Good grief, tpaine, your certainly have a "religion phobia."
Good grief Betty, why would you want to misconstrue my constitutional concerns as a phobia? Tar baby?
Of course I agree with you that the public schools must remain non-sectarian. But do you realize you can actually speak about God without reference to religion, or any religious sect?
I'm glad you now agree that the 1st amendment applies to public schools. --- But you've lost me again with your connection to religious 'speaking or sects'. -- You want some sort of generic respect for your concept of God taught in public schools?
Or is it really God Himself that you are "allergic" to?
I find it passing strange betty, that I respect your right to religious views, & freedom, -- but receive no respect in return for my own views. Can you explain this attitude?
I find it passing strange betty, that I respect your right to religious views, & freedom, -- but receive no respect in return for my own views. Can you explain this attitude?
Atheism is a religious view in the eyes of many (if not most) people. At the minimum, it is ideology. So to exclude all religious sects, atheism must also be excluded or it is given a monopoly in public schools.
Why do you have constitutional concerns, tpaine? The First Amendment protects religion. The religious clause is Number One on the First Amendment list of protected rights, and only then come free speech, free press, peaceable assembly, and petitioning the government for redress of grievances. It seems crystal clear to me that LFF is acting within its constitutional rights.
You seem to suggest that these rights, though freely available to secularists, are expressly denied to religious believers. But what basis do you have to think such a thing?
tpaine, I respect you enormously as a person, and think of you as my long-time "FReeper friend". It's just sometimes I have the most difficult time following your logic. So maybe I just don't understand you (or you me). Which is completely regrettable.