Recent Comments
Re: “Feedback 11/20”
Wow. Seriously? Where to begin? The very fact that writer sneers at people of the opposite view actually underscores the problem. By having *any* public prayers forced upon all attendees at a Town Board meeting every citizen present who is not enslaved by the author's Santa Claus "thinking" is marginalized to a second-class citizen. America actually was established as a "secular" nation in the sense that freedom of religion entails freedom *from* religion. Guess what? You can still have your clearly religious displays on private property, including homes, churches and any land that is not paid for by all taxpayers.
People who are free of dogmatic religion are not joyless "Grinches" just because the writer cannot imagine otherwise. I actually was amused, rather than offended by the classically proud ignorance of the letter. (Thank you!) Speaking of ignorance, I wonder if she has even heard of the pre-Christian origins of every holiday mentioned except Thanksgiving and St. Patrick's Day? I don't expect her to agree with such absurdity, but it would be nice if she were at least exposed to these silly, inconvenient facts.
Have a Happy Winter Solstice!
- Bill Forward
Re: “Feedback 11/20”
Thank you, Dan.
One other thing I found amusing about the missive is the posturing about why things have come to the point they have. Apparently the Christian "good guys" have been turning the other cheek in such situations. As a result the [special] "rights of Christians" (to force their beliefs on others?) has become jeopardized.
I make no claim regarding the writer, whom I have not met. But generally people active in favor of the U.S. Constitution have not experienced gentle treatment from their opponents. I refer to Jessica Ahlquist, a very brave publicly acknowledged atheist.
As soon as she came out of the closet many of her classmates gasped and an equally brave girl called her "a little witch" under her breath.
Then she protested what was clearly a prayer plaque, including an "Amen" in her public high school auditorium. As her lawsuit progressed she received hate mail and was verbally attacked by her peers, media outlets, and online. She received death threats, and required police escorts to and from classes. This was reminiscent of the Deep South over school integration, by the way, and it happened in Rhode Island. On the day after the ruling, Rhode Island State Representative Peter G. Palumbo, one of the nicest and most reasonable people ever, called Ahlquist as "an evil little thing" on the radio.