Who is Alline Kent? A columnist for a newspaper in Georgia who is quite upset about a possible legal challenge to the schools in Houston County. And she seems completely flummoxed at the idea that school officials can’t proselytize kids and tell them to pray:
It seems strange that I, a lowly columnist, have more rights than the superintendent of the Houston County schools system, but it seems that in one area I do.
Our superintendent, Robin Hines, invoked the wrath of an atheist watchdog group when he dared suggest to graduating seniors at one of Houston County’s commencement ceremonies in May that they live a life that includes faith in God.
According to the atheists, the United States Constitution forbids Hines, or for that matter anyone else associated with the school system, to tell our students to seek out God or to pray for God’s guidance. But that same Constitution gives me as a writer with a newspaper the explicit right.
The stupid is strong with this one. She simply doesn’t notice the difference between a school superintendent, a government official, paid with tax dollars, dealing with students who are compelled by law to attend school, and a newspaper writer working for a private company who is only read by those who choose to read what she writes. That doesn’t mean she has “more rights” than the superintendent because the superintendent, when acting in his official capacity, does not have rights — he is, in that capacity, the government, and the government has authorities, not rights. What the government does not have is the authority to tell a captive audience, especially of young people, that they must follow a particular religion. And I have no doubt that Kent would recognize that distinction clearly and immediately the instant that a school superintendent told kids to turn their lives over to Allah or Vishnu.
We have the best schools in Middle Georgia, some of the best schools in the state and country. Do you really think it is coincidence that our schools are so good and that the people that run them seek out God’s guidance?
Why yes, I do. Because guess what? Every single school in America is has teachers and administrators who “seek out God’s guidance.” Some are good schools, some are bad schools — and God doesn’t have a damn thing to do with it. Whatever school you went to, however, should really be ashamed of the utter lack of critical thinking skills you acquired.
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Marcus Ranum
August 6, 2012 at 12:35 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Hey, stupid christian: the rules against proselytizing in school are to keep the MOOSLIMS from teaching your kids about ALLAH. Got it? Unfortunately as a side effect of that, you’re not allowed to teach other kids about GOD. You have the right to do that at home.
Michael Heath
August 6, 2012 at 12:38 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Ed’s blog post title:
Alline Kent may demonstrate a weapons-grade form of moronity here, but her argument is one of the few predominant arguments made by conservative Christians in general when it comes to justifying their promotion of sectarian school-led prayer. With the sect being a generic version of theirs where they’ll work on increasing its purity after getting control back.
d cwilson
August 6, 2012 at 12:49 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Dominionism at its finest. If the government doesn’t explicitly promote my religion, I’m being oppressed.
Of course, they don’t see the First Amendment as preventing Muslim or Hindu government officials from prolestyzing to their kids because those aren’t really religions and the Constitution is just for Christians*.
*Okay, okay, we’ll call it “Judeo-Christians” so that we don’t offend our Jewish friends. At least for now.
eric
August 6, 2012 at 12:55 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
If they believed their own logic, we could just say “Europe” in response and they’d espouse a more secular system. Or maybe say “Japan” and they’d be espousing shintoism. But, they don’t really believe this logic at all. Its just a thin veneer of pretend justification for the end result that they want.
Marcus Ranum
August 6, 2012 at 1:22 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
*Okay, okay, we’ll call it “Judeo-Christians” so that we don’t offend our Jewish friends. At least for now.
Don’t need to worry about offending them; jesus’ll clean those guys up when he comes back, right?
tubi
August 6, 2012 at 1:28 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
This, please, 100 times over. I marvel at how hard it is for people like this to grasp what should be a fairly simple concept. I blame the school systems.
Bronze Dog
August 6, 2012 at 1:32 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
There’s a really disturbing trend I see in the general populace, and nearly universally among wingnuts. They don’t know what a right is. They don’t know what it means to have a freedom. They think criticism is censorship. They don’t know the difference between “neutral” and “enemy.” They don’t know the difference between a constitutional democracy and mob rule anarchy.
I think I might post my own blog entry titled “A Complete Idiot’s Guide to Freedom” or something, since there’s clearly a need for more people to spell these things out.
MikeMa
August 6, 2012 at 3:24 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
@Bronze Dog,
Blog post? Are you insane? You’ll need a Barton sized book just to get their attention.
John Hinkle
August 6, 2012 at 3:32 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
How does God deliver this guidance? I’m guessing it’s the voices inside their heads answering their prayers. And lo and behold! Those voices agree with their existing thoughts! What are the odds of that?
Aliasalpha
August 6, 2012 at 9:35 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
@MikeMa
and even then you’d only get their attention by hitting them over the head with it…
The book would be better, a series of stories each told 3 ways; first showing the christian perspective (so they’re not immediately turned off & can get a nice christ-buzz going in their pants), then the perspective of one of those fake ‘not at all real because it’s not christian’ religions (so they see how hellish it is when theocratic arseholes are in charge and its NOT THEM!!) and finishing with the version where everyone actually obeys that separation of church & state thing & noone is personally oppressed.
Still wouldn’t help because they’d probably just finish the christian part & be so excited they’d have to go & have a wank but at least you’d try
thephilosophicalprimate
August 6, 2012 at 9:44 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Also, having “the best schools in Middle Georgia” is not much of an achievement to attribute to divine guidance. That’s a lot like having the best cricket team in Iowa.
rork
August 7, 2012 at 9:55 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Stupidity?
I think disingenuous is the more common trick, by far.
“I just don’t understand blah, blah..”
kermit.
August 7, 2012 at 10:23 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
rork: Stupidity?I think disingenuous is the more common trick, by far.
“I just don’t understand blah, blah..”
This is less common than you think, and mostly in family members who feel trapped in their tribe and some of the cynical, sociopathic leaders.
From infancy, biblical literalists (and I assume all other fundamentalists) are taught to avoid ‘what if’ scenarios:
If the Flood story is true, what evidence could we expect?
If a proper upbringing is necessary to make a good adult, how does that fit with my belief that society cannot be at fault for people going bad?
If I had been born in Calcutta instead of Birmingham, would I really have decided to be a Southern Baptist?
********
We had a couple of missionaries in training sign up for the comparative religion class in the college I attended. First one covered was the Roman Catholic Church. They protested that the professor was “teaching the bible wrong”. He patiently explained that he was teaching what several hundred million people believed it said and meant. He wasn’t going to ever discuss what he thought it meant, if anything. They could not stand listening to “the heresy”, and walked out during our third class. (Leaving the professor, the atheists, and the remaining Christians dumbfounded.) They simply could not – when confronted with it – handle the concept of another person’s interpretation of the Christian scriptures.
brocasbrian
August 7, 2012 at 12:24 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
It’s especially ironic and egregious that a reporter would so misunderstand the first amendment.