you are right, Christianity is the majority.  But… Atheists, Agnostics, Non-Believers, Humanists and the Irreligious make up the second largest group.  If wackaloons continue to take over your religion, we can easily see it bolstering our ranks.  A few generations from now, when the tables are reversed, what would you rather see….

World #1: While Atheists are the majority, Christians are still allowed their churches, and still allowed their personal freedom to believe in whatever they want to.  While these beliefs aren’t carried out through the government, the government also doesn’t tell Christians they aren’t allowed.  While government-sponsored functions no longer make reference to god, jesus, the bible or anything religious, they also don’t force those who believe to stop believing. 

World #2: Atheists, now in the majority, decide to treat Christians like Christians have treated Atheists.  Christians who wear T-Shirts that have Jesus on them are frequently ridiculed and called names.  In some places, Christians are asked to REMOVE any paraphernalia, as it is offensive to non-believers.  All government-sponsored events start with an announcement that there is no god, and require those who take the oath of office to do so on ‘On the Origin of Species’.  Polls regularly state that the majority of the people of the United States trust Christians LESS than they trust Wall Street Investors and churches can rarely get zoning for their buildings to be built. 

Now… seriously … which world would you rather live in?  I know it may be hard - nay impossible - for a "true believer" to imagine a world where they aren’t the majority, but try.  I’d dare say that most atheists do not want World #2.  Most atheists are content to live in a world where there are dozens of religions that they don’t believe in so long as those religions don’t force their beliefs on them.  Similarly, while most atheists don’t really have any desire to deconvert everyone that they meet.  They’re content only to explain their disbelief when asked.  I realize I’m speaking in generalities here, but I believe these generalities are all fairly true.

So, for those who keep spouting the ‘We’re the majority’ line, remember… you may not always be the majority.  Do you really want to be treated the way that you treat us?

I had to go to the dentist yesterday, so I didn’t have time for a proper lunch.  Instead, I rean through McDonald’s to pick up something quick and easy.  While there, I ended up behind the cutest little Neocon EVER and remembered I had a camera in my bag.  That’s a bumper sticker for ultra-conservative Duncan D. Hunter, who has said, “For me the central tenet of America is that our freedom is not granted to us by a man-made government, but is gifted to us from God and so may not be taken away by man …at least not without a fight.”  To the right of that is a sticker for the California Rifle and Pistol Association, who proudly proclaims on their website, “Society is safer when criminals don’t know who’s armed.”

I couldn’t decipher the one on the left, but those two made me laugh as it was.  It wasn’t necessarily that he was just another wack-a-loon.  What got me was that he was a rather large (and I mean fit large, possibly ex-military) man in a little tiny adorable silver VW bug.  Oh, and he ordered a chicken sandwich.  Ah, California…

I’m completely thrilled that Obama is acting with emotion.  There are times for not showing emotion and there are times when it’s absolutely necessary.  It’s absolutely necessary to be damn pissed off when you receive a report that Wall Street bankers gave themselves $18.4 billion in bonuses while lobbying the government for more money.  That anger should boil over to complete indignation when you then have to talk one company down from buying a $50 million jet.

This week, Citigroup, which received an infusion of taxpayer money last year, canceled its plans, at the administration’s urging, to buy a $50 million business jet.

Mr. Obama did not spare the company in his remarks on Thursday, although he did not mention Citi by name. “Secretary Geithner already had to pull back on one institution that had gone forward with a multimillion-dollar plane it purchased at the same time as they are receiving TARP money,” he said, using the acronym for the government’s $700 billion Troubled Assets Relief Program, intended to rescue shaky financial firms. “We shouldn’t have to do that, because they should know better."

via: Obama Calls Wall Street Bonuses ‘Shameful’

I am so incredibly tired of politicians who don’t seem to have an ounce of passion or emotion about them.  This kind of thing is something that really, REALLY needs to have anger attached to it, and the President should absolutely be the voice of the people in this regard.

My hope meter is rising every day.

To bring this all back to religion… a great many religious leaders say that lack of good, Christian morals has led to this sort of rampant greed.  I’d really like to see a study of how many of these people consider themselves good Christians already.

Predictably – Rush is already starting to pick on the Obamas, and doing so in only the idiotic way that he can. 

He then told them to break free of the confrontational mindset epitomised by Mr Limbaugh, the highest paid talk show host in America. "You can’t just listen to Rush Limbaugh and get things done," Mr Obama said.

His comments followed a blunt attack on him by Mr Limbaugh, who declared on air that he hoped Mr Obama would fail as president because otherwise it will usher in socialism.

Via: Telegraph, Via: Bligbi

I for one hope that Rush keeps it up.  Obama’s starting to show that he’s not going to be mowed over by the Right, and America’s already proven that the majority of us are sick and tired of the Right.  The more idiotic things Rush says, the more listeners he’s going to lose.  Especially when Obama’s work gets people back to work.  It’ll just make Rush look like he’s calling for everyone to be miserable and unemployed.

Rush, you should try picking on someone your own size.  The Obamas are completely out of your league.

via: Atheist Media Blog

Glenn Beck is my new Public Enemy #1 (Jake Tapper is old news).  Not only is he a jerk, but he’s a fucking ignorant jerk.  As many in the Atheist community know, last week Illinois ruled their school’s “Moment of Silence” law unconstitutional because:

The "teacher is required to instruct her pupils, especially in the lower grades, about prayer and its meaning as well as the limitations on their ‘reflection,’" Gettleman ruled.

"The plain language of the statute, therefore, suggests and intent to force the introduction of the concept of prayer into the schools," he said.

Listen above to how Glenn spins this to make “10% of Americans push around the other 90%”.  He claims and Dobson claim that the kids didn’t have to pray, they could do whatever they want… except that they weren’t, and that’s why it was dubbed unconstitutional.  He also goes on to say that God gave us our rights, and if we take God out of the State, then the State will be the one who gives us our rights.

What country do you live in, Glenn?  The State IS what gives us our rights, and the state IS what takes them away.  If you break the law, it isn’t God who will put you in jail for it – it’s the state!  Common sense, idiot.  I’m so sad that you’ve procreated.  Maybe your daughter will become an Atheist and torture you for the rest of your life.

But here’s a question for Glenn and anyone who disagrees with this ruling.  Is your faith, your belief so fragile that in order for it to exist you have to force it on others?  Is it so delicate that you can’t possibly allow your child to go to school for eight hours without having to have some reminder to believe during those eight hours?  If your belief really is that fragile, if you have to continually brainwash your kids in order to get them to think the way you want them to, maybe your belief isn’t as strong as you thought it was.

Also, if you’re going to complain about this you have no right whatsoever to state that you should be allowed to raise your children the way that you want to. 

As I was watching the Inauguration on Tuesday, I kept thinking to myself, "Wow, Obama is really bitchslapping Bush.  Good.  He deserves it.", but I wasn’t sure whether or not I was making a big deal out of it.  Apparently not.  Seems that the plane trip from Washington DC to Texas was full of crying GOPs.

Personally, I think they deserve it - and then some.  You don’t do what you did to this country and then just get to walk away from it pretending like you actually accomplished something.  While Bush, himself, seemed oblivious to the whole thing, his supporters are throwing fits.

Mr. McKinnon said there were good wishes for the new president and “an absence of malice one normally sees among the constituencies of the vanquished.” But he also said there were “some critical reviews of the speech, complaints about taking unnecessary shots and grousing about borrowed ideas.”

Right, so after attacking Obama at every step in the road during the candidacy, they now want a medal for not acting like the jerks they are during the transition.  Umm… no?

Can these guys whine any harder?  Oh wait, they can!

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Take a look at the picture to the left.  This is what stupid looks like.  This is Leilani and Dale Neumann, who killed their daughter, Kara, because they believed that God alone has the ability to heal the sick.  How can you live in this modern world and seriously be this ignorant?  I don’t even see how that’s possible.  Presumably, this family has at least two or three people in it who are alive by the grace of modern medicine - not by prayer.  Yet, they still believed - to the detriment of their own child - that "God alone" could heal the sick.

It’s like taking someone and smacking them upside the head with a brick, then being told that they don’t believe in bricks.  It doesn’t make a lick of sense.  What’s more, how do these people live with themselves now that she’s dead?  One has to wonder if they’ve fallen even deeper into their delusion of belief because that’s the only way to explain it?  God wanted Kara, so Kara had to die?

It makes me sick to think about it.