Bite Me, Mike

[herlander_refugee]

Ah, Mike Huckabee. Always so homey and warm, eh? Wants to be President, but wants to be all humble and shy about it, does he?

The guy didn't even crack a grin when stating that he thinks Americans should be FORCED to watch a religious speaker he likes at gunpoint if necessary.

Yeah, this is so not an Aprils Fools joke. If anyone wants proof that a Christian Taliban is right here in River City America, just show them that oh-so-freedom-to-MY-religion bit.

He and his exceptionally ball busting Christian thugs can kiss my ass. Even at gunpoint, I'd not agree.

Crucifixes ok in schools because "passive", headscarves not because "powerful"

[sashajwolf]

The European Court of Human Rights has recently ruled that Italian authorities may continue to permit schools to display crucifixes on the walls of public classrooms, apparently in part because they are considered an essentially "passive" symbol and do not constitute proselytisation. In an earlier case, it ruled that Switzerland could continue to ban teachers from wearing Islamic headscarves because those were "a powerful symbol" which could influence children to think that the institution is backing that religion. Here's an interesting blog post on the subject. So the jurisprudence seems to be saying that a school authority choosing to put the official symbol of a religion on the walls of its classrooms is not giving that religion the sort of institutional backing which could influence children towards that religion, but a woman choosing her personal dress in accordance with the requirements of her religion is giving such backing. I think this is only explicable by the fact that the first religion is the majority one and the second is not only a minority, but one that has become politically charged in the mind of the majority. The fish can't see the water (or choose not to.)