Okay, did I over-react on this?

[zbdent]

B*sh supporting co-worker (that I actually get along with fairly well) sent me one of those "generic feel-good" e-mails - you know - read and pass along.

Bunch of stuff of "things that make you smile".

Aside from two bits, it was some okay stuff.

One, I didn't bother touching - about swearing on the bible in courthouse but not being able to display the ten commandments outside. My impression, unspoken, was that if a Repuke placed his hand on the bible and swore to tell the truth "So help me God" - he or she had a good chance of being hit by lightning. But that wasn't the one which set me off.

Without getting nasty, I took on this one: "How come our kids aren't allowed to read a Bible in school, but people in prison are?"

I politely asked him (via e-mail) to provide one instance where a child was punished (in a public school) for READING A BIBLE. Not for preaching (which I could see as a disruption - usually, in study hall & the like, you're not supposed to be making a commotion).

I also pointed out to him that there are a lot of people these days who would consider a public school educated kid reading a BOOK as a miracle, with today's anti-public school attitude of people similar to him.

So, did I over-react?

[Misunderestimator]

1. Nope... You reacted very reasonably.

:thumbsup:

I have never heard of a child being punished for quietly reading a bible anywhere.... He'll have to think about that one.

[EST]

2. Nope

Mild and factual

[Fridays Child]

3. No, you properly debunked a nasty little RW canard.

And thank you for doing so.

[ClassWarrior]

4. Not at all.

I think you handled it beautifully. I especially like the line about reading a book. And you used my favorite line for freeps too - "prove it." Nice job.

NGU.

[tanyev]

5. You did not over-react.

I hate all those forwarded emails, no matter how innocuous. I wish people would read them carefully and only forward them on to people they know would really enjoy receiving them. None of this "send to everyone in my address book" BS.

If they contain erroneous information, they need to be called on it every single time. Use "Reply All". There's a lot of disinfo getting spread that way, and we need to counter it wherever we can.

[mcscajun]

6. No way. Your reaction was measured and rational, IMO. n/t

.

[gratuitous]

7. Any reaction other than waving a flag

I suspect your co-worker will regard any reaction other than "Amen, brother!!!" (no fewer than three exclamation points) as a personal attack. But your response seemed reasonable and measured to me. But I'm a hippie traitor who wants the terrorists to win, so what do I know?

[Vickers]

12. "But I'm a hippie traitor who wants the terrorists to win, so what do..."

"... I know?"

:rofl::rofl::rofl:

[rock]

8. They don't ask people like me to swear on a bible

I'm an atheist.

[zbdent]

17. What's the equivalent then?

That thought occurred to me while at lunch . . .

I also tend to think that Republicans swearing on the bible to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, then lying, and not being hit by lightning, is one prime example of the possibility that the atheists are right, and that the Repukes are in on the joke. That, or we didn't choose the correct flavor . . .

[onenote]

9. prisoners can read Playboy too

Should kids be allowed to read Playboy in school just because prisoners are?

onenote

[zbdent]

15. Good point!

I'll have to ask him that one . . . if he decides to press the issue.

[jean]

10. You were perfect. Your emailer is one of those folks who get these

long lists and go "Yeah! That's what I'm trying to say - that's right!.' But they don't do any THINKING - they don't consider what is being said, ever.

Your reply was a nice stimulus - you might just get that person to go "Huh?" and see that what you're saying is down to earth, common sense and along their line of thinking.

On AAR Minnesota this morning there was a guy talking about the flag, flag code and all things about our flag. He said when religious people tie nationalism in with their religious fervor (displaying the ten commandments, forcing school prayer or promoting a Christian National flag) they are practicing IDOLATRY. Interesting to think about...

[CBHagman]

19. I know. It's easier to hit "Send" than read up on things.

Eons ago I got the urban legend e-mail about members of Congress not paying into Social Security. I tend to ignore harmless urban legends and other general forwarded e-mails, but since this would influence how people see policy, I decided to e-mail the friend who had forwarded it, plus the woman who had apparently started the chain. I didn't know the latter and only found her address in the record of forwarding.

Well, my friend did not respond to my "This is a hoax, folks" response, but she and I have remained very friendly.

The woman who started this particular forwarding streak, however, wrote me an angry e-mail back about how she was patriotic and members of Congress still got a really good deal on pensions, etc. I almost wish I'd written back to her the line about the ease of hitting the send button.

By the way, if anyone on this thread doesn't know about the urban legends websites such as www.snopes.com, consider those next time someone goes wild with the forwarding.

[damntexdem]

11. You might have also noted that some people in some prisons ...

are pissed on for reading the Quran.

[Skidmore]

13. Are you still speaking?

[zbdent]

16. I'm not sure he's in today

he was yesterday . . .

[GreenPartyVoter]

14. Works for me

[karynnj]

18. I think your response was perfect

Like you, I suspect that this is an urban legend that has been repeated as part of the RW meme that Christians are being persecuted and it is the fault of the Democrats. Even in the socially liberal majority Republican town I live in, part of the Bible is read (as literature) in high school. The only time I can imagine a child being told here not to read the Bible would be if they were suppose to be doing something else and they would be told the same for any reading material.

Hopefully, the recipient will look to examine the substance of the claim and be one less person passing it on.

[sojourner]

20. No over-reaction detected! Just a good solid response!

[Hidden Stillness]

21. Easy to Fuck Around With Democracy, Hard to Be a Christian

There are different ways to handle this thing, depending on which kind of a point you want to make. First of all, I consider myself deeply religious, I hate conservatives and fundamentalists, and am sick of them positing themselves as "religious people" as opposed to the anti-religious forces. I came from a family of liberal Protestants who always hated Republicans and fake "Christian" "Bible-thumpers," and wanted them to stay the hell out of the government and civic life--so this is my perspective.

One point to make is that it is a fake argument that they "can't" read the Bible, (as if they are being oppressed), but that they, like everybody else, have to read school materials and the lesson in that class. As a matter of fact, they can then read the Bible any time they want. They are not being stopped--it is a school; you can't read comics or menus either.

Second, is the fake comparison with prisoners. If the prisoners were in school, then they too, could not read the Bible for the moment, but have to real the class textbook like everybody else. Being made to put something off until later is not being stopped or censored.

The thing about a kid being "punished" for reading a Bible in school always ends up being either a total Republican lie, or the kid was disrupting the whole class by preaching or something, and they aren't telling you that, which would make them liars.

These fundamentalists are not only threatening civic democracy, but are actually oppressing other Christians, the great liberal/moderate majority that does not want their extremism either. They always think of themselves as fighting against the "atheist demon," but might be surprised, and should be told, that actually most Christians want them stopped, too. You could make the point that if fundamentalism is injected into the school, government, etc., then eventually nothing will have any independant character of its own. It will be destroyed if it is not totally separate. (If they care.) I've sometimes wanted to ask--but didn't want a total explosion--if this kind of secular preoccupation is the extent of their "religion," or if they have ever applied Jesus's teachings to themselves and changed, as they are supposed to. Someday, they will be asked, "But I was hungry, and ye fed me not..." They aren't Christians, (my opinion), if you can't even tell the difference between their behavior and anybody else's.

[TXlib]

22. There ARE instances in which teachers overreact

http://www.ktvu.com/education/4589545/detail.html

At a conservative site i frequent, they post occasional reliable reports of just this sort of thing. They make it out as if it were commonplace, but it is rare, and typically overturned when taken to the next level.

However, it DOES happen.

The problem is, educators and school administrators are often not taught what the boundary is, and sometimes react poorly. I'd wager there are at least as many incidents that go the other way, in which a teacher improperly uses his/her position to advance a religion. But either way, they are not the norm, but rare events.

[woo me with science]

23. nope

I think your response was perfect. You didn't harangue him, you didn't publicly embarrass him, and you didn't interfere with work. Your reasonable tone may even have made him think about what he sent on. Much better than some of the tantrums I have seen described on these boards lately, that make me worry for Dems.

Consider yourself given an A-plus.