As I said in a previous post: Xtianity is a cult that needs to indoctrinate children because it cannot rest upon any merits it has (it has none). The cult needs unformed, submissive minds to keep a ready supply of sexual victims and handmaids at hand.
I would give real money to hear someone say that in a courtroom, where a trial like the one this BS was being questioned. It's past time WE said the quiet part out loud and call a spade a spade.
Have you ever been in Louisiana? I lived in Austin, TX for the better part of 40 years, and had to drive across the state when I went to Ocala, FL to fix my father's computer. The French Quarter in New Orleans is nice. Parts of Baton Rouge are nice.
Most of the rest of the state is a Third-World Country. Kudzu is Louisiana's friend: it's gradually covering up the sheer awfulness of that state!
The religious right reeks of desperation, and their desire to force their religion into the public school classrooms is evidence of it. Any legislator who voted for this after having been informed it was illegal should be held personally liable for the costs of fighting it in court. These things are always a win-win for the evangelicals because they either force their religion on school children or they get to play the poor persecuted victims of the Godless left and the ‘woke’ courts.
How would you feel if instead of the Protestant Christian version of the Ten Commandments, it was the Seven Tenets of the Satanic Temple? Or maybe the Five Pillars of Islam? I bet you would understand the Establishment Clause then. You don't get to have special privilege for your religion just because of your distorted ideas of what the Founders believed.
I'd bet that Landry either doesn't think there are TST members OR Muslims in his state, or that they are so few as to be beneath his notice. News Bulletin, Landry: You are there to serve ALL Louisianans, NOT just the ones who voted for you!
If the Ten Commandments are a part of our history that need to be posted in classrooms, then so are the Five Pillars. After all, there were at least two Muslims who fought for the colonies during the Revolution.
One of my red-state U.S. Senators contacted me to let me know his office would not read my emails, accept my telephone calls, or answer any letters I sent to his office because I am not a Republican and I am not MAGA.
Fine: he doesn't want to read my comments about his nasty-ass MAGA legislation; so then I just send it to the newspapers with the top ten circulations in my state, so a MILLION people can read my comments, instead of just him and his office!
In 1785, James Madison wrote the following in his Memorial and Remonstrance Against Religious Assessments:
"The free men of America [during the Revolutionary War] did not wait till usurped power had strengthened itself by exercise, and entangled the question in precedents. They saw all the consequences in the principle, and they avoided the consequences by denying the principle. We revere this lesson too much soon to forget it. Who does not see that the same authority which can establish Christianity, in exclusion of all other Religions, may establish with the same ease any particular sect of Christians, in exclusion of all other Sects?"
In 1811, President Madison vetoed a bill that would have granted federal land to the Baptist Church for use as a religious school on the grounds that it violated the Establishment Clause. He didn't need to wait until the land was granted and the school was built to know that such an action would violate the First Amendment.
So-called conservatives who call themselves originalists and textualists like James Ho are nothing more than political operatives in black robes when they claim there's nothing wrong with public schools promoting christianity - a red line violation of the Establishment Clause. The 5th Circuit has been loaded up with christian nationalists, and this ridiculous decision is the result.
I'm dead serious, Jane. I had NO idea about Madison's statement or his action until you posted it. Then, too, I'm an engineer, and while I have a reasonable grasp of US History, there are doubtless holes in it you could drive a Kenworth through.
As much as I'm here to spout off (and FSM knows I do!), I'm here to LEARN as well. So again, I have to say thanks for your contribution. I think it matters ... a LOT.
We do not know, for example, how prominently the hand grenades will appear, what other weapons might accompany them, or how—if at all— teachers will pull the pin on them during instruction. More fundamentally, we do not even know the full shrapnel content of the hand grenades themselves. Although the statute requires inclusion of the hand grenades and a context statement, it expressly permits additional weapons—such as “an AR-15 rifle, a surface to air missile, and molotov cocktail”—to appear alongside them.
I was reading yesterday that Muslim schools in Texas are being left out of the voucher program, I imagine a lawsuit is in progress, but this should be worth watching.
And the Republicans in power like it JUST LIKE THAT. Those folks have neither the time nor the money to fight something like this, so it gets foisted on them without their consent and likely even without their awareness.
BLOODY HELL! So ...a bill endorsing an illegal action can be considered in a legislative body. It can be passed and sent to the executive for signature and enacted into law. But until the action specified is actually PERFORMED, nothing can be done?
It's a sad fact: our opponents will grab onto anything they think is relevant to support their cause. For myself, I'd be interested in knowing RBG's more detailed thoughts regarding the 10Cs, and particularly, what she would have thought about their being posted in public schools.
Definitely. Anti-abortion folks and others like Justice Amy Coney Barrett have often misused RBG quotes to support their own positions.
One example:
Ginsburg's criticism of the Roe v. Wade legal reasoning: Ginsburg was critical of Roe's foundation solely in a constitutional right to privacy, arguing instead that the right to abortion was central to women's equality and autonomy under the Equal Protection Clause. Anti-abortion advocates sometimes cite her critique of Roe's legal reasoning to suggest she was generally opposed to the decision itself or open to it being overturned, which is generally considered a misrepresentation of her full stance.
That's a stunt the pro-forced-birthers use time and time again: cite PART of a decision or quote without including the whole thing. They talk all the time about taking things out of context.
They do the same thing in other arenas as well. One in particular I keep running into is Charles Darwin's lengthy discourse on why evolution SEEMS to be improbable, sneakily leaving off the "nevertheless" portion which followed.
It’s always a fight. Always has and always will be. All the reason to push back: I’m as entitled to exist ‘good without god’…please donate to AHA, Secular Coalition, FFRF.org, American Athiests. We have strength in numbers!
Not an encouraging thought, but I can't escape the sense that it's true. There will likely ALWAYS be atavists out there, people who cannot or will not accept change or diversity or equity or inclusion, whether it's the LGBTQ+ community or those of us who don't buy into the god idea or people of color or whatever segment of society they find objectionable.
The fight WILL go on, and it's up to us to get 'er done.
As I said in a previous post: Xtianity is a cult that needs to indoctrinate children because it cannot rest upon any merits it has (it has none). The cult needs unformed, submissive minds to keep a ready supply of sexual victims and handmaids at hand.
I would give real money to hear someone say that in a courtroom, where a trial like the one this BS was being questioned. It's past time WE said the quiet part out loud and call a spade a spade.
Really, that is the raison d'tre for the cult. It tells its adherents to rape, pillage and take women and children in the wholly babble.
Pointless all the way!
And Louisiana continues to fight for its position of dead last as "Best State to Live In."
Have you ever been in Louisiana? I lived in Austin, TX for the better part of 40 years, and had to drive across the state when I went to Ocala, FL to fix my father's computer. The French Quarter in New Orleans is nice. Parts of Baton Rouge are nice.
Most of the rest of the state is a Third-World Country. Kudzu is Louisiana's friend: it's gradually covering up the sheer awfulness of that state!
The religious right reeks of desperation, and their desire to force their religion into the public school classrooms is evidence of it. Any legislator who voted for this after having been informed it was illegal should be held personally liable for the costs of fighting it in court. These things are always a win-win for the evangelicals because they either force their religion on school children or they get to play the poor persecuted victims of the Godless left and the ‘woke’ courts.
𝐿𝑜𝑢𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑎𝑛𝑎 𝐺𝑜𝑣. 𝐽𝑒𝑓𝑓 𝐿𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑟𝑦 𝑑𝑖𝑑𝑛’𝑡 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑡 𝑎𝑙𝑙. 𝐻𝑒 𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑏𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑤 𝑟𝑢𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑠𝑎𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔 “𝐶𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑜𝑛 𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘!”
Governor Landry:
How would you feel if instead of the Protestant Christian version of the Ten Commandments, it was the Seven Tenets of the Satanic Temple? Or maybe the Five Pillars of Islam? I bet you would understand the Establishment Clause then. You don't get to have special privilege for your religion just because of your distorted ideas of what the Founders believed.
I'd bet that Landry either doesn't think there are TST members OR Muslims in his state, or that they are so few as to be beneath his notice. News Bulletin, Landry: You are there to serve ALL Louisianans, NOT just the ones who voted for you!
If the Ten Commandments are a part of our history that need to be posted in classrooms, then so are the Five Pillars. After all, there were at least two Muslims who fought for the colonies during the Revolution.
Landry would likely lose his lunch if he learned that last little tidbit you mentioned!
One of my red-state U.S. Senators contacted me to let me know his office would not read my emails, accept my telephone calls, or answer any letters I sent to his office because I am not a Republican and I am not MAGA.
Fine: he doesn't want to read my comments about his nasty-ass MAGA legislation; so then I just send it to the newspapers with the top ten circulations in my state, so a MILLION people can read my comments, instead of just him and his office!
Pulling his pants down in public may make your rep rethink his position. One can always hope!
In 1785, James Madison wrote the following in his Memorial and Remonstrance Against Religious Assessments:
"The free men of America [during the Revolutionary War] did not wait till usurped power had strengthened itself by exercise, and entangled the question in precedents. They saw all the consequences in the principle, and they avoided the consequences by denying the principle. We revere this lesson too much soon to forget it. Who does not see that the same authority which can establish Christianity, in exclusion of all other Religions, may establish with the same ease any particular sect of Christians, in exclusion of all other Sects?"
In 1811, President Madison vetoed a bill that would have granted federal land to the Baptist Church for use as a religious school on the grounds that it violated the Establishment Clause. He didn't need to wait until the land was granted and the school was built to know that such an action would violate the First Amendment.
So-called conservatives who call themselves originalists and textualists like James Ho are nothing more than political operatives in black robes when they claim there's nothing wrong with public schools promoting christianity - a red line violation of the Establishment Clause. The 5th Circuit has been loaded up with christian nationalists, and this ridiculous decision is the result.
Wow, brilliant observation! Thank you!
You're too kind!
I'm dead serious, Jane. I had NO idea about Madison's statement or his action until you posted it. Then, too, I'm an engineer, and while I have a reasonable grasp of US History, there are doubtless holes in it you could drive a Kenworth through.
As much as I'm here to spout off (and FSM knows I do!), I'm here to LEARN as well. So again, I have to say thanks for your contribution. I think it matters ... a LOT.
I totally concur! I've transcribed that profound insight into my quotations file and expect to use it a lot in the future.
We do not know, for example, how prominently the hand grenades will appear, what other weapons might accompany them, or how—if at all— teachers will pull the pin on them during instruction. More fundamentally, we do not even know the full shrapnel content of the hand grenades themselves. Although the statute requires inclusion of the hand grenades and a context statement, it expressly permits additional weapons—such as “an AR-15 rifle, a surface to air missile, and molotov cocktail”—to appear alongside them.
I was reading yesterday that Muslim schools in Texas are being left out of the voucher program, I imagine a lawsuit is in progress, but this should be worth watching.
The law becomes more of a joke every day. They need to start making judges and lawyers wear red rubber noses and clown shoes.
Louisiana families of Public School Children are poor. That's how the DOJ play the game.
And the Republicans in power like it JUST LIKE THAT. Those folks have neither the time nor the money to fight something like this, so it gets foisted on them without their consent and likely even without their awareness.
Major league representative government FAIL!
𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦’𝑟𝑒 𝑏𝑢𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐶ℎ𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑛 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑔𝑜 𝑢𝑝, 𝑝𝑒𝑟ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑠 ℎ𝑜𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑢𝑝.
We've been fighting the theocrats for centuries. Why would we give up?
I ain't quit yet, and I don't see you backing off, either. ROCK ON!
Sadly, this has always been their strategy. It’s exhausting and unnecessary
BLOODY HELL! So ...a bill endorsing an illegal action can be considered in a legislative body. It can be passed and sent to the executive for signature and enacted into law. But until the action specified is actually PERFORMED, nothing can be done?
HOW FUCKED UP IS THAT?
"We THINK it should be illegal to shoot your nabor, but let's wait until somebody actually does it to test the idea in court."
Ya THINK??? 🤪
Keep Ruth Bader Ginsburg out of your filthy mouths and posters 🤮
They rely on lies, deceit, and trickery
It's a sad fact: our opponents will grab onto anything they think is relevant to support their cause. For myself, I'd be interested in knowing RBG's more detailed thoughts regarding the 10Cs, and particularly, what she would have thought about their being posted in public schools.
Definitely. Anti-abortion folks and others like Justice Amy Coney Barrett have often misused RBG quotes to support their own positions.
One example:
Ginsburg's criticism of the Roe v. Wade legal reasoning: Ginsburg was critical of Roe's foundation solely in a constitutional right to privacy, arguing instead that the right to abortion was central to women's equality and autonomy under the Equal Protection Clause. Anti-abortion advocates sometimes cite her critique of Roe's legal reasoning to suggest she was generally opposed to the decision itself or open to it being overturned, which is generally considered a misrepresentation of her full stance.
That's a stunt the pro-forced-birthers use time and time again: cite PART of a decision or quote without including the whole thing. They talk all the time about taking things out of context.
Once again, every accusation is a confession.
They do the same thing in other arenas as well. One in particular I keep running into is Charles Darwin's lengthy discourse on why evolution SEEMS to be improbable, sneakily leaving off the "nevertheless" portion which followed.
I don't want to guess how many times I've seen that dodge, especially as it comes to the evolution of the eye.
OT - Space ghost
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260220.html
Welcome back!
Thank you. Sadly, it might only be for a week or so.
Only a week?
Depends. On March 3rd, I might become homeless.
Oh geez, I'm sorry to hear that.
Stunning and beautiful!
That is amazing!
No Phantom Cruiser, though.
https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/cartoonnetwork/images/b/b2/Space_Ghost_Coast_to_Coast.png
Will someone explain why a monkey needs to wear a mask? If he takes the mask off, is he not still a monkey?
Lousyana wants to allow the camel to bring down the entire tent before anyone has a chance to kick its nose out of that tent.
It’s always a fight. Always has and always will be. All the reason to push back: I’m as entitled to exist ‘good without god’…please donate to AHA, Secular Coalition, FFRF.org, American Athiests. We have strength in numbers!
I don't know if you know the name, Tim Gill, but I've been citing him here and elsewhere for a while since I first read the following:
𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑛𝑜 𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒’𝑠 𝑎𝑛 𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑔𝑎𝑚𝑒. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑏𝑙𝑒𝑚𝑠 𝑛𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑔𝑜 𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑦. 𝑌𝑜𝑢 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑒𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑒 𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑡 𝑑𝑜𝑒𝑠𝑛’𝑡 𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑝 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑠𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑡𝑦. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒’𝑠 𝑛𝑜 𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑗𝑜𝑏 𝑖𝑠 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑑𝑜𝑛𝑒.
Not an encouraging thought, but I can't escape the sense that it's true. There will likely ALWAYS be atavists out there, people who cannot or will not accept change or diversity or equity or inclusion, whether it's the LGBTQ+ community or those of us who don't buy into the god idea or people of color or whatever segment of society they find objectionable.
The fight WILL go on, and it's up to us to get 'er done.