"So, as usual, the bureaucratic solution was to kill the mosquito with a shotgun: Instead of exempting those minority students from participation, red-tape artists concluded that any display of Christmas at school had to be prohibited."-- What We Now Know, week of Dec. 20When I went to an all white public school in rural Arkansas, minority students (those who weren't Christian) were "exempted from participation" by being allowed to stand in the hall doing nothing while the rest of the class read the King James bible parts referring to the birth of Jesus. I was the only one in the hall. I would later be attacked in the school yard by "Christian" bullies who were too chicken shit to attack me one at a time. I would have to fight three or four of these crusaders who were teaching the heathen a lesson, while their good "Christian" friends cheered them on.
So, the next time someone spews a generalization about how liberals react to being force-fed beliefs, in a public institution, that aren't their beliefs, and how ALL liberals and liberal bureaucracies over-react to this treatment, I'll remember the crusading red-necks who kicked me in the face while I was on the ground. And I'll think, gee, maybe if someone kicked Bill O'Reilly in the face while he was being beaten by a gang of vicious liberal Atheists, maybe he would be a little less likely to to complain when we try to force the LACK of religion in public places.
But I agree that if the "Christians" who want to force their beliefs on everyone would tone it down, do their worshipping in church instead of in court (how ironic that the Republican Reverend Falwell would threaten Boston with hundreds of swarming lawyers - aren't liberals the ones who sue over the littlest things?) or schools, this argument would be gone. The fact is, it is the Christian right that has created this fight, and it is mostly FAUX news and O'Reilly who started it. Their whining about attacks on Christmas are pitiful attempts to further separate this country in terms of religiosity. If Bill and his friends think this country isn't religious enough, I know a brand new theocracy they could go help liberate from the sectarian hordes.
In the mean time, I'll wait in the hall while you people pray to your lord. I hope you remember all the great things he said, like that which you do to the least among us (see the recent budget cuts be republicans to pay for tax cuts to millionaires), and a camel going through the eye of a needle before a rich man will get into heaven (see the presidential cabinet with the most millionaires ever).
