Thursday, December 6, 2012

Atheists Are Blockheads

Atheists are blockheads.  At least, we are according to Liberty Counsel.  Apparently only a blockhead would choose to uphold the Constitution, in their view.
Liberty Counsel has offered pro bono legal counsel and, if needed, legal defense to the Little Rock Superintendent of Schools and Agape Church to defend the right of students to attend the “Merry Christmas Charlie Brown” play at a local church.
Isn't that nice of them.  The organization who's goal is to push their religion wherever they can is being generous enough to defend the people who were pushing their religion.
 “Neither the school nor the church should back down. There is no constitutional violation when the Charlie Brown Christmas play is held off campus with parental consent. ‘Good grief,’ as Lucy would say. These atheists are ‘blockheads,’” said Mat Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel.
Except that it is a Constitutional violation.  It's a public school sending kids to a blatantly Christian event at a Christian church.  The notion that some kids could opt out doesn't make it any less unconstitutional.  It's still the government giving tacit endorsement of a religion.  I think we all know how the defenders of this transgression would react if they had instead gone to a Muslim or atheist event.

All the opt-out does is give them a way to pretend they're not actually in violation, while still being able to push their religion even more effectively as they could if it were mandatory.  With the opt-out, they get the added bonus of peer pressure and shame.  From the article about the incident:
While district officials tell Fox News that they don't see any controversy since trip attendance is voluntary, one displeased mother took the issue to the Arkansas Society of Freethinkers, saying that she is reluctantly allowing her child to attend the performance for fear of being ridiculed or bullied otherwise.
It's not much of a freedom of choice when there's only one choice that won't result in negative consequences.  Although, I think everyone involved already knows that.  It's a pity that they care so little about the Constitution, that gives them the right practice to their religion as they please, that they are unwilling to respect the rights of the rest of us.  Luckily, atheists still give a damn about defending freedom.

Credit:  @americnhumanist

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