Freedom OF religion also means freedom FROM religion...unless we're talking about Oklahoma
Smiling jackass says "WUT???"
Whether you move in distinguished circles or you take refuge among the head-hunters of Polynesia, whether you lock yourself into a monastery or decide to spend the rest of your life in the company of beautiful and lascivious women, you always have to face the same percentage of stupid people – which percentage (in accordance with the First Law) will always surpass your expectations.
Carlo M. Cipolla, The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity
The separation of Church and State isn’t just a good idea that’s considered optional or can be transgressed because someone decides it’s a BITCHIN’ idea to force their intolerant, fear-based “faith” on everyone. It’s a tradition embedded in our Constitution and our history.
If you don’t believe me, look at the Treaty of Tripoli (1791) or Jefferson’s letter to the Danbury Baptists (1802). Both feature declarations that make it clear that American governance is not connected with the Christian Church. These are but two of several foundational documents establishing the religious freedom we enjoy today.
Despite this, now and then, along comes a knuckle-dragging member of the American Taliban (usually from a red state) who decides it’s high time to “put God back into our public schools.” Never mind that God has never been IN our public schools; such details are of no concern to Christians who refuse to accept the validity of the separation of Church and State. To these faithful defenders of Christ, theirs is One, True, and ONLY faith…and all of the world’s other faith traditions are just plain heathenistic and of no account.
This week, Oklahoma legislator Rep. Jim Olsen (R-Roland) filed a bill that would require the Ten Commandments to be posted in a conspicuous place in all public school classrooms. Why?
Probably because the United States is becoming increasingly irreligious and less Christian overall and Olsen is afraid that if the children are not indoctrinated to believe at a young age, it will be harder to sell it to them later on in life. He doesn’t want to be lonely!
The bill also requires that the posters be in legible print and at least 16 inches wide and 20 inches tall.
In normal times, we might be able to safely assume that the Supreme Court of the United States would prohibit such a bill from going into effect, given how extremely unconstitutional it is. But these are strange times, with a strange Supreme Court that has previously ruled in favor of a public school football coach who was imposing prayer on his players and seems to believe that the establishment clause is for decorative purposes only. So we really can’t say! The bill is likely meant to see just how far the Supreme Court is willing to go in terms of allowing for state-enforced religion, much like a similar bill that failed in Texas earlier this year.
Activists in the state of Oklahoma are hoping to open public Christian schools as well, not that that’s horrifying or anything.
Why is this a big deal? Because if the Supreme Court allows Christian churches to get their foot in the door (and you know it will be only Christians; none of those “false religions” will be allowed in schools, don’tchaknow?), there will be no going back.
Barn door…meet horse.
The original idea behind the separation of Church and State was the example of the Church of England, which had so thoroughly corrupted English governance that it was beyond salvation. The Church WAS the state and vice versa, which meant that religious practice in England became less about one’s immortal soul and more about lining the pocketbook of church officials.
There’s no reason to believe the conflation of Church and State in this country today wouldn’t yield the same result. Think Gilead from Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale; you probably won’t be far wrong.
Previously, Olsen successfully convinced a majority of legislators to vote against banning corporal punishment for disabled and special needs students in schools, on the ground that it would be going against the Bible. Because the Bible is all “Spare the rod, spoil the child who is already sitting in a wheelchair!” It does seem worth noting, however, that while schools are required to get parental permission to beat special needs children, they are not required to get it to spank other children. Curious how these “parental rights” groups are not upset about that (though in fairness, it’s hardly as though anyone would think spanking or paddling is at all sexual).
And that’s not all!
Rep. Olsen also pushed for open carry at the Oklahoma State Fair days after a shooting critically injured one person in September 2023.
Rep. Olsen also has strong opinions on abortion, comparing the medical procedure to slavery in 2021. He's also voted against bills to loosen abortion restrictions and to protect the right to contraception in Oklahoma.
He also proposed a bill in 2021 to strengthen Oklahoma's so-called Critical Race Theory ban.
Yeah…he seems nice, doesn’t he? I feel sorry for whatever unlucky soul is unfortunate enough to wake up next to him every morning. Surely, she could’ve done better than this reprobate? Or perhaps she’s one of them.
Olsen’s proposed bill was a real winner:
And how bad was that bill, exactly? So bad! It would have barred:
Any teaching that America has more culpability, in general, than other nations for the institution of slavery.
That one race is the unique oppressor in the institution of slavery.
That another race is the unique victim in the institution of slavery.
That America, in general, had slavery more extensively and for a later period of time than other nations.
The primary and overarching purpose for the founding of America was the initiation and perpetuation of slavery.
Yes. He would allow teachers to teach that slavery happened, sure, but not that it was done to Black people by white people, or other things that are objectively true.
Clearly, Jim Olsen is a very delicate flower of a person who needs to live in a world where everyone shares his religion and is willing to warp history in order to make him feel good. So … he’ll probably be running for president in the next few years.
Remember, history is written by the victors…and Rep. Olsen intends to be on the winning side of this cultural war. “Spiritual warfare” is a term with which I suspect he’s not unfamiliar.
If Rep. Olsen has his way, this text (and per his bill, it would have to contain precisely the following wording) would appear in every classroom in Oklahoma:
So, in effect, the children of every Jew, Buddhist, Hindu, atheist, and any other flavor of non-Christian would be forcibly exposed to this every single day. There’s, of course, no provision for any other religion to be allowed to display any of their holy texts on the walls of Oklahoma schools.
Only the Christian Ten Commandments. How arrogant and insensitive is that?
And, no, you don’t get to use the “America is a Christian nation” argument. America is NOT a Christian nation, but rather a country in which one is free to be Christian if one so chooses. That’s the definition of “religious freedom” the Founding Fathers intended…but freedom OF religion should also mean freedom FROM religion if that’s an individual’s choice (like me, f’rinstance).
I have no problem respecting another person’s religious choice; it is and should be a private matter. All I expect is the same in return. Sadly, that seems too much for an American Taliban cretin like Jim Olsen.
I can only hope he has a reserved parking spot waiting for him in the Hell he believes in. He richly deserves nothing less.
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Funny how these grease-stain "Christians" are all up about the Old Testament 10, but think the actual Beatitudes (which their proclaimed lord and savior actually articulated) are so whimpy they don't even consider them genuinely Christian values.