Tag: first amendment

Listen to yourselves sometimes…

Dear Close-Minded Woman that pissed me off this week,

Perception is reality. 22% of the worlds population believes in Islam. It’s the worship of a single deity, with that deity’s word outlined in the Qur’an, and the teachings of a prophet named Mohammed. I could just as easily compare it to the Bible, God, and Moses just like my buddy did, and be quite satisfied in being correct…at least until we get into a more detailed description of the religion.

SO…maybe…just maybe…the next time someone greets you with a blessing you should be gracious enough not to act like someone just put a hex on you.

There is this knee-jerk reaction people have when engaging religions not their own that is usually uninformed, uneducated, and almost purely instinctual…almost fight or flight. That is explainable. The possibility that one may be right and the other wrong triggers a fight or flight reaction, most of the time verbally where a person spouts off whatever they can come up with in a few seconds and hide behind their faith in the argument…or worse. When in reality (personally I think religion is a horrible burden on spirituality, being now a tool for business and politic), they are both mutually destructive to one another and will continue to teach at least a small portion of their congregation that the other is the evil one.

The only end to this was to remove religious rule, and we did it.

What scares me most is that some people actually think that adapting the US government into any degree of Christian theocracy would actually protect us.

Separation of Church and State protects us. It has allowed our country to flourish where many other nations have fallen or been turned over in civil war nightmares. The First Amendment to the United States Constitution provides that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof ….” and Article VI specifies that “no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.”

I completely understand feeling threatened by belief systems other than your own. I actually understand the feeling more than most. I just don’t understand the need to attack others beliefs to justify your own. Disproving someone else’s religion doesn’t make you right, it makes you a judge where none is necessary.

-Tony

NO…I am NOT a Muslim. I just cant stand religious bullies.




All the best people are broken.

They are.

Let me quote Jenny Lawson (aka The Bloggess) again,

“All the best people are broken.”

Let it sink in.

You see, earlier today. I read an article about how some morally retarded school staff (That would be Trae Wiygul(Principal), Rick Mitchell(Assistant Principal) and a couple other staff members from Itawamba Agricultural High School) first decided that they wouldn’t allow Constance McMillan to attend prom because she was lesbian. After taking the school to court the first time, the school was told to allow Constance to attend the prom. The school district’s response was to cancel prom outright.

It gets even better. These cretins didn’t actually cancel prom. The district elected not to participate in a Prom, but they sure as hell had one. With the assistance of parents the students had their own Prom while Constance and only a few others were directed to a “fake” prom.

This wasn’t a solution Mr. Wiygul…it is called Segregation, and it’s the kind of thing that gets the nation’s attention, and I am not talking about a surprise appearance by the Harlem Globetrotters. You just got outed as a group of spiteful and ruthless bigots that couldn’t even play nice when you got your hand slapped.

Mr. Wiygul. Here. In the USA, we don’t really care for that too much…it’s why we made it illegal. Because it is hateful and violates the First Amendment. Of course, you know this already, because that’s what the courts told you…and even after that, you held a fake prom for her. Wow asshole, that was mighty “nice” of you. I don’t think you were big enough assholes when you tried to ban her from prom…let’s rub it in after the courts tell you you’re wrong too!

Now. This venting DID in fact have a purpose. Because, as usual, after events like these..the moral injustice of what happened served only to make stronger those that were wronged. You see…after all that…Constance McMillan was quoted “”That’s the one good thing that come out of this, [these kids] didn’t have to worry about people making fun of them” referencing that the kids at the fake Prom. We all need that.

That is the clear difference in perspective and moral stance to not be insanely angry (like I am right now) when given the justification and opportunity.

My first inclination and action after reading about this was gather more info, find out who pulled this crap, and make all public. If you know me, this isn’t the kind of attention you want from me…but then I remembered reading something:

“All the best people are broken.”

Empathizing with so many people exposed to hate, to what I regard as “the ugly people”, to so many wrongs. I get to catch my breath, and stay my angst. Clarity brings with it the burden of truth..and very luckily, I am reminded of the high road…and change my direction.

Constance has gotten a LOT of attention, and all in a very positive light. She landed a pretty swank scholarship, got to go on a bunch of TV shows and mot importantly…she got to prove to everyone that empathizes with her experience that there is satisfaction in loving and being loved for who you are, and that satisfaction trumps the hell out of the poor decisions of the administration, students and faculty that went along with all these shenanigans when they knew they were wrong.

So cheers to Constance, for fighting for the right thing in a hard evil backwards situation.
…cheers to Jenny for letting me know about this and coming up with UBER powerful mind-splitting quotes.
..and cheers to all the broken people. You all give me clarity.

-T

Linkage:
Jenny Lawson aka The Bloggess
Just Like Jesse James is selling some awesome t-shirts.
The Mecury News – Judge: No school prom but lesbian’s right violated
Huffington Post – Prom Shocker: Constance McMillan Invited to Fake Prom
La Figa – Hateful parents, teens conspire to throw fake prom…
HRC – Prom Shocker: Constance McMillan Invited to Fake Event…
The Advocate -McMillen: I Was Sent to Fake Prom