Few groups are quicker to claim they are being persecuted than evangelical Christians, and few groups would be quicker to persecute others if given the chance. If you want to see what genuine persecution looks like, . . . hand power to the preachers.
How often have you heard how the Pilgrims came over here to 'escape religious persecution'? It's one of the most popular stories we tell about the early history of this country. And it's complete BS. The Pilgrims had no problem with religious persecution, as they soon proved by engaging in it. They just had a problem when it was them being persecuted. When your faith, at a fundamental level, requires you to believe that yours is the only true faith and that everyone else pisses god off ,and that god has a nasty habit of engaging in some pretty horrific punishments for anyone getting him POed, you kinda have a real incentive to force everyone to behave like good little christians. It's a builtin feature. This is probably why so many of them simply can't fathom that what they're doing IS persecution, or that trying to force everyone else to follow their faith could possibly be viewed as anything but the right thing to do. There ain't much that can be done about that but a good start would be to stop having an exception for behavior that would otherwise be seen as a mental disorder if that behavior was some kind of expression of religious faith or was religiously motivated.
My question is *why* doesn't this school have a signature block policy? Especially for official versus private mail. Personal use of an employer's mail system should be severely restricted. Let them use a webmail interface (or mail client) to their private email account like most organizations require.
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion...”
With that statement, there SHOULD have been a complete and unalterable disconnect between State and Church in this country. Sadly, there are those who are so enthralled with their belief system that they just INSIST that they have to push it in EVERYONE's face, because Jebus. What they forget is that, because they are public employees, it is incumbent on them to be as neutral as regards religion as the government is supposed to be, at least on paper.
I am convinced that there are a great number of public employees who simply 𝗗𝗢 𝗡𝗢𝗧 𝗨𝗡𝗗𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦. I further wonder if, as a part of their orientation upon being hired, they need to be formally instructed as to this particular facet and condition of their employment.
And whether or not corrective action needs to be included as an understood consequence of failure to abide by that principle.
I am reminded of the guy at work who had Dymo Tape (remember that stuff?) labels on his hardhat and clipboard that said "JESUS IS LORD". I just considered them as public service announcements to tell people that you didn't want to talk this guy unless you really had to.
Re your email, Blah blah blah, business stuff, blah blah. Take care, we can talk later at the staff meeting.
Me
My standard signature block:
There's no such thing as magic. No magical beings, no magical people, no magical powers or abilities, no magical books, objects, or magical words. All supernatural claims and beliefs are about magic. People don't use that word because it sounds so embarrassingly childish; that's because it is childish, but it's also the most honest term. Grow the hell up and stop believing in magic. Take care of yourself and others with real actions in the real world. Have a nice day.
About one of the links in the article: Michael and Debbi Pearl who authored that god-awful book both ought ta end up serving long prison sentences for decades for being directly responsible for the inexcusable deaths and sufferings of many innocent children alongside the cruel parents who follow such heartless tips from their book.
OT: Senator Tim Scott (& Rep. Ashley Hinson)was just at my local library for a 'roundtable' with homeschool families....very few regular folk present, a plethora of national & local journalists. He's hyping his book and announced his formation of an exploratory committee for his upcoming/ongoing POTUS bid.
No, he didn't coordinate with the library in advance...they accommodated him anyway.
They admitted they were wrong and knew so when they mentioned the establishment clause. The teacher’s emails come with an assumed school letterhead, meaning her correspondence from the school’s server is official school correspondence. The school is bound by the constitution to not establish a religion, or not to favor one religion over others. The teacher including a Bible verse is implying, intentionally or not (and we do know it most likely is intentional considering her running to Liberty Counsel over it), the school supports her brand of Christianity.
As someone who works in customer service through emails, when I see the pronouns listed I do not immediately think “left wing crazy LGBT pushers making everyone transgender”, I am grateful they clarify who is on the other side of the email. Many names are used by any gender, that was the whole joke for “It’s Pat” from SNL, Pat and Chris are common, but names that a lot of folks don’t realize are unisex are common, Kelly, Carrie, Kim, Max, Alex. And then there are the names from cultures I don’t belong to that I am unsure of the naming conventions, we have a Russian IT person whose name ends in an A, which in English leans toward feminine names, but this person is a male. Providing the pronouns in correspondence helps when responding to emails or discussing the person. Focusing on the LGBT aspect of pronouns really shows how ignorant a person is, and how they’re trying very hard not to be a decent person, not really a quality effective schools look for in teachers. She is really saying, “hi, I’m an asshole and if your child does not conform to my strict interpretation of what they ought to be, I will refuse to give them the basic human respect all people deserve.” The Proverbs verse she’s considering as an alternative has far too much abuse connotations to be appropriate in any setting designed for children. Aside from the fact that it has the very same issue the torture porn verse she started with. For god so loved the earth he sent his only begotten son to be tortured and killed. Not the beautiful sentiment they think it is.
The newer to this is to make a policy that removes any superfluous flotsam in the signature blocks (pronouns are not superfluous and I will die on this hill, they also are not an LGBT agenda). No more quotes, or smiley faces or little pictures, just Name, title, contact information, school website and done. Assholes like her are why we cant have nice things.
Few groups are quicker to claim they are being persecuted than evangelical Christians, and few groups would be quicker to persecute others if given the chance. If you want to see what genuine persecution looks like, . . . hand power to the preachers.
How often have you heard how the Pilgrims came over here to 'escape religious persecution'? It's one of the most popular stories we tell about the early history of this country. And it's complete BS. The Pilgrims had no problem with religious persecution, as they soon proved by engaging in it. They just had a problem when it was them being persecuted. When your faith, at a fundamental level, requires you to believe that yours is the only true faith and that everyone else pisses god off ,and that god has a nasty habit of engaging in some pretty horrific punishments for anyone getting him POed, you kinda have a real incentive to force everyone to behave like good little christians. It's a builtin feature. This is probably why so many of them simply can't fathom that what they're doing IS persecution, or that trying to force everyone else to follow their faith could possibly be viewed as anything but the right thing to do. There ain't much that can be done about that but a good start would be to stop having an exception for behavior that would otherwise be seen as a mental disorder if that behavior was some kind of expression of religious faith or was religiously motivated.
My question is *why* doesn't this school have a signature block policy? Especially for official versus private mail. Personal use of an employer's mail system should be severely restricted. Let them use a webmail interface (or mail client) to their private email account like most organizations require.
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion...”
With that statement, there SHOULD have been a complete and unalterable disconnect between State and Church in this country. Sadly, there are those who are so enthralled with their belief system that they just INSIST that they have to push it in EVERYONE's face, because Jebus. What they forget is that, because they are public employees, it is incumbent on them to be as neutral as regards religion as the government is supposed to be, at least on paper.
I am convinced that there are a great number of public employees who simply 𝗗𝗢 𝗡𝗢𝗧 𝗨𝗡𝗗𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦. I further wonder if, as a part of their orientation upon being hired, they need to be formally instructed as to this particular facet and condition of their employment.
And whether or not corrective action needs to be included as an understood consequence of failure to abide by that principle.
I am reminded of the guy at work who had Dymo Tape (remember that stuff?) labels on his hardhat and clipboard that said "JESUS IS LORD". I just considered them as public service announcements to tell people that you didn't want to talk this guy unless you really had to.
OT: Sarah Huckabee Sanders is requiring people to sign what amounts to a loyalty oath *to her personally* when they apply for state jobs. Not even Donald Trump was brazen enough to require that, not in writing anyway. https://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/2023/04/sarah-sanders-asks-applicants-to-write-500-words-on-what-they-admire-about-her-most-while-applying-for-a-state-board-job/
A typical business email:
From: Me
To: Joe, fellow worker
Subject: Business stuff
Dear Joe,
Re your email, Blah blah blah, business stuff, blah blah. Take care, we can talk later at the staff meeting.
Me
My standard signature block:
There's no such thing as magic. No magical beings, no magical people, no magical powers or abilities, no magical books, objects, or magical words. All supernatural claims and beliefs are about magic. People don't use that word because it sounds so embarrassingly childish; that's because it is childish, but it's also the most honest term. Grow the hell up and stop believing in magic. Take care of yourself and others with real actions in the real world. Have a nice day.
I demand that someone inform this teacher that the gospel of John has been declared a fogery.
Liberty Council? Will she be personally represented by Mat Staver, the man who has yet to win a single case in front of an actual judge and jury?
OT : DM is finally at home.
About one of the links in the article: Michael and Debbi Pearl who authored that god-awful book both ought ta end up serving long prison sentences for decades for being directly responsible for the inexcusable deaths and sufferings of many innocent children alongside the cruel parents who follow such heartless tips from their book.
I guess it's a bit late and someone's already come up with this? I'll have a look later when my eyes are functioning properly.
http://i1.wp.com/thechurchsofa.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/There-she-lusted-after-her-lovers-whose-genitals-were-like-those-of-donkeys-and-whose-emission-was-like-that-of-horses.Ezekial-23-20.jpg
OT: Senator Tim Scott (& Rep. Ashley Hinson)was just at my local library for a 'roundtable' with homeschool families....very few regular folk present, a plethora of national & local journalists. He's hyping his book and announced his formation of an exploratory committee for his upcoming/ongoing POTUS bid.
No, he didn't coordinate with the library in advance...they accommodated him anyway.
The simple solution is for the district to craft a policy that says no quotations whatsoever in the signature block.
Heh. Just imagine if the tag line was a quote from the Church of Satan. Yeah, we'd see some quick action right then. I guarantee it!
They admitted they were wrong and knew so when they mentioned the establishment clause. The teacher’s emails come with an assumed school letterhead, meaning her correspondence from the school’s server is official school correspondence. The school is bound by the constitution to not establish a religion, or not to favor one religion over others. The teacher including a Bible verse is implying, intentionally or not (and we do know it most likely is intentional considering her running to Liberty Counsel over it), the school supports her brand of Christianity.
As someone who works in customer service through emails, when I see the pronouns listed I do not immediately think “left wing crazy LGBT pushers making everyone transgender”, I am grateful they clarify who is on the other side of the email. Many names are used by any gender, that was the whole joke for “It’s Pat” from SNL, Pat and Chris are common, but names that a lot of folks don’t realize are unisex are common, Kelly, Carrie, Kim, Max, Alex. And then there are the names from cultures I don’t belong to that I am unsure of the naming conventions, we have a Russian IT person whose name ends in an A, which in English leans toward feminine names, but this person is a male. Providing the pronouns in correspondence helps when responding to emails or discussing the person. Focusing on the LGBT aspect of pronouns really shows how ignorant a person is, and how they’re trying very hard not to be a decent person, not really a quality effective schools look for in teachers. She is really saying, “hi, I’m an asshole and if your child does not conform to my strict interpretation of what they ought to be, I will refuse to give them the basic human respect all people deserve.” The Proverbs verse she’s considering as an alternative has far too much abuse connotations to be appropriate in any setting designed for children. Aside from the fact that it has the very same issue the torture porn verse she started with. For god so loved the earth he sent his only begotten son to be tortured and killed. Not the beautiful sentiment they think it is.
The newer to this is to make a policy that removes any superfluous flotsam in the signature blocks (pronouns are not superfluous and I will die on this hill, they also are not an LGBT agenda). No more quotes, or smiley faces or little pictures, just Name, title, contact information, school website and done. Assholes like her are why we cant have nice things.
It would be interesting to ask "Liberty" Counsel if they would also push to allow a Muslim teacher to have a Koran reference on their signature block.