Indiana's Bid to Join the Bible Belt

[DinoDoc]

Originally posted by Sava
Some people actually enjoy and cherish freedom, DD. And freedom is the distance between church and state.

You should send me all of your money, ASAP.

[Sava]

I already gave money to the Special Olympics.

[DinoDoc]

Sava: If you don't have any objection to it being on your money then, why throw such a histrionic fit over it being in a school?

[JohnT]

I don't understand this thread. Doesn't MacTBone realize that Indiana is already the buckle of the Bible belt?

[molly bloom]

Originally posted by obiwan18


As a public school, their employer is the government.

Therefore, why this kerfluffle over a slogan? If it's a national slogan, than SCOTUS has no justification to strike such a bill down.

For such a tempest in a teapot, people seem to be getting their feathers ruffled.

What is a 'national' slogan? Who made it a 'national' slogan and when?

Presumably if Canada's 'national' slogan were something from the Tibetan Book of the Dead, the Bhagavad Gita or Buddha's Fire Sermon you'd be peachy keen about that?

It's not a tempest in a teapot- it's creeping state endorsed religion. It is not the business of a school or state to erect the ten commandments or the pillars of islam or a neon illuminated book of mormon.

[Ben Kenobi]

Presumably if Canada's 'national' slogan were something from the Tibetan Book of the Dead, the Bhagavad Gita or Buddha's Fire Sermon you'd be peachy keen about that?

It's not a tempest in a teapot- it's creeping state endorsed religion. It is not the business of a school or state to erect the ten commandments or the pillars of islam or a neon illuminated book of mormon.

You have gone beyond your source. Where does the school official say that this 'god' refers to the Christian God? Does he not hedge his statement by saying this god represents whomever the students believe in, be it Mohammed, Buddha or Zoroaster?

That's why I say that this is a tempest in a teapot.

As for the first statement, as a Christian, I have to take offense if a nation worships another god. With tolerance the norm, I doubt my Canadian government would knowingly endorse one religion over another.

[molly bloom]

[SIZE=1] Originally posted by obiwan18 [/SIZE

You have gone beyond your source. Where does the school official say that this 'god' refers to the Christian God? Does he not hedge his statement by saying this god represents whomever the students believe in, be it Mohammed, Buddha or Zoroaster?

That's why I say that this is a tempest in a teapot.

As for the first statement, as a Christian, I have to take offense if a nation worships another god. With tolerance the norm, I doubt my Canadian government would knowingly endorse one religion over another.

Buddha is not a 'god'. Mohammed is not god, he denied divinity, directing people to worship Allah. Zoroaster likewise was a prophet.

What if you don't 'trust in god'? I have no interest in worshipping god/s or following religions of any kind- and I would object to the presumption of anyone who thought they had the right to dictate in whom I should trust. A school might teach about religion, but if it is not an avowedly sectarian school, then it has no place in directing pupils' beliefs to any credo.

[Jon Shafer]

Originally posted by Boris Godunov
What's so bad about the ACLU? Don't like civil liberties?

Both the bible-beaters and the ACLU bleeding-heart cronies take things too far. It's when one side gets too far out of line that I have to side with the other.

[chequita guevara]

Anyone who opposes the ACLU is just a damned fool. They defend the bill of rights for everyone, not merely liberals. They have consistenly defended the rights of the right wing every bit as much as the center and the left. It's just that the left is more likely to get attacked, so they need defending more often.


MacTbone, you act as if Indiana weren't already the Northernmost outpost of the Old Confederacy. The more time I spent in Indy, the more I hated the place. We're talking about a state that was controlled politically by the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s, and almost made a Klansman president (and probably would have succeeded if the damn fool hadn't taken a minor across state lines).

[Ben Kenobi]

I have no interest in worshipping god/s or following religions of any kind- and I would object to the presumption of anyone who thought they had the right to dictate in whom I should trust. A school might teach about religion, but if it is not an avowedly sectarian school, then it has no place in directing pupils' beliefs to any credo.

Agreed. I don't see this secular school directing pupils to favour one religion over another.

[Sava]

Originally posted by DinoDoc
Sava: If you don't have any objection to it being on your money then, why throw such a histrionic fit over it being in a school?

I do object to God being on money... but my detest for the religious overtones of US currency doesn't outweigh my desire to not be homeless

Instead of giving up currency, I'll use my resources to lobby for the removal of religious icons, symbolism and words from everything officially related to the government.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by obiwan18
Agreed. I don't see this secular school directing pupils to favour one religion over another.

Hindus believe in many gods. Many pagans believe in a Goddess. Others of us know that there are no gods at all. Why should we be forced to subsidize your Pharisee ways?

[ranskaldan]

Originally posted by obiwan18
You have gone beyond your source. Where does the school official say that this 'god' refers to the Christian God?

How about changing it to "under the gods"? The Christians would raise an uproar for sure.

Yet, while right now it is "under God", you think it's overkill if Atheists or Hindus are offended?

[molly bloom]

Obiwan, you're being obtuse. The default setting for the school is monotheism. Not a specific monotheistic belief, but a specific kind of religion- one god, not specifically female.

Buddhists do not adhere to belief in a god, male or female, and Hindus worship a triune godhead with many avatars- do you suggest they pick a particular god for the day in whom to trust when they come into school?

More to the point those of us (like me) who profess no belief in a supernatural being or deity or organised religion- and haven't done so since school days- why should the school or anyone else assume they can speak for me?

[monolith94]

How about "under morality"?