South Carolina Democrats push for mandatory teacher led prayer in public classrooms. Wait, Democrats?

Courtesy of Raw Story:

State lawmakers in South Carolina are pushing for legislation that would mandate prayer sessions in schools. 

The bill, H. 3526, would require teachers to lead a moment of silence at the beginning of each school day, during which the teacher would be allowed to deliver a prayer. Students who didn’t not want to participate would be allowed to leave the classroom. 

Most of the legislation’s sponsors are Democrats. It was introduced by Reps. Wendell Gilliard (D), Robert Williams (D), Joseph Jefferson (D), Carl Anderson (D), Liston Barfield (R), Bill Clyburn (D), Heather Ammons Crawford (R), Lonnie Hosey (D), Robert Ridgeway III (D), and Don Wells (R). 

The bill was introduced in February 2013, but is currently stuck in the House Committee on Judiciary.

Of course the Supreme Court has already ruled on the unconstitutionality of having public school teachers endorse one religion over another, but this apparently does nothing to dissuade this group from pushing their agenda.  

The lawmakers said they were willing to compromise on that point. 

“The compromise would be to have the students to pray to whomever they want to. If they want to do away with teachers conducting the prayer that would be fine with us. The essential part of the bill, the important part, is putting prayer back in school,” Gilliard told WCIV. 

“There would be no noise, no disruption, no anything. But the teacher would conduct it to let the students know we would have one minute for a moment of silence of prayer. That person can pray to whomever they please,” he added.

Of course that does not speak to the nonreligious who would simply sit there in awkward silence while their less evolved classmates asked for supernatural assistance in accomplishing the educational tasks that their atheist or agnostic classmates were accomplishing through hard work and discipline.

Yeah nothing about that seems like it favors one type of belief system over another. 

Not at all happy to see this effort being led by Democrats either.

You see THIS is why I always hesitate to align myself with any political party, even when I agree with most of them, most of the time.

The Revisionaries: New documentary examines the attempt by religious fundamentalists to undermine the public education system one textbook at a time.

Courtesy of the Hollywood Reporter:

Revolving around the State Board of Education's review of textbook standards, the film opens with a worrisome market-based observation: Since Texas and California are the country's largest purchasers of textbooks, anything unlikely to meet Texas standards may well not get published. And since BOE elections are down-ticket races most voters barely even notice, it doesn't take much for an outsider to become one of the most important figures in the U.S. education system. 

Take Don McLeroy, a dentist whose strict interpretation of the Bible holds that the earth was created less than ten thousand years ago. Though his only education experience is teaching Sunday School, McLeroy was the chair of the BOE for almost two years -- a period during which the board examined guidelines for the science texts that would mold young minds for years to come. 

McLeroy is a decent fellow, and unlike some of Rick Perry's other political appointees (like Forensic Science Commission officer John Bradley, in the recent doc Incendiary) he didn't steamroll opponents with underhanded bureaucratic maneuvers. But whatever he could do in good conscience to weaken textbooks' presentation of the theory of Evolution, he did. 

Essentially this McLeroy fellow's overriding problem with Evolution was that he simply did not understand it.  He much preferred the children's fable presented in the Bible to the complexity of a scientific theory.

Therefore he felt perfectly justified, due to his deep religious faith, to remove from public school textbooks the information that challenged his religious beliefs and made him think too much.

THIS kind of intellectual laziness and prejudice toward education is permeating, not just our public school system in this country, but also our politics. 

The message being delivered by Fundamentalists, Conservatives, and Republicans is do not trouble yourself with thinking, it is much TOO hard. Instead believe, and sleep the restful sleep of the ignorant, while your rights and independence are stripped from you like valuables from a newly murdered corpse.

The Founders of this country knew what they were doing in separating church and state, however even THEY must have known that was a separation that would have to be enforced and protected, against "decent fellows" like Don McLeroy.

There is a must see interview that Stephen Colbert conducted with McLeroy that you can watch here.

The problem with defending ourselves against attack by anti-education religious forces is that there are so many truly kind people who feel under personal attack when their faith is challenged or their religion called out for aggressive actions. However in my opinion to stay silent is to demonstrate cowardice in the face of an enemy that ultimately cares little about faith, and everything about control.

Here's a little history lesson for our Teabagger friends, the Pledge of Allegiance was written by a socialist! Glenn Beck's head to explode in 3..2..1

Here's a bit of historical trivia that you won't find taught in on of those Mike Huckabee "Learn our History" videos:

Francis Bellamy (1855 - 1931), a Baptist minister, wrote the original Pledge in August 1892. He was a Christian Socialist. In his Pledge, he is expressing the ideas of his first cousin, Edward Bellamy, author of the American socialist utopian novels, Looking Backward (1888) and Equality (1897).

Francis Bellamy in his sermons and lectures and Edward Bellamy in his novels and articles described in detail how the middle class could create a planned economy with political, social and economic equality for all. The government would run a peace time economy similar to our present military industrial complex.

The Pledge was published in the September 8th issue of The Youth's Companion, the leading family magazine and the Reader's Digest of its day. Its owner and editor, Daniel Ford, had hired Francis in 1891 as his assistant when Francis was pressured into leaving his baptist church in Boston because of his socialist sermons. As a member of his congregation, Ford had enjoyed Francis's sermons. Ford later founded the liberal and often controversial Ford Hall Forum, located in downtown Boston.

In 1892 Francis Bellamy was also a chairman of a committee of state superintendents of education in the National Education Association. As its chairman, he prepared the program for the public schools' quadricentennial celebration for Columbus Day in 1892. He structured this public school program around a flag raising ceremony and a flag salute - his 'Pledge of Allegiance.'

His original Pledge read as follows: 'I pledge allegiance to my Flag and (to*) the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.' He considered placing the word, 'equality,' in his Pledge, but knew that the state superintendents of education on his committee were against equality for women and African Americans. [ * 'to' added in October, 1892. ]

(It was not until 1954 that Congress added the words "under God" during the height of the Cold War.)

I have never been much of a fan of the pledge, in that I don't believe ANYBODY should pledge mindless allegiance to their country. To my mind we should always work to keep improving our country, and spreading freedom and acceptance for ALL of its citizens, so that it EARNS our allegiance, rather than feel the need to DEMAND it of our schoolchildren.

When I worked for the school district I often found myself quietly mouthing the words, since I could not bring myself to actually say them out loud, while making sure that I was far enough away from the kids so that they did not notice and start asking me questions which I was neither allowed nor inclined to answer.

In my mind the Pledge of Allegiance always sounded very similar to how the Whitest Kids U Know re-interpreted it.

Mike Huckabee believes that all Americans should "be forced at gunpoint no less" to listen to the lies and distortions of David Barton.

So let me get this straight.  Christian minister, Mike Huckabee, wants to force his fellow Americans, under threat of death, to listen to the misinformation, and outright lies, of David Barton? Do I have that about right?

And THIS is the man who once ran to be the President of the United States of America?

You know even if Barton were not somebody who was well known to spread lies and distortions about history to further his belief that there should be no separation between the (Christian) church and state, it is still indefensible that Huckabee would suggest that the American people should be threatened with death, or bodily harm, to force them to listen to what he has to say.

Exactly what kind of America does Huckabee envision?

Clearly what he is openly advocating is to turn America into a theocracy, where every citizen would be forced to attend the same churches, to think the same way, and to have all of the rights and freedoms our forefathers desired for us, and that our military has fought repeatedly to protect, stripped away from his fellow Americans.

Is this is the TRUE agenda that drives the Republican party of 2012?

And if the Teabaggers were as concerned about protecting the Constitution as they claim to be, Mike Huckabee, Sarah Palin, and the other GOP  Evangelical theocrats would be the first politicians they would go after, instead of focusing all of their attention on the Democrats.

Don'tcha think?

Sarah Palin tweets complete ignorance of the First Amendment.

Today the Supreme Court upheld the right of the Westboro Church to wave disgusting homophobic signs in the faces of those attending military funerals.

Westboro addressed matters of public import on public property, in a peaceful manner, in full compliance with the guidance of local officials. It did not disrupt Mathew Snyder's funeral, and its choice to picket at that time and place did not alter the nature of its speech. Because this Nation has chosen to protect even hurtful speech on public issues to ensure that public debate is not stifled, Westboro must be shielded from tort liability for its picketing in this case.

In response to this ruling the Grizzled Mama tweeted the following:

Common sense & decency absent as wacko "church" allowed hate msgs spewed@ soldiers' funerals but we can't invoke God's name in public square
6 hours ago via Twitter for BlackBerry®

As much as it pains me to admit, I absolutely agree with Sister Sarah's disgust that these people are allowed to display their hateful homophobic poison in front of children grieving for their dead military parents.  (BTW I feel the same way about those Right to Life wackos who put pictures of a dead fetus on display in their booths right next to the cotton candy stand during our State Fair. Which, by the way, Palin supports completely.)

However Palin needs to understand that the same right that she enjoys to make up lies about our President also protect these crazed lunatics.  It is right here in the very first amendment to our Constitution.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

And if Palin can get through that paragraph without getting bored, or having to stop and ask for somebody to explain it to her, she might also notice that it explains WHY there is a separation between church and state in this country.

Here let me highlight it for her: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion."

But all that means is that government officials cannot inflict their religions beliefs on the masses, you know like the GOP has been trying to do for decades. However the RIGHT to practice that religion is protected as well in the very same sentence: "or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."

Nobody is saying that people cannot practice their religion, or worship their God as they see fit. All that is being limited by this amendment is the right of government, or government run facilities (Like public schools for instance) to force their religious beliefs onto others.

And just for clarification, God's name is invoked in the public square all of the time.

In many schools the day starts with the Pledge of Allegiance: "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." (By the way "God" was NOT part of the original pledge.)

The Congress opens with a prayer. 

Our President recently hosted a Prayer Breakfast.

And even the Supreme Court itself begins each session with a religious invocation: "God save the United States and this honorable court."

So as anybody can plainly see, God is omnipresent in our public square. And as we can also plainly see, and this should come as no surprise to any of us, Klondike Kardashian is completely wrong. (I bet you didn't see THAT coming!)

Since Keith is no longer popping up on my television screen daily to state the obvious, I will do it for him. "That woman, is an idiot!"

However since this is my blog, and in no way controlled by the FCC, I will expand on that thought: "That woman, is a FUCKING idiot!"