Tag Archives: church and state

Texas Approves Chaplains in Schools

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When are religious people going to stop shoving their faith down our throats? The answer is never. Just ask non-Christian parent at Grapevine’s Independent School District in Texas. The board recently approved the hiring of chaplains at the school, a move that’s angered many parents. During one recent meeting, a number of them were kicked out, or walked out in protest.

They are angry that these men, who have no training as councilors, are being paid with state funds to proselytize to students during school hours. Despite all the protest, the National School Chaplain Association thinks there is nothing wrong with the move:

“School chaplaincy, just like chaplaincy in other U.S. institutions, is perfectly legal and consistently upheld by the Supreme Court. School chaplaincy programs follow specific regulations that prohibit proselytizing, offering services based on consent. Simply put, chaplains don’t represent religion or the church, they represent God.”

That doesn’t mean anything to people who don’t share your embrace of an imaginary lord. The fact of the matter is that the faithful are in the business of converting people and asserting their dominance, and this is just another form if it. It also is an open visitation for lawsuits, which in the end is only going to cost the taxpayers more money.

Why can’t they just keep their religion to themselves, you may wonder. It seems that while one side of their mouths pretends to want to live and let live, constantly going on about how loving their god is, the other side openly prays for our destruction. The Supreme Court has upheld chaplaincy programs only because its members have capitulated to religion. Their oath to the Constitution is a joke, a minor inconvenience in the quest to make America into a Christian nation. They are slowly succeeding, despite the fact that more and more of Americans are departing from religion. This is the reason why they are fighting so hard to shove it down our throats: they figure that unless they take action now, the demise of religion is inevitable.

Iowa Capital Satanic Display Causes Outrage

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It’s been a banner year for Satan. Not only has he been helping to shut down countless school promotions of religions, but in his spare time, he’s been helping to freak out some poor Iowans, but making them have to put up a display in order to contravene the nativity one that was allowed in the Capitol Building.

The state Governor was less than enthusiastic, but as her Republican colleagues reminded her, the very first amendment of their beloved Constitution does not allow for the establishment or specific endorsement of one religion, and so in order to have their display, there would have to be allowance for others.

“Today, faithful Iowans gathered in the Capitol rotunda to display the Nativity and pray for peace,” she wrote on social media. “Free speech is a right afforded to all. But how we use it matters. Today’s event is proof that in the battle between good and evil, good will always prevail.”

The way religious people speak always drives me crazy. This isn’t a battle between good and evil; it’s a fight to keep religious nonsense out of government. The whole reason this satanic display exists in the first place is to act as a counter to all the Christian propaganda that pops up every holiday season. These morons actually think that the folks who put up the Satanic display praise the dark lord. They can’t fathom that it’s simply epic trolling.

How can we ever win when people are that deluded? Sometimes it all feels like a gigantic waste of time trying to change their minds. Still, there’s bound to be a few people that realize the hypocrisy at work. It might be the push they need to throw off the shackles of this ancient superstition. That’s all we can hope for at this point!

Denmark Criminalizes Koran Burning

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Denmark is failing as a nation. It is failing for the same reasons many other European countries are struggling right now: the rapid influx of Muslim immigrants has ramped up sectarian tensions, and now, as a response, the government has reacted in the most cowardly way possible to the mounting violent rhetoric of Islamic fundamentalists: they are kowtowing to the faithful, ensuring that hurt feelings take precedence over liberal values. So, now if anyone has the balls to express their free speech right by burning the Koran, they face up to two years in jail for causing a disturbance that could lead to violence.

The purpose of the law is to counter “the systematic mockery” that, among other things, has contributed to intensifying the threat of terrorism in Denmark, the Ministry of Justice said.

Allow me to translate this sentence, as it failed to properly provide context to what is happening: in order to prevent Muslims living in their own country from committing violent acts of retribution, the government has decided that instead of honoring its commitment to free speech, it would rather cower to a religion that respects neither free speech nor secularism. What are we fighting for, if not our own downfall?

Denmark had previously gotten rid of its blasphemy laws, but it seems now that their society is regressing, thanks to an immigration policy that puts their own values at risk. This means that the counter-reaction of the population will undoubtedly make matters worst. We are sure to witness the resurgence of far right political candidates, who favor anti-immigration stances in response to these kinds of laws. This will be especially true after the next terrorist attack, which given the current political climate, seems almost like an inevitability.

The broader problem in my opinion, is that progressives are too naïve to understand the threat that Islam poses to modern civilization. The conflict in Israel has created a litany of confusing and contradictory alliances, such as “Gays for Palestine”, who unknowingly betray their gay brethren for the sake of appearing welcoming and open minded. The fact that Hamas has openly called for, and participated in the murder of young gay men seems more than a minor inconvenience. Even a few decapitated heads doesn’t seem to register much of a response from the LGBT community, if only because it threatens to make everyone’s lives messy by acknowledging it. The world is a complicated place. The idea that gay Palestinians often seek asylum in Israel, out of fear that they will be killed by their fellow man because an ancient barbaric tome claims that same sex attractions are wrong, conflicts with the narrative that there is a good guy and a bad guy.

I’ve often said that liberalism is under attack; not by without, but from within. Soft-headed liberals who sacrificed integrity for intersectionality have allowed vile religions like Islam to benefit from their protection, all the while oblivious that their benefactors secretly plot to destroy them. If countries like Denmark are an indication of how things are going, the news is not good.

Activist Gets High School to Remove Sectarian Banners

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The Church of Satan is the gift that keep on giving. When it comes to freaking out religious rubes, there’s nothing quite like “Satanism” to scare the living daylights out of believers.

When high school student Chaz Stevens noticed that his school was displaying a banner promoting a house of worship called “Calvary Chapel Parkland”, he decided that it would only be fair if other “faiths” were promoted as well. He created his own banner graphic, and forwarded it to the Broward County School Board, and stated that since they were proudly displaying a religious ad, he wanted his Satanic “Ministry of Chaz the Bropostle” to have a prominent display as well.

“Considering that the school has accepted a banner from one religious group, I’m hoping our banner will be seen in the same light, especially given that the government emphasizes no favoritism,” Stevens wrote in an email to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Principal Michelle Kefford on Oct. 2.

The school reacted the way all government institutions do when faced with potential lawsuits: they took the original banner down. All it took was the fear of having “satanic” displays everywhere. It just goes to show that sometimes, the only way to fight fire is with fire. Stevens is a gigachad for doing this, but nothing is stopping other atheist students out there from doing the same. All you need is a good idea and a pair of brass balls to boot.

So, what’s stopping you listeners out there from doing the same thing?

Religion Makes Accountability Impossible

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One of the hardest things in life is taking accountability for your actions. For whatever reason, this simple and powerful act is abhorred by all. In order to relieve this psychic tension, religions offer an easy solution: none of your problems are your fault, because an evil conspiracy is at play. For Christianity and Islam, their favorite bugbear is Satan, the supposed prince of darkness that meddles in human affairs. This does away with a person needing to accept any blame for their own situation. Just don’t forget to pay the tithe.

According to one victim of a conspiracy to destroy his life, when his kids refused for the 4th year to even call him for Thanksgiving, Georgia lawyer L. Lin Wood blamed the only ones he could: Satan and his cronies in the deep state of course!

“What evil explains the last 4 years???” Wood said. “The devil and his minions in earth. The deep state and its operatives.”

“Their time is coming,” he said. “I just have to wait on the LORD and trust the LORD. And I also look forward to the day when President Trump OBLITERATES the Deep State. I believe he is in the process of OBLITERATING the Deep State right now.”

Who wouldn’t want to call this bundle of joy for the holidays? I can just imagine his poor children having to listen to his mad rantings at the diner table. It probably got to the point where they all agreed that his presence in their lives was encouraging this type of behavior. I bet part of them hopes that the silent treatment might force him to take a look at his own actions, and how they contributed to his alienation.

With a man willing to blame outside forces for his own kids hating him, I doubt he’s ever taken personal responsibility for anything in his life. Religion feeds into the ego of people, making them sanctimonious, holier-than-thou sociopaths who have no empathy for those who do not share their view. There is nothing worst than the combination of religious fanaticism and civil service. How is a person who is blinded by their own zealotry supposed to serve the people who do not share their beliefs? We’ve often seen the type of final solutions they have towards these types of problems. If we aren’t careful, they are bound to try and implements them again.

 

Christian School Diplomas Are a Joke

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How much should a good education cost? How much is it worth? Well, in Louisiana, the answer is quite simple: it’ll be 465 dollars, please. That’s how much it costs a person who hasn’t done a day of learning in their life to buy a high school diploma from one of it’s religious unaccredited institutions. They should simply be called diploma mills, where the right price gets you the air of legitimacy.

There’s been a growing home schooling movement in the US ever since the outbreak of Covid-19. Religious organizations have been busy lobbying the state to drop any form of certification process, which means that if you open up a “private school”, which also has no real requirements for size, you can hand out diplomas without a “student” ever having to step into a classroom. All you need is a wallet and a heartbeat.

If that isn’t enough, these fake schools will also lie for you. For instance, you can have the diplomas backdated, so that it looks like you graduated in any year you wish. They will also put false information, like “approved by the Louisiana Board of Education”, even when this is a blatant lie. These schools advertise themselves on being “state-approved”, even when they aren’t.

Now you might be wondering what the state of Louisiana is doing to stop these obvious fraudsters. I’m glad you asked. Since Christians have been lobbying so heavily for the right to lie, the state has no power whatsoever to stop them. Lawmakers occasionally try to repeal laws that allow for this ludicrous insult to education, but as soon as they do, well funded lobby groups will ensure that these efforts are in vain.

At least two unapproved institutions have had abuse scandals, but the state Department of Education says it has no authority to do anything in response.

One of the most infamous is T.M. Landry in Breaux Bridge. A 2018 New York Times investigation found the school abused kids and made up transcripts to get students into Ivy League schools. It was still open as of last school year with 15 children, according to state records. Another unapproved school in Baton Rouge, Second Chance Academy, has come under scrutiny since its head teacher was arrested on charges of sexually abusing students.

Is that all you need to do to get away with abuse these days? Simply make sure that you’re unaccredited, and then you needn’t worry about pesky things like governmental oversight. Talk about perfect for religious organizations! No longer do you need to worry about police involvement when you abuse the children in your care. Who wouldn’t want to keep their flock stupid, uneducated, and primed for abuse?

Pennsylvania Satanic Temple Gets it Done

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I’ve often said that the only way to fight the encroachment of Christianity in public schools is to use their own tactics against them. If you recall a story I covered a few weeks ago about a group called “Lifewise Academy” operating in Ohio, you might remember that these guys regularly bus kids out during school hours to indoctrinate them. I said they were a walking lawsuit, and if the recent ruling from Pennsylvania is any indication, it’s only a matter of time before it happens.

When the Satanic Temple was wrongfully prevented from engaging in after school activities with students in Pennsylvania, they sued the school district, arguing that if Christian organizations were allowed to hold events, they should be as well. A judge agreed, and it cost the Saucon Valley Middle School $200,000.

“Thanks to the court’s order, we were able to hold ASSC meetings at the Saucon Valley Middle School, and the kids who attended were overjoyed. It’s for them that we took on this legal fight in the first place, and we won’t hesitate to do so again if other school districts continue to enact discriminatory policies.”

This is only the beginning. Other school districts who employ these sneaky religious tactics are about to get their asses kicked. Once you open the floodgates for religious indoctrination, then they shouldn’t be surprised when ideologies they are uncomfortable with begin to try and influence their children. We all know the Satanic Temple is a harmless organization that uses the name as shock value, and it works. Christian parents were outraged; a small taste of what it’s like for nonbelievers when their children are targeted with their nonsense.

If other schools want to avoid this kind of expensive lesson, than they have a choice: stop all of these types of curriculum, and if parents wish to brainwash their kids with the idea of god, let them do it on their own dime and in their spare time. The rest of us want kids to learn real stuff in school, not make-believe bullshit. Score one for the good guys.

House Speaker thinks Separation of Church and State “a misnomer”

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As faith is slowly dying across the western world, it’s put a fire under the feet of religious political figures, who see themselves as martyrs in a “great cause”. As religious affiliation continues to decline, the dying animal of organized religion refuses to simply crawl into a corner and perish. Instead, it seeks to consolidate its worldly powers in the vain hope that by forcing their faith on people, it might get a glorious comeback.

This explains why so many US politicians are doubling down on faith. Take for example House Speaker Mike Johnson. Possessing the personality of a busted robot, he can’t stop acting as though the secular nature of government is a minor inconvenience that no one understands but him.

“Separation of church and state … is a misnomer. People misunderstand it,” Johnson said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” when asked about him praying on the House floor. “Of course, it comes from a phrase that was in a letter that Jefferson wrote is not in the Constitution.”

“And what he was explaining is they did not want the government to encroach upon the church, not that they didn’t want principles of faith to have influence on our public life. It’s exactly the opposite,” the Speaker added.

This might be true if you ignore the very first phrase in the Constitution, which makes it abundantly clear that religion is not invited to the party when it comes to creating policy.

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion”

It’s important to understand the context of why the “no law respecting an establishment of religion” was added in the first place. This is because when it came to the separation of powers, the inspiration for the document had come from European Enlightenment thinkers such as David Hume and John Locke, who knew full well that the encroachment of religion could spell disaster for any government. Europe’s nations had been entangled for over 200 years in the Great Wars of Religion, and hard lessons of the involvement of religion in political affairs had been well documented. If America wished to avoid such entanglements, it had to take an official stand on just how much place religion would have in politics. The decision was simple: there should be none.

Of course, what non-thinkers like Mike Johnson, who seems to value piety over service to his fellow American, fail to understand that the “Wall of Separation” that Jefferson wrote about in his letters was to reassure a small congregation of Virginia Baptist who were wary of the abuse they had suffered at the hands of their fellow Christians. They too had faced adversity in Europe, and had no wish to further the conflict in their new home. Jefferson reassured them, as he did the rest of the nation, in guaranteeing that the propensity of religion to take the reigns of power would have no effect there.

It was this decision that allowed America’s various religious traditions to flourish. Unlike Germany or England that had official faiths, Americans were free to experiment with religion to their hearts content. This is why so many different branches of Christianity have flourished; a fact that morons like Johnson are completely ignorant of. These deluded fools think that all forms of Christianity are compatible, despite the hundreds of years of conflict that punctuate their existence.

Is it not enough that these organization pay no taxes, benefit from laws that protect them (even from police prosecution for crimes that anyone else would go to jail for), and have such a vaulted place in society? Already pastors preach politics from their pulpits, a clear violation of the rules that allow them tax exempt status to begin with. Now they want the whole enchilada.

If you want the bit of good news in all of this, it’s that the message of Johnson or his ilk is becoming less and less effective. Sure, their base is usually fired up by this rhetoric, but the rest of the nation remains unimpressed. It’s why Republicans across the country are getting slaughtered in the polls. It turns out that when you double down on religion, the voters that have no great affiliation with any political party quickly jump ship. He’s hoping that this reality check hits these troglodyte where it hurts: at the polls.

Oklahoma Superintendent thinks Establishment Clause is a myth

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Religion makes you dumb and blind to reality. Take for example Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters. He’s been in the news several times for his attempts to shove religion down everyone’s throat. He wanted teachers to take a patriotic oath, which is a crypto-fascist tool used by dictators to have complete control over their populous. His speaks in the familiar tone of fundamentalists of any faith:

“We will bring God and prayer back in schools in Oklahoma, and fight back against the radical myth of separation of church and state.”

This is the dream and vision of Ryan Walters, who believes that the idea that Congress disallowing the establishment of a particular religion is a myth. Never mind the fact that it’s spelled fairly clearly in America’s founding document, or in Jefferson’s letters, further clarification of the concept. No, so long as Ryan believes in the superiority of his beliefs, such inconvenient truths will be ignored.

It’s typical that these types of clowns fail to realize that the entire reason for the clause was to allow the proliferation of all religious ideas. Christianity has over 30,000 denominations (thanks largely to that establishment clause we talked about), and many are extremely different from one another. I very much doubt that a Baptist would be happy with the dogma of 7 Day Adventist, and vise versa. The only way people can ensure that their religious rights are respected is if everyone has a level playing field.

Lifewise Academy is a walking lawsuit

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If there’s one thing you have to give Evangelicals (and believe me, it’s only this one thing), you would have to admire their hustle. When it comes to shoving their religion down our throats, they are on a whole other level.

Take Lifewise Academy. Because of a law in Ohio called the “Released Time” which allows students to substitute their secular schooling for bouts of fundamentalist religious teachings, they have been allowed to operate with impunity for decades.

The rules of this “Release Time” is simple: so long as they are privately funded, and done outside of school property, they are allowed to bus children away off site to fill their little minds with whatever nonsense they want, so long as parents “consent” to it.

There are similar laws in other states, such as Illinois, and it’s clear that these are attempts by religious organizations to use public funding to promote their faiths. That’s why the law was successfully challenged in the 40’s Illinois by a woman named Vashti McCollum, whose son had been forced to attend one of these special classes, with predictable results:

James – the only student in his class not participating in the religion class – was subsequently pressured by his teachers to conform, and his parents were pressured by school officials to permit him to join the religion classes to help James “get along.” The McCollums were angered at their son’s ostracism by his teachers, which included James’s being forced to sit alone in a hallway while the other pupils attended religion classes.

Sounds about right. Despite any assurance from these organizers that non-believers are not pressured or subjected to these views, we all know that this is untrue. There is no doubt that because it is promoted by schools that is violates the Establishment Clause of the Constitution. Not only that, but they espouse a political view of the world that can only be described as Christian Nationalism.

 

Oklahoma erodes Separation of Church and State

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The Catholic church is a sneaky organization. It functions in the shadows, using the justice system as its cudgel in order to gain ground in their effort to regain dominance over society and our lives. It is all very gradual. For instance, when the government began to fund more playgrounds in schools, they went all the way to the Supreme Court (a known friend of religion these days) and pursued a judgement which declared that they too could receive funds, since playgrounds are not educational material.

Now their move is more overt. In Oklahoma, the effort to fund chartered religious schools have been realized, and now tax dollars are being used to fund these indoctrination centers. Its a clear violation of their constitution, but this didn’t stop their government from approving of such nonsense. Now, the population is equally divided over the issue, which is not usually the case.

To be clear, the debate isn’t whether or not believers can set up their own schools. The government still allows parents to deny a proper education in favor of homeschooling, and plenty of private religious “educational” institutions litter the country. Worse still, these Catholic tricksters even get the government to pay their tuition for students who don’t have access of public schools. No, this is specifically the fact that taxpayers, already inadvertently paying for religious organizations by their refusal to pay taxes, are now forced to shell out money to ensure that an insecure and controlling religion can be forced upon people.

With the Supreme Court stacked the way it is, I wouldn’t be surprised if any pending lawsuits this results on a state level will undoubtedly lead to more favorable decisions by a justice system now completely tainted by religion. It’s ironic that, in a world where there are fewer religious people than ever in the population, they have more power than ever. Our indifference to their actions has cost us dearly, and will continue to do so.

‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell’ should return…this time for religion

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I’ve always found America’s obsession with the military disturbing. First and foremost, it is heavily populated by the poorest, least educated members of society who often have little choice in joining if they hope to have an education, or even a future outside of Walmart. You always hear on TV how much respect they should be given, due to their sacrifice in ‘protecting freedom’. In reality, the military is usually involved in efforts to control strategic resources, and while many of them do make the ultimate sacrifice of their lives, or even their health, as soon as they return home, they are ignored, marginalized, and forced to go back to the job market without the ability to export their new-found skills to the private sector. To make matters even worse, the military is slowly becoming a Fundamentalist stronghold. Ever since 9/11, recruitment efforts have been underway, as well as attempts to marginalize officers that do not fall in line.

According to a terrifying report released by the Center For Inquiry that details the ways America’s military force is slowly being Evangelized, the situation is only getting worse. According to the author of the report, James Parco – a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel, things are looking grim:

If this problem persists,” he continues, “members of the military will continue to face hostility and indoctrination, and the U.S. government will continue to experience public relations problems in future military missions. If it is addressed, the U.S. military could become a neutral and safe space for members of all religious backgrounds, and none at all, and the image of the America, as seen through its military forces abroad, could change from one of Christianity to one of a diverse people united for liberty and justice for all.”

America has an addiction to War. It’s why every struggle, regardless of what it is, will be called a ‘war’ on something: The War on Drugs, the War on Poverty, the War on Terror. All of these are rather telling abstractions that provide a window into America’s soul.

Now the article does make some suggestions for improving the situations, and I’m sure like most recommendations, it will fall to the wayside. The real problem, however, is the fact Americans are crack-addicts when it comes to conflict. How else can you explain the actions of a debt riddled country continuing to spend 700 billion dollars on weapons of war to fight an non-existent enemy? This is the same country which would reduce grants for education, money for food stamps, and welfare for the poor in order to build more cluster-bombs. If that doesn’t give you a clue to how fucked you are, I don’t know what will.

Hurricane Sandy relief to violate Establishment Clause

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It’s no small irony that when Republicans talk about smaller government, this same crippled beast seems to have no problems handing gobs of cash to institutions they have no business helping. Take the recent appropriation of 60 billion dollars for Hurricane Sandy. The Republican controlled House has voted to allow some of the money to be used to rebuild houses of worship, a clear violation of the Establishment Clause of the Constitution.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is asking their fellow atheists to contact their Senators today to prevent this disaster from becoming a law. Of course, the cynical side of me thinks this is all a giant waste of time, and the quagmire of American politics makes it impossible for rational and helpful legislation to go through, so perhaps the same tactic can be used to stop the government from forking over money that should be spent on rebuilding people’s homes, rather than the places that typically siphon all their fucking money away.

Consider this: while a non-profit can also apply for a grant if their property was damaged, at least these organizations have some degree of accountability. We can see where the money goes. That’s not true of religions. They get a free pass to spend their money any way they want, and trust me when I say there isn’t one of these places that isn’t swimming in corruption. The system practically invites it!

Teen sentenced to 10 years of hard church

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f there’s a time in one’s life fraught with tragedy, it’s probably the hormone saturated period in our lives known as our ‘teen years’. How many of us have done something so incredibly stupid it still haunts us today? Tyler Alred will need to live with the fact his drunk driving took the life of his friend and passenger, 16-year-old John Luke Dum. He’ll also need to spend the next decade going to church regularly, lest he break the conditions of his sentence:

An Oklahoma teen convicted of manslaughter has sentenced to 10 years of probation, with requirements that include regularly attending church….In deferring the sentence, the judge not only ordered Alred to a decade of church attendance, but also required him to finish high school and welding school.

Alred’s attorney and the victim’s family agreed to the terms of the sentence.

Now I know the family has actually agreed to it (mostly because it seems to oblige their son NOT to become a high school dropout loser), but it doesn’t change the fact even the judge realized how unconstitutional the whole thing was. Nevertheless, he thought it wise to include a sentence forcing the young man to attend church services for at least 10 years of his life. This sentence is obviously meant to give him structure and discipline, but it’s frustrating people still think religion helps you act more moral. It’s simply not true. In fact, religious can often make you act totally immoral, with the added ‘bonus’ of feeling simultaneously morally superior and thinking your invisible friend is on your side (killing others in his supposed name comes to mind). If anything, he should have ordered the kid to read The God Delusion, since the atheist prison population is disproportionately small. Could you imagine the outrage if he did? Fox News would have a fucking meltdown.