263 Comments

"a group that's funded by George Soros, that is atheist, that is from out of state, has come in and targeted children"

In one sentence, that filled my wingnut bingo card.

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Sure some people think that his use of George Soros is a dog whistle anti-Semitism trope, but he is only using George Soros, because the school system is so broken that they don't teach kids who the Rothschilds are.

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Too bad he didn’t make a mistake and wrote santos.

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Well, it’s still anti-Semitic since Santos is Jew-ish.

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Wouldn't that be anti-𝘚𝘦𝘮𝘪-itic?

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Literally lol!

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Brilliant!!!!

My wife, who is Jewish, awards you a thousand Likes.

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I found out yesterday that he is gay. Had no idea until now. I wonder if that's got something to do with his putative expulsion?

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Possibly, but I think it’s more that the GOP was unable to make the indictments go away. Santos doesn’t have the following Trump does to make them irrelevant.

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I mean... do we know George Santos (if that is his real name) 𝘩𝘢𝘴𝘯'𝘵 pretended to be the right wing's favorite boogeyman billionaire just to mess with a random school district in flyover country? Because that sounds like 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 the kind of "guessed it accidentally by drunkenly tossing a dart over my shoulder at a spinning wheel" weirdness that he'd randomly pop up in the news for on an average Thursday morning...

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And now Mike Johnson is coming to Santos' rescue. He says he has "real reservations" about expelling the assclown and would vote 'no' in expelling him.

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His chief reservation being that he desperately needs every ass in every seat he can cling to so that his razor-thin majority doesn't take a shit on routine business. Which it's going to do anyway, because 𝘙𝘦𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘴.

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Assclowns gotta stick together.

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I doubt if it's anti-Semitic as such. I'm pretty sure Soros is just the Christian boogie man.

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There is a reason Soros became their boogieman. But then again, Ryan Walters is stupid enough not to understand the roots of the dog-whistle he's using. So it boils down to the same time-honored question, is he stupid or evil?

And the answer is, was and will always be, yes.

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I don't know if in their hearts they're antisemites. What I know is that nearly every time they want to pin responsibility for a supposed shadowy, secretive, scheming organization that (supposedly) controls our government from within, and manipulates society to suppress & marginalize Christians and destroy civilization out of greed and self-benefit, destroying the world and fighting against the very will of God... every time they point a finger at someone to hold responsible for this... it's always a Jewish person at the other end. At some point it's not really a coincidence anymore. I don't know if they're antisemitic in their hearts, and I don't really care to be quite honest--either way, they're hurting millions of people to satisfy their own ideological goals, goals which will persecute against, exclude and eventually eradicate anyone who doesn't completely comply with and unhesitatingly obey the dogma of their White christian nationalist ideology.

"If the Jew did not exist, the anti-Semite would invent him." -(Jean-Paul Satre, "Anti-Semite and Jew")

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That last line is certainly true. When antisemitism became less popular they switched to calling LGBT people "groomers". Of course, lately they'll use anybody their base will accept as the scapegoat. Jew, Latinx, LGBT, soon it'll be African-Americans again. And, of course, strong independent women are always a go-to.

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There must be a huge amount of cognitive dissonance though, given how much they support Israel, and how they go on about "Judaeo-Christian" wossnames.

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Nah, no cognitive dissonance. The bit before the hyphen is 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘦 easily snipped off when they run out of other scapegoats- no cognition required at all.

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Lol, yes, I think they give the Judaeo part it’s significance until it doesn’t serve them to

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When in doubt, blame George Soros. It's an anti-Semitic dog-whistle as loud as a bullhorn.

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I forgot the secret handshake and codeword. And I’m supposed to bring the green bean casserole tonight sorrow secret Society meeting tomorrow!!!

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Sounds to me like yet another case of FAFO – Fuck Around and Find Out – and yet the Prague school system and this Ryan Walters character seem to be determined to waste both the city's time and money on what is becoming an inevitable lawsuit against them. Let us note here that the Freedom From Religion Foundation doesn't EVER dive into a local situation without local standing, which means that SOMEONE in that school system is not pleased with the current practice of public prayer in their school, and that they have the FFRF's support in opposing that practice.

Note, too, that the FFRF has tried numerous such cases, and their record is Very Damned Strong. Walters may not be "bullied" ... but he is very liable to find himself on the losing end of this argument.

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Walters is the bully.

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Handy rule of thumb: Nobody who willingly tailors their appearance to look like they could've starred in an SS recruitment ad is ever 𝘯𝘰𝘵 the bully.

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It is not the job of the public schools to backstop anyone's religion. Walters does not appear to grasp this simple fact.

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You noticed that, too, didja? Seems like that's how situations like this work out, most of the time.

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Of course. Bullies are popular.

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Where upon, he will claim to be the poor persecuted victim of the Godless left.

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Fine. He can be a victim all he wants, just as long as he ponies up the court costs!

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He won't. The taxpayers will.

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Nov 30, 2023·edited Nov 30, 2023

Not really. School taxes won't go up a penny. The money will come out of the students' education, just as Walters intended.

Edit: It might come out of the teachers' salaries. Not the football coach, naturally, but teachers.

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"We have to take a stand for our students, freedom of religion, their freedom to express their religious beliefs, no matter what those religious beliefs may be."

There is no absolute right to expressing one's religious views, or anything else. Freedom of speech isn't the right to force your beliefs on others. Kids in a public school are a captive audience, and have no choice but to listen to prayers over the school's intercom system. Conservative Christians simply will not stop trying to force their religion into the public schools, paid for with everyone's tax dollars. I can cut the kids reading the prayers some slack, because they're kids. There is no possible excuse for the administrators who allow the practice. These Christians will, of course, claim they're poor persecuted victims if forced to stop by the lawsuit they're begging to be hit with.

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"...their freedom to express their religious beliefs, no matter what those religious beliefs may be."

*𝘔𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘪𝘮 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘱𝘴 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘤.* "...but not like that."

*𝘉𝘶𝘥𝘥𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘱𝘴 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘤.* "...or like that."

*𝘚𝘪𝘬𝘩 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘱𝘴 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘤.* "...where are you all even coming from?!"

*𝘚𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘱𝘴 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘤.* "Security!"

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The people who would break down the barriers between church and state always seem to imagine their tribe in charge and calling the shots for everyone else. They should be imagining the tribe they hate most having control over their lives, as that will definitely be someone's reality.

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Yeah but they have zero capacity for empathy, zero capacity to even imagine anyone not exactly like themselves. No ability to imagine anyone who doesn't live in the white christian bubble. (Lots of catholics like that when I was growing up, so I do understand the mindset. Everybody else is just the despised "other" who doesn't count.)

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Oklahoma is tied with Georgia for 8th most religious state in America. It's also 48th in Education.

I see a connection, don't you?

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Correlation may not always equal causation... but quite often often strongly implies it.

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"If it walks like a duck..."

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"If it steps like a goose..."

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Yours is better.

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48 and 8 is 55* not 50, chessmate* hateist* !

* Not typos.

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Christian Math?

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christian nationalist brain.

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You sure you're not really from Oklahoma?

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Can I eat Louisiana food there ?

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If you don't mind getting takeout that's about 525 miles away.

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That shouldn't be a problem, I "ordered" a dog who was in a shelter about 700 km away.

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Bet the dog wasn't cold when you got it. ;)

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Kilometers? You must be a Leftist!

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The theme of the Christian Nationalists as being bullied is completely false and based in false persecution. Also demanding we all follow your religion is anything but freedom of religion. As an older former Evangelical their religion is not anything I would want for myself , my children or grandchildren.

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𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑜 𝑠𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑑𝑜𝑚 𝑜𝑓 𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑢𝑛𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑑𝑜𝑚 𝑡𝑜 𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑢𝑠𝑒.

-- David Hume

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Given the opportunity, these would be the first people to persecute others. If you want to see what genuine persecution looks like, . . . hand power to the preachers.

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Ryan Walters is another Christian who disobeys his savior's words about keeping prayer private and in secret.

Does NO Christian own a copy of the bible with Matthew 6:5-6 included?

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Jesus did public prayers but the difference was that these people were doing it to bring attention to themselves and to let everyone else know how holy they are. Their like are still around today

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Like the kids reading the prayers.

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Nov 30, 2023·edited Nov 30, 2023

His mythical Jesus prayed loudly and in public in front of the tomb of the equally mythical Lazarus, 3 days 'dead.'

Jesus gets a pass on his own rules, does he? Kinda makes him a hypocrite like his followers.

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Rules for thee, not for me.

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"...bring attention to themselves and to let everyone else know how holy they are."

That's exactly what Jesus (if he existed) was doing.

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Well...maybe. But letting everyone know how holy Jesus was, was certainly what the gospel writers were doing. John is blatant about it: "...these [signs/miracles] are written that you may believe[b] that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name."

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I doubt "John" ever said that.

https://college.unc.edu/2020/03/gospel-of-john/

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I was going to say I'm surprised, but I really shouldn't be. Early Christian duplicity? Should be a given.

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Why would you say that?

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I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

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From my perspective, he is all of those things and so it wasn't boasting for him to make that statement.

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It’s akin to the Jefferson Bible but with different criteria for what to omit.

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"Portions of this article were published earlier because Ryan Walters pulls this shit all the time."

Hemant, I love you when you get snarky.

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They keep talking about religious freedom but it’s always in a “freedom for me” way. Those children are rushing to recite the prayers over the loudspeaker because they get their picture taken and lavished with praise, if they got that attention for reading a Dr. Seuss book, they’d be lined up for that. Which would be more effective way to engage the children. What about the freedom of the non-Christian children at the school? Or the ones that are part of Christian sects that forbid this type of behavior (JW for example)? Are they given an opportunity to recite prayers from their traditions? What do they miss if they find ways to avoid the prayers? Or are they forced to listen? The school is clearly not concerned with those children’s religious freedom.

Of course, we all know the Christian nationalist position on this. Religious freedom only applies to Christianity, you’re free to choose to practice any Christian faith you want (some exceptions may apply).

Also, …

“The complaint raised by FFRF was fully investigated by the school district with guidance from the Oklahoma State Department of Education website, the district's legal counsel and consultation with members of the local ministerial alliance.”

…why did the school involve a ministerial alliance in the investigation? They are not part of the school district, they have a clear conflict of interest and them being involved at all is part of the issue. Who makes up this alliance? Are there Rabbis, Imams, or other religion’s clergy, or just the local Protestant churches? Their advice is inappropriate even if it’s is diverse.

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They got their clergy from both kinds of church: Baptist and Pentecostal.

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Every school should start every morning with a simple prayer. It doesn't take long and it will bless the school and the students in the eye of an all-powerful Lord.

Now, let's begin.

""Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Ctulhu R'lyeh wgah-ngal fhtaga!"

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"Bless the Maker and His water. Bless the coming and going of Him. May His passage cleanse the world. May He keep the world for His people."

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Bi-lal kaifa

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Molag Bal want a turn too.

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Insofar as I may be heard by anything, which may or may not care what I say, I ask, if it matters, that you be forgiven for anything you may have done or failed to do which requires forgiveness. Conversely, if not forgiveness but something else may be required to insure any possible benefit for which you may be eligible after the destruction of your body, I ask that this, whatever it may be, be granted or withheld, as the case may be, in such a manner as to insure your receiving said benefit. I ask this in my capacity as your elected intermediary between yourself and that which may not be yourself, but which may have an interest in the matter of your receiving as much as it is possible for you to receive of this thing, and which may in some way be influenced by this ceremony. Amen.

-Agnostics prayer, "Creatures of Light and Darkness."

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Nau mai e ngā hua

o te wao

o te ngakina

o te wai tai

o te wai Māori

Nā Tane

Nā Rongo

Nā Tangaroa

Nā Maru

Ko Ranginui e tū iho nei

Ko Papatūānuku e takoto nei

Tuturu whakamaua

Kia tina! TINA! Hui e! TĀIKI E! I

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...or, if it absolutely 𝘩𝘢𝘴 to be to the goddything of the bible, here's a 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 simple prayer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVIs1bnIcCY

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Looking forward to FFRF wiping those smug looks off their faces.

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Principle: Today, our prayer, which is not school sponsored and completely chosen by students will be lead by Sarah...

Sarah: Allaahu Akba....... (**sounds of scuffling**)

Principle: Give me that microphone. (**sounds of scuffling**)

Principle: I meant to say that we will never be praying again, because there is an out of state group that is trying to take God out of school. It is all their fault.

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Nov 30, 2023·edited Nov 30, 2023

I find that highly unlikely. The Principal's response is more likely "From now on we will be prescreening prayers for appropriateness and preventing any prayer that we think will make our students uncomfortable [cough nonchristian cough] or feel unsafe [cough scarequotes cough]"

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Ryan Walters isn't interested in the schools of Oklahoma. He's interested in pushing Christianity on children. The 'Great Commission' gives them the right, they think, to force themselves on anyone. And if anyone pushes back, "We're trying to save them from hell. It's an act of love"

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That's the Nat C way.

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𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐮 𝐃𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝙂𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩 𝘾𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝐃𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐀𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐇𝐢𝐦 (𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐘𝐨𝐮)

https://onlysky.media/bseidensticker/missionary-john-chau-died-for-nothing-why-the-great-commission-didnt-apply-to-him-or-to-you/

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Self righteous ego driven idiot thought he could pull off some great feat and look where it got him.

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Nov 30, 2023·edited Nov 30, 2023

Again, if only they had to pay out of their own pockets. Unfortunately Christians do all sorts of stuff without personal consequences. But like the rich really.

Incidentally, Robert Reich's substack has an excellent obituary of Henry Kissinger.

"Once you've been to Cambodia, you’ll never stop wanting to beat Henry Kissinger to death with your bare hands. You will never again be able to open a newspaper and read about that treacherous, prevaricating, murderous scumbag sitting down for a nice chat with Charlie Rose or attending some black-tie affair for a new glossy magazine without choking.

"Witness what Henry did in Cambodia ― the fruits of his genius for statesmanship ― and you will never understand why he’s not sitting in the dock at The Hague next to [Serbian President Slobodan] Milošević,” Anthony Bourdain

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Christopher Hitchens had nothing good to say about Kissinger, and I have no reason to doubt his assessment of the man. 😝

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"People of faith will never be bullied."

CHRISTIANS: "That's OUR job and has been for close to two thousand years. We don't like people muscling in on our territory."

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If the christian god is omniscient why the need for prayer ?

I am waiting for the first idiot who will argue the school doesn't promote christianity since they use a Pagan symbol, Poseidon's trident.

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Their school mascot is the devil!! ;D

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A red one qui plus est.

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I have admired the work of the FFRF for a long time....BUT, I do wish they'd add "National" in front of their name, just to take away the "they're out of state!" line from their critics.

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