What Is So Hard To Understand???
What is it about this phrase that is so difficult to grasp?
" Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. "
Congress shall not PROHIBIT the free exercise thereof ("thereof" meaning religion, of course). And, oh by the way, Congress shall not abridge the freedom of speech. So if that speech has to do with one's religion, then no law is supposed to limit the free exercise of said religion, or to abridge the freedom of speech ABOUT that religion.
This man is taking a lot of chances. He is exercising his right of free speech, and he is NOT violating the rights of others in the process. He has the right to make people uncomfortable. Those people do NOT have the right to use their discomfort to stop his freedom of speech.
Principal McKee is not specifying his God, or prosyletising his students and/or staff. He is merely not editing God out of his speech about his daily experiences. Even if Mr. McKee were Islaamic (and I am NOT pro-Islaam), he would be within the bounds of the first Amendment AND the bounds of good taste. As long as he doesn't try to force his beliefs on someone else, he should be free to speak as he does.
" Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. "
Congress shall not PROHIBIT the free exercise thereof ("thereof" meaning religion, of course). And, oh by the way, Congress shall not abridge the freedom of speech. So if that speech has to do with one's religion, then no law is supposed to limit the free exercise of said religion, or to abridge the freedom of speech ABOUT that religion.
This man is taking a lot of chances. He is exercising his right of free speech, and he is NOT violating the rights of others in the process. He has the right to make people uncomfortable. Those people do NOT have the right to use their discomfort to stop his freedom of speech.
Principal McKee is not specifying his God, or prosyletising his students and/or staff. He is merely not editing God out of his speech about his daily experiences. Even if Mr. McKee were Islaamic (and I am NOT pro-Islaam), he would be within the bounds of the first Amendment AND the bounds of good taste. As long as he doesn't try to force his beliefs on someone else, he should be free to speak as he does.
posted by Susan Humeston at 7:48 AM
4 Comments:
The name of your blog made me really laugh!
About your post...the far left will not rest until we are a completely secular society...sigh****
I enjoyed reading through your site!
okay. i gotta take a deep breath because i want to articulate myself clearly...
yes, the man has every right as a free American to practice his form of religion as he deems fit for himself.
i take issue with a few ideas/facts that are brought forth in the article:
1) "He also tried to start a class this year called Introduction to the Bible. The class is approved by the state, but he canceled it because of a lack of student interest. He said he might try again next year."
assuming the class would have been funded by tax monies, i do NOT approve of MY tax money being spent to further a religion i may or may not embrace. as i recall, our country is comprised of many, many spiritual practices. would classes on texts from the Islamic, Jewish, Taoist, etc. faiths be similarly approved? i wonder...
there's a place for this type of education to take place: church, mosque, synagogue, etc.
and that's where i and my family get it.
2) on a personal level, the bit about "McKee called public education "God's work" " bothers me.
it's all well and good if he feels called to educating children, but PUBLIC education is a government-created tool to produce an educated workforce. this is not just my view - at a recent Christian-based homeschool conference i attended a lecture given by a verrrry fundamentalist speaker who didn't mince words on this topic. i recall he termed the students as "institutional drones."
perhaps that was a conclusion incorrectly drawn by the writer?
3) "He rejects evolution because he believes God created the world. But, he says, students must learn about Darwin's theories in order to be well educated."
but his opinions do not color the class curricula in any way, shape, or form, right...? personally, i don't know why evolution and creationism cannot co-exist, but then, my worldview is a tiny bit different than most bible-belters'. (i do sound sarcastic, don't i? sorry.) really, why can't God, in its infinite and unfathomable form, be a player in evolution?
4) "Parent Vickie Capitena complained to McKee about the course and has since been monitoring his performance. She said she asked him why he thought it was important that public-school students learn the Bible.
"He said it was the greatest book ever written and, to me, that shows some prejudice," said Capitena, a Roman Catholic. "
i disagree. the greatest book ever written would either have to be Alice in Wonderland, The Phantom Tollbooth, or ....shoot, there's just too many to list.
tongue planted firmly in cheek. i like to end on a positive and cheery note :o)
Alix - I agree with most of what you said. He did not have to start a class no one is interested in, for starters - and I agree that Christian education does not belong in the public school. In fact, some of the things he said, I disagreed with, but I want to uphold his right to speak. So many today want everyone to be politically correct - and that's not freedom of speech.
On another note - thanks so much for visiting!! My first visitors!! I'm so excited I can't stand it. I have officially entered the World of Blogdom (drum roll...).
aw shucks...there i go preachin' to the choir again LOL
enjoyed reading your blog! the only problem with blogworld is that i get absolutely nothing done and i just want to read read read!
stop by sometime...
alixinwunderland.blogspot.com
btw LUV the title!
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