Thought Police, Report in!

[mattsterbenz]

My little sister is in 8th grade. I just heard that her school announced that NO ONE is allowed to speak of Christmas at school. No one can mention what gifts they asked their parents to get.

And I thought it was bad enough when the public schools here banned Halloween costumes (because of a half dozen student\'s whose religion prohibits them from celebrating holidays).

How much worse can things get? Guess we better start censoring everything Chr*stian.

-Matt

 

[supervike]

These things happen because the squeaky wheel always gets the oil...

Start squeaking.

 

[BarstoolProphet]

I have to wonder what happened to \'freedom of religious expression\'.

I\'m pretty sure it\'s included in free speech.
Or do you not have that?

 

[Dragonsreach]

Originally posted by mattsterbenz
My little sister is in 8th grade. I just heard that her school announced that NO ONE is allowed to speak of Christmas at school. No one can mention what gifts they asked their parents to get.

Since you all know my stand regarding religion let me say that I think this is Bollocks.

Much as I have no time for this time of year, that censorship is sickening, hypocritical and discriminatory in the worst way.
Someones reality cheque got lost in the post.

 

[Avelorn]

Why? Is it because some can\'t afford to give their kids christmas presents and they don\'t want to rub it in?

I mean it\'s not being sensitive to other people\'s religion to not celebrate your own. It\'s the opposite of the idea of multiculturalism.. it\'s monoculturalism or maybe more to the point NO culture at all. What is left then?

The sick part that, at least in Sweden, it is not often driven by religious minorities but rather \"humanists\".

 

[Infidel Castro]

Let\'s never speak of this again...

 

[Infidel Castro]

No, wait! Let\'s speak of it all the time! Christmas, Christmas, Christmas! Oh, sweet Pagan rip-off! Hooray we love it!

 

[cybersquig]

well I\'m a *beep*, I believe that *beep* came to earth as the human embodiment of *beep* and that as the *beep* says, he is the *beep*, the *beep* and the *beep*. Of course if I decided to be a muslim, sikh or worship elvis\' excriment that would be celebrated...

oh dear.

Seriously though, have you ever noticed how it\'s rarely the people who have reason to be offended that make the noise, it\'s those who think others should be offended that kick off.

Richard Dawkins and his followers (author of \'the God Delusion\' and in my humble opinion deluded himself), have recently run a series of adverts on the side of london busses with the slogan \'God may not exist\' on them. Anyone know what good that\'ll do whether or not you believe? anyone?

 

[Infidel Castro]

Not sure about what Dawk\'s followers might achieve, but by Jove it\'s a good campaign!

 

[airhead]

Kids wear uniforms?

George Orwell may have gotten it right, just predicted it a bit too soon.

 

[MPJ]

Well lets start by stating that I\'m not Christian and I hate hearing about Christmas all the time from the Christian people of the world who are in fact only the second largest religious group.

Oh wait.

I\'m not Christian but I love Christmas, I\'m not one of those \'Happy Holidays\' types of people. Weather your muslim, jew, hinduist, etc... Christmas does exist no matter your belief. If someone wishes someone else a \'Rocking Ramadan\' or a \'Happy Hanukkah\' they don\'t really have the right to be offended even if that holiday isn\'t part of their belief system. The holiday is the holiday no matter your belief.

Last year at work we had a fellow complain about the \'Christmas Party\' and insisted it be renamed a \'Year End Party\' because his beliefs (Jehovah\'s Witness) prevented him from celebrating Christmas. I took the opportunity to point out that December 31st being the end of the year was also a Christian phenomenon but that seemed to fall on deaf ears.

As for the other argument mentioned about how some children don\'t get nice gifts and such due to their families poverty... Well it\'s not my fault their families are poor. I do my best to ensure others have a Merry Christmas (I give very generously to \'Christmas Daddies\' which is an excellent organization who... Well it should be relatively obvious what they do), especially children but I sure as heck am not ashamed of the fact that I am able to provide my children with a good quality of life.

Anyway, I know it\'s early but Merry Christmas Everyone! :drunk:

If you want to wish me a \'Happy <insert your belief holiday here>\' then I thank you very much in return.

If your atheist then dammit pretend so you can get cool stuff. :drunk:

 

[Undave]

The last person who banned Christmas was exhumed two years after his death, had his body hung in chains at Tyburn before being decapitated and his body thrown into a pit. His head was then displayed on a pike for several years before someone stole it.

Let that be a lesson....



[size=-2]Beheading Charles I probably had something to do with it too but still...[/size]

 

[supervike]

Originally posted by cybersquig
Richard Dawkins and his followers (author of \'the God Delusion\' and in my humble opinion deluded himself), have recently run a series of adverts on the side of london busses with the slogan \'God may not exist\' on them. Anyone know what good that\'ll do whether or not you believe? anyone?

Isn\'t he the same one who wrote A CHRISTMAS CAROL?

Seems pretty hypocritical of him then!





[size=-2]disclaimer, I know it\'s really Charles Dickens, and NOT Richard Dawkins. I actually just read the God Delusion a few months back. I liked the book, the dude is well reasoned, but so very full of himself and his belief, almost to the point of fanatical.[/size]

 

[uberdark]

Originally posted by cybersquig


Seriously though, have you ever noticed how it\'s rarely the people who have reason to be offended that make the noise, it\'s those who think others should be offended that kick off.

hold on there a minute bud. watch how you word things, i believe in separation of church and state, but not to the degree many of these ppl do. as for the fact of the matter, these students or parents come from jehovahs witnesses and they do have a reason to object. just as much as we have a right to object to other things. every religion has been bashed or hurt in some way throughout history. look at muslim girls in school in france who were told not to wear their head wrappings. this is just like the whole christmas thing at this school.

i bypass it all by celebrating everything in my school as an art teacher. we put up things for all religious holidays at this time of year. basic multiculturalism. plain and simple you cannot make everyone happy, but to group all of us who disagree with separation of church and state into one big group is a BROAD generalization. there are always varying degrees. its not equality that we need to achieve in schools, but equity.

 

[airhead]

Originally posted by mattsterbenz
My little sister is in 8th grade. I just heard that her school announced that NO ONE is allowed to speak of Christmas at school. No one can mention what gifts they asked their parents to get.

And I thought it was bad enough when the public schools here banned Halloween costumes (because of a half dozen student\'s whose religion prohibits them from celebrating holidays).

How much worse can things get? Guess we better start censoring everything Chr*stian.

-Matt

Can they say Ramadan, Hanukkah, Solstice or Kwanzaa? If so, then it is discrimination.
Are the JW\'s crying because of those holidays too? I don\'t celibrate any of them but Christmas, but if the rest of the world wants to take of for Kwanzaa, that is ok by me.

 

[Dragon Forge Design]

Bahhhhhhh Were becoming a land of cowardly sheep in the USA .. ready for the slaughter..

 

[Infidel Castro]

We all worship Mammon anyway, so fear not!

 

[Shawn R. L.]

Originally posted by Dragon Forge Design
Bahhhhhhh Were becoming a land of cowardly sheep in the USA .. ready for the slaughter..

Originally posted by reverend We all worship Mammon anyway, so fear not!

All too true.................

A Politically Correct Christmas Greeting Best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low stress, non-addictive, gender neutral, winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most joyous traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, but with respect for the religious persuasion of others who choose to practice their own religion as well as those who choose not to practice a religion at all; Additionally, a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling, and medically uncomplicated recognition of the generally accepted calendar year 2000, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions have helped make our society great, without regard to the race, creed, color, religious, or sexual preferences of the wishes. (Disclaimer: This greeting is subject to clarification or withdrawal. It implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes for her/himself or others and no responsibility for any unintended emotional stress these greetings may bring to those not caught up in the holiday spirit.)

 

[skeeve]

Originally posted by BarstoolProphet
I have to wonder what happened to \'freedom of religious expression\'.

I\'m pretty sure it\'s included in free speech.
Or do you not have that?

Actually free speech provision is not applied to prisons and schools, especially middle school. I was rather surprised, but if you read disciplinary code of your school (nobody does this unless he is truly bored) you will find it there plain and simple.

As for the subject... \"idiocy without borders\". Next they will rename Christmas to \"The Grand Fir Tree Celebration\". Wait a second, they did this already... \"Season greetings!\"

I dare them do something like this in my son\'s school - I will really enjoy talking to them. In fact, my limited experience suggest that if you complain loudly and in writing they usually back off. Problem with this is that I still do, perhaps naively, expect people to exercise common sense when they want to be politically correct.

 

[supervike]

Originally posted by skeeve
In fact, my limited experience suggest that if you complain loudly and in writing they usually back off. Problem with this is that I still do, perhaps naively, expect people to exercise common sense when they want to be politically correct.

That was my point back in my first post, about the squeaky wheel.

If folks want something done about it, then stand up and talk about it. The political correctness crowd has already learned that lesson.

If you believe in it, tell the people that can make the change.