Another Wingnut Obsessed with God in Schools
A local TV station has a report on a man in Butte County, California who is positively obsessed with getting his religious beliefs in school in any way possible. And he’s upset that the county is making him move the road signs he put up further from the road to comply with the law.
A Magalia man says governmental red tape is not going to stop his continuing crusade to bring religion and love of country back into public schools.
For Glenn Stankis, it’s a fight that dates back several years.
Stankis has run for school board four times in the past nine years, based on a platform of Christian Beliefs.
He’s also tried and failed to implement an Elective class on the Bible at Paradise high school…
When we spoke to Stankis he told us he goes through all the trouble because he wants the Paradise Unified School District to change their policy on religious teachings.
It’s a controversy over the message on two roadway signs.
One promotes teaching the Ten Commandments in the sixth grade.
The other calls for the reinstatement of the Pledge of Allegiance with the words, one nation (and school district PUSD) under God…
“This is a Christian nation the courts have actually ruled that and the district wants to be secular in their outlook,” said Stankis.
The phrase “get a life” comes to mind. The country is full of people like this, people who become obsessed about a single issue and who badger the hell out of school boards, city councils and other local officials.
dingojack:
April 15th, 2012 at 11:12 am
“This is a Christian nation the courts have actually ruled that… ”
Have they?
Dingo
Michael Heath:
April 15th, 2012 at 11:15 am
DJ,
I think there are one or a handful of SCOTUS rulings from the 19th century that make such an assertion.
jba55:
April 15th, 2012 at 11:25 am
“religion and love of country”
I don’t understand what these two things have in common. I know that the people who tend to lump them together are either like the clown mentioned in the article or lying (or both), but it just consistently makes my head shake.
“based on a platform of Christian Beliefs”
Is this different than christian beliefs? Why for capitalize? And what does he want to teach about the 10Cs? Just that they exist? Poorly written article from KHSL about a guy who thinks poorly.
Modusoperandi:
April 15th, 2012 at 11:36 am
jba55 “Is this different than christian beliefs?”
Small-c “christian beliefs” is not being a pushy asshole. Big-C “Christian beliefs” is the opposite of that.
John Hinkle:
April 15th, 2012 at 11:42 am
Otherwise known as the Constitution.
brianthomas:
April 15th, 2012 at 11:45 am
I’m always fascinated by the fundies’ fetishism for the 10 Commandments, and, like jba55, I wonder just what they want to teach about them?
How ’bout this?
Today’s lesson: the 10th Commandment. For discussion: why is it that women are mentioned in the same breath as slaves and cattle in this commandment? Then link the blatant misogyny in this commandment with the numerous examples of same throughout the shitty book.
Yeah, let’s show the kiddies what their stinkin’ bible holds inside.
Oh I could (and have had) a field day with this lesson….
raven:
April 15th, 2012 at 11:48 am
They should teach the Law in Deuteronomy.
The one where False Prophets are to be stoned to death.
If the fundies ever applied that one, that would end our fundie xian problem. All their leaders would have long ago disappeared under a pile of rocks.
anne mariehovgaard:
April 15th, 2012 at 11:51 am
jba55, in case you are being serious: what religion and love of country have in common is the conviction that We are better than Them. Sure, it is possible to be religious and/or love your country without thinking like that (explicitly or implicitly), but if you are the kind of person who spends a lot of time talking about either of those two, it is rather unusual.
raven:
April 15th, 2012 at 11:53 am
There you all go.
All xians are cafeteria xians. They all ignore Deuteronomy 18.
The last false prophet executed was probably Joseph Smith although he was shot. Or maybe David Koresh qualifies. He was shot too.
helenaconstantine:
April 15th, 2012 at 12:07 pm
To help out number 3:
‘“religion and love of country” I don’t understand what these two things have in common.’
One thing they have in common is their inclusion in the slogan of the Italian Fascist party: “God, Nation, Family.”
Randomfactor:
April 15th, 2012 at 12:18 pm
Have they?
Sure. But Roy Moore isn’t a judge anymore.
slc1:
April 15th, 2012 at 12:49 pm
Re Randomfactor
But nutcase Moore is about to rejoin the Alabama Supreme Court as he won the Rethuglican nomination and is a sure thing in the general (his Democratic opponent is nearly as nutty as he is).
ShowMetheData:
April 15th, 2012 at 1:19 pm
Obey
Doesn’t matter what they actually say
Obey and, more importantly, be seen to obey
If everybody seems to obey, then you can use that as a social control – so that no one questions whatever rules you want everyone to obey
Anneliese:
April 15th, 2012 at 2:05 pm
Perhaps that part of California already has too much religion?
dingojack:
April 15th, 2012 at 2:15 pm
If god is all knowing why does he need to be at school?
Dingo
Crudely Wrott:
April 15th, 2012 at 2:49 pm
That’s spot on, Anne. It is the worse kind of self abuse, the foulest masturbation. Doing this really will make you go blind. The evidence is (cough) at hand.
Rip Steakface:
April 15th, 2012 at 2:57 pm
Well, if we showed a bullet to the Bronze Age goatherders that wrote that rule, they’d probably say it was close enough to a rock that it would count. I mean, lead ism’t too far off from a rock, right?
leonardschneider:
April 15th, 2012 at 4:08 pm
@ Modusoperandi (#4): Thank you for recognizing the distinction.
Imagine what improvements could be made in the world if noisy little assholes like Mr. Stankis would shut the hell up for a while and devote some of their bottomless energy into purely pragmatic activities: feeding the hungry, clothing the poor, comforting the afflicted, shit like that…. Y’know, actually start living like a christian instead of mouthing off about being a Christian.
The Gregarious Misanthrope:
April 15th, 2012 at 6:10 pm
I love my country and I love my kids. I have high expectations for both. I will let them know when they are not doing their best and will help them achieve it. Lack of appropriate criticism and guidance is not love and will lead to your kids becoming underachieving brats, same with your country.
reasonbeing:
April 15th, 2012 at 6:19 pm
I am quite tired of the “We are a Christian Nation” thing. No. We are not. Our Founders were largely, deists, agnostics, or atheists. The only time that religion is even mentioned in our Constitution is to set limits.
Further, if we look at the private letters from our Founders, it is very easy to see that most of them did not trust, believe in, or particularly care for religion.
Akira MacKenzie:
April 15th, 2012 at 6:24 pm
But that’s GODLESS COMMUNISM!!!
vmanis1:
April 15th, 2012 at 9:41 pm
Dear fundie wingnut, here’s your score on the 10 Commandments.
1. Have no gods before God. You get this one, provided you admit that Rush Limbaugh is fallible.
2. No graven images. Yes, that sex doll in the basement counts, as do the garden gnome and pink flamingo in the front yard.
3. Don’t take the name of God in vain. Well, since you say that God told you that everything you do is right and everything liberals do is wrong, and since you said God made sure you didn’t die in the tornado, I’d say you flunk this one.
4. Remember the sabbath and keep it holy. Unless you’re an orthodox Jew or 7th-day Adventist, I doubt you ever think of this one.
5. Honor your father and mother. Yeah, right, you don’t even talk to them since they voted for that Democrat in ’92.
6. You shall not kill. You support the death penalty, and explain that the commandment prohibits murder, not killing. Reminds me of the scholar who labored for 40 years to prove that the Odyssey was not written by Homer, but by another Greek with the same name.
7. You shall not commit adultery. You get this one, because I can’t prove otherwise.
8. No stealing. Again, I’ll give you this one, though that strange real estate deal you were involved in that ended up with the widow Mrs McGillicuddy being slung out of her house and living on cat food in a nursing home makes me wonder.
9. No false witness. You’re a NOM member. ‘Nuff said.
10. No coveting. You have $10,000 in credit card debt. This might be a good commandment to start following.
Your score: 3 out of 10. Sowwy, better luck next time.
Being a bit more serious: shorn of the religious component, the commandments are actually a pretty good ethical guide. Non-believers would skip the first one; the second says not to attribute divine power to things (specifically idols or the free market system or even the Constitution); the third says not to go claiming you have a pipeline to God (hear that, Pastor Billy-Joe Bob?); fourth says to keep a decent work/life balance; fifth asks us to treat older people with respect; sixth is universal; seventh isn’t about sexual behavior so much as about cheating and respecting one’s spouse; eighth is obvious; ninth requires honesty, especially about other people; and the tenth is about greed. Yes, I have stripped out the misogynistic language and the casual treatment of slavery; having said that the result, when read by modern people, isn’t a bad fit to our modern ethics. I’d add a few more, about being a prudent steward of the planet and the life thereon, treating others with respect, and striving for justice. But it’s a pretty good start.
That said, the wingnut obsession with the Commandments doesn’t relate to people actually following them, but rather as purely a fetish object. As such, it’s a Golden Calf, and they violate the second commandment.
Crudely Wrott:
April 15th, 2012 at 11:05 pm
Vmanis1, such clarity as you have shown is welcomed as well as noted and logged. I will quote you. Thanks.
Tyrant of Skepsis:
April 16th, 2012 at 3:37 am
@vmanis1
Are they? The become just barely acceptable if one, like you, reads them through the 21st century post post post enlightenment lens, while remaining entirely insufficient (also, they attempt to establish thought crime and argue for a dangerously authoritarian values). In other words, we can and have done so much better.
AJS:
April 16th, 2012 at 6:34 am
@vmanis1: I would say the Eight Words are a better ethical guide than the ten commandments, even in modern times.
Modusoperandi:
April 16th, 2012 at 9:01 am
AJS,
Shit, piss, fuck, cunt, cocksucker, mothermucker, and tits?
That’s only seven!
d cwilson:
April 16th, 2012 at 9:58 am
From the article:
If by always, you mean, “after (socialist) Francis Bellamy wrote it in 1892 and after Congress formally adopted it in 1942 and then added ‘under God’ to it in 1954″.
You what though? I think this wingnut’s idea of having kids study the bible is actually a great one. We should encourage kids to read that book in depth. Nothing helped influence me into becoming an atheist more than when I read the book and saw how fucked up its morality actually is.
fastlane:
April 16th, 2012 at 10:50 am
vmanis1, I wouldn’t be so quick to give them credit on the adultery point. Divorce, STDs, out of wedlock pregnancy are all higher in the more religious states, and they are usually correlated with sexual infidelity.
eric:
April 16th, 2012 at 11:41 am
The other calls for the reinstatement of the Pledge of Allegiance with the words, one nation (and school district PUSD) under God…
Did I read that correctly – is he seriously proposing that the kids add “and school district PUSD” to their spoken pledge?
That makes even the regular demands to recite the pledge look sane by comparison.
jnorris:
April 16th, 2012 at 11:52 am
I reckon that Mr Stankis’ actions stem from a complete lack of churches and Sunday School in the whole of Butte County. Now if Mr Stankis was really smart he would stat his own True Christian ™ church and offer after school Bible classes.
tommykey:
April 16th, 2012 at 12:10 pm
I don’t understand what these two things have in common.
It’s part of what I call ‘the bullshit stories we tell ourselves.’ It’s not enough to be the land of freedom and opportunity, we also have to be a nation ‘under God’ to make ourselves feel really special, with the implicit message being that to be against America is to be against God, and therefore for an American to reject God is to be anti-American.
vmanis1:
April 16th, 2012 at 8:40 pm
fastlane @ 28: I was being nice on the adultery point. To be truthful, as I was typing it, `Harper Valley PTA’ was playing in my mind :)