Recently, bigots at the Itawamba County Agricultural High School in Mississippi were faced with a big problem: a gay was planning to show up to prom and convert all the poor innocent hetero kids to gayism with their gay germs!
The school board canceled the prom due to “distractions” after Constance McMillen requested permission to wear a tux and bring her girlfriend as her date. The horror! First the board tried banning her from the event, and when the ACLU stood up for her and demanded she be allowed to attend, the board took their ball and ran home.
According to CBS News, “District officials say they hope private citizens will host a prom.”
Well, private citizens have stepped up. In particular, godless heathen citizens! Well done to Todd and Diana Stiefel for donating $20,000 through the American Humanist Association to host a secular, inclusive event.
You can’t pretend homosexuality is the normal function of the human reproduction system.Homosexuality like dylexsia is a burden people just have to learn to live with.Why should this school bendover backwards for one student.
Gay Super Uncles
http://www.vancouversun.com/technology/have+super+uncle+evolutionary+advantage+Researchers/2523112/story.html
I don’t know if this was intentional humour or a Freudian slip but the allusion to buggery caused a chuckle, í.e bend over backwards’
I am not sure that homosexuality can be called a burden unless one wishes to argue that the attitude towards gays by society is burdensome which no doubt it is. But in the same way one could consider the attitude to atheists in America as burdensome.
But it should be remembered that homosexuality is an attraction between members of the same sex and that attraction is not a burden between them! In the same way that for me to talk with other atheists is usually a pleasure and not a burden. I live in Finland and one can be openly atheist so I don’t suffer the burden of my American brothers and sisters.
As to homosexuality not being a normal function of the human reproduction system , one can only ask what you mean by normal? Homosexuality exists in nature, so it is normal in a naturalistic sense. If you mean that homosexuality won’t produce babies, that is of course true but one can also say that about the use of contraception and non penetrative sex between heterosexual couples.
If , however, you mean that a god did not design us to be homosexuals – then may I ask why you are on an athiest site?
Hah, nice. Hope those board members get voted out.
The board reflects the will of the community and this isn’t san francisco.The locals will just have private proms from now on.
LOL! Reason…dude? Have you ever had a thought that wasn’t linear? Dear Lord. With that said; I don’t know that this young lady should have been kept from enjoying her prom. Seen a lot worse get-ups than a chic in a tux.
Probably some of my baptist brethren leadin’ the way…freakin’ idiots. When will my people learn that you can be kind without validating behavior you think is wrong. It’s not like you can’t believe what you want to believe what you want because she came to the prom. Ehhh…the biggest problem for me as the one’s who are making the fuss for the sake of pleasing God miss the theological guideline here.
Glad somone stepped up though. Me brethren got scooped on this one. Morons!
conformnolonger
All i’m saying is the board reflects the views of the people who elected them.And that people just don’t change views or behavior because some group like ACLU demands it.
As for theological guidelines your bible is quiet clear no homosexuality.Either you believe your bible are you don’t.
I don’t have a problem with this kid wearing a tux or bringing her girlfriend to a social event but she knew the rules, she made a request and it was turned down. The board didn’t make a fuss she did by bringing in the ACLU,media.
Pastor don’t get the wrong impression from this blog that most atheists favor so called gay rights.The fact is in countries actually run by openly atheist leaders, marriage is 1man1woman and gay sex will get you prison time.
Yes, & an argument from numbers is what…?
That’s right, they need to be brought kicking & screaming into this century.
[sarcasm]Yes, & Rosa Parks shoulda got her black ass to the back of the bus instead of making a fuss.[/sarcasm off]
Excuse me, who the fuck appointed you head spokesman? & what is this ‘so-called’ nonsense?
All that proves is that being an atheist is no guarantee against stupidity. As you have amply demonstrated.
I have to say; I am intrigued by the way your mind works. There is zero wavering in your line of logic. Interesting. Your right; theologically homosexuality is wrong. There is a sound hermenuetic from old to new testament. The NT referring to it as a “depraved” psychological state. However; I would say that scripture says that all sin is a depraved state, and that we (believers) are to engage a sinful world standing firm in our beliefs, but with mercy. Not compromise or tolerance, but mercy. Showing kindness and unending mercy no matter the circumstance. The problem with most of the approach to sin, no matter how it manifests itself, is that believers attempt to address the sin instead of the cause. Sin’s method of manifestation is an “outside of the cup” issue. My thought is that we should engage it with love so that the real issue might come to light.
Funny post KA; although I believe the Rosa Parks paralell is a bit of a stretch. Agree or disagree with “reason” his arrow of logic is true to it’s mark. Very difficult to debate. He is definately sold out to the idea of logic, as it is defined, as his guide.
Civil rights aren’t restricted to skin color.
Wrong.
I can make hamburger of it easily. Anybody w/an actual grounding in logic can do so.
I think you may need to look up the definition of the word, since you don’t seem to have a firm grasp on it yourself.
The whole problem w/this line of ‘reasoning’, is that sin’s a load of bollocks. Sin was what any of the crazy old fucks that were priests @ the time decided what it would be. It’s the excuse for mass genocide; the excuse for mass oppression; the excuse (or should I say rationalization) for anything the hallucinating wackjobs in power wanted to do.
Religion’s an anachronism, & an excuse for people to do right or wrong, not a catalyst, but maybe a catharsis.
Religion gets zero props, zero credit for ANYTHING.
KA
I appointed myself spokesman.That school board in MISS.is probably like most boards worried how are they going to fund next yrs budget and not in the mood for that kid to challenge the rules.Yeah i know you think i’m an asshole but i do take into account that people are under alot of stress.And i do care about things like economic justice.
KA,
Does your button stay stuck on angry? I get that you don’t give scripture any validation, but lets get some things historically correct shall we.
The word “sin” has been used for some of the very things you stated, and although the catholic church uses priests and a hierarchy to decide what sin is; it was established long before priests took center stage. That is unless you speak of a “high priest” from the levitical stand point. Even then; long before mosaic law the idea of sin was prevalent.
Don’t forget…people have used “Ahteism” to do terrible things as well. Religion doesn’t corner the market on ideas being used to spread hate. There have been more people killed in the name of “No God” in the last 100 years between China and Russia than have been killed in the recorded history of man by religion.
I don’t blame atheist’s…I blame power hungry mad men bent on their own idea of greatness. I prefer to target specific people instead of laying blanket blame.
I hope you don’t go around this angry all the time KA. It seems a terrible way to live. Ease up…chill. It’ll all be ok…k?
I find that treating stupid opinions gently gives the holder(s) of said stupid opinions the illusion of legitimacy.
Don’t really require the history lesson.
An argument from tradition is, like the argument from numbers, a logical fallacy.
Can’t be bothered to spell it right? No, nobody’s used ‘ahteism’ (hehehehe) to do terrible things, anymore than they’ve used religion. That’s reification, another fallacy. You obviously missed my prior point: people are people, & they tend to use ideologies as an excuse/rationalization of whatever they see fit to do.
Again, crediting religion w/anything is crap.
Yeah, who needs a history lesson now? Stalin was studying w/the seminary, & he brought the orthodox church back when his ‘crusade’ floundered. & all that shit you mention? That was done in the name of communism, not atheism. Because while most communists are atheist, not all atheists are communists.
You just DID do a blanket blame.
Geez, where do I send the therapy bill? Oh wait…armchair psychologists don’t charge. Whew!
Really, you don’t me @ all, so spare me the psychobabble soothing.
Good thing I don’t live that way.
Oh do sod off, Dr. Phil.
Well, you certainly didn’t get MY vote.
Yeah, but I’ll bet they have no problem letting some fundie fucktard onto their board to try to implement ID.
Stress is no excuse for doing the wrong thing.
‘Economic justice’? Are you joking? I’m sure there was a lotta ‘economic injustice’ when they freed the slaves. Or let women vote.
If ethical justice is expensive, then that is the price we, as rational & empathic individuals, must pay.
My wallet doesn’t have more civil rights than a human being.
Why can’t the jesus freaks leave homosexuals alone and go after the real trouble makers – the people who wear clothes that use different threads. Try having a prom following that crazy bronze age rule.
Todd and Diana aren’t the only ones who have offered to help. Ellen Degeneres offered a big check but Constance turned it down, wanting the school to host the prom as originally planned.
http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20100319/NEWS/100319006/1001/news/Gay-Fulton-teen-given-30-000-scholarship
With all respect to freethinkers, this bitch threw down the gauntlet to the school district. And that’s all cool with me, nothing every changes until someone makes some waves. And that’s what she did.
Mahatmu Ghandi, Martin Luther King, Mendela, and Constance. Okay, if she wants to break the ground that she’s opened, welcome to it, but shit is coming your way.
NeoWolfe
Hey! Don’t blame this girl if yo’momma spanked you too hard!
The whole thing is a big catch 22. I am not necessarily pro-gay and I’m not anti-gay. Don’t make me pick a side. It’s like abortion. Where I side with gay, is freedom. Freedom to do what you want. I like the person that stands up to the masses. Usually the masses are wrong. Because I’m a free-thinker, doesn’t mean my choice is your choice because you are a free thinker. It means my mind isn’t controlled by other people’s minds. I side with the side that didn’t quit. The cry-babies that ran away are what they are… cry-babies and quitters.
Neowolfe, Not sure if you are a freethinker, but if you aren’t that’s some cool freethinking.
Religious people can be freethinkers too. It’s all about not letting other people control your thoughts. That’s all.
We usually end up at least a bit agnostic though. I recently went to a freethinkers meeting, thinking we were mostly at least agnostic. I started talking about AA and I was hushed. But then, all the atheists started popping up saying no that’s ok. we’re atheists right around the table. I think they didn’t realize how many free thinkers were atheist and agnostic. At the same time, I thought I might have offended people, but noone cared. Not even the religious, because they were free thinkers. How cools was that!
I’d hardly call this a victory.
In the days of segregation, it was mentioned that people still had the freedom to buy their own bus so that black people could ride in the front. It’s just that the government would still force black people to ride in the back on public buses and attend separate schools. Get your own prom sounds just like the get your own bus / water fountain / restroom / restaurant / court room / school reasoning that was prevalent a half-century ago.
Equal rights for some is equal rights for none.
Victory would be having the political clout, social acceptance, and membership growth to have atheists on the school boards even in rural Mississippi. If we’re not working towards those kind of goals, we can buy proms or buses until we go broke and not change a thing.
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“The only way to cure the cancer of Catholicism, and stop the pedophilia, is to begin each ceremony of ordination to the deaconate with castration.”