How far has America come?

by Mulan 22 Replies latest jw friends

  • Mulan
    Mulan

    This was sent to me today. I thought it was an interesting statement on how far America has come. (?) Sorry it's kind of jumbled. When I try to fix it, it disappears.

    This is a statement that was read over the PA system at the football
    game at Roane County High School, Kingston, Tennessee by school Principal
    Jody McLoud, on September 1, 2000. I thought it was worth sharing with the
    world. It clearly shows just how far this country has gone in the wrong
    direction.

    "It has always been the custom at Roane County High School football
    games to say a prayer and play the National Anthem to honor God and Country.
    Due to a recent ruling by the Supreme Court, I am told that saying a Prayer
    is a violation of Federal Case Law. As I understand the law at this time, I
    can use this public facility to approve of sexual perversion and call it an
    alternate lifestyle, and if someone is offended, that's OK.
    I can use it to condone sexual promiscuity by dispensing condoms and
    calling it safe sex. If someone is offended, that's OK. I can even use this
    public facility to present the merits of killing an unborn baby as a viable
    means of birth control. If someone is offended, no problem.
    I can designate a school day as earth day and involve students in
    activities to religiously worship and praise the goddess, mother earth, and
    call it ecology. I can use literature, videos and presentations in the
    classroom that depict people with strong, traditional Christian convictions
    as simple minded and ignorant and call it enlightenment.
    However, if anyone uses this facility to honor God and ask Him to bless
    this event with safety and good sportsmanship, Federal Case Law is violated.
    This appears to be inconsistent at best, and at worst, diabolical.
    Apparently, we are to be tolerant of everything and anyone except God
    and His Commandments. Nevertheless, as a school principal, I frequently ask
    staff and students to abide by rules, which they do not necessarily agree.
    For me to do otherwise would be inconsistent at best, and at worst,
    hypocritical. I suffer from that affliction enough unintentionally. I
    certainly do not need to add an intentional transgression. For this reason,
    I shall, "Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's," and refrain from
    praying at this time.
    However, if you feel inspired to honor, praise and thank God, and ask
    Him in the name of Jesus to bless this event, please feel free to do so. As
    far as I know, that's not against the law----yet."
    One by one, the people in the stands bowed their heads, held hands with
    one another, and began to pray. They prayed in the stands. They prayed in
    the team huddles. They prayed at the concession stand. And they prayed in
    the announcer's box.
    The only place they didn't pray was in the Supreme Court of the United
    States of America - the seat of "justice" in the one nation under God.
    Somehow, Kingston, Tennessee remembered what so many have forgotten..we are
    given the Freedom OF Religion, not the Freedom FROM Religion.
    Praise God that His remnant remains! Celebrate Jesus in 2001! Jesus
    said, "If you are ashamed of me, I will be ashamed of you before my Father."

  • Seeker
    Seeker

    First of all, that has got to be an urban legend. No way some principal would say all that in such a setting. It sounds too made up.

    However, if anyone uses this facility to honor God and ask Him to bless
    this event with safety and good sportsmanship, Federal Case Law is violated.

    Thankfully! Imagine how outraged this good Christian would be if there was an offical prayer to Vishnu before the game. Or to Satan. Oh boy, then he would be all hot to put a stop to such blasphemey! So since he would despise using offical school time to encourage the worship of a god he disagrees with, why is he upset that those who disagree with his god cannot use the school as a soapbox to push his religion?

    School is school, church is church, and let's keep 'em that way. Kids have to go to school by law, so don't push somebody elses religion on the kids. Do that at voluntary attendance at church. Or else one day somebody's going to force that principal's kid to pray to Allah, and I don't think he would want that, would he?

  • Mulan
    Mulan

    Okay, I concede that maybe it didn't happen, but think about what is said, not whether the situation actually happened. He makes some really good points on rights and freedoms.

  • JanH
    JanH

    Mulan,

    He makes some really good points on rights and freedoms.


    No, he doesn't. Heck, I know the American constitution and its current application on church/state separation better than this guy, and he is an American concerned with these issues! Really, "how far has americans come."

    Your country was founded on freedom FROM religion, becuase the fathers realized that with differing faiths competing for people, the state should be neutral to religion. That of course means no state sponsored church. Individuals are, and always were, free to make their personal prayers in school or wherever. Why should the state sponsor one particular religion's worship?

    - Jan
    --
    Faith, n. Belief without evidence in what is told by one who speaks without knowledge, of things without parallel. [Ambrose Bierce, The DevilĀ“s Dictionary, 1911]

  • Roamingfeline
    Roamingfeline

    Well said, Jan H and Seeker. I certainly don't want my children forced to endure prayers to anyone else's God, and I don't even want them forced to acknowledge there is a God if they don't see for themselves that there is one. Let freedom ring, and that includes freedom from religion!

    RCat

  • COMF
    COMF
    strong, traditional Christian convictions

    Let's see, that would be... um...

    Anybody who doesn't accept Christianity will burn in hell for ever and ever.
    You are guilty by virtue of the fact that you were born.
    It's my Christian duty to force everybody else to do what I think is right.
    Most of the natural desires I experience were put there by Satan.
    Sex is inherently bad.

    What else?

    COMF

  • Caole
    Caole

    Hi Mulan,

    Here's a site that lists emails of this type, and identifies whether it is a hoax or not:

    http://www.snopes2.com/inboxer/

    This one seems to be true(it's under the moral outrage section).

  • tergiversator
    tergiversator

    Caole,

    Thanks for the site referral; there are some good deconstructions of popular stories floating around through email. And if I hadn't read their explanation of the much-maligned bonsai kitten site ( http://www.snopes2.com/inboxer/outrage/bonsai.htm) how would I have ever known about Mike the headless chicken? ( http://www.miketheheadlesschicken.org/)

    As far as my take on the subject at hand, I seem to recall a moment or two of discomfort as a member of a certain nameless minority religion at school over clashes of religious customs... and this is in southern California, where having official prayers at football games seems incredible to comtemplate. Regardless of what I individually think of each of the points the principle brought up about as signs of a moral "double standard", I find his unthinking assumption that everyone else should think the same way (Earth day is "goddess worship"? Oh please...) to reconfirm my belief in the necessity of a legal separation of church and state.

    If I've learned anything from my witness days, it's that freedom of religion does NOT mean freedom for your religion only to do its thing and ignore other religious and internal dissidents.

    -T.

  • Kent
    Kent

    Hi Mulan

    Okay, I concede that maybe it didn't happen, but think about what is said, not whether the situation actually happened. He makes some really good points on rights and freedoms.

    I really don't think there was any valid points at all! Maybe I'm a so called "ignorant", but fact is people promoting these ideas are ridiculing everybode elses.

    AS Seeker said, if someone said prize to Allah or others - all Hell would break loose. And fact is Christianity is a minority religion!

    The real problem is that religious fundamentalists can do what ever they want. Companies like the Watchtower, Moonies, Church of Scientology and others can do exactly as they want - screaming about religious freedom if they can't remove all such from their own members!

    The US of A has on some government pages written that the Jehovah's Witnesses is PERSECUTED in Norway!

    I can understand that a nation stupid enough to vote Bush into the White House can state such a thing - but this is just an example of the Nazi Religion. Christianity and White Power has a lot in common!

    The old Crusades - the "good old times" when christianity REALLY was THE thing - except for the ones that didn't believe in it.....

    In any sivilized country religion should be treated as anything else. Keep to the laws of the country - or answer the consequenses. Instead the religious assholes do all the tricks in the world to keep on being the biggest persecutors, ignorants and nazi-policy-promoters in the world!

    Yakki Da

    Kent

    "The only difference between God and Adolf Hitler is that God is more proficient at genocide."

    Daily News On The Watchtower and the Jehovah's Witnesses:
    http://watchtower.observer.org

  • Mulan
    Mulan

    Okay, okay. Let me try to explain. My buddy, Venice, emailed that she was surprised to see a post on prayer, submitted by me. Reason: I seldom pray, and my friends know I have had a struggle with my spiritual side since leaving the Borg. I think I believe in God now, and I think the Bible has really good principles for us to live by, and that is about as far as I have come. I would love to have the faith that others have, but I haven't gotten it back........YET!!

    Anyway, when I got the information emailed to me, that I posted here to begin this thread, I thought right away, that it was a good topic to post here. I didn't write it. I just thought it was neat, and showed the 'priorities' of Americans, and how scewed they are. (I didn't misspell screwed........it's 'scewed' that I may have misspelled )

    Thanks, Kent for your comments. Thank you Caole for the website to reference, and I already have that one bookmarked. Thanks anyway. I usually go to sites like that one, to look at virus hoaxes, that come to me almost everyday. And JanH, your point is interesting about this country being founded on freedom FROM religion, but that isn't quite correct, although I do know what you mean. The founders wanted people to be able to worship as they pleased, since they were NOT allowed that freedom in England, from where they had come, and there were some religious groups here, like the Puritans, and Congregationalists, who were trying to restrict people's actions again, in this new country.

    I still think the writer made some good points about the things the Supreme Court allows, and the things they don't allow.

    P.S. I didn't vote for Bush either. I still can't believe he is the President. I get embarrassed for him everytime he opens his mouth. So glad I don't have to be neutral anymore.

Share this

Google+
Pinterest
Reddit