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oraxx's avatar

It just never ends, and it needs to. It is NEVER the job of our secular government to backstop anyone’s religion. The people pushing his measure would go out of their tiny little minds at the mere suggestion of school children being required to read from the Koran. Do these fools realize this is an open admission the churches have failed to get their message out? The people who approved this measure need to be held personally liable for the costs of defending it in court.

Brianna Amore's avatar

And given how infused Christianity is in American culture do they really believe that kids don't understand what the Golden Rule is or how Christianity affects our daily lives? This is as stupid and absurd as forcing schools to post the Ten Commandments in every classroom.

oraxx's avatar

The evangelicals can never stop trying to mark their territory.

Crowscage's avatar

More like mark ALL territory as theirs like any other dog that pisses on every vertical surface.

Brianna Amore's avatar

Yes, they call this "Dominionism". It's also the philosophy of the Seven Mountains Mandate:

"The Seven Mountain Mandate is an evangelical, dominionist ideology aiming to influence seven key societal spheres—religion, family, education, government, media, arts/entertainment, and business—with Christian principles. Founded in the 1970s, it seeks to place believers in leadership to transform culture and hasten the Second Coming of Jesus."

NOW does it all make sense? These people have been worming their way into government like termites in a house.

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Apr 12
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Brianna Amore's avatar

They see "The Handmaid's Tale" not as a cautionary tale but as an instruction manual.

NOGODZ20's avatar

Texass xtians grooming kids. Child molesters, the lot.

And bravo for that viral vid by Matilda Miller.

Joe King's avatar

𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑏𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑊𝑜𝑟𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝐺𝑜𝑑 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑜𝑙𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑎 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑓𝑢𝑙 𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑠𝑡 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑑𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑠.

Mr Hall:

You need to review 𝘈𝘣𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘵𝘰𝘯 𝘷. 𝘚𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘱, specifically this part of the majority opinion from Justice Clark'

"We repeat and again reaffirm that neither a State nor the Federal Government can constitutionally force a person 'to profess a belief or disbelief in any religion.' Neither can it constitutionally pass laws or impose requirements which aid all religions as against non-believers, and neither can it aid those religions based on a belief in the existence of God as against those religions founded on different beliefs."

What you are doing is blatantly unconstitutional. The Bible was not removed from schools, you don't need to bring the "word of god" into the schools, students have always been able to access the bible. What is unconstitutional is requiring bible readings without any sort of secular context. Telling high school students about biblical passages that influenced historical events and literary references, ok. Telling kindergarten children that the golden rule came from Jesus belongs at church, not the public school.

Ethereal Fairy's avatar

Even promoting the man as an actual, factual, historical person is wrong! There is no proof he, as a singular entity, existed. That's where the whole 'faith' thing comes in.

Val Uptuous NotAgain's avatar

“And while the law allowed parents to remove their children from religious lessons, the way this program is structured, that created problems for the students:”

How would that even work? Opting out of these religious lessons? Especially in kindergarten and early grades, will the teachers have to stop the lesson, read the names of students and send them into the hall while they manage a five minute lesson on the sermon on the mount, then pull those kids back in for the next five minute block? Who will supervise the kids in the hall? What lesson with those children get for that time, or will they just miss out on learning for that time? How much time do these board members think it takes to remove students from a lesson and then bring them back in, how do they think the class will keep up with the lessons when they spend all this time shuffling children around for the lessons the parents approve of? I know the board just assumes everyone will just ignore the blatant first amendment violations and they’ll get the kids who aren’t already Christian to hear The Word and suddenly become believers.

And that lesson, it barely touches on the golden rule and focuses more on the “context” and not the actual lesson of the golden rule. I mean, it’s not like the Christian members of the school board understand the golden rule anyway. Do they think indoctrinating other people’s kids into their religion is something that is exempt from the golden rule? We all know if any other religion would try this these assholes would scream bloody murder. So there is no “do unto others as you would have done to you” happening here.

Maltnothops's avatar

“ Do they think indoctrinating other people’s kids into their religion is something that is exempt from the golden rule?”

No, they honestly believe that, if they were not Christian, they would welcome someone converting them to Christianity. Seriously. I’ve had that convo. “I would want to be saved if I wasn’t already saved.”

Val Uptuous NotAgain's avatar

But that is because they already, currently, believe that their religion is right. If they are Christian, do they want a Muslim to “save” them according to Islam? Of course not. The problem is that the golden rule is supposed to be about empathy, and Christianity is oppositional to empathy. Those folks can’t understand an atheist telling them that they are hurting the atheist by forcing their religion on them, because they are unwilling to imagine that their worldview might not be right. I just saw a thread on fb that explains that, just because something is bad for you individually (this was in relation to a transgender woman claiming all masculinity is bad, simply because when she was being forced to be masculine it hurt her) doesn’t mean that thing is bad universally. The example of gluten for a person with celiac disease who decides that gluten needs to be eliminated for all once they realize they couldn’t tolerate it. Christians are infamous for this type of thinking. Being born again has given me so many good feels, everyone must be born again. They can’t process that the same thing they like is detrimental to someone else. Or that a different religion would give a different person those same feels. But I already believe that religion is the oldest MLM out there.

Maltnothops's avatar

Agreed. Their inability to engage in perspective-taking is the stuff of legends.

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Apr 11
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Ethereal Fairy's avatar

Even if it kills you! Like the evil character in Shrek that is a risk they are willing to take.

Ethereal Fairy's avatar

such pig-headed bullshit!

Matilda's avatar

This happens in the UK. Back in the 1970s, when I started teaching 5-7yos, and opt out was permitted, the only kids one ever saw excluded from the UK's mandatory daily act of x-tian worship were maybe 5-6 whose parents owned the local chinese or indian restaurant who,of course, practised other faiths.. By the time I retired a few years ago, there was a whole bunch of them - whose (ethnically white) parents presumably didn't want their kids indoctrinated as they had no religion themselves. Some did then complain their children were just being babysat, nothing educational was happening for them during that period of the day, so that was rectified. I then volunteered to take RE lessons in my local school, as a representative of the local church. I was nearing de-conversion and had this new-fangled story-telling course to use. I sat cross-legged with a class of 5yos in a circle around me. I told them the rule (of the course) was to listen in silence and we'd talk, express opinions, ask questions etc afterwards. I'd never been interrupted like I was that day. A child with a squeaky, high-pitched voice said several times 'But I don't believe in god, but I don't believe in god.' I was nearer to agreeing with her than I'd dared to admit to myself....and opted out of the volunteer role and then out of fundy-ism entirely.

Joe King's avatar

They cut Frederick Douglass from the reading list. I wonder why? Oh yeah, the speech they cut was about slavery.

I could come up with a good lesson for them with bible passages. Teach them about how the slave owners of Texas used the bible (Exodus 20 etc) to justify owning people.

NOGODZ20's avatar

Every constitution in the Confederacy made slavery a guaranteed right. All 11 states.

Ethereal Fairy's avatar

Yes. It is right in their charters.

Ethereal Fairy's avatar

And don't forget the instructions on how to beat them.

NOGODZ20's avatar

Instructions from Jesus, no less.

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Apr 12
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vibing.'s avatar

If I were a Texas English teacher I would absolutely take the opportunity to get into critical historical Bible studies and/or put it in a world mythology unit 😇😇😇

Maltnothops's avatar

Me too. There just aren’t enough people like us in Texas. Or any other state for that matter.

Bensnewlogin's avatar

500 years before the Unjesus allegedly walked the earth, Kung Fu tzu in China formulated this, far more explicit than the watered down imitation of the UnJesus:

DO NOT DO UNTO OTHERS WHAT YOU WOULD NOT WANT THEM TO DO TO YOU.

It turns out the cheap imitation did not come from China, but the other way around.

Airlane1979's avatar

"Here's your homework, class. Read the Book of Numbers and explain how it helps us live more moral lives, such as in verses 17 and 18: Now kill all the boys. And kill every woman who has slept with a man, but save for yourselves every girl who has never slept with a man."

Ethereal Fairy's avatar

Yes, that one needs more widely known, is that the one that says to dash their babies heads against rocks?

Zorginipsoundsor's avatar

Psalm 137:9

Happy is the one who seizes your infants

and dashes them against the rocks.

The Epistler's avatar

*applauds Miller* You go, girl! This whole thing is disgusting, and "prayer warriors" is a fucking stupid term. You are not badass warriors. You are whiny brats who throw a tantrum when you're not allowed to be the undisputed overlords of everything.

Ethereal Fairy's avatar

No one's life was ever improved by forcing them to read the bible.

NOGODZ20's avatar

"The mind that becomes soiled in youth can never again become washed clean. I know this by my own experience, & to this day I cherish an unappeased bitterness against the unfaithful guardians of my young life, who not only permitted but compelled me to read an unexpurgated Bible through before I was 15 years old. None can do that and ever draw a clean sweet breath again on this side of the grave."

-- Mark Twain, in a letter dated November 21st, 1905

NOGODZ20's avatar

Teach the kids about Lot, both just before Sodom’s destruction and the aftermath.

Ethereal Fairy's avatar

But the actual story in perspective. Sodom's flaw was treating immigrants badly, and Lot was pimping his daughters. If he wasn't, his first move would not have been to offer them up to an angry crowd of horny men.

Boreal's avatar

Bootlicking swine Orban defeated in Hungary.

Joan the Dork's avatar

Hell yes, Hungary! Show us how it's done!

wreck's avatar

I guess the Hungarians didn't like the JD Couchfucker endorsement.

Daniel Rotter's avatar

Rare is the individual who gets to write the words "JD Couchfucker Endorsement" in a sentence.

NOGODZ20's avatar

He was sent to do a deal with Iran. You can see how THAT worked out.

Joan the Dork's avatar

And then immediately flew home, rather than even attempt to arrange a second round of talks, showing the world that any noise this maladministration makes about diplomacy is purely performative.

Daniel Rotter's avatar

Yeah, not a good week for Mr. Hillbilly Elegy.

wreck's avatar

It's my lucky day!

NOGODZ20's avatar

Kiss of death. Just like his orange boss' endorsements.

Daniel Rotter's avatar

I mean, Orban's whole friggin' brand is "Hungarian sovereignty," which is obviously kind of undermined by having an American public official like Vance trying to bail you out.

Joan the Dork's avatar

Never interrupt your enemy when he's making a mistake!

Daniel Rotter's avatar

My hats off to the Hungarian people today for making the right choice.

NOGODZ20's avatar

🎈🎆🎇🧨✨🎉🎊

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Apr 12
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Joan the Dork's avatar

He's conceded: https://apnews.com/article/hungary-election-orban-magyar-trump-1a4eb0ba6b94e0c80c3cd18bd36254ab

I didn't have "Orban shows 𝘴𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘭𝘺 more class than Trump or Bolsonaro" on my Bingo card either, but there it is.

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Apr 12Edited
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NOGODZ20's avatar

Putin invade Hungary? He's got his hands full with Ukraine.

Troublesh00ter's avatar

My gal read Orban's concession to me just before I figured out how to get back online. He sounds as though he's taking an adult view of this, unlike a certain US chief executive.

Let's hope that Orban is a man of his word.

Brianna Amore's avatar

Yet more VERY CLEAR evidence that it's Christians who are the real groomers. There is no reason to force the Bible down kids' throats in public school. That is what Sunday School is for.

Fuck these Bible-bashing, God-bothering Jesus freaks.

OwossoHarpist's avatar

Those TX fundie bozos need to explain why are there multitude versions of the Golden Rule prevalent BEFORE the advent of Christianity, not after. Just as creationists need to explain why are there multitudes of flood myths worldwide dated BEFORE the alleged year of Noah's Flood, not after.

NOGODZ20's avatar

I'd like to get an answer from them on the following...

If the Egyptians were already ancient by the time of the "great flood" found in Genesis, then they would have all drowned. So where did the Egyptians and their civilation come from in the pages of Exodus?

OwossoHarpist's avatar

Dumb Idiot Ken Ham claims that Egypt was founded shortly after the Flood ended by one of the sons of Ham as told in Genesis 10:6. Never mind that Egypt has been around for a whopping 5,000 years, much longer than the alleged year of the Flood! In spite of it being nestled along the banks of the Nile river, Egypt completely lack any kind of Flood story in all of their mythology.

NOGODZ20's avatar

Ken Verybigliar.

Zizzer-Zazzer-Zuzz's avatar

And that guy was very busy, considering the population of Egypt at the time.

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Apr 12
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NOGODZ20's avatar

Cristers don't dare look too closely at their own myths. Even a cursory glance would cause the whole thing to fall to pieces.

Ethereal Fairy's avatar

They would have to know those facts first. I'm sure the average fundie knows nothing about the epic of Gilgamesh.

Boreal's avatar

"We need prayer warriors to intercede for this vote."

It's almost as if their god is impotent or doesn't exist since it needs the help of puny humans to do its dirty work.

NOGODZ20's avatar

Prayer warriors intereceding. Hmm. Wouldn’t telling god to push this through constitute voter fraud?