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Freedom From Religion (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Amused to Death
- Start date
Sleestak
Footballguy
The Bible has a wealth of stories and instructions. Evangelism encourages a personalized approach to religion, at least relative to for instance Catholicism which has a mature structure and doctrine. Under the DIY approach a person might emphasize the parts of the bible that speak to him while eliding or flat out ignoring other parts. In fact that outcome (a cherry-picked set of core tenets) is to be expected. Some evangelists "get it right" and are a credit to their religion. On the spooky end you get Christian nationalists. On the awful end you get Westboro Baptist. All pointing back to the same book as justification. Many different outcomes are possible when you are your own faith tour guide! ;]
I'd rather someone else attempt to discuss the nature of evangelism, including the DIY aspect. I'm no expert, just freestyling based on half-formed thoughts. I think I've reached the limits of my ability to elucidate, and don't want to offend.
Insomniac
Footballguy
IMO it's better to keep religion out of public schools. Even a course meant to be neutral would, in too many cases, be taught by people who would push their personal beliefs. I don't even think it would be a good idea to teach a history course about how Christianity became the dominant religion in Europe.
Stealthycat
Footballguy
Stealthycat
Footballguy
E Street Brat
Footballguy
Amused to Death
Footballguy
School board member's email reply to a student urging her to reconsider views on LGBT issues:
God cares very deeply about every person and wants them to know who they are in Him… All people are created equal and no one can take that away from them because it was given to them by God. When someone fully understands who they are in Christ, then they will know they are valued and will be able to overcome depression and thoughts of suicide. They will know that there are only two genders and that there is absolute truth that comes from the Word of God. There is great freedom that comes from knowing the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father expect (sic) through Him. It is for freedom that Christ has set us free, but with this freedom comes great responsibility. We are not free to do whatever we feel like, we must uphold the values and truth of the Bible.
I know that you may not agree with me, and that is ok. I will still see you as the Lord sees you, as a child of the most high God who is loved and valued above all. You are unique, and God has given you special gifts and talents. I pray that God would reveal Himself to you so that you too can experience the love of the Father.
Video of the mother of the student addressing the board in link.
God cares very deeply about every person and wants them to know who they are in Him… All people are created equal and no one can take that away from them because it was given to them by God. When someone fully understands who they are in Christ, then they will know they are valued and will be able to overcome depression and thoughts of suicide. They will know that there are only two genders and that there is absolute truth that comes from the Word of God. There is great freedom that comes from knowing the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father expect (sic) through Him. It is for freedom that Christ has set us free, but with this freedom comes great responsibility. We are not free to do whatever we feel like, we must uphold the values and truth of the Bible.
I know that you may not agree with me, and that is ok. I will still see you as the Lord sees you, as a child of the most high God who is loved and valued above all. You are unique, and God has given you special gifts and talents. I pray that God would reveal Himself to you so that you too can experience the love of the Father.
Video of the mother of the student addressing the board in link.
Sleestak
Footballguy
Should not be on a school board, needless to say.
I'm well acquainted with that form of breathless evangelical word salad. Almost an incantation, really. If you master it and recite it with enough fervor, you go to heaven I suppose.
(HULK)
(Smash)
I dunno, they cover greek mythology in 3rd grade. As long as it got the same treatment, I'd be okay with it. What I suspect is, a lot of people who are currently in that religion would have difficulty with it being taught the same way.
(HULK)
(Smash)
Look, this isn't my internet fight but that was not what his post said or meant. He said, amongst the group of people that support trans kids, there are some freaks. He also said the identical about the other side. I think he's correct in that. On any issue, on both sides of it, there are some who go way too far.
Amused to Death
Footballguy
If you haven't seen it, the video of the mother addressing the school board is awesome. In the same link.
(HULK)
(Smash)
Yikes.
Separation of church and state is awesome and it SUCKS when people can't succeed in keeping them separate.
(HULK)
(Smash)
Amused to Death
Footballguy
Satanic Temple to send 'Hail Satan' decals to Kansas town that reversed ban on 'God' from police cars
If you're going to put Bible quotes and "In God We Trust" on the police cars, then please add our "Hail Satan" stickers next to it. 'Duty, Honor, Community, Hail Satan'
If you're going to put Bible quotes and "In God We Trust" on the police cars, then please add our "Hail Satan" stickers next to it. 'Duty, Honor, Community, Hail Satan'
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Herb
Footballguy
Amused to Death
Footballguy
FFRF to Florida residents: If your school district is banning books, make sure it bans the bible
If parents and lawmakers are looking to ban books with “inappropriate” content, perhaps they should investigate books that can be found in almost every school library. In one, rape is not only described, but the victims are forced to marry their rapists. (Deuteronomy 22:28–29.) Another tells the story of a prostitute who “lusted after her lovers, whose genitals were like those of donkeys and whose emission was like that of horses,” who “longed for the lewdness of your youth, when . . . [her] bosom was caressed and your young breasts fondled.” (Ezekiel 23:20–21.) This same book speaks about sex toys: you “took the fine jewelry I gave you, the jewelry made of my gold and silver, and you made for yourself male idols and engaged in prostitution with them.” (Ezekiel 16:17.) Another book has a character who prays, “may her breasts satisfy you always, may you ever be intoxicated with her love.”(Proverbs 5:19.) In yet another, a future husband purchases a wife by killing 200 of her fathers’ enemies, mutilating their corpses, and bringing back their foreskins as a dowry. (1 Samuel 18:27.) Another sordid and preposterous story that defames incest victims recounts the exploits of two daughters who, having just witnessed a genocide and the murder of their mother by a pyromaniacal god, supposedly got their father drunk and seduce him in order to bear his children. (Genesis 19.) Yet another book describes sperm, intercourse, menstruation, homosexuality, bestiality, adultery, and whores. (Leviticus.) Another depicts a holy man impaling a woman through her belly and describes in loving detail how to steal and rape virgins as war booty. (Numbers.) Yet another tale tells how a woman has her hand cut off for touching a man’s penis. (Deuteronomy 25:11–12.) In another, women’s skirts are lifted over their face so their nakedness and shame can be shown to all. (Nahum 3:5.) Another tale describes a man touching a woman’s “hole of the door” and how her “bowels were moved for him.” (Song of Solomon 5:4.)
An X-Rated Book: Sex & Obscenity In the Bible
If parents and lawmakers are looking to ban books with “inappropriate” content, perhaps they should investigate books that can be found in almost every school library. In one, rape is not only described, but the victims are forced to marry their rapists. (Deuteronomy 22:28–29.) Another tells the story of a prostitute who “lusted after her lovers, whose genitals were like those of donkeys and whose emission was like that of horses,” who “longed for the lewdness of your youth, when . . . [her] bosom was caressed and your young breasts fondled.” (Ezekiel 23:20–21.) This same book speaks about sex toys: you “took the fine jewelry I gave you, the jewelry made of my gold and silver, and you made for yourself male idols and engaged in prostitution with them.” (Ezekiel 16:17.) Another book has a character who prays, “may her breasts satisfy you always, may you ever be intoxicated with her love.”(Proverbs 5:19.) In yet another, a future husband purchases a wife by killing 200 of her fathers’ enemies, mutilating their corpses, and bringing back their foreskins as a dowry. (1 Samuel 18:27.) Another sordid and preposterous story that defames incest victims recounts the exploits of two daughters who, having just witnessed a genocide and the murder of their mother by a pyromaniacal god, supposedly got their father drunk and seduce him in order to bear his children. (Genesis 19.) Yet another book describes sperm, intercourse, menstruation, homosexuality, bestiality, adultery, and whores. (Leviticus.) Another depicts a holy man impaling a woman through her belly and describes in loving detail how to steal and rape virgins as war booty. (Numbers.) Yet another tale tells how a woman has her hand cut off for touching a man’s penis. (Deuteronomy 25:11–12.) In another, women’s skirts are lifted over their face so their nakedness and shame can be shown to all. (Nahum 3:5.) Another tale describes a man touching a woman’s “hole of the door” and how her “bowels were moved for him.” (Song of Solomon 5:4.)
An X-Rated Book: Sex & Obscenity In the Bible
KarmaPolice
Footballguy
Well, sure - if you read all of it instead of picking and choosing the good stuff out.
Amused to Death
Footballguy
Wait, are you implying people pick and choose which parts of the Bible they consider "deeply held religious beliefs"? So people don't have to discriminate against homosexuals and blaming the Bible might just be cover for abhorrent behavior?Well, sure - if you read all of it instead of picking and choosing the good stuff out.
Shocked! Shocked I tell you!
Amused to Death
Footballguy
Get off your knees and get to work!
Religious politicians defame atheism over school shootings
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is condemning a recent barrage of troubling comments by politicians callously blaming the Texas school shooting on atheism, irreligiosity or lack of faith.
FFRF has sent letters to four different high-ranking public officials who have recently made outrageous remarks about religion and mass shootings. Arizona state Sen. Rick Gray provides the vilest example in a speech he gave on the state Senate floor:
The real core issue — and I’ll be honest, this may be my bias, but this is how I see it — for decades, for decades, we’ve been teaching our children in school there is no God. You can’t pray. You can’t even pray on the field! There is no God. There are no absolutes. We live in a post modern world, so whatever you think is right is right, and if somebody else has a different view, you’re still right. There are no absolutes.
That we’re animals. And we’re just animals. It’s survival of the fittest. But then we’re shocked when they act that out! But we say, “Don’t act that way!” These kids — and it’s usually been kids that are shooting kids in school — what have they been taught? Friends, we have a state religion in the United States of America, even though there’s supposed to be separation of church and state, there is a state religion. It’s Human Secularism, aka Atheism.
Read FFRF’s letter to Rick Gray here.
Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick remarked in an interview on Fox News:
We are in a sick society where we are at each other’s throats all the time. … Everywhere you look, whether it’s on the internet, whether it’s any walk of life, people are just at each other every day and we have to ask ourselves who we are, and I believe we’re a nation of godly people, and godly people need to pray.
Read FFRF’s letter to Dan Patrick here.
And Sen. Ron Johnson, who represents FFRF’s home state of Wisconsin in the U.S. Senate, in an interview with the radio show “Conservative Circus” blamed the “secularization of society” and “loss of faith” for last week’s mass shooting. He also claimed: “The solution is renewed faith.”
Read FFRF’s letter to Johnson here.
A similar letter was also sent to Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Sear for her remarks blaming godlessness for school shootings and suggesting more school prayer is the solution.
As FFRF has pointed out to innumerable public officials, these assertions scapegoat secularism and dodge a very real problem by claiming prayer or religion is the panacea for gun violence. Pious politicians often highlight the 1962 Supreme Court decision Engel v. Vitale, which ruled that school-sponsored prayers in public schools violate the First Amendment, as the point where we “removed God from schools,” blaming this for school shootings ever since. In reality, there were school shootings before that case, and there was no spike in school shootings immediately following the ruling.
School shootings are a real-world problem that requires a real-world solution, not a plea for nonexistent supernatural intervention. Scientific studies show that societies and states with less religion have less violence.
Phil Zuckerman writes in a 2019 article in Sociology Compass that murder rates are lower in more secular nations and higher in more religious nations where belief in God is deep and widespread. And within America, the states with the highest murder rates tend to be highly religious, such as Louisiana and Alabama, but the states with the lowest murder rates tend to be among the least religious in the country, such as Vermont and Oregon. Furthermore, although there are some notable exceptions, rates of most violent crimes tend to be lower in the less religious states and higher in the most religious states. Finally, of the top 50 safest cities in the world, nearly all are in relatively nonreligious countries, and of the eight cities within the United States that make the safest-city list, nearly all are located in the least religious regions of the country.
Young Americans are less religious than ever, with atheism doubling among Generation Z, and they are demanding real action to stop the school shooting epidemic. Rather than advocating for more prayer, FFRF says that the answer is to: “Get off your knees and get to work!"
Religious politicians defame atheism over school shootings
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is condemning a recent barrage of troubling comments by politicians callously blaming the Texas school shooting on atheism, irreligiosity or lack of faith.
FFRF has sent letters to four different high-ranking public officials who have recently made outrageous remarks about religion and mass shootings. Arizona state Sen. Rick Gray provides the vilest example in a speech he gave on the state Senate floor:
The real core issue — and I’ll be honest, this may be my bias, but this is how I see it — for decades, for decades, we’ve been teaching our children in school there is no God. You can’t pray. You can’t even pray on the field! There is no God. There are no absolutes. We live in a post modern world, so whatever you think is right is right, and if somebody else has a different view, you’re still right. There are no absolutes.
That we’re animals. And we’re just animals. It’s survival of the fittest. But then we’re shocked when they act that out! But we say, “Don’t act that way!” These kids — and it’s usually been kids that are shooting kids in school — what have they been taught? Friends, we have a state religion in the United States of America, even though there’s supposed to be separation of church and state, there is a state religion. It’s Human Secularism, aka Atheism.
Read FFRF’s letter to Rick Gray here.
Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick remarked in an interview on Fox News:
We are in a sick society where we are at each other’s throats all the time. … Everywhere you look, whether it’s on the internet, whether it’s any walk of life, people are just at each other every day and we have to ask ourselves who we are, and I believe we’re a nation of godly people, and godly people need to pray.
Read FFRF’s letter to Dan Patrick here.
And Sen. Ron Johnson, who represents FFRF’s home state of Wisconsin in the U.S. Senate, in an interview with the radio show “Conservative Circus” blamed the “secularization of society” and “loss of faith” for last week’s mass shooting. He also claimed: “The solution is renewed faith.”
Read FFRF’s letter to Johnson here.
A similar letter was also sent to Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Sear for her remarks blaming godlessness for school shootings and suggesting more school prayer is the solution.
As FFRF has pointed out to innumerable public officials, these assertions scapegoat secularism and dodge a very real problem by claiming prayer or religion is the panacea for gun violence. Pious politicians often highlight the 1962 Supreme Court decision Engel v. Vitale, which ruled that school-sponsored prayers in public schools violate the First Amendment, as the point where we “removed God from schools,” blaming this for school shootings ever since. In reality, there were school shootings before that case, and there was no spike in school shootings immediately following the ruling.
School shootings are a real-world problem that requires a real-world solution, not a plea for nonexistent supernatural intervention. Scientific studies show that societies and states with less religion have less violence.
Phil Zuckerman writes in a 2019 article in Sociology Compass that murder rates are lower in more secular nations and higher in more religious nations where belief in God is deep and widespread. And within America, the states with the highest murder rates tend to be highly religious, such as Louisiana and Alabama, but the states with the lowest murder rates tend to be among the least religious in the country, such as Vermont and Oregon. Furthermore, although there are some notable exceptions, rates of most violent crimes tend to be lower in the less religious states and higher in the most religious states. Finally, of the top 50 safest cities in the world, nearly all are in relatively nonreligious countries, and of the eight cities within the United States that make the safest-city list, nearly all are located in the least religious regions of the country.
Young Americans are less religious than ever, with atheism doubling among Generation Z, and they are demanding real action to stop the school shooting epidemic. Rather than advocating for more prayer, FFRF says that the answer is to: “Get off your knees and get to work!"
Maggot Brain
Footballguy
Another excellent 'heathen' website.
OnlySky
A site called patheos used to be somewhat of a clearinghouse for all things spirtiual....christianity, buddhism, secularism etc. But when it was bought by an evangelical corporation fronted by Trump lawyer Sekeulow, the humanist/atheist bloggers and writers were basically forced out. This is the by product.
OnlySky
A site called patheos used to be somewhat of a clearinghouse for all things spirtiual....christianity, buddhism, secularism etc. But when it was bought by an evangelical corporation fronted by Trump lawyer Sekeulow, the humanist/atheist bloggers and writers were basically forced out. This is the by product.
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Amused to Death
Footballguy
Thanks for the link. I didn't know that site, or that Sekeulow took over Patheos. I used to like that site.
Maggot Brain
Footballguy
Here's the full background on the patheos situation. Somewhat long, but they touch on several issues that religious/humanists/secularists/atheists can give some thought to. IMO its worth the listen.
Values are More Important than Beliefs
I honestly don't think that was Boston's intent. More of a misunderstanding of what he meant.
Amused to Death
Footballguy
Yup, not just schools but all levels of government. But the protected class must stay (as it should, ergo the term "protected class").
Amused to Death
Footballguy
New Gallup poll.
Belief in God in U.S. Dips to 81%, a New Low
The vast majority of U.S. adults believe in God, but the 81% who do so is down six percentage points from 2017 and is the lowest in Gallup's trend. Between 1944 and 2011, more than 90% of Americans believed in God.
Gallup's May 2-22 Values and Beliefs poll finds 17% of Americans saying they do not believe in God.
Younger, Liberal Americans Least Likely to Believe in God
Belief in God has fallen the most in recent years among young adults and people on the left of the political spectrum (liberals and Democrats). These groups show drops of 10 or more percentage points comparing the 2022 figures to an average of the 2013-2017 polls.
Most other key subgroups have experienced at least a modest decline, although conservatives and married adults have had essentially no change.
The groups with the largest declines are also the groups that are currently least likely to believe in God, including liberals (62%), young adults (68%) and Democrats (72%). Belief in God is highest among political conservatives (94%) and Republicans (92%), reflecting that religiosity is a major determinant of political divisions in the U.S.
A Pew Research poll from Dec '21 however shows the godless number much higher:
About Three-in-Ten U.S. Adults Are Now Religiously Unaffiliated
Currently, about three-in-ten U.S. adults (29%) are religious “nones” – people who describe themselves as atheists, agnostics or “nothing in particular” when asked about their religious identity. Self-identified Christians of all varieties (including Protestants, Catholics, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and Orthodox Christians) make up 63% of the adult population. Christians now outnumber religious “nones” by a ratio of a little more than two-to-one. In 2007, when the Center began asking its current question about religious identity, Christians outnumbered “nones” by almost five-to-one (78% vs. 16%).
Belief in God in U.S. Dips to 81%, a New Low
The vast majority of U.S. adults believe in God, but the 81% who do so is down six percentage points from 2017 and is the lowest in Gallup's trend. Between 1944 and 2011, more than 90% of Americans believed in God.
Gallup's May 2-22 Values and Beliefs poll finds 17% of Americans saying they do not believe in God.
Younger, Liberal Americans Least Likely to Believe in God
Belief in God has fallen the most in recent years among young adults and people on the left of the political spectrum (liberals and Democrats). These groups show drops of 10 or more percentage points comparing the 2022 figures to an average of the 2013-2017 polls.
Most other key subgroups have experienced at least a modest decline, although conservatives and married adults have had essentially no change.
The groups with the largest declines are also the groups that are currently least likely to believe in God, including liberals (62%), young adults (68%) and Democrats (72%). Belief in God is highest among political conservatives (94%) and Republicans (92%), reflecting that religiosity is a major determinant of political divisions in the U.S.
A Pew Research poll from Dec '21 however shows the godless number much higher:
About Three-in-Ten U.S. Adults Are Now Religiously Unaffiliated
Currently, about three-in-ten U.S. adults (29%) are religious “nones” – people who describe themselves as atheists, agnostics or “nothing in particular” when asked about their religious identity. Self-identified Christians of all varieties (including Protestants, Catholics, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and Orthodox Christians) make up 63% of the adult population. Christians now outnumber religious “nones” by a ratio of a little more than two-to-one. In 2007, when the Center began asking its current question about religious identity, Christians outnumbered “nones” by almost five-to-one (78% vs. 16%).
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Amused to Death
Footballguy
I've always been pretty agnostic. But over the last few years I'm open about my disbelief. I guess I was uncomfortable saying it out loud but I've reached a point where I feel like, damn it - if I have wade through everyone else's religious views on social media and to a lesser extent IRL, I'm voicing my views as well. Especially as our politics and government have steadily embraced religion.
I'm tired of hearing about it in our politics especially. And I'm damn sure not sitting quietly when atheists are used as scapegoats for tragedies. I've accepted that my views on religion are every bit as valid as anyone else.
KarmaPolice
Footballguy
All this. I think it’s telling that I believe a woman or an openly gay man would get to be president long before an openly atheistic person would.
Amused to Death
Footballguy
When asked if a fear in God is an important quality for president at the National Religious Liberties Conference in Iowa on Friday, Cruz said, "Any president who doesn't begin every day on his knees isn't fit to be commander in chief of this nation."
I'm going to give Ted the benefit of the doubt and assume he means "on his knees" as in prayer.
"There's a big difference between kneeling down and bending over" - Frank Zappa
Maggot Brain
Footballguy
https://twitter.com/FFRF/status/1545887244799680513?s=20&t=4bpmwjFvO9CO_c4pObZXLw
Promotion of Christian nationalism becomes overt, particularly in the state of Pennsylvania.
Promotion of Christian nationalism becomes overt, particularly in the state of Pennsylvania.
FairWarning
Footballguy
Amused to Death
Footballguy
Mastriano is the scariest candidate this election cycle IMO. I fear for Pennsylvania for several reasons if he's elected governor. From an AP article:
Watchers of Christian nationalism consider Mastriano’s win — in a rout, with 44% in a crowded field despite opposition from the state party establishment — by far the highest-profile victory for the movement.
Mastriano has called the separation of church and state a “myth.”
After his victory, the comments section of his campaign Facebook page had the feel of a revival tent:
“Praise Jesus!” “God is smiling on us and sending His blessings.” “Thank you Father God!!”
Mastriano “is a unique case where he really does in his speeches highlight this apocalyptic idea” where his supporters and causes are on God’s side, said Andrew Whitehead, sociology professor at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis and co-author of “Taking America Back for God: Christian Nationalism in the United States.”
“It literally is good and evil,” he continued. “There’s no room for compromise, so that is the threat to democracy.”
Maggot Brain
Footballguy
Scary stuff
Mile High
Footballguy
So has Lauren Boebert.
Boebert, who easily won her primary election on Tuesday, said she’s "tired of this separation of church and state junk."
"The reason we had so many overreaching regulations in our nation is because the church complied. The church is supposed to direct the government. The government is not supposed to direct the church," Boebert said. "That is not how our Founding Fathers intended it, and I’m tired of this separation of church and state junk. That’s not in the Constitution. It was in a stinking letter, and it means nothing like what they say it does."
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wral.com/fact-check-boebert-says-the-church-is-supposed-to-direct-the-government/20365965/%3fversion=amp
Maggot Brain
Footballguy
Amused to Death
Footballguy
School Board to Revisit Dress Code
Members of the Hays school board requested a change to the Hays elementary and middle school dress codes after a parent complained about a ban on clothing promoting satanism.
A mother of three students in Hays public schools, Mary Turner, spoke during the public comment period of the school board meeting Monday night.
She said she is a longtime member of the Satanic Temple.
"I raise my children according to the seven tenants of satanism, and while children of other faiths can wear clothing that declares their family's religion," she said, "my family's faith is specifically called out and banned in the school handbook dress code.
"Your own non-discrimination policies state that you do not discriminate against students based on religion. Your own mission says every student in every classroom every day," Turner said.
The Satanic Temple has been a federally recognized church for many years, Turner said.
"Banning Satanic students from wearing clothing that declares their faith while allowing students of all other faiths to wear similar clothing is an act of discrimination," she said.
"I am here to ask that the school board remove satanism from their dress code policy and they no longer blacklist my family's faith and the faith of other families here in Hays as distracting, unsafe or offensive," Turner said.
Superintendent Ron Wilson said the litmus test for the policy is not about moral judgment, but whether the clothing would be considered disruptive.
"It is interesting on the previous page, we have a non-discrimination statement," Zampieri-Lillpopp said. "We have it up on our wall that we value diversity and we value inclusion and then we specifically say the name of one religion in the no list.
"I would challenge someone to put their own religion in that space and see how it feels," she said.
She added any statement could be disruptive if someone twisted it.
"The disruption is not the clothing," Zampieri-Lillpopp said. "The disruption is the person behaving in a disruptive manner."
Members of the Hays school board requested a change to the Hays elementary and middle school dress codes after a parent complained about a ban on clothing promoting satanism.
A mother of three students in Hays public schools, Mary Turner, spoke during the public comment period of the school board meeting Monday night.
She said she is a longtime member of the Satanic Temple.
"I raise my children according to the seven tenants of satanism, and while children of other faiths can wear clothing that declares their family's religion," she said, "my family's faith is specifically called out and banned in the school handbook dress code.
"Your own non-discrimination policies state that you do not discriminate against students based on religion. Your own mission says every student in every classroom every day," Turner said.
The Satanic Temple has been a federally recognized church for many years, Turner said.
"Banning Satanic students from wearing clothing that declares their faith while allowing students of all other faiths to wear similar clothing is an act of discrimination," she said.
"I am here to ask that the school board remove satanism from their dress code policy and they no longer blacklist my family's faith and the faith of other families here in Hays as distracting, unsafe or offensive," Turner said.
Superintendent Ron Wilson said the litmus test for the policy is not about moral judgment, but whether the clothing would be considered disruptive.
"It is interesting on the previous page, we have a non-discrimination statement," Zampieri-Lillpopp said. "We have it up on our wall that we value diversity and we value inclusion and then we specifically say the name of one religion in the no list.
"I would challenge someone to put their own religion in that space and see how it feels," she said.
She added any statement could be disruptive if someone twisted it.
"The disruption is not the clothing," Zampieri-Lillpopp said. "The disruption is the person behaving in a disruptive manner."
Rich Conway
Footballguy
Van Dyman
Footballguy
Captain Cranks
Footballguy
Ugh. ####### religion.
Amused to Death
Footballguy
To be clear, I never mock people's choice of belief. I just want equal protections and freedom to NOT believe. Our Constitution is very clear that the government can't promote any religion over all others, including the right to not be religious. Religious freedom for everyone. Seems simple but as we far too often there are those who think theirs is right and all others are wrong. Or that government should favor their religion/god(s) of choice.
Particularly annoying to me are those who think I need to be "saved" - I just don't know it. And they're going to help me if I just open myself up to Jesus. I try very hard to be respectful in my rebuttal. But some people just push because they're spreading God's word. Bullcrap. Just let me be me and you be you. Again, it seems so simple.
Lately I've been getting far too many religious posts (ads) on my social media. I didn't ask for them. So occasionally I'll make a comment that I'm good with who I am. That seems to open the floodgates for those who see an opportunity to "save" a soul! No matter how much I reject it. My latest one was a post instructing the believers on how to approach atheists and show them the way of Jesus. I made a simple comment, "Nah, I'm good. Live and let live". Apparently the bat signal was lit and I'm a lost soul. One particularly galling reply:
" it’s fantasy to you because you have completely hardened your heart to God. You have no spiritual discernment, so you are incapable of comprehending spiritual things! If you wanted to know the truth, God would allow you to see the truth"
My respectful reply:
I didn't use the word "fantasy", you did. I have my beliefs and I'm good with those. And they don't include trying to get people who have different beliefs to adopt mine.
Have a great day.
Just more of that Christian superiority.
Particularly annoying to me are those who think I need to be "saved" - I just don't know it. And they're going to help me if I just open myself up to Jesus. I try very hard to be respectful in my rebuttal. But some people just push because they're spreading God's word. Bullcrap. Just let me be me and you be you. Again, it seems so simple.
Lately I've been getting far too many religious posts (ads) on my social media. I didn't ask for them. So occasionally I'll make a comment that I'm good with who I am. That seems to open the floodgates for those who see an opportunity to "save" a soul! No matter how much I reject it. My latest one was a post instructing the believers on how to approach atheists and show them the way of Jesus. I made a simple comment, "Nah, I'm good. Live and let live". Apparently the bat signal was lit and I'm a lost soul. One particularly galling reply:
" it’s fantasy to you because you have completely hardened your heart to God. You have no spiritual discernment, so you are incapable of comprehending spiritual things! If you wanted to know the truth, God would allow you to see the truth"
My respectful reply:
I didn't use the word "fantasy", you did. I have my beliefs and I'm good with those. And they don't include trying to get people who have different beliefs to adopt mine.
Have a great day.
Just more of that Christian superiority.
(HULK)
(Smash)
Whenever someone knocks on my door to sell me their religion, I get them a drink and start trying to politely sell them atheism. They leave within minutes and never return.
NorvilleBarnes
Footballguy
Maggot Brain
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dkp993
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