Congratulations, Texas, you just invited a shit-ton of lawsuits on your government and boards of education. Time and taxpayer money will be WASTED, rather than used to properly educate Texas school children.
My understanding is that maybe 80% of the Septic Tank population (USA) are THEISTS … that is 280 million are therefore definite crazies in the USA. And then there’s a lot of other non-THEIST crazies.
You are correct, not all 350 million are crazies … but it’s bloody close.
That 80% has been coming down recently, especially with the advent of what's known as the nones: people with no religious affiliation. The trick now is to get them to sound off about what's happening with the extremists, like those in Texas who want to insist on inserting the Bible into public school curricula.
It's entirely possible that those same people don't have the leverage they think they do, especially in the courts. Our job is to prove that to them.
Thre sentences, three lies. Stop watering down American history? Denying other religious beliefs and omitting the bad parts is the opposite. Teaching the truth? That's a lie made obvious by the very next sentence. The United States founded as a Christian nation? Messrs Jefferson and Madison would like a word. Texas a Christian state? No matter what their state government says, they are still subject to the First Amendment.
Have the lawsuits been filed yet, or are AU, American Atheists, and the FFRF waiting until the first Bible lesson is taught?
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is already sabre-rattling on this business, except that that's not so much as a threat but as a promise. The FFRF doesn't bluff, and Texas is going to learn very quickly the price for being stupid.
I would just love to know what the average person is supposed to take away from that lesson of Judges 19. It has got to be one of the ugliest stories of the bible.
How about this lesson: "Yahweh doesn't give a rat's ass about you." Personally, I think that's the closest approach, or at least it'll do until something better comes along.
I teach in a Quaker school in New York City. I am an atheist i.e. I don’t believe there are any gods. I have read the Bible. I have read some of the Quran and I went to Hebrew school at one point. I was asked to teach stories from the Bible in line with a curriculum that included the Quran so that children would recognize some of the famous stories. I agree that enforcing religious teaching by the state will reduce the amount of religious people, but this is only a tip of the iceberg piece of the counterrevolution that Christian fascists and reactionaries are imposing on us. I’m about to turn 80 and I hope I live long enough to see the utter defeat of this aberrant faction. However, I’m not optimistic at this point.
The people behind this lunacy would go out of their tiny little minds at the mere suggestion students would be compelled to read any magic book other than their own. I don’t see how this stands a court test, but then we no longer seem to believe in church-state separation or the rule of law generally. On the plus side, I think there is a pretty good chance this will blow up in their faces as it will generate a lot of law suits and resentment on the part of students. It is never the job of our secular government to back stop Christianity.
This is why I have been saying for Well over a decade that our constitution no longer serves us. We don’t need an establishment clause: we need a strict and specific separation of church and state. We don’t need a second amendment where in half of it can be ignored so that the other half can be elevated to God like status. We need one that says you can carry a gun, but your gun caring can be regulated. We need an established right to privacy, not one implied by search and seizure interpretations. And the electoral college must go.
If the American people do not realize this, then we are just handing power over to the worst people.
That change-of-hands has already happened, as we all well know, and unless we do something about it, the government of the United States will be dismantled to the point where any recovery would have to start from scratch (which, as you suggest, might not be that bad a thing). Thankfully, there is at least SOME degree of blowback against Trump beginning to happen, and resistance to his BS is mounting.
Goes without saying that the midterms coming up are CRITICAL ... but I said it anyway! 🤪
And by including a section on human rights, you could put that stupid notion to bed that .... let me see, how did Mr Thomas put it the other day, that 'aliens are not entitled to the protection of the constitution'.
Human rights being universal rights, i.e. rights for every human.
On top of that move to a PR-style voting system and abolish the electoral college.
Noah’s Ark is a safe bet for 1st grade. They’re less likely to ask how’d the carnivores keep from eating the herbivores & where’d Noah put the poop (not on the poopdeck).
How’re 2nd graders gonna react to a kid killing a giant with a slingshot?
The 3rd gets Daniel & the Lions which might make a zoo field trip adventurous.
Budding scientists in the 5th will probably have questions about the physics of a bush burning but not consumed & the seas parting but not called a tsunami.
What will the teacher say when 10th graders question why a loving god allows bad things to happen on a bet?
Will the 11th graders be allowed to question the two versions of man & woman being created where the 1st version has both created imago dei with the later one more complementarian? Will there be questions about bellybuttons & how Adam/Eve perceived their genitalia prior to the Tree of Knowledge edibles kicking in?
Can’t wait for the unintended consequences to kick in.
As a foreign observer, brought up in a society far more advanced than the USA I am always amazed by the evidence of brain-crushing idiocy promoted by public officials in your struggling republic. There are times when I feel sorry for you - wishing that the idiot right could treat the enlightened citizens of the US with some understanding and decency. But then your local and national governments do something ghastly and stupid and I am convinced that your republic and country are heading towards madness.
It's been heading towards madness since the New Deal. That's when conservatives and big business started to tap into religion to push back. The result is that Republicans push this nonsense, as well as claiming that Democrats are all anti Christian.
A MAGA supporter dressed as Uncle Sam was arrested at Donald Trump’s Great American State Fair after police alleged he committed a lewd act.
Police documents reviewed by the Daily Beast show that Gian Rachtelli was charged with “lewd, indecent, or obscene acts” after three separate witnesses told police they observed what appeared to be a sexual act while watching a troupe of female circus performers.
You know, Texas, the Inquisition was all about trying to browbeat people into Christian faith. Perhaps you'd like to attempt to explain why, since that method is so effective, everyone in the world isn't already a Christian?
You don't mind if I nap while you attempt to find a good answer to that, I hope?
I find it rather amusing that they think it's a good idea, from a religious indoctrination standpoint, to put the Book of Job in front of 𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘴. "God will trash your life to win a bet" seems like it might not be the best message an authoritarian could choose to instill a teen, who's already chafing under the rules of parents and teachers alike, with 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵 for authority. I rather suspect it might instead send the message that authority is corrupt and capricious all the way to the top (and beyond!), so there's really no point in giving respect to those who command it in the same breath as declaring that they'll abuse it.
The student(s) might also ask why an omniscient deity needs to wager when it is unnecessary (how does one wager with an all-knowing being, anyway? That should be impossible).
Had to look that up. In highschool I read every bit of Heinlein that I could find but shortly thereafter I lost interest in Sci-fi. I think the last thing I read by R.A.H. was The Moon is a Harsh Mistress from 1966.
Oh, swell. I finally have a thought aside from my mini-rant and it gets sent to the penalty box (my second one). This despite the fact that NEITHER of those posts proselytized or used colorful language. As for "constructive?" Neither was DE-structive, either (what constitutes 'constructive' anyway? Seems subjective).
Looks like the bot is going after ideas. That's the thing with censorship. First you censor the words, then you censor the ideas.
If I were a 7th grade teacher mandated to include Psalm 23 with Anne Frank's diary, I would make sure the kids got the uncensored version of said diary.
Congratulations, Texas, you just invited a shit-ton of lawsuits on your government and boards of education. Time and taxpayer money will be WASTED, rather than used to properly educate Texas school children.
Play stupid games, win stupid prizes!
Crazy crazy USA.
INSANE !
… 🦘🦘🦘
As long as you understand, not all of us are crazy like some Texas folks are crazy.
My understanding is that maybe 80% of the Septic Tank population (USA) are THEISTS … that is 280 million are therefore definite crazies in the USA. And then there’s a lot of other non-THEIST crazies.
You are correct, not all 350 million are crazies … but it’s bloody close.
… 🦘🦘🦘
That 80% has been coming down recently, especially with the advent of what's known as the nones: people with no religious affiliation. The trick now is to get them to sound off about what's happening with the extremists, like those in Texas who want to insist on inserting the Bible into public school curricula.
It's entirely possible that those same people don't have the leverage they think they do, especially in the courts. Our job is to prove that to them.
More like 30%. Definitely not 80. Our Jesus freaks punch above their weight.
𝑊ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑐𝑙𝑎𝑖𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑠𝑛’𝑡 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑜𝑐𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑟: 𝑇𝑒𝑥𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘𝑠 𝐶ℎ𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠.
Lying liars for Jesus lying again.
“𝑊𝑒’𝑟𝑒 𝑔𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑝 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝐴𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑛 ℎ𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦. 𝑊𝑒’𝑟𝑒 𝑔𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑡ℎ. 𝑂𝑢𝑟 𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝐶ℎ𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑛 𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑇𝑒𝑥𝑎𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝐶ℎ𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑛 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑒.”
Thre sentences, three lies. Stop watering down American history? Denying other religious beliefs and omitting the bad parts is the opposite. Teaching the truth? That's a lie made obvious by the very next sentence. The United States founded as a Christian nation? Messrs Jefferson and Madison would like a word. Texas a Christian state? No matter what their state government says, they are still subject to the First Amendment.
Have the lawsuits been filed yet, or are AU, American Atheists, and the FFRF waiting until the first Bible lesson is taught?
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is already sabre-rattling on this business, except that that's not so much as a threat but as a promise. The FFRF doesn't bluff, and Texas is going to learn very quickly the price for being stupid.
They should include the Penguin Atlas of World History in the curriculum, it would be of much greater benefit!
Penguins are crap at history. They only things they can discuss reliably are fish and ice.
This made me laugh, thank you.
PS The book is good, it's really good.
Glad to havecontributed to your mirth quotient.
They can do a few more things:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWMnNoHshRA
:-)
It’s even worse than I thought. They’re in the Greenland and in the Arctic. They’re taking over the world.
So long, and thanks for all the fish.
Some are remarkable good at the history and affairs of Burma.
They make nice TV decorations.
Burmese penguins are the worst!!
Frauds, every one of them.
The bible imparts wholesome family values to children.
https://ibb.co/MDGPKw4B
I would just love to know what the average person is supposed to take away from that lesson of Judges 19. It has got to be one of the ugliest stories of the bible.
“God has a plan for you.”
“God doesn’t give you more than you can handle.”
“Sometimes God says No.”
Also, what was the concubine wearing? Huh, did she invite it?
How about this lesson: "Yahweh doesn't give a rat's ass about you." Personally, I think that's the closest approach, or at least it'll do until something better comes along.
Yahweh's an asshole who hates you?
Right first time! How did you guess? 😝😉😁
That low cut linen tunic says she was surely a trollop.
Or maybe just plain POOR.
Well she could have pulled herself up by her sandal straps or just dipped into her trust fund………….
She was a female troll? 🤔
Trollop = female troll
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/trollop
Tananda, a.k.a. Tanda, a professional assassin and Chumley's nymphish Trollop sister.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MythAdventures
That god loves us?
🙄🙄🙄🙄
"god loves us" Religion, George Carlin was right! 😆
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoYyiNRtMEE
The "Snuff Porn" that Christians have been searching high and low for all these decades is found in their favorite book of fables.
Who'd a thunk it?
Oh but surely that's just a metaphor for... uh... I got nothin'
Interesting how it never says that she died before she was cut up.
I teach in a Quaker school in New York City. I am an atheist i.e. I don’t believe there are any gods. I have read the Bible. I have read some of the Quran and I went to Hebrew school at one point. I was asked to teach stories from the Bible in line with a curriculum that included the Quran so that children would recognize some of the famous stories. I agree that enforcing religious teaching by the state will reduce the amount of religious people, but this is only a tip of the iceberg piece of the counterrevolution that Christian fascists and reactionaries are imposing on us. I’m about to turn 80 and I hope I live long enough to see the utter defeat of this aberrant faction. However, I’m not optimistic at this point.
"...about to turn 80..." I am not far behind you (74) and I have the same hopes.
The people behind this lunacy would go out of their tiny little minds at the mere suggestion students would be compelled to read any magic book other than their own. I don’t see how this stands a court test, but then we no longer seem to believe in church-state separation or the rule of law generally. On the plus side, I think there is a pretty good chance this will blow up in their faces as it will generate a lot of law suits and resentment on the part of students. It is never the job of our secular government to back stop Christianity.
This is why I have been saying for Well over a decade that our constitution no longer serves us. We don’t need an establishment clause: we need a strict and specific separation of church and state. We don’t need a second amendment where in half of it can be ignored so that the other half can be elevated to God like status. We need one that says you can carry a gun, but your gun caring can be regulated. We need an established right to privacy, not one implied by search and seizure interpretations. And the electoral college must go.
If the American people do not realize this, then we are just handing power over to the worst people.
That change-of-hands has already happened, as we all well know, and unless we do something about it, the government of the United States will be dismantled to the point where any recovery would have to start from scratch (which, as you suggest, might not be that bad a thing). Thankfully, there is at least SOME degree of blowback against Trump beginning to happen, and resistance to his BS is mounting.
Goes without saying that the midterms coming up are CRITICAL ... but I said it anyway! 🤪
And by including a section on human rights, you could put that stupid notion to bed that .... let me see, how did Mr Thomas put it the other day, that 'aliens are not entitled to the protection of the constitution'.
Human rights being universal rights, i.e. rights for every human.
On top of that move to a PR-style voting system and abolish the electoral college.
'aliens are not entitled to the protection of the constitution'.
Did you never watch Independence Day?
"Now that's what I call a close encounter!" 😁
Do you know, I can't remember.
But it was obvious that Mr Thomas did not have any visitors from Mars in mind, merely specimens of homo sapiens, born a bit further south or east.
Noah’s Ark is a safe bet for 1st grade. They’re less likely to ask how’d the carnivores keep from eating the herbivores & where’d Noah put the poop (not on the poopdeck).
How’re 2nd graders gonna react to a kid killing a giant with a slingshot?
The 3rd gets Daniel & the Lions which might make a zoo field trip adventurous.
Budding scientists in the 5th will probably have questions about the physics of a bush burning but not consumed & the seas parting but not called a tsunami.
What will the teacher say when 10th graders question why a loving god allows bad things to happen on a bet?
Will the 11th graders be allowed to question the two versions of man & woman being created where the 1st version has both created imago dei with the later one more complementarian? Will there be questions about bellybuttons & how Adam/Eve perceived their genitalia prior to the Tree of Knowledge edibles kicking in?
Can’t wait for the unintended consequences to kick in.
Great questions. Especially:
“How’re 2nd graders gonna react to a kid killing a giant with a slingshot?”
Expect lots of emergency room treatment for kids (etc) being hit with stones from slingshots and other catapult-like “toys”.
As a foreign observer, brought up in a society far more advanced than the USA I am always amazed by the evidence of brain-crushing idiocy promoted by public officials in your struggling republic. There are times when I feel sorry for you - wishing that the idiot right could treat the enlightened citizens of the US with some understanding and decency. But then your local and national governments do something ghastly and stupid and I am convinced that your republic and country are heading towards madness.
It's been heading towards madness since the New Deal. That's when conservatives and big business started to tap into religion to push back. The result is that Republicans push this nonsense, as well as claiming that Democrats are all anti Christian.
The Confederates were never punished for being traitors or treason. Instead, they were awarded with the electoral college. Here we are.
Sherman should have burned the whole south and confederate states given conditional readmittance.
OT:
Rut roh
A MAGA supporter dressed as Uncle Sam was arrested at Donald Trump’s Great American State Fair after police alleged he committed a lewd act.
Police documents reviewed by the Daily Beast show that Gian Rachtelli was charged with “lewd, indecent, or obscene acts” after three separate witnesses told police they observed what appeared to be a sexual act while watching a troupe of female circus performers.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/maga-fanatic-accused-of-twisted-sex-acts-at-donald-trumps-state-fair/
Without knowing what the exact act was, if it involved him exposing himself in any way, I'd say he was revealing his shortcomings for all to see.
Other accounts I’ve seen say it was public self gratification. Maga cultist have no decency or filters.
Well, it's hard to hide in a crowd of (checks notes) dozens who showed up for Donny's All-American-Pedo-Fair.
I bet the top hat gave him away. 🎩
What defines a "sexual act"? Flirting with that cutie down the table from me is certainly sexual in intent/desire.....is that problematic?
Was the dude petting his trouser snake?
That’s it.
If you're spanking the monkey, can you get arrested for animal cruelty? 🤔
OT:
BBC has requested Shitler’s phone records and other records from January 6th in the suit trump has against them.
I hear "the phone call" from Pink Floyd's "Young Lust" and an English operator trying to reach Trump at the behest of the BBC says "He hung up."
This is the BBC calling, are we reaching?
See, he keeps hanging up, and it's a moron answering.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/47b0a4833625673499023158fb3364ebd53a7efa315ddfb273e1ef5f58f3cbb1.jpg
Funny how the cameras trained on the mall 24/7 didn’t catch footage of that.
They did catch some asshole driving a whole convoy of SUVs down the entire length before the paint could properly set.
I saw that. Some orange pedophile
Bit disappointed in the AP for that one. Usually they're better about vetting outlandish claims before regurgitating them.
You know, Texas, the Inquisition was all about trying to browbeat people into Christian faith. Perhaps you'd like to attempt to explain why, since that method is so effective, everyone in the world isn't already a Christian?
You don't mind if I nap while you attempt to find a good answer to that, I hope?
ZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzz ... huh, huh, what? 😏
Nobody expected it.
I find it rather amusing that they think it's a good idea, from a religious indoctrination standpoint, to put the Book of Job in front of 𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘴. "God will trash your life to win a bet" seems like it might not be the best message an authoritarian could choose to instill a teen, who's already chafing under the rules of parents and teachers alike, with 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵 for authority. I rather suspect it might instead send the message that authority is corrupt and capricious all the way to the top (and beyond!), so there's really no point in giving respect to those who command it in the same breath as declaring that they'll abuse it.
The student(s) might also ask why an omniscient deity needs to wager when it is unnecessary (how does one wager with an all-knowing being, anyway? That should be impossible).
Big-time plot hole with the Job story.
I wonder what Alexander Hergensheimer would have to say about that? 😁
Had to look that up. In highschool I read every bit of Heinlein that I could find but shortly thereafter I lost interest in Sci-fi. I think the last thing I read by R.A.H. was The Moon is a Harsh Mistress from 1966.
Personally, I got a big kick out of Job: A Comedy of Justice. I thought it should have been his fifth Hugo.
OT
Oh, swell. I finally have a thought aside from my mini-rant and it gets sent to the penalty box (my second one). This despite the fact that NEITHER of those posts proselytized or used colorful language. As for "constructive?" Neither was DE-structive, either (what constitutes 'constructive' anyway? Seems subjective).
Looks like the bot is going after ideas. That's the thing with censorship. First you censor the words, then you censor the ideas.
Was it on this thread? Because I don't currently see any "hidden" items.
It was. When you delete your comment, the "hidden" disappears.
Ah, you removed it.
Since the "hidden" comments aren't really hidden, I always scroll down and make sure to read them.
7𝑡ℎ 𝐺𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑒: 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑆ℎ𝑒𝑝ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑑'𝑠 𝑃𝑠𝑎𝑙𝑚 (𝐵𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑜𝑓 𝑃𝑠𝑎𝑙𝑚𝑠, 𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑟 23) 𝐾𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐽𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑠 𝑉𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛: 𝐻𝑒𝑏𝑟𝑒𝑤 𝐵𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑒/𝑂𝑙𝑑 𝑇𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 (𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑙𝑢𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐷𝑖𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑎 𝑌𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑔 𝐺𝑖𝑟𝑙 𝑏𝑦 𝐴𝑛𝑛𝑒 𝐹𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑘)
If I were a 7th grade teacher mandated to include Psalm 23 with Anne Frank's diary, I would make sure the kids got the uncensored version of said diary.
The one without the Gannet?
Question - how old are 7th grade students? 13 or thereabouts?
There are definitely bits in the diaries which I'd leave for older pupils.
Usually 12 when they start.