You may want to print and frame this post after you read it. Why? Because I am about to defend the Pope in his row with Muslims over a speech he gave last week when he quoted a medieval text which had some sharp words about Islam.
Secular Left Posts
In 1996, Nancy Powell’s son, who was in 1st grade at the time, was present when the Boy Scouts held a recruitment presentation in his school cafeteria during lunch time. Knowing at the time the religious discrimination that the Boy Scouts practice, Powell filed a lawsuit against the school district. She claimed that the recruitment event was an illegal mixing of church and state. Even though the school finally won the suit, they had changed their policy and now no group is allowed to recruit children during school hours. Powell succeeded in her cause. So what is the big fuss over what is probably the oldest youth group in America – steeped in tradition and patriotic fever?
A figure in one of the landmark cases concerning church and state died on August 20th. Vashti McCollum won an 8-1 US Supreme Court decision, in 1948, that ended religious instruction in the public schools.
I was zooming the web the other evening for some research when I came across a virtual exhibit on the Library of Congress website. It was titled Religion and the Founding of the American Republic and it piqued my interest, naturally. However after reading the text accompanying the exhibit objects, one would think the authors of the text are spinning history to justify a religious right agenda.
On Monday, 8/28, Ohio governor candidate, J Kenneth Blackwell, held a big press conference to announce an endorsement by a group of Christian pastors. Normally that wouldn’t bother me – but should we elect someone who can’t uphold even basic civil rights?
Today Secular Left is introducing a new category to the blog. It is called Religious Intolerance. These entries won’t be classified as religious intolerance only if it is an issue of disagreement – because I feel dissent is needed to discover the truth about issues – these posts will be about real harm done to non-believers and non-Christians in this country. This can include outright discrimination, violence, or harassment based only on religious reasons. Today’s entry is a prime example.