Faith in Common Ground

In a recent article, Barack Obama talks about his pro-choice stance and goes on to say:

"I think people are hungry for a different kind of politics – the kind of politics based on the ideals this country was founded upon. The idea that we are all connected as one people. That we all have a stake in one another. That there’s room for pro-lifers and pro-choicers, Evangelicals and atheists, Democrats and Republicans and everyone in between, in this project of American renewal."

http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/guestvoices/2007/06/obama.html


It almost sounds as if Obama understands that a President works for the people!! That is something, I fear, that has absolutely never occurred to our current president.

Religious Right Activists Want Preferential Treatment From Public School Forum They Created

Shocker, I know.

American United for Separation of Church and State's blog discusses a recent backfire in the fundies plan to brainwash children.
http://blog.au.org/2007/05/31/backpack-blowback-religious-right-activists-want-preferential-treatment-from-public-school-forum-they-created/

In Abermarle County, VA, the schools use a "backpack mail" system of sending home advertisements for extra-curricular activities (recreational sports, summer camps, etc.). They once had a reasonable policy that did not allow "distribution of literature that this for partisan, sectarian, religious or political purposes,”.

Jerry Falwell's Liberty Counsel relied on a 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling to include materials that promoted certain Vacation Bible Schools. So now that one religion could advertise, so could all, right??

Apparently not. A pagan group from a local Unitarian Universalist Church sent out backpack mail advertising their Yule celebration and Camp Quest brochures were also added to the pack of advertisements. Well, this has the fundies up in arms and some teachers refused to send the Camp Quest brochures home: http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=55854

So let me get this straight:
It's perfectly fine for Falwell's people to advertise in schools, but NOT acceptable for differing views to use the same means? How can this be right? The fundies opened the door for this. They wanted to be able to advertise to the kids and pressured the school district to change it's policy. But now that the policy also opens the doors for non-fundies to do the same thing, it is all-of-a-sudden a bad idea??

This is ridiculous. You can't have it both ways. Can you imagine the uproar if an atheist teacher had refused to send home the bible school literature based on their personal opinion?? It would have been UGLY. Yet, it is perfectly acceptable for christian teachers to withhold the secular Camp Quest materials. Oh, I forgot. It's the christians that are being "persecuted" in society.

Give me a freaking break.