Coverage from the 11:00 news
The Digital Cuttlefish
Since the music plays so briefly... Can you blame me if I dance?
Coverage from the 11:00 news
Earlier this evening, the Providence RI news story:
Updates are likely, via WPRI.
Related WPRI story: Who is paying for banner legal battle?
Something there is that doesn’t love a wall,
That sends the privileged Christians smashing it
To plant their giant crosses in the hills,
And march troops to bow their heads and pray.
The work of teachers is another thing:
I have come after them and made repair
Where they have left not one coherent thought,
But they would have Charles Darwin into hiding
To please the Christian right. The gaps I see,
Everyone’s seen them made and heard them made,
But still pretend surprise to find them there.
I let my neighbor know beyond the hill
And on a day we meet in court of law
To test the wall between us once again.
The first amendment guides us as we go.
From each, a plea to see it through our eyes.
Some tacks are lies, and some so clearly false
They have to use a feint to keep them hidden:
“Our country must not turn its back on God!”
We wear our voices rough with speaking them.
It seems another sort of verbal game,
One on a side. It seems like little more:
Here, an aging school prayer on a wall:
Free exercise, against establishment.
The school must not take sides, promoting God,
Excluding those of other faiths, I tell him.
He only says, “This is a Christian nation.”
Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonder
If I could put a notion in his head:
“Why a Christian nation? Isn’t that
Where church and state are one? But here, they’re not.
Before I breach a wall, I’d ask to know
What I was letting in, or letting out,
And to whom I was like to give offense.
Something there is that’s tearing at that wall,
That wants it down.” I could say “Privilege” to him,
But it’s not privilege solely, and I’d rather
He saw it for himself. I see him there,
Holding his Bible grasped firmly by the spine
In both hands, like an ancient man of God.
He thinks in darkness as it seems to me,
Avoiding things of science and the modern world
He will not go behind his father’s saying,
And he likes having thought of it so well
He says again, “This is a Christian nation.”
(With Apologies To Robert Frost) A bit more, after the jump: [Read more…]
“We are all Americans, we stand together. I think it is absolutely important now for majority of Americans to hang onto that thing that is best in us: a belief in religious tolerance. We have to make sure we don’t start turning on each other. We are one nation under God. We may call that God different names, but we are one nation.”
President Barack Obama, September 10, 2010
I’ve always thought it more than odd
To say “One nation, under God”—
It’s laughable; it’s risible:
One thing it’s not is “indivisible”.
My president just cut me out:
My welcome here is now in doubt.
“Home of the brave”; “Land of the free”
But not the godless, can’t you see?
If common values bind us close—
Ideas, small or grandiose—
Those notions, if we care to look,
Will not be found in Holy Book
But in the Constitution’s lines,
The founders’ words, their grand designs,
Where weak or strong may both speak free,
Including godless folks like me.
Curious thing, after the jump: [Read more…]
…and for those of you named Peter Palumbo, this post is an illustration of why Freedom of Religion must also necessarily be Freedom from Religion.
The cross on the hill was a beautiful sight
On the days when the sky was most bluish;
It stood for the soldiers who gave up their lives
Well, except when the soldiers were Jewish.
The cross on the hill, it looked rugged and old
Though the city maintained it as newish;
The congressman said that it stood for the dead
Well, unless they were atheist, Muslim, or Jewish.
The cross on the hill was a secular thing—
That’s a lie, but it kinda sounds truish—
The judge said it symbolized service and loss
Well, except for the Buddhists, the Hindus, the Pagans, the Jains, the Confucians, the Shinto, the Sikh, the Druids, the Wiccans, Baha’i, Hare Krishna, Zoroastrian, Scientologists, atheists, Muslim or Jewish. Or the religions of the tribal nations who once owned the land the cross is on.
The cross on the hill is religious, of course
Said a Judge who rejected the woo-ish
And it can’t be a symbol for everyone there
If it doesn’t mean Buddhists, the Hindus, the Pagans, the Jains, the Confucians, the Shinto, the Sikh, the Druids, the Wiccans, Baha’i, Hare Krishna, Zoroastrian, Scientologists, atheists, Muslim or Jewish. Or, you know, the indans. Or even Christians who don’t want a symbol, or use a different cross from the Latin Cross, or (fades)
Image by Will Fresch–wikipedia commons
Peter is a congressman; Peter swore an oath.
He loves both God and Country—but he cannot stand for both.
When Christians in his district want to break the nation’s rules,
Giving Christian prayer a special place, inside the public schools—
When Christians in his district want to violate the law,
And wrote those wishes publicly, which Peter clearly saw,
When Christians in his district threatened Jessica with harm
Did Peter see their lunacy as cause to take alarm?
No, Peter had the chance to disagree with what they said
But sided with the Christian mob that’s howling for her head
When Peter had to choose between his country and his king,
Chose Jesus, and called Jessica “an evil little thing.”
Peter…
You love both God and Country, but you’ve clearly made your choice
You could have done the proper thing—you could have raised your voice
You might have stood with Jessica—she’s right, you surely know—
You can’t serve both; you made your choice; it’s time now, sir, to go.
Dedicated to oppressed majorities everywhere.
Come, people of Cranston! Let’s occupy the schools!
Reminding the judge that majority rules!
It says in the bible that atheists are fools—
We can’t let it end in this manner!
We have to defend it, and also our Lord,
From the menacing might of the atheist horde—
The rights of all Christians are being ignored;
We must go to the wall for our banner!
For justice! For freedom! For Cranston! For God!
It’s time for our voice to be heard!
So bring out your pitchforks and torches and ropes
Cos the mob is protecting God’s word!
The bible, of course, is the source of our laws
So banner-removers, I think you should pause;
The way we interpret the establishment clause,
It prohibits the banner’s removal!
The community voted, they want it to stay
And these god-fearing folks wouldn’t lead us astray
The blind scales of justice, they surely must weigh
The majority’s Christian approval
For justice! For freedom! For Cranston! For God!
It’s time for our voice to be heard!
So bring out your pitchforks and torches and ropes
Cos the mob is protecting God’s word!
Come, people of Cranston, we can’t acquiesce!
We’ve got to assemble and take on this mess
So I’ve helpfully posted young Jessica’s address
We can meet there to find a solution
It shouldn’t be hard; hell, she’s only a kid
Which is why, when the atheist did what she did
She showed her true colors, and cowardly hid
In the words of our own Constitution!
For justice! For freedom! For Cranston! For God!
It’s time for our voice to be heard!
So bring out your pitchforks and torches and ropes
Cos the mob is protecting God’s word!
Come, people of Cranston! Let’s occupy the schools!
Reminding the judge that majority rules!
It says in the bible that atheists are fools—
We can’t let it end in this manner!
We have to defend it, and also our Lord,
From the menacing might of the atheist horde—
The rights of all Christians are being ignored;
We must go to the wall for our banner!
Related posts: As Predicted (The Cranston Ruling)
A win for the bravest girl in Rhode Island
Fox News commenters hate America
Atheists! Look in your purse or your pocket;
There’s God on the money you carry around!
The motto is yours, though you atheists mock it,
And God’s how we know that our money is sound!
Your using this money is clearly hypocrisy
Atheists ought to refuse it—the fools!
Sucks to be you, though; our Christian democracy
Trusts in our God—and majority rules!
The courts say it’s legal, so quit your complaining—
No reason to get all your bills in a wad!
We Christians find atheists so entertaining—
Each time you use money, you’re praising our God!
Rant, after the jump: [Read more…]
As I wrote at the time of the court case…
This isn’t religious, it’s merely tradition
I’m certain our case will be met with approval
A secular prayer—just a trivial thing—
So we’ll fight tooth and nail to prevent its removal
The prayer was a gift from a class in the sixties
Its place in tradition just can’t be denied
This isn’t religious! It’s all about freedom!
And we’ll fight, with our secular god on our side
For decades, the mural’s been there in the hallway
And no one—not one—had complained it’s religious
The taunting and threats that this Jessica’s getting?
It’s her fault alone, cos she’s so damned litigious
She’s out for attention! That’s all that this is!
The god-hating liberal, atheist slut!
We good Christian people should teach her a lesson
How sometimes it’s safer to keep your mouth shut.
How dare she insult us? How dare she mock God?
How dare she belittle the prayer in the hall?
How dare she believe that the law’s on her side—
Remember… this isn’t religious at all!
All the good stuff after the jump:
[Read more…]
There was never a question
No slightest suggestion
That Jessica would not prevail
The Cranston West banner
In no form or manner
Was legal, or so goes the tale.
The Judge has decided;
The school has been chided—
The ruling: It must be removed!
It’s great! Well, it ain’t if
You’re not with the Plaintiff
But only the wrong disapproved!
As a matter of prudence
It’s worth telling students
That Jessica’s view is the law
And I’m sure that they’ll cope,
But in truth, it’s my hope
That they see what Jessica saw
Via Ophelia and PZ, Jessica Ahlquist has prevailed! No great surprise–we knew she was on the side of right. We knew there were idiots massing against her. But frankly, it’s easy being the people watching from the sidelines. As much as we knew the outcome, it can’t have been easy being Jessica.
I know there have been other contests, but Jessica Ahlquist gets my nod for person of the year. Not just atheist of the year, let alone female atheist of the year. Person of the year. I (vaguely–I’m old) remember being that age. Jessica is braver than I have ever been. My hat is off to her!