Category: Entanglement - Page 34

July 28, 2011

Missouri school district removes two books because principles were contrary to the Bible

Image of a stack of books with a red line through them

The Republic Missouri school district voted 4-0 with 3 absent to remove two books from the high school curriculum and from the library. The books were removed after a single complaint that challenged the use of the books and lesson plans in Republic schools, arguing they teach principles contrary to the Bible. The decision forced the theistic beliefs on all the children who will now not be able to get the books from their school library or study them in class. Can you say hypocrisy?

The two books were “Twenty Boy Summer” by Sarah Ockler and “Slaughterhouse Five” by Kurt Vonnegut.

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July 19, 2011

Again a Courthouse Ten Commandments monument is ordered removed

When will believers get the message. A Ten Commandments monument on or in a court house violates the 1st amendment. On July 15th a Federal judge reminded us all when he ruled against Dixie County Florida.

The monument was donated by a local businessman in 2006. The county claimed that it was private property and the location on the steps of the court house was a public forum, but the county offered to defend any lawsuit against the monument for free.

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July 14, 2011

Church: Separation is great when it comes to discrimination

Some churches and religious groups complain about separation of church and state when they want to force their views into the public sphere like schools and government. However when these groups want to discriminate they become the biggest fans of the wall between church and state. They shouldn’t have it both ways.

A teacher at a church school in Redford Township, Michigan was fired when the school board wouldn’t allow her to return to work after a long medical leave.

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June 25, 2011

Did NY same sex marriage proponents give away the farm with religious exemptions?

The good news is that the New York state legislature finally approved a law that will allow same sex marriage. The bad news is that in order for this great thing to happen, changes in the law will allow religious sects AND the non-church businesses they operate to discriminate against gays without any legal repercussions. In the zeal to get these new rights for the LGBT community, did proponents give away the farm?

From the NY Times:

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June 14, 2011

Original Pledge didn’t include God

Being this is Flag Day, I wanted to, once again, point out that the words to the Pledge of Allegiance didn’t include God before 1954. One proof is this 1939 Porky Pig cartoon reciting the Pledge and God is no where to be found. The “Red Scare” of the 1950’s led to the addition of “Under God” to the pledge. Wish we go back to the original version as it is more inclusive.

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May 25, 2011

Separation of Church and State – The Sports Analogy

It’s really hard for some religious believers to understand why the separation of church and state is really important. In an effort to advance the cause in support of strong separation I have come up with a good analogy to explain it. I call it “The Sports Analogy”.

Recent court decisions involving church and state have not been ruled in the non-believer’s favor. The reasoning used by the judges follow the thinking shown in the recent decision concerning the National Day of Prayer law:

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