225 Comments

I like my bus drivers to concentrate on, you know, driving the bus.

The assistant needs fired too.

Expand full comment

If the driver loses his job he could always become a youth pastor.

Expand full comment

I am Jewish. I would not be nearly as patient as the atheist if my kids were subjected to this kind of peer pressure. Perhaps if the school district had to pay out a significant sum for what amounts to discriminatory behavior, they would take appropriate action. And this IS a form of discrimination.

I have found that it is nearly impossible to restrain these irrational zealots who believe that they are doing the work of their deity. Let this schmuck drive a bus for a Christian school. Problem solved. In his current position, he is breaking the law. The school district is allowing him to break the law without apparent consequences.

Expand full comment

With the response so far, suing their asses off is probably the only solution to make them realize something as ineffectual as shifting the offender to a new route won't do.

Expand full comment

My wife is Jewish and she completely agrees with you.

Expand full comment

I am Jesus and I approve this message. 😁

Expand full comment

The person driving my little girls to school is trying to convert them to their death-cult? That's a nope. Think about the times people saw Muslims praying before they got on a flight after 9/11 and what that reaction was.

Expand full comment

Indeed. In the immediate aftermath of 9/11, there were reports of Muslim families in our community receiving anonymous death threats. Some of them had lived there for years and never bothered anyone.

Expand full comment

The people who don't have a problem with what this bus driver was doing would lose their tiny little minds at the mere suggestion a Muslim bus driver be allowed to do the same thing. Conservative Christians can NEVER stop trying to mark their territory in the public schools paid for with everyone's tax dollars. Why is it ever acceptable to present things to children as facts that an educated adult would most likely reject if hearing them for the first time?

Expand full comment

Whataboutism won't work here, since the practice is already forbidden. If you suggested the county hire Muslim drivers, they'd say "bring it on," knowing that they have the administrative pull to unequally apply the rules to only those drivers they don't like.

Expand full comment

Even in liberal Portland, Christian Fucking Privilege rears its ugly head.

Expand full comment

Hmmmm.....I was merely trying to point out the hypocrisy of conservative Christians. No 'whattaboutism' involved.

Expand full comment

Save this for Who Is America?, Season 2. It will be almost as funny as the Nira Cain-N'Degeocello Mosque proposal in Flagstaff, AZ episode from Season 1.

Expand full comment

𝐼𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑛𝑣𝑜𝑘𝑒𝑑 𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑔𝑛 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑛𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑒. 𝐼𝑓 ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑒𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑖𝑛𝑣𝑜𝑘𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑖𝑙 𝑠𝑎𝑖𝑑, ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑒 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑗𝑜𝑏.

"Continues?!?" Hell, the bus driver's behavior is already established with the kid's video recording of the driver's violations. That the ACLU has been brought in is further indication that something is seriously wrong here. Were it me, I'd at least contact the Freedom From Religion Foundation and possibly American Atheists, if it became evident that the school system were reticent to take appropriate action.

It's bad enough that proselytism of adults goes on in the 21st century. That some hotshot bus driver feels as though he can do that with KIDS and get away with it is far worse. 𝗧𝗛𝗥𝗢𝗪 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗙𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗕𝗢𝗢𝗞 𝗔𝗧 𝗛𝗜𝗠!

Expand full comment

Yep,, and they should use a big-print bible to make sure they do some damage.

Expand full comment

The ACLU will protect the bus driver from the unfair, hurtful, and potentially unlawful actions of these hostile children.

Expand full comment

If the ACLU won't take on the bus driver, I'll guarantee you that the FFRF and American Atheists WILL.

And they'll be polite and respectful and 𝗨𝗧𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗟𝗬 𝗦𝗘𝗥𝗜𝗢𝗨𝗦.

Expand full comment

The FFRF is a great helpful group. They helped the Freethinkers Group I belong to when the local High Schools wouldn’t accept info for the college scholarships we offer for students. The Admin had no problem w/20+ various religious scholarships, but 1 Atheist one might destroy the world.

Expand full comment

I've been an FFRF member since about 2014, and have worked with Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor a good couple times. They are terrific people, and they head up a conscientious and necessary organization. Very glad to hear they helped you out! 😁🥳

Expand full comment

Bus drivers of all kinds are required to pay attention to their driving duties and keep back-and-forth interaction to a minimum in order to avoid accidents.

Wonder if they can they get him for distracted driving?

Expand full comment

Jesus. A guy who would've called modern-day transportation evil magic.

Expand full comment

Why would he do that? He's omniscient remember?

Expand full comment

He has a thing against iron chariots.

Expand full comment

Iron Chariots are Satan's Handmaiden.

Expand full comment

Someone really needs to make a meme with this statue using a bow.

Expand full comment

Close

https://i.redd.it/kkamd7formk31.jpg

Expand full comment

Well, Jesus DID say he didn't come to bring peace to the earth.

Looks more like was bringing A piece. Damn bible translations.

Expand full comment

OTHER forums allow embedded images, why not here?

Expand full comment

Possibly because,like Only Sky – they take themselves a little too seriously.

Expand full comment

Because it's considered a professional newsletter and pics would be considered "unprofessional."

(Even though the authors are allowed to use imbedded images. Just not the community)

Expand full comment

With a contradiction that gross the place almost qualifies as christian.

Expand full comment

Those depictions of Jesus with his chest ripped open and his heart exposed really creeped me out when I was a kid, and they still do. What sick bastard dreamed that one up?

Expand full comment

The same guy who thought exposing the image of the tortured, bleeding crucified Jesus to children every Sunday at Mass was perfectly acceptable.

Expand full comment

The Prince of Peace...Of the Grave.

Expand full comment

HR Giger? I went to his museum last summer. It was...disturbing.

https://fribourg.ch/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/gruyere-126558-l1020842_3000.jpg

Expand full comment

A coroner ?

Expand full comment

To add...

This is what the Oregon Department of Transportation says about distracted driving:

"Distraction occurs when a driver diverts attention to something not related to driving that uses the driver's eyes, ears, hands or mind.

There are four types of driver distraction:

* Visual - looking at something other than the road

* Auditory - hearing something not related to driving

* Manual - handling something other than the steering wheel

* Cognitive - thinking about something other than driving

Most distractions involve more than one of these types, both a sensory - eyes, ears or touch - and a mental component."

Yup. Seems that driver should be liable.

Expand full comment

There is nothing about proselytising to a captive audience in a loud voice. Checkmate Atheist !

Expand full comment

They interpret the law the way they interpret their bible: To mean anything they say it means.

Expand full comment

This guy is flagrantly violating the law trying to force religion on other people's children in a publicly funded setting where he is being paid with other people's money ... and it is not the first time this has happened? SHEESH!

Going after him for distracted driving rather than addressing the actual problem seems like nailing a Mafia extortionist on a technicality.

Expand full comment

They finally nailed and jailed Capone for tax evasion, not all the other crimes he committed.

Expand full comment

Call me suspicious or overly conspiracy-minded if you must, but I can't help wondering how many other school bus drivers in the district are doing this.. The idea that this one cluck is the only miscreant is as incredible as anything in the bible. He's the only one who's been caught, that's all. And I also have to wonder if the "no taking video on buses" rule was put in place precisely to protect jerks like this. guy.

Expand full comment
May 15, 2023·edited May 15, 2023

And why are taking videos on a bus even a problem for them to begin with? Have they never been on public transportation where people are using their phone cameras, usually without an issue?

Expand full comment
May 15, 2023·edited May 15, 2023

I thought there was video on the bus anyway – just not taken by kids. I would imagine that many school bus drivers would love to have a video of misbehaving kids so they could be disciplined. Perhaps less happy to have their proselytising recorded – but win-win as far as I'm concerned.

Expand full comment

I suspect it's because some kids could use the videos to bully classmates by snarking the videos up and putting them on social media.

Expand full comment
founding

It's going to take a lawsuit to stop this, naming the driver, his assistant, the local School Board, and the state Department of Education as defendants.

We've seen this incorrigible Christian privilege over and over in public institutions of all kinds: Proselytizing Christians break the law, and their administrations ignore it, minimize it, rationalize and excuse it, then take feeble and ineffective corrective action, and finally transfer the offender to some other place where they'll just continue the offence.

Passive-aggressive delay, delay, delay. They hope those who are complaining give up or die of old age before they have to actually obey and enforce the law. You can spend months or years playing their games, or you can just get right to it NOW and sue them. Nothing but force will get them to follow the law.

Then you'll have to watch them for years, because as soon as they think nobody's watching anymore, they'll sneakily start it again.

Expand full comment

Everything is getting weirder all the time. Bus drivers just yelled at us to sit down and shut up when I was a kid.

Expand full comment

I still remember at least one of my old bus drivers when I went to grammar school in Orange Village. He was so cool, he let me sit next to him (yes, there was room!) and operate the signal lights for the school bus! Yeah, I know, sounds impossible now, but again, this was well over 60 years ago. Those were really good days.

Man ... what happened to them?

Expand full comment

[I can't help myself] Did he ask you if you'd ever seen a grown man naked? Did he look like he was on an impossible mission?

Expand full comment

Nope, not ever. He was an old Italian guy. I think his other job was running a corner store – what would have passed for a "convenient mart" back in the 1950s. He was a good and decent man, for what I remember of him and one among not a whole lot of positive memories of my youth.

Expand full comment

Sounds cool. I swear mine were all grumpy. I remember someone asking the guy who drove us to middle school if he could sit in a certain seat and the guy just said, “I don’t give a shit where you sit.”

Expand full comment

My dad (born in 1953) rode the bus on the way to elementary school in central Michigan. He told me a story about how one time the bus driver pulled over to the side of the road and picked up a freshly road-killed raccoon and brought in onto the bus. He then left the regular route and stopped in front of a house. He got out, knocked on the door, and handed the raccoon by the tail to the woman that answered the door. When he got back on the bus my dad asked him what just happened, and the bus driver said "there's good meat on that raccoon, some people would be happy to have it." He then continued the bus route.

I would much rather have this scenario happen than have a bus driver proselytize!

Expand full comment

Your dad's bus driver was more Christ-like than the one in the post.

Expand full comment

The only way the christer cult can survive in the modern era is by grooming children. Parents who are paying attention should be concerned since it is not drag queens or trans people grooming and assaulting their children but christians.

https://www.joemygod.com/tag/molestation/

Expand full comment

I've seen several videos on YouTube where christians explain that drag queens are more dangerous to children than school shootings. If mental gymnastics was an Olympic event churches would be even more full of gold than they already are.

Expand full comment

Somebody needs to show them stats about the innumerable amount of Christian clergy who have been caught molesting the church's own children.

Expand full comment

"a few bad apples."

When I hear them say that, I'm reminded of something Mencken wrote: "Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats."

Expand full comment

"a few bad apples."

Unfortunately for them, we know (and can conclusively show) that the whole damned orchard is rotten through and through.

Expand full comment

Sir, this is a landfill.

Expand full comment

Wonder how parents who have lost children to school shootings would react to that.

Expand full comment

I'd sure like to know who screwed with the "Clergy Gone Wild" website to make it inaccessible.

I'm not a conspiracy fantasist but I have my suspicions.

Expand full comment

Probably purchased by the 'Catholic League' or some other entity of the church.

Expand full comment

The one-man Catholic League. The guy who defends child molestation.

Expand full comment

If I had to guess, I'd say it was a PHP upgrade that screwed up some code. That, or a plugin that's not playing nice. Looks like it's been hosed for a while, and I'm not sure the parent org of christianity-revealed.com is active either. Their front page hasn't been updated since 2012, which is when CGW seems to have gone down too.

Expand full comment

Speaking of holding grudges, gawd is STILL punishing us for the "sin" of A&E. Tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, wildfires, etc. are all acts of gawd to punish us for some sin or other.

Expand full comment

The driver and the assistant need to be replaced. Moving them to another route is just the school trying to find the bus that will not complain, rather than address the illegal behavior.

Of course, if they fire the driver and/or assistant they will sue for violating their first amendment rights, nevermind their actions are that of the state forcing religion on students. In this case the students’ rights are priority over the government workers’ and the government workers’ do not have the right to force participation in their religion, and are, in fact, directly restricted from doing so. They’ll still sue, and appeal, and appeal, and appeal until it reaches the SCROTUS who will decide for them despite two hundred years of legal precedent. Because that’s what they were installed, and paid copious amounts of bribe money for.

Expand full comment

New in book stores this June, Mo Willems' next series of children's books! "Don't let the Fundie drive the bus." Underwritten by The Satanic Temple.

Expand full comment

HA! I was thinking how to work those in. I actually got the latest at the library, even though my kids are 13 and 15. They liked them when they were younger and I thought they would get a laugh out of it.

https://www.amazon.com/Be-Bus-Profound-Wisdom-Pigeon/dp/1454948191

Expand full comment

My kids loved those books. I got the recent one with the rollercoaster for my 2yo nephew for Christmas this year. Plus a plush of the pigeon.

I prefer the pig and elephant books over the pigeon, though. But they all are a lot of fun to read.

Expand full comment

I don't care what the bus driver believes. I just want them to do their job and just 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘶𝘴.

Expand full comment

Christians' job is to throw people UNDER the bus...leave the driving to others.

Expand full comment

Of course there is a double standard as Hemant points out had it been a Satanist group or some Islam preaching going on. But because it was "Christian", the school wanted to give the guy a free pass. I would be one pissed off citizen if my child was subjugated to this forced hokum.

Expand full comment

Yet Christians still squall that they are somehow being persecuted in this country.

Expand full comment

Truth! Their own recorded history is ample evidence of this fact.

Expand full comment

HOLY HORRORS!!! Yes, there is a book by this name.

Expand full comment
May 15, 2023·edited May 15, 2023

"Holy Horrors: An Illustrated History of Religious Murder and Madness" by James A. Haught (2002)

Expand full comment

On order. Takes a bit of time coming used.

Expand full comment

Hey, now that's not fair. When christians arrested, imprisoned, tortured and executed women, gays, Jews and other christians who disagreed with them ("heretics"), they did it out of LOVE. I'm sure when the flames seared the flesh of those people, they could just feel all the christian love sloshing over them.

Expand full comment

You're right and so it's not surprising to me that many skeptics have told me that they'd prefer Christians to ignore them instead of "loving" them.

Expand full comment

“Do not do unto others as they do not wish to be done unto.”

A far better guide to morality than the golden rule which privileges one’s own desires.

Expand full comment
May 15, 2023·edited May 15, 2023

That assumes that you know what others "do not wish to be done unto". History demonstrates that we often assume that others like and dislike the same things we do. However, you'd think that getting literally torched would be on a list of things that Christians like myself could safely say is something that skeptics would prefer to not have done to them.

Expand full comment

Definitely a true statement.

Expand full comment

They have nearly the entire supreme court on their side.

Expand full comment

It's a little difficult to play the victim when things tend to go your way all the time.

Expand full comment

The kkkatlik church did it for centuries claiming the 98-99% was persecuted by the 1-2%. "The Popes against the Jews. David I. Kertzer. The kkkatlik cabal led the charge crying "PERSECUTION!"

Expand full comment

If you haven't read it, pick up a copy of "The Myth of Persecution: How Early Christians Invented a Story of Martyrdom" by Candida Moss.

Moss exposes the lies and the make-believe.

Expand full comment

Money well spent. I read it at least 3 times.

Expand full comment

Already read. Thanx!

Expand full comment

But man, they still do it.

Expand full comment

Yeah, they're not bothered about reality overmuch. If they were then their religion would die.

Expand full comment

Nope, not today. Today I'm going to go read about puppies, thanks. My blood pressure went up just reading the damn title.

Expand full comment

Sorry to ruin your peaceful day, but I just stumbled across this puppy video on YouTube and it left my blood boiling. There are days when I loathe the human race, and this just became one of them. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvtlhffWlOc

Expand full comment

Nope! Not watching that either. Gonna go see what's new in my terrariums now.

Expand full comment

Knew I shouldn't have clicked on that.

Mistreating animals. *grrrrrrrrrrr!*

Expand full comment

If one day you see a video with Galgos Spain in the totl or the description, don't click.

Expand full comment

Thanx for the warning. Will avoid.

Expand full comment