Louisiana public school actively promotes Christianity

There are many denominations of Christianity which have little or nothing to do with the fundamentalist right-wing Protestants almost invariably behind these compulsory-prayer deals.

For instance Catholicism venerates the Virgin Mary, but if a prayer was offered in public schools asking for her intercession (perfectly normal in Catholicism) the righty bible-beaters would go berserk.

 

I was never advocating anything be forced on anyone. Nobody is saying anyone has to pray or anything else. But, if a community elects to do so, it should be allowed. If someone doesn't want to participate, that's their right, too. What I get worked up about is these extreme cases when someone starts calling in the lawyers because a school or a courthouse put up a sign that said "Merry Christmas" or a school system posted "Christmas break" on its calendar instead of "Mid Winter Holiday."

If I moved to Dearborn, and someone said "Happy Ramadan" to me, what would I do? I would nod my head, say "thank you" and go on about my business because I know that person in their mind and heart was being polite. My rights were violated because I had to hear it. What I wouldn't do is start demanding the entire community change its established practices because one person doesn't chose to participate. Nothing drives me any more nuts than for someone to move into a community and start telling everyone how great things were where they came from.

 

Tell that to Jerry Lawler and Andy Kaufman.

 

I sure miss the times when it was acceptable to beat your wife if your dinner was cold.

I sure miss the times when gays were shamed into secrecy.

I sure miss the times when no one thought twice about smoking cigarettes everywhere and blowing the smoke into the faces of their kids without having to worry about "cancer."

 

We are a nation of laws.

 

Again, you are completely missing the point.

When the entire school is doing something, that is forcing it on everybody. When it is teachers or coaches or administrators leading a religious practice such as a prayer, that is a violation of the rights of those who do not want to participate in that religion.

You argued that if a minority is too small, it has no right to speak up for itself. That could not be farther from the ideals that this country was founded upon. That attitude is exactly why those "extreme cases" you complain about happen. Because you have to stand up on those occasions because if you don't, it will only progress to larger issues.

Also, nobody is talking about somebody wishing you a Happy Ramadan. That is a misleading strawman you are using there. Go back and look at waterytart's post and answer what she actually asked you. She's trying to help you to understand what it is to be in the religious minority. As I said earlier, your posts show a complete lack of empathy for religious minorities. You live in a county with a very dominant majority that you are a part of. It is understandable that you wouldn't think about what the minority goes through, but it would help the discussion along if you would at least try.

 

That too. And in those cases Shoeless Joe cited, those are laws that are enforced for a very good reason.

 

It IS allowed. It's called "going to church."

That's completely different from government-endorsed religion or prayer.

 

I'm sure there are a few communities in America that would bring back slavery if they could.

 

Really? Which communities?

 

I sure miss the times when people got called before Congress just because they showed up at a meeting that was organized by somebody who had ties to the Communist Party.

 

You might want to address that issue with the United States Congress and the way they open their sessions. There's a prayer before every inauguration and every President swears on a Bible. But I guess picking on the Fayette County school board is easy.