Double meanings and covering all the bases.

And the constitution specifically says no government sanction of religion.

 I wrote that on some message somewhere, but found it very entertaining for the reason that sanction is a contranym, and has two different and opposite meanings to both allow and prevent. In this particular case, both meanings apply. That's just cool.

Zoë: You sanguine about the kinda reception we're apt to receive on an Alliance ship, Captain?
Mal: Absolutely. What's "sanguine" mean?
Zoë: Sanguine. Hopeful. Plus, point of interest, it also means "bloody".
Mal: Well, that pretty much covers all the options, don't it?

-Firefly, "Safe"

I'm in favor of mandatory religious education.

I'm in favor of mandatory religious education, Bible reading, theology discussion, interfaith religious discussions, comparisons and everything. Dan Dennett suggested this on the grounds that if you just taught a kid a bunch of facts about all religions then any really militant and fundamentalist faith would be purged simply by being exposed to standard factual information. However, I feel that goes too far. I think we need to go ahead and bring it in with the whole Christian really just trying to convert folks baggage. The first amendment of the constitution is pretty clear that such activities that the religious support and want and would approve this plan just to inject are unconstitutional. So an undefined sort of vague trojan horse of sorts. Basically they get it in to convert folks, a few court cases later and they need to tone it down a little and then a little more. After a while it will end up exactly as Dan Dennett wants, just a secular class concerning facts about religion.

Christmas was brought into the public sphere because folks wanted people to celebrate the religious holiday. It was quickly nipped, picked, and clipped down to the secular bit it is today a winter holiday with songs about snow. What would a whitewashed religion class look like? Exactly what Dan Dennett wants, but this way it would be the Christians who really push for it. Rather than start it out in a clear box... it starts out like an amazing program to bring school children to Christ and quickly gets thrown into a box to save it from the first amendment.

God Hates Lee Polikov!

Lee Polikov the County Attorney for Sarpy County filed several charges against Shirley Phelps-Roper, daughter of Fred Phelps. While protesting the funeral of Nebraska Army National Guard Spc. William "Bill" Bailey she allowed (probably told him to) her son Jonah to stand on a US flag. She was charged with negligent child abuse, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, flag mutilation and disturbing the peace.

She is innocent of those charges. The government is completely out of line here. The Phelps aren't a hate group, they always pitch their message as God's message rather than their own, it is always "God Hates X" and never "I Hate X" (this is actually a pretty important line, as is the fact that they are non-violent). The law passed a year or so back banning protesting at a funeral is extremely unconstitutional (it bars one type of activity whereas other activities are fine). I don't think that the theological arguments they make are that flawed. One can, and they do, make a pretty good case Biblically speaking. If the Bible wasn't completely stupid and idiotic, unsubstantiated, and morally bankrupt... they might actually have a point.

If you really think that the Phelps children should be taken away, you must also conclude that we should steal Amish children as well. While we're at it, why don't we take away those poor home-schooled kids? We might also want to get our paws on Suri Cruise (although unlike the other two this might rally some support).

Really, they only thing I think they are doing wrong is believing the Bible is the word of God. They could be far more moral if they, rather than believing the entire book, would just cherry-pick the sane parts. One can, with a bit of work, make a religion out of parts of the Bible that one could show to their neighbors without too much embarrassment. Though, that does require a substantial amount of gutting. And personally, I don't think that there is much reason to keep the bathwater, if you already threw out the baby.

I tend to have more respect for the Phelps than I have for your average religious person.