I know many of the people who will read this are very strong in their Christian beliefs. That's perfectly fine and I hope no one will take offense to what I am about say here, but I am PISSED OFF.
There is a reason we have separation of church and state in this country. No one should feel force to worship in a way that is wrong to them. If officials were allowed to enforce one belief over another, it could easily lead to people being fired from jobs because they go to temple instead of church or even because they might go to a Baptist church instead of a Pentecostal one. It's not like it's unheard of for even two people who both believe that Jesus is the son of God to also believe the other person is going to Hell for not praying the same way. My family is Church of Christ, I've heard this preached IN THE CHURCH. That kind of hate speech (don't even attempt to argue that one, saying someone is going to hell is hateful and judgemental - no matter what you believe) just turns my stomach. It should not be allowed in places that have influence over people in other ways.
I know many people today have this belief that the founding fathers wanted America to be a Christian country, but if that were true then we wouldn't have the separation of church and state written into the constitution. These men came from a country that was killing people for wanting to worship without the idolatry of the Catholic church (the Protestant belief not mine - so please don't read into that statement). They wanted to make sure that kind of thing wouldn't happen here. It was also the Age of Enlightenment and most of them were Deists anyway. They would be turning in their graves if they could see the kind of fundamentalism that has taken root in our political system right now.
I find it ironic that the English now consider it poor taste to bring their religion into political discussions. How did they get it right and we get it wrong? I also find it disturbing that in a race between a Christian politician and a non-Christian, it is a given that the Christian will win, no matter what he has done in his past or what his plans are for his constituents. I personally want someone who has the best interest of the people in mind and don't give one whit about whether or not s/he goes to church. I will vote for a Christian and I will vote for a non-Christian because I don't even pay attention to their BELIEFS. I want to know FACTS.
So with all this in mind I want to know how in world it is possible for a superintendent of schools to hold Christian blessing ceremonies for all the schools in her district and "strongly suggest" that all teachers and principals show up. I wouldn't have as much issue with this if she was planning on doing this with other faiths, but she's not. She's purposely brought Christianity into public schools although IT IS NOT LEGAL. But I might still have a problem with this if she did include Jewish,
Muslim, Buddhist, Baha'i, Hindu, Jainism and whatever else I could think of.
Why? Because it is still a public school system. Religion should not be a
part of it.Of course this isn't mandatory but to be told it is strongly suggested implies adverse consequences if someone does not show up. There is a place for religion, a place of learning is not it.
Now this is happening in Ft Worth Texas and I know that there are far more Christians here than non-Christians, but that doesn't make it right.
3 comments:
I agree with pretty much everything you said, but I would argue that I do care what my politicians' belief systems are. Only because one would hope that they would base their actions on their beliefs. That said, I'd be more likely to vote for an atheist who believed in compassion and love for his/her fellow creatures, than a Christians. In my experience, atheists hold themselves to higher moral standards than Christians. Christians often either believe that if they do something "wrong" they can just pray for forgiveness, or that God is on their side.
Amen, sister! Just wanted you to know that I'm with you on this. =O)
So true Tonya. When are we going to learn that Religion is the cause of most of our world problems. It is unfortunate that people want to push their beliefs on to individuals. To do it in an environment like the public school system is wrong. This superintendent should be told to cease and desist from making these statements. I myself refuse to follow any organized religious group because of this.
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