"Our Heavenly Father" prayer is as American as apple pie!

By -
If you're an active atheist, than you probably know about the Jessica Ahlquist story. If not, read up on it.

Short version: A junior at a public high school in Rhode Island would prefer that the "School Prayer" not be displayed on a giant banner in the school's auditorium.

This seems to be fairly cut and dry. We have laws in place protecting the public sector from religion, and it's hard to think of an argument that would validate the need to have a prayer on display in a public school.

Yeah.

Unfortunately, Christians tend to be extremely protective over their perceived rights to express their faith in any manner they choose. The request made to take the banner down was denied, so Jessica filed a complaint with the American Civil Liberties Union. Yesterday there was a trial, and an eye-witness wrote a really good write-up about it.

I love two things about what transpired in that courtroom:

1. The judge asked the defense if it would make a difference if the prayer was to the "Great Buddha" instead of to God. That right there makes me think that the judge will likely side with Jessica.

2. The defense's argument centered around the history of the banner (admittedly it's been there for a very long time), and that it used to be ok to pray in school...and it's America...and apple pie...and traditions...and...

COME ON.

That's the best you can do? You're going to use the Glen Beck defense and get all weepy about the times of yore when you played stick ball in the street and you and your best chums prayed constantly because you are convinced that prayer and faith is really that fucking important to everyone?

Swing and a miss.

We won't know for a few weeks what the judge decides, but if the defense wins I'm going to join a satanic church and hang an "All hail Satan" banner outside my house BECAUSE I ALSO LIKE APPLE PIE, ASSHOLES.

Damn it.

Comments

  1. MadScutterOctober 14, 2011 at 10:06 AM

    I've never understood this argument. "It was ok before, so it should be ok now". It is a terrible argument! There are so many awful things that used to be acceptable that are now intolerable. These same people would never dream of using the same kind of logic to argue that it was ok to bring back slavery. Or strip women of the rights to vote and to own property.

    Errm...PIE!!!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Why I always believe rape victims

By -
Image
On October 31st, 1997, I was raped. I cannot prove it. I cannot provide physical evidence that it happened. I apologize to the internet jury that the only thing I have to offer is my story, which is linked at the end of this blog. When a woman comes forward accusing someone of raping them, I assume they are telling the truth. Getting hard data reports of rape is difficult, given that roughly 70%  of rapes go unreported , but for the 30% of men and women who have the strength to go through the ordeal of reporting their assault, it's estimated 2-10% are false claims . In this scenario, if there are 1000 rapes, and only 30% are reported, 6-30 of those claims might be false. If there are 1000 rapes, and 100% are reported, 0.6-3  of those claims might be false.  So yes, false claims happen. And the people who have done this has made it possible to accuse every. single. woman. who comes forward with a rape allegation of being a liar. Interestingly enough, this doesn't seem to be
Read more

I apologize for not intentionally startling you, cranky lady

By -
Image
Having spent the last several months going on not too infrequent bike rides, I've developed the ability to predict whether it's necessary to alert someone walking in front of me that I'm going to be passing on their left. It is definitely common courtesy, but in my experience, mostly unnecessary. If you're walking ahead of me, I'm going to have plenty of time to observe your walking "style" and decide whether you might need a little heads up that I'm going to ride by. If you're doing a great job of walking in a straight line and staying on the right-side of the path (super proud of you, btw), I typically decide that I can trust you not wander into oncoming traffic without looking first. I have found that I am more likely to startle you by ringing my bell than by riding past you, and that unpleasantness usually seems wholly unnecessary. However, if you're a wanderer or part of a larger group of walkers, I'm definitely ringing my bell, even t
Read more

There was a good bit of hair pulling too

By -
The Christian Post thinks that a single sentence spoken by Dawkins at the Reason Rally has put the atheist movement in a "pickle". "Mock them, ridicule them in public." This is what Dawkins said in reference to religious people. This article decided that it means that Dawkins wants us all to turn into bullies. I have 3 points: 1. The Reason Rally was 9 hours long. I vaguely remember Dawkins saying something like this. It is hardly what I took away from the event. 2. Christians, this is the cool thing about being a freethinker. Yes, Dawkins is highly regarded in our community. No, we don't defer to him when determining how to live our lives and treat other people. We do not blindly do what the "higher-ups" suggest, and nor do they expect us to. I know this can be confusing, since you're used to having no say in how you live your life, but I can guarantee you that throngs of atheists are not going to swarm the streets ridiculing you. 3. A
Read more