Welcome to the Bible-Belt, where the only opinions and lifestyles you're allowed to have are what the religious right approves of. I suspect they will find a reason to fire her, and I hope the lawsuit that follows will make this board deeply regret that decision. In the end, it would have been far easier and far cheaper to have simply joined the twenty-first century and accepted a situation that isn't harming anyone.
I don't see keeping her on leave until non-renewal as viable. That would get the board attacked by Dems for fake-firing someone for 'working while lesbian,' it would get them primaried by right-wingers in the next board election by candidates who say they will real-fire her immediately and save the district years of salary money, and it will get them sued by Ms. Dressback for not stating a cause.
Now that the cat's out of the bag, they're probably going to have to make up a reason for their action pretty quickly, and follow through on it. They could use "we've received a complaint and have put her on leave while we investigate" for a month or two, but IMO that's about the extent of stalling they can do until it's going to affect them personally (i.e. through damaging their chances of reelection).
They won't pay. The children will when the school's computers are hacked because they're running 10-year-old out-of-support software, because the school no longer has the money for upgrades or to replace the expired chemicals in the science lab or hire teachers with degrees or even have school 5 days a week.
An old friend of mine was once the commissioner for education in Alabama. He used to regale me with tales of his struggles against the close-minded and often corrupt people he had to deal with. I'm sure he'll have some opinions to share about this travesty.
Well put! Can we just dissolve Alabama and turn it into Federally Managed Territory 98B or some such? Almost being serious here. If we have this republic with power delegated to the states, and cities and school boards, and they use this power to destroy people's rights and their lives, then in my book they have shown themselves unworthy of it!
I was going to say truth, but then I remembered that these are people who would choke to death rather than accept any truth that didn't square with their version of Jesus.
I try not to advocate for stuff that winds up killing people, even people who won't return the favor. I'll admit I wonder why I bother sometimes, though.
Are you not aware that Satan is everywhere like a disease and the only true protection from this disease is to keep it away from you or risk being smitten and thrown into hell by the great merciful god in heaven that loves you?
I used to comment on certain fundie websites about god wanting people to fear it or that it was a jealous god. Inevitably someone would take the bait and tell me that fear or jealously didn’t mean what I thought they meant. At which point I would inquire of them what they thought I thought since I used language straight out of the bible.
It's neither great nor merciful to throw someone in hell for being smitten by a disease they didn't want and didn't choose. If it's not your sin, but God sends you to hell for it, then that's deeply unjust.
I am lesbian and I'm thinking unless one is LGBT+ one cannot understand how ericc's comment didn't sound like satire and hit at the core of some of the hateful comments we have had thrown at us. It just hurt.
I got that, but ericc's wasn't and he repeated disease without quotes to indicate that it wasn't a disease. And while I don't think he does believe it is, that was my point.
1. The Jesus of Paul—was Saul who never met Jesus?
2. The Jesus of the four Gospels, whose authors are unknown and whose stories vary, who never met Jesus?
3. The Jesus from other gospels the CHURCH CHOSE TO NOT INCLUDE. IN BIBLE?
4. The Jesus that made several prophesies that never happened?
5. The Jesus with no contemporaneous historical record of existence?
B: Jesus whose father is:
1. El
2. Yahweh
I only have more and more questions that there are no supportable answers to, only beliefs from a self-contradictory book that talks about a god that orders genocide, that demands that one does not love any of the other god but only love {Fear) him, that murders children.
I do not believe in Satan, who was actually supposed to be an angel.
I wonder if she'd WANT to have her job back after this mess. I WOULD heartily consider a civil suit that will take the school board's lunch money for a couple decades, though.
Let's see here. We got a woman who is apparently pretty terrific at her job as principal, earned a Teacher of the Year award, and now all at once is 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛𝑎 𝑛𝑜𝑛 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑎 because she had the unmitigated nerve to give expression to who she is. That Ms. Dressback is a lesbian has no discernible impact on her job performance. Still, because she lives in a state that is so retrogressive that it still thinks that Ozzie and Harriet is the only acceptable model for a family, the fact that she has a girlfriend has the school system in a panic, mostly because they can't think of a valid reason to fire her.
What's that line that makes the rounds here on Friendly Atheist? Oh, yeah:
Ah.. but she didn't keep the fact she was a lesbian a secret. Not only can't she put a picture of her girlfriend on her desk or mention her or even say something about the 'fag' who got beat up, she's not supposed to mention it to the staff, even her friends. No one can know. She must live in the coffin (closet) at all times.
So-called conservatives have been screaming lately about how affirmative action is destroying 'Merica because it 'requires' unqualified people in a job. Yet when they have an opportunity to show how they want the best person for a job no matter what the candidate's sexuality is, they show their bigotry. It's stories like this that prove they are not interested in a fair playing field, they want every advantage they can find.
They didn't have any problem voting for Trump to be president. Or appointing an overpaid real estate agent to manage the distribution of PPE at the beginning of the pandemic. Or making Lara Trump the head of the RNC, or putting people in cabinet positions that they weren't qualified for.
Interesting that the school has a "morality" clause in a teacher's employment contract. Ms. Dressback is a model teacher and principal who is well-like by both the parents and the students. So are the bigots who want her removed because of her "immorality" also planning to vote for trump?
Yeah, they did- almost a quarter of their churches pulled a SBC and noped out of the Conference because the rest of the denomination wasn't hateful enough for them... which is really saying something, considering that the rest of the denomination's idea of progress amounts to institutionally-codified benign neglect.
Billboard I saw in North Texas yesterday. 'In the beginning, God created...' black with white text evolution of man icon with a red line through it in the corner.
I wonder, how many churchgoers really truly believe in the Garden of Eden? My 74-year-old mom still goes to church, but she knows very well the Garden of Eden is a myth, she believes in science (but yet she also goes to church, she is who she is, I'm not going to try to change her). A few years back I asked two people that I work with in Tennessee if they believed in Aliens..... neither one of them did, but one of them said "no because it's not in the bible". I was going to mention ezekiel's wheel but I decided to drop it.
Not surprised, they also have the Ten Commandments erected at the Capitol in Austin. I suspect some church is paying for that billboard - The Atheist should get together and put up a billboard right next to it showing the little hominids eventually evolving into upright walking modern human.
Three prongs attack. Get rid of competent teachers and staff, waste the money destined to public schools, cry persecution when you are remembered to follow the law like everyone else.
I wish the best to Mme Dressback and her partner. Preferably in a place free of discrimination.
That's my hope in all of this - that the free states jump all over situations like this, and offer relocation packages, higher pay, signing bonuses and whatever is necessary for talented educators like this who are major assets to their communities to make the jump to somewhere they will be accepted and can benefit the community there.
More than the "Land of Dixie", the whole middle of the country. And really only the west coast and the Northeast are "safe". And only because urbanites outnumber the small-town folks and farmers.
Why don’t they just find a gravel pit to take her to? Best solution for all, amiright.
They’ve been telling us for years now that we’re overreacting, they’d never do stuff like this. Even though we watch them do exactly this same thing when the laws allow it, ie. at private religious schools. They tell us that affirmative action, or what they are now calling DEI hires, is bad because it’s allowing unqualified applicants to get jobs they can’t do, but when someone is hired into a job as an overqualified “normal” hire but then is later exposed as a member of a population that receives DEI protections, they dump them in a heartbeat. They’ve demanded DEI hires be the cream of the crop for so long, just to be halfway respected as qualified, and promoted mediocrity as superior, they’re shocked when mediocre white Christian (mostly men) folks aren’t able to compete anymore. That is their own fault. By demanding more out of the others, they raised the bar, but by not expecting to improve themselves, they no longer are able to clear the bar. This is why women outnumber men in colleges, why affirmative action seems so unfair, and so many other things they gripe about. Ginger Rogers was always a far better dancer, now that Fred Astair isn’t the headliner, no one can deny it anymore.
Anyway, clearly her LGBTQ status is an issue rather than her abilities and skills or even her popularity. And what’s going on with other staff members spying on her like that, taking video of her conversation with a coworker and/or custodian listening in on it? Have they been told to find LGBTQ threats or something? Is the board planting moles so they can weed out folks? Seems suspicious to me.
Part of me kinda hopes Trump will take Noem as his Veep pick. I'm sure his 30%-of-the-GOP faithful will flip to be in favor of puppy killing, just like they flipped to loving Russia and dictators. But I can't see it being a popular position with many moderates or independents. FFS Noem, it didn't occur to you to take the pup to an animal shelter?
His base has always been in favor of killing puppies, they had no issue with Huckabee (pretty sure it was his kid that dragged a dog behind a car) or are concerned about Trump’s own aversion to pets. Not to mention they are gung ho for hunting for sport, and defended Jr’s big game “hunting”. Who was it that was found to have been hunting where the animal was simply released from a cage and he shot it? Or the chick who killed a beloved giraffe because she claimed it was sick and/or aggressive and the game wardens told her to, when the giraffe was well cared for and definitely not sick.
There’s just no depravity the trumpanzee base will not defend if it is Republican or Trump enough.
Do you believe there's a dog trainer on the planet who wouldn't take a dog rather than have them killed? Even kill shelters (which I believe are dying, thankfully) at least do it as painlessly as possible.
My grandparents raised dogs for hunting. One of my good friends is a farmer now and has bought farm dogs that didn't work out (i.e. couldn't be effectively trained to do their job. Or at least, wouldn't work for him). Never in my life have I heard of any of these types of owners killing a healthy 14-month animal because of a training fail. The dog in that case just becomes a pet - and if you aren't in the position to have a pet, it becomes someone else's pet.
She is an asshole and I wish I could acquaint her face with DM's cane.
I had the Queen of misbehaving as a dog and not even once I had thought of harming her, let alone killing her. Luckily for Aria or she would have died more times than Steven Strange.
You forgot the mirrored sunglasses, with the phrase, "We don't appreciate your kind round here. Might wanna find your self somewhere else come sundown, if you now what I mean."
And people tell me I'm paranoid when I start talking about red states becoming *legally* unsafe for LGBT folks. I like my job and my boss, and dread the thought of selling the house, but more and more, I feel like the frog in the pot.
I am so sorry that Lauren Dressback is going through this crap right now. She was teacher of the year when married to a man-- okay so how does her coming out effect her teaching ability now in anyway? Lauren on your side 100%! And Alabama? I'll say Gay all I want! Another reason I'll move to another country before I step foot in Alabama!
"We're sorry to report that due to our needing to redirect significant school funds to cover the legal costs of running an apparent women-kisser out of this here district, we'll be unable to offer history, civics, and social studies classes to our students. But let's face it, those books are all written by communist socialist atheist authors anyway, so no great loss. On the bright side, we'll be adding more bible study classes." - Idiot Alabama School Board
You forgot: "If any student requires counseling to deal with the trauma or upset of suddenly losing a beloved and respected principal, we recommend they see the school's official unqualified, unaccredited fundamentalist Christian pastor, who has replaced our real counselor due to those same budget cuts."
"If any student requires counseling to deal with the trauma or upset of suddenly losing a beloved and respected principal, we recommend they s̶e̶e̶ t̶h̶e̶ s̶c̶h̶o̶o̶l̶'s̶ o̶f̶f̶i̶c̶i̶a̶l̶ u̶n̶q̶u̶a̶l̶i̶f̶i̶e̶d̶, u̶n̶a̶c̶c̶r̶e̶d̶i̶t̶e̶d̶ f̶u̶n̶d̶a̶m̶e̶n̶t̶a̶l̶i̶s̶t̶ C̶h̶r̶i̶s̶t̶i̶a̶n̶ p̶a̶s̶t̶o̶r̶, w̶h̶o̶ h̶a̶s̶ r̶e̶p̶l̶a̶c̶e̶d̶ o̶u̶r̶ r̶e̶a̶l̶ c̶o̶u̶n̶s̶e̶l̶o̶r̶ d̶u̶e̶ t̶o̶ t̶h̶o̶s̶e̶ s̶a̶m̶e̶ b̶u̶d̶g̶e̶t̶ c̶u̶t̶s̶. they toughen up or fuck off" FTFY (counsellor indeed!)
She is in a relationship that is legal in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. There is nothing immoral about that relationship at all. Would the relationship be a problem if it were heterosexual but involved someone of a different race?
Oh, that's right -- this is Alabama, so acting like it is the 21st century is not a thing.
Illegal /= immoral. Schools have a long history of firing teachers over things like pron or pole dancing. Not saying this is immoral (it's not), and not saying those firings are right (arguably not), but even us liberals should not conflate legality with morality. That plays right into the fundie's strength, of arguing to the public that they should be allowed to craft the law to reflect social values. No, they shouldn't be allowed to do that (and neither should we). Acts the larger society deem immoral or offensive should be legal, with the 'legality' test related to concepts like harm to others, use of common resources, freedom to act, etc. and NOT related to the concept of "does your conduct adhere to your neighbors' concept of morality."
Yeah, that's a good point - using a defensive *homosexuality is legal* to the Taliban is probably a bad idea - because then the next thing they're going to want to do is make it illegal. That's why these states keep crying about " states rights".....
Bringing the organisation into "disrepute" is a common excuse – even here. Although I've worked with gay teachers and only private religious schools are allowed to fire them. I think.
THAT frosts their balls. It really hurts seeing someone happy celebrating what they hate so much within themselves. They are not content hating themselves. They feel they must take it out on others.
Welcome to the Bible-Belt, where the only opinions and lifestyles you're allowed to have are what the religious right approves of. I suspect they will find a reason to fire her, and I hope the lawsuit that follows will make this board deeply regret that decision. In the end, it would have been far easier and far cheaper to have simply joined the twenty-first century and accepted a situation that isn't harming anyone.
They could have waited 2026 and not renewing her contract. One could think the waste of money is the point, "putting her in her place" the bonus.
Religious and political conservatives tend to be self-righteous and sanctimonious. They rarely anticipate consequences.
I don't see keeping her on leave until non-renewal as viable. That would get the board attacked by Dems for fake-firing someone for 'working while lesbian,' it would get them primaried by right-wingers in the next board election by candidates who say they will real-fire her immediately and save the district years of salary money, and it will get them sued by Ms. Dressback for not stating a cause.
Now that the cat's out of the bag, they're probably going to have to make up a reason for their action pretty quickly, and follow through on it. They could use "we've received a complaint and have put her on leave while we investigate" for a month or two, but IMO that's about the extent of stalling they can do until it's going to affect them personally (i.e. through damaging their chances of reelection).
They won't pay. The children will when the school's computers are hacked because they're running 10-year-old out-of-support software, because the school no longer has the money for upgrades or to replace the expired chemicals in the science lab or hire teachers with degrees or even have school 5 days a week.
An old friend of mine was once the commissioner for education in Alabama. He used to regale me with tales of his struggles against the close-minded and often corrupt people he had to deal with. I'm sure he'll have some opinions to share about this travesty.
I hope you will share whatever can be safely shared.
That's a desirable outcome as far as christains are concerned.
Well put! Can we just dissolve Alabama and turn it into Federally Managed Territory 98B or some such? Almost being serious here. If we have this republic with power delegated to the states, and cities and school boards, and they use this power to destroy people's rights and their lives, then in my book they have shown themselves unworthy of it!
Correct - in that is exactly why Republicans keep saying "states rights".
They literally want full latitude to do whatever the hell they want to anyone:
Grown woman drives to Illinois for an abortion, prison
Any person in the workplace that is homosexual, terminated
School or college student that illustrates homosexual behavior, kicked out
Racial profile to get as many black & brown people in prison as possible
Force the Bible in school, erect a massive statue of the Ten Commandments in front of every Public School
Etc
The sorely missed Ed Brayton never failed to point out that states do not have rights. They have powers or authorities. People have rights.
Exactly.... and when you give Republicans power and authority they only know how to do one thing with it - ABUSE it!! They can't be trusted.
What acid is strong enough to dissolve a whole state?
I was going to say truth, but then I remembered that these are people who would choke to death rather than accept any truth that didn't square with their version of Jesus.
You say that like it's a bad thing.
What is the harm in that? Them choking to death I mean.
I try not to advocate for stuff that winds up killing people, even people who won't return the favor. I'll admit I wonder why I bother sometimes, though.
You are correct of course. I might edit my comment.
The brown acid?
Are you not aware that Satan is everywhere like a disease and the only true protection from this disease is to keep it away from you or risk being smitten and thrown into hell by the great merciful god in heaven that loves you?
Merciful Father who wants you to fear him.
A good father would be horrified to find out his kids feared him.
I used to comment on certain fundie websites about god wanting people to fear it or that it was a jealous god. Inevitably someone would take the bait and tell me that fear or jealously didn’t mean what I thought they meant. At which point I would inquire of them what they thought I thought since I used language straight out of the bible.
I stopped buying into that nonsense over fifty years ago. ;)
It's neither great nor merciful to throw someone in hell for being smitten by a disease they didn't want and didn't choose. If it's not your sin, but God sends you to hell for it, then that's deeply unjust.
I take issue with being told I have a disease unless someone's talking about CAD, diabetes, or an ear infection.
I am lesbian and I'm thinking unless one is LGBT+ one cannot understand how ericc's comment didn't sound like satire and hit at the core of some of the hateful comments we have had thrown at us. It just hurt.
I get your point Marilyn, having who you are referred to as having a “disease” is very hurtful I’m sure.
Jim’s comment is satire
I got that, but ericc's wasn't and he repeated disease without quotes to indicate that it wasn't a disease. And while I don't think he does believe it is, that was my point.
I fell for the snark! I guess I should say: good job, Jim, you Poe'd the right wing evangelical trolls we sometimes get to a tee.
Thank you. I know this following comment is a little arcane but I am aware that a lot of quantum coherence exists on these sites.
I hope you aren't suggesting that homosexuality is a "disease".
Ah, satire. If one does not know the person who is writing satire than you folks shouldn't assume it is self-evident.
Satan does not exist, any more than your imaginary vengeful sky-wizard friend does.
Jim Sanders was snarking. 🙂
‘Your”? Please go to dictionary and lookup the word satire. 👅♐️♐️♊️
I do believe that Poe's Law has materialized yet again.
Nonsense. The only Satan-like behavior comes from ultra right fundamentalist 'Christians' who don't follow the teachings of Jesus.
Interesting. May I ask a few questions?
A: Which Jesus?
1. The Jesus of Paul—was Saul who never met Jesus?
2. The Jesus of the four Gospels, whose authors are unknown and whose stories vary, who never met Jesus?
3. The Jesus from other gospels the CHURCH CHOSE TO NOT INCLUDE. IN BIBLE?
4. The Jesus that made several prophesies that never happened?
5. The Jesus with no contemporaneous historical record of existence?
B: Jesus whose father is:
1. El
2. Yahweh
I only have more and more questions that there are no supportable answers to, only beliefs from a self-contradictory book that talks about a god that orders genocide, that demands that one does not love any of the other god but only love {Fear) him, that murders children.
I do not believe in Satan, who was actually supposed to be an angel.
Hey god
Your affection sublimates
Never quenching my thirst
And your permafrost
Contains frozen pathogens
🎯
Conservatives: We need to have the education decisions made by local parents.
Local Parents: What the hell is going on?
Conservatives: Shut the hell up.
Yes! It's like clockwork. Ever damned time! So frustrating.
This is discrimination, point blank. Done out of Christian "love."
She must have her job back whether the bigoted, homophobic school board likes it or not.
I wonder if she'd WANT to have her job back after this mess. I WOULD heartily consider a civil suit that will take the school board's lunch money for a couple decades, though.
And the kids miss lunch. It isn't the board members who will pay.
I’m ready for a change in the law that would make board members personally liable.
I think.
I’m open to persuasion why I’m misguided.
Let's see here. We got a woman who is apparently pretty terrific at her job as principal, earned a Teacher of the Year award, and now all at once is 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛𝑎 𝑛𝑜𝑛 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑎 because she had the unmitigated nerve to give expression to who she is. That Ms. Dressback is a lesbian has no discernible impact on her job performance. Still, because she lives in a state that is so retrogressive that it still thinks that Ozzie and Harriet is the only acceptable model for a family, the fact that she has a girlfriend has the school system in a panic, mostly because they can't think of a valid reason to fire her.
What's that line that makes the rounds here on Friendly Atheist? Oh, yeah:
Forget it, Jake ... it's Alabama.
Ah.. but she didn't keep the fact she was a lesbian a secret. Not only can't she put a picture of her girlfriend on her desk or mention her or even say something about the 'fag' who got beat up, she's not supposed to mention it to the staff, even her friends. No one can know. She must live in the coffin (closet) at all times.
So-called conservatives have been screaming lately about how affirmative action is destroying 'Merica because it 'requires' unqualified people in a job. Yet when they have an opportunity to show how they want the best person for a job no matter what the candidate's sexuality is, they show their bigotry. It's stories like this that prove they are not interested in a fair playing field, they want every advantage they can find.
They didn't have any problem voting for Trump to be president. Or appointing an overpaid real estate agent to manage the distribution of PPE at the beginning of the pandemic. Or making Lara Trump the head of the RNC, or putting people in cabinet positions that they weren't qualified for.
They *were* qualified. To destroy the department they headed.
They tried...
Interesting that the school has a "morality" clause in a teacher's employment contract. Ms. Dressback is a model teacher and principal who is well-like by both the parents and the students. So are the bigots who want her removed because of her "immorality" also planning to vote for trump?
OT- The United Methodist Church General Conference has voted 692-51 to repeal their ban on LGBTQ clergy: https://apnews.com/article/united-methodist-lgbtq-clergy-general-conference-acabe18fe22b6838e3005ad8895534fa
From the article: "𝘈𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘣𝘪𝘥𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 — 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘥𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳 — 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦-𝘴𝘦𝘹 𝘸𝘦𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯𝘦. 𝘐𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘣𝘪𝘥𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘣𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘤𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦-𝘴𝘦𝘹 𝘸𝘦𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨."
So... basically, they voted to let individual congregations decide for themselves whether to be bigots or not. Gotcha.
Somehow still more progressive than Alabama!
Didn't they schism over this once already. Looks like another 51 needs to schism.
Yeah, they did- almost a quarter of their churches pulled a SBC and noped out of the Conference because the rest of the denomination wasn't hateful enough for them... which is really saying something, considering that the rest of the denomination's idea of progress amounts to institutionally-codified benign neglect.
Theology is fractal; it's splits all the way down.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/31605ebf99f296a320a7b508417a1f492c8dec022862448a0eb9394185cd6b79.jpg
Kind of like our family tree through Evolution except that's true.....
Billboard I saw in North Texas yesterday. 'In the beginning, God created...' black with white text evolution of man icon with a red line through it in the corner.
I wonder, how many churchgoers really truly believe in the Garden of Eden? My 74-year-old mom still goes to church, but she knows very well the Garden of Eden is a myth, she believes in science (but yet she also goes to church, she is who she is, I'm not going to try to change her). A few years back I asked two people that I work with in Tennessee if they believed in Aliens..... neither one of them did, but one of them said "no because it's not in the bible". I was going to mention ezekiel's wheel but I decided to drop it.
Lol
False Advertising.....
Not surprised, they also have the Ten Commandments erected at the Capitol in Austin. I suspect some church is paying for that billboard - The Atheist should get together and put up a billboard right next to it showing the little hominids eventually evolving into upright walking modern human.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/b3feda04ed7d89003944370a0993204495740f8e277b787b44568db7b87ec4a4.jpg
https://imgur.com/gallery/rviynoc
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQW8Ocus58Bk9KScGEhUCe_OxtCvRqCgCuDgQvUmeLd4w&s
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/48/Split-finger_fastball_1.JPG/800px-Split-finger_fastball_1.JPG
https://mobileimages.lowes.com/productimages/1487ae95-3319-45fc-bcb7-f16a14fe9265/61034431.jpg
THAT takes me back. 😃
Somebody call the People's Front of Judea.
Can't take a stand, that wouldn't be Christian. Ask the Archbishop of Canterbury.
I suppose that standing out of the way is taking a stand, of sorts, even if it's a remarkably underwhelming one.
They have the fence post nearly as far up their ass as DG has his. Not enough info to make a decision.
Three prongs attack. Get rid of competent teachers and staff, waste the money destined to public schools, cry persecution when you are remembered to follow the law like everyone else.
I wish the best to Mme Dressback and her partner. Preferably in a place free of discrimination.
As to "a place free from discrimination," I think that would pretty well mandate a move out of the "Land of Dixie."
That's my hope in all of this - that the free states jump all over situations like this, and offer relocation packages, higher pay, signing bonuses and whatever is necessary for talented educators like this who are major assets to their communities to make the jump to somewhere they will be accepted and can benefit the community there.
More than the "Land of Dixie", the whole middle of the country. And really only the west coast and the Northeast are "safe". And only because urbanites outnumber the small-town folks and farmers.
Another reason the fascists and fascists-in-training are taught to hate the "coastal elites".
🎯🎯🎯
Why don’t they just find a gravel pit to take her to? Best solution for all, amiright.
They’ve been telling us for years now that we’re overreacting, they’d never do stuff like this. Even though we watch them do exactly this same thing when the laws allow it, ie. at private religious schools. They tell us that affirmative action, or what they are now calling DEI hires, is bad because it’s allowing unqualified applicants to get jobs they can’t do, but when someone is hired into a job as an overqualified “normal” hire but then is later exposed as a member of a population that receives DEI protections, they dump them in a heartbeat. They’ve demanded DEI hires be the cream of the crop for so long, just to be halfway respected as qualified, and promoted mediocrity as superior, they’re shocked when mediocre white Christian (mostly men) folks aren’t able to compete anymore. That is their own fault. By demanding more out of the others, they raised the bar, but by not expecting to improve themselves, they no longer are able to clear the bar. This is why women outnumber men in colleges, why affirmative action seems so unfair, and so many other things they gripe about. Ginger Rogers was always a far better dancer, now that Fred Astair isn’t the headliner, no one can deny it anymore.
Anyway, clearly her LGBTQ status is an issue rather than her abilities and skills or even her popularity. And what’s going on with other staff members spying on her like that, taking video of her conversation with a coworker and/or custodian listening in on it? Have they been told to find LGBTQ threats or something? Is the board planting moles so they can weed out folks? Seems suspicious to me.
Personally, I sincerely hope to read that Noem was given the exact same treatment as she gave her buck goat, and for the same reasons.
Part of me kinda hopes Trump will take Noem as his Veep pick. I'm sure his 30%-of-the-GOP faithful will flip to be in favor of puppy killing, just like they flipped to loving Russia and dictators. But I can't see it being a popular position with many moderates or independents. FFS Noem, it didn't occur to you to take the pup to an animal shelter?
His base has always been in favor of killing puppies, they had no issue with Huckabee (pretty sure it was his kid that dragged a dog behind a car) or are concerned about Trump’s own aversion to pets. Not to mention they are gung ho for hunting for sport, and defended Jr’s big game “hunting”. Who was it that was found to have been hunting where the animal was simply released from a cage and he shot it? Or the chick who killed a beloved giraffe because she claimed it was sick and/or aggressive and the game wardens told her to, when the giraffe was well cared for and definitely not sick.
There’s just no depravity the trumpanzee base will not defend if it is Republican or Trump enough.
https://www.zentaur.org/memes/dog_republican.jpg
He can amend it now "If you kill your dog for misbehaving, you must be a republikkkan."
Do you believe there's a dog trainer on the planet who wouldn't take a dog rather than have them killed? Even kill shelters (which I believe are dying, thankfully) at least do it as painlessly as possible.
My grandparents raised dogs for hunting. One of my good friends is a farmer now and has bought farm dogs that didn't work out (i.e. couldn't be effectively trained to do their job. Or at least, wouldn't work for him). Never in my life have I heard of any of these types of owners killing a healthy 14-month animal because of a training fail. The dog in that case just becomes a pet - and if you aren't in the position to have a pet, it becomes someone else's pet.
She is an asshole and I wish I could acquaint her face with DM's cane.
I had the Queen of misbehaving as a dog and not even once I had thought of harming her, let alone killing her. Luckily for Aria or she would have died more times than Steven Strange.
Alabama...
...when a straight man creeps on teenage girls at the mall: "𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘥!"
...when a gay woman smooches another woman: "𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘥."
You forgot the mirrored sunglasses, with the phrase, "We don't appreciate your kind round here. Might wanna find your self somewhere else come sundown, if you now what I mean."
Anyone surprised? Bueller...Bueller...Bueller?
And people tell me I'm paranoid when I start talking about red states becoming *legally* unsafe for LGBT folks. I like my job and my boss, and dread the thought of selling the house, but more and more, I feel like the frog in the pot.
Not safe for LGBTQ+ folks, not safe for people of color, not safe for ANYONE who isn't white-bread Christian traditionalist.
THAT is where they seem to be headed, and it ain't a pretty sight.
Not safe for fertile women...
NO FREAKING KIDDING!!!
They want to make all states "*legally* unsafe for LGBT folks."
True enough, but they're making progress in the red states.
I am so sorry that Lauren Dressback is going through this crap right now. She was teacher of the year when married to a man-- okay so how does her coming out effect her teaching ability now in anyway? Lauren on your side 100%! And Alabama? I'll say Gay all I want! Another reason I'll move to another country before I step foot in Alabama!
You are always welcome over here. We even have a guest room.
"We're sorry to report that due to our needing to redirect significant school funds to cover the legal costs of running an apparent women-kisser out of this here district, we'll be unable to offer history, civics, and social studies classes to our students. But let's face it, those books are all written by communist socialist atheist authors anyway, so no great loss. On the bright side, we'll be adding more bible study classes." - Idiot Alabama School Board
You forgot: "If any student requires counseling to deal with the trauma or upset of suddenly losing a beloved and respected principal, we recommend they see the school's official unqualified, unaccredited fundamentalist Christian pastor, who has replaced our real counselor due to those same budget cuts."
"If any student requires counseling to deal with the trauma or upset of suddenly losing a beloved and respected principal, we recommend they s̶e̶e̶ t̶h̶e̶ s̶c̶h̶o̶o̶l̶'s̶ o̶f̶f̶i̶c̶i̶a̶l̶ u̶n̶q̶u̶a̶l̶i̶f̶i̶e̶d̶, u̶n̶a̶c̶c̶r̶e̶d̶i̶t̶e̶d̶ f̶u̶n̶d̶a̶m̶e̶n̶t̶a̶l̶i̶s̶t̶ C̶h̶r̶i̶s̶t̶i̶a̶n̶ p̶a̶s̶t̶o̶r̶, w̶h̶o̶ h̶a̶s̶ r̶e̶p̶l̶a̶c̶e̶d̶ o̶u̶r̶ r̶e̶a̶l̶ c̶o̶u̶n̶s̶e̶l̶o̶r̶ d̶u̶e̶ t̶o̶ t̶h̶o̶s̶e̶ s̶a̶m̶e̶ b̶u̶d̶g̶e̶t̶ c̶u̶t̶s̶. they toughen up or fuck off" FTFY (counsellor indeed!)
They would probably tell them to just walk it off.
I wonder how many times Nex Benedict was told exactly that.
She is in a relationship that is legal in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. There is nothing immoral about that relationship at all. Would the relationship be a problem if it were heterosexual but involved someone of a different race?
Oh, that's right -- this is Alabama, so acting like it is the 21st century is not a thing.
Illegal /= immoral. Schools have a long history of firing teachers over things like pron or pole dancing. Not saying this is immoral (it's not), and not saying those firings are right (arguably not), but even us liberals should not conflate legality with morality. That plays right into the fundie's strength, of arguing to the public that they should be allowed to craft the law to reflect social values. No, they shouldn't be allowed to do that (and neither should we). Acts the larger society deem immoral or offensive should be legal, with the 'legality' test related to concepts like harm to others, use of common resources, freedom to act, etc. and NOT related to the concept of "does your conduct adhere to your neighbors' concept of morality."
Yeah, that's a good point - using a defensive *homosexuality is legal* to the Taliban is probably a bad idea - because then the next thing they're going to want to do is make it illegal. That's why these states keep crying about " states rights".....
Bringing the organisation into "disrepute" is a common excuse – even here. Although I've worked with gay teachers and only private religious schools are allowed to fire them. I think.
1. She might have kept her job if she agreed to show the male members of the board how she and her girlfriend "do it."
2. How many of those male board members are on the "down-low," or pedophiles, or into sheep?
I hope people see my anger and sarcasm.
Nah, maybe you should try in Kannada.
https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=mcafee&p=rimshot+effect#id=51&vid=7470835b5682613f1313e8bbf05603f5&action=click
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-4-gLlF0uw
I am a stones throw away from Vestavia Hills and I can say without a doubt those students really love her.
Thank you for sharing. Nice to hear.
Yikes, apologize for the double post. Computer glitch.
Apologize for the double post. Computer glitch.
Mysterious ways.
Changed. Thanx 1 full minute and no post?
Changed. Thanx
You are very welcome.
here we go again. Took a full minute and got told something went wrong. but it posted?
Nice to hear. Thanks for sharing.
oh the oh horror. You got children who can see that gays and lesbians can be happy productive members of society.
THAT frosts their balls. It really hurts seeing someone happy celebrating what they hate so much within themselves. They are not content hating themselves. They feel they must take it out on others.