This really shows the victim complex of the modern right; it’s a living breathing example of victimhood and paranoia.

re: #80 lostlakehiker

They, but not the public schools, are free to make their own rules as they best see fit.

Right, because public school rules don’t come from humans; they come from the federal gub’mint. Sigh. This would be quite a shock to the pro-science parents and families who have seen their school’s curricula go full fundamentalist due to local school boards. Who do you think is setting the rules in public schools, our German overlords?

They, but not the public schools, can fire bad teachers. And they, but not the public schools, can require that the parents not be living their own lives as living, public, high-profile examples of the exact opposite of the school’s story line.

Right, and we all know it’s uncomfortable when religious schools throw out families for divorce, multiple marriages, adultery and statutory rape, but as a society we accept these intrusions into the private, private sphere because we know our religious schools need to be consistent.
Oh wait. That only happens if you’re gay.

The outrage here is misguided. If this outrage prevails, then little by little, in the death of the thousand cuts, these non-public schools will be forced into the failed mold of the public schools.

Right, because the belief that schools shouldn’t treat children based on selectively-enforced religious taboos regarding the sexual activities of the parents is really what brought the public school system down.

There is something ugly about the determination to quash religion that is animates the enlightened. Religion as quaint customs on Sunday may be OK, but those other people who think the awful way they do ought not be allowed to teach children {check}, provide adoption services {check}, provide charity {check} or do anything else by which they may live their faith through their lives and work.

And here it is. The apocalyptic, “our lifestyle is under attack” panic alarm. Grade-A sign of “they’re all out to kill our religion” paranoia. Quashing religion! You hear that, you intolerant liberals? Disagreeing publicly with the actions of a religiously-affiliated institution is like shooting religion in the face! How dare you attack them by disagreeing so— so— openly!

People have rights that go beyond the individual. They have a right of association. They have a right to live by a faith. And the practical consequences for the rest of us, when we respect that right and uphold it, are on the whole salutary.

This is meaningless without context. I do not feel I am similarly benefitted when I respect the right of the KKK to exist as I am when respect the right of Buddhists. One is to be viewed with distaste and a watchful eye and the other as a part of the world I don’t know much about but am interested to learn. Simply repeating over and over again that religious people have the right to be bigoted does nothing to convince me that it’s a moral or ethical viewpoint to have.

Swallow your outrage, step back, take a deep breath, and practice some tolerance…Freedom of religion is on the line, and when we have our thinking caps on straight, we are friends of liberty.

And this liberty is best expressed in keeping silent when an intolerant viewpoint results in removing a child from a superior education environment? No one advocated quashing religion; it’s such a crazy random happenstance than the only one asking for anyone to “swallow” their beliefs - is you.