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Taxpayer money can be funnelled into non-Christian schools too?!? Deal's off!

Started by Ali, July 07, 2012, 04:33:45 PM

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Ali

July 07, 2012, 04:33:45 PM Last Edit: July 07, 2012, 04:35:18 PM by Ali
(Note, I know that Jezebel is not an unbiased or scholarly source.  But I love Jezebel, so deal with it.)

http://jezebel.com/5923898/republican-horrified-to-discover-that-christianity-is-not-the-only-religion

QuoteIt's an honest mistake, assuming that the Constitution only protects your own personal megachurch faith. But one Louisiana Republican is learning the hard way that religious school vouchers can be used to fund education at all sorts of religious schools, even Muslim ones. And while she's totally in favor of taxpayer money being used to pay for kids to go to Christian schools, she's willing to put a stop to the entire program if Muslim schools are going to be involved.

Valarie Hodges admitted that when she supported Governor Bobby Jindal's school voucher program, she only did so because she assumed the religious school vouchers could only be used for Christian schools. Religious freedom means that everyone's free to follow Valarie Hodges' religion! She explains,

QuoteI actually support funding for teaching the fundamentals of America's Founding Fathers' religion, which is Christianity, in public schools or private schools. I liked the idea of giving parents the option of sending their children to a public school or a Christian school.

As The Friendly Atheist points out, the brand of Christianity currently espoused by many in the religious right wing would be pretty unrecognizable to the Founding Fathers, who were pretty high on Deism and pretty low on Christian rock concerts/ talking about The Children's collective virginity/ having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. But whatever. Facts are immaterial at this point.

Louisiana's Kenneth the Page governor had pushed pretty hard for the vouchers program, fast tracking it through the legislature early in the state's legislative session. But, according to the Livingston Parish News, as the measure was brought up for a vote before the full house, a Muslim school applied for the voucher program.

Whoa! Record scratch sound! Dishes breaking! Islam is a religion protected by the constitution, too? No one told Valarie Hodges anything about religions being equal under the law! She can't support any sort of anything that could learn to families using taxpayer money to educate their kids in Islamic schools. She added Bachmannesquely,

QuoteWe need to insure that it does not open the door to fund radical Islam schools. There are a thousand Muslim schools that have sprung up recently. I do not support using public funds for teaching Islam anywhere here in Louisiana.

A thousand. A thousand Muslim schools in Louisiana. Maybe that's why first-time jobless claims are decreasing there; all those Muslim school jobs at the thousand new Muslim schools that Valarie Hodges knows are out there just waiting to suck off the tax teat.

The voucher program, called Act 2, passed, opening the door for god knows how many non-Valarie Hodge's-religion schools that might interfere with her vision of America as a sort of Christian Saudi Arabia. At least one public school district has already filed suit in an attempt to keep the voucher program from being enacted.

This is a brilliant way to get Repubs to drop the whole "school voucher" nonsense.  Just have a bunch of non-Christian schools apply for the program and watch the Conservative Christians freak the fuck out that a (non-Christian) religious school would dare ask for tax payer money....

Asmodean

#1
July 07, 2012, 04:38:38 PM
Someone should open The Gray University with tax payer money over there.  :D
Quote from: Ecurb Noselrub on July 25, 2013, 08:18:52 PM
In Asmo's grey lump,
wrath and dark clouds gather force.
Luxembourg trembles.

Tank

#2
July 07, 2012, 04:39:23 PM
If religions were TV channels atheism is turning the TV off.
"Religion is a culture of faith; science is a culture of doubt." ― Richard P. Feynman
'It is said that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die. That is true, it's called Life.' - Terry Pratchett
Remember, your inability to grasp science is not a valid argument against it.

xSilverPhinx

#3
July 07, 2012, 05:13:34 PM
Wow, I would be profoundly embarrassed if I were in any way associated with her.
I am what survives if it's slain - Zack Hemsey

OldGit

#4
July 07, 2012, 07:33:40 PM
Quote from: AliThis is a brilliant way to get Repubs to drop the whole "school voucher" nonsense.  Just have a bunch of non-Christian schools apply for the program and watch the Conservative Christians freak the fuck out that a (non-Christian) religious school would dare ask for tax payer money....

We should email Bobby Henderson and ask him to go for a Pastafarian school.  After all, mocking creationist education was how the whole FSM thing started.

Ali

#5
July 07, 2012, 07:40:46 PM
Quote from: OldGit on July 07, 2012, 07:33:40 PM
Quote from: AliThis is a brilliant way to get Repubs to drop the whole "school voucher" nonsense.  Just have a bunch of non-Christian schools apply for the program and watch the Conservative Christians freak the fuck out that a (non-Christian) religious school would dare ask for tax payer money....

We should email Bobby Henderson and ask him to go for a Pastafarian school.  After all, mocking creationist education was how the whole FSM thing started.

Haha, that would be awesome.  I can just see all of us standing and saying with a proud dignity "I believe that global warming has to do with pirates.  Prove that I don't."

Sweetdeath

#6
July 07, 2012, 08:40:30 PM
My thoughts exactly, Tank.  :-\
Law 35- "You got to go with what works." - Robin Lefler

Wiggum:"You have that much faith in me, Homer?"
Homer:"No! Faith is what you have in things that don't exist. Your awesomeness is real."

"I was thinking that perhaps this thing called God does not exist. Because He cannot save any one of us. No matter how we pray, He doesn't mend our wounds.

markmcdaniel

#7
July 07, 2012, 11:37:13 PM
Quote from: OldGit on July 07, 2012, 07:33:40 PM
Quote from: AliThis is a brilliant way to get Repubs to drop the whole "school voucher" nonsense.  Just have a bunch of non-Christian schools apply for the program and watch the Conservative Christians freak the fuck out that a (non-Christian) religious school would dare ask for tax payer money....

We should email Bobby Henderson and ask him to go for a Pastafarian school.  After all, mocking creationist education was how the whole FSM thing started.
This is a wonderful idea. However, I propose that we take this one step further. The Theists have already declared that Atheists are a religion, therefor let us set a chain of schools and apply for these vouchers. If this doesn't kill the whole voucher idea then we might make ourselves a lot of money not teaching religion.
It appears to me (whether rightly or wrongly) that direct arguments against Christianity and theism produce hardly any effect on the public; and freedom of thought is best promoted by the gradual illumination of men's minds which follows from the advance of science - Charles Darwin

I cannot imagine a God who rewards and punishes the object of his creation, whose purposes are modeled after our own -- a god, in short, who is but a reflection of human frailty. Neither can I believe that the individual survives the death of his body, although feeble souls harbor such thoughts through fear or ridiculous egotism. - Albert Einstein

Religion is a by product of fear. For much of human history, it may have been a necessary evil, but why was it more evil than necessary? Isn't killing people in the name of God a pretty good definition of insanity. - Arther C. Clarke

Faith means not wanting to know what is true. - Friedrich Nietzsche

Sweetdeath

#8
July 08, 2012, 06:02:34 AM
How the fuzz is being an Atheist a religion? Oh, silly, silly theists...
Law 35- "You got to go with what works." - Robin Lefler

Wiggum:"You have that much faith in me, Homer?"
Homer:"No! Faith is what you have in things that don't exist. Your awesomeness is real."

"I was thinking that perhaps this thing called God does not exist. Because He cannot save any one of us. No matter how we pray, He doesn't mend our wounds.

markmcdaniel

#9
July 08, 2012, 08:40:45 AM
Quote from: Sweetdeath on July 08, 2012, 06:02:34 AM
How the fuzz is being an Atheist a religion? Oh, silly, silly theists...
Of course the theists are silly, but we know that all ready. I don't see any reason to let this stop us from making lots of money.
It appears to me (whether rightly or wrongly) that direct arguments against Christianity and theism produce hardly any effect on the public; and freedom of thought is best promoted by the gradual illumination of men's minds which follows from the advance of science - Charles Darwin

I cannot imagine a God who rewards and punishes the object of his creation, whose purposes are modeled after our own -- a god, in short, who is but a reflection of human frailty. Neither can I believe that the individual survives the death of his body, although feeble souls harbor such thoughts through fear or ridiculous egotism. - Albert Einstein

Religion is a by product of fear. For much of human history, it may have been a necessary evil, but why was it more evil than necessary? Isn't killing people in the name of God a pretty good definition of insanity. - Arther C. Clarke

Faith means not wanting to know what is true. - Friedrich Nietzsche

OldGit

#10
July 08, 2012, 09:10:09 AM
Quotewe might make ourselves a lot of money not teaching religion.

Why not?  After all, Major Major Major Major's father made a fortune by not growing Alfalfa.  ;D

Sweetdeath

#11
July 08, 2012, 09:22:23 AM
Quote from: OldGit on July 08, 2012, 09:10:09 AM
Quotewe might make ourselves a lot of money not teaching religion.

Why not?  After all, Major Major Major Major's father made a fortune by not growing Alfalfa.  ;D

:D
Law 35- "You got to go with what works." - Robin Lefler

Wiggum:"You have that much faith in me, Homer?"
Homer:"No! Faith is what you have in things that don't exist. Your awesomeness is real."

"I was thinking that perhaps this thing called God does not exist. Because He cannot save any one of us. No matter how we pray, He doesn't mend our wounds.

Harmonie

#12
July 08, 2012, 04:07:15 PM
Well, hey, if they stop supporting vouchers altogether for this reason, it only hurts them.  ;D

Icon Image by Cherubunny on Tumblr
"I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do because I notice it always coincides with their own desires." - Susan B. Anthony

Hector Valdez

#13
July 20, 2012, 02:48:05 AM
Ah, but herding cat syndrome strikes again. Why should I pay extra money to go to an atheist school, when I can just go to a public university or community college for cheap? If atheist is a religion, they'd have to shut down public schools. GASP! That's the republican's plan! They want to privatize education!
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