Florida protest, photo found at Quark Soup
We’re in the middle of grading; I confess I do not know what this protest is about (Proposition 2? What is that?).
The line is priceless, regardless.
Who is going to order the bumperstickers?
Separation of church and hate
November 18, 2008
1 Comment | 
Dissent, Free speech, Freedom - Political, Politics, Religion, Religious Freedom, Separation of church and state | Tagged: Bumperstickers, Dissent, Freedom of Religion, Politics, Religion, Separation of church and state | 
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Posted by Ed Darrell
Partisan says get a grip, stop religious violence; Rod Dreher disagrees (?!)
August 3, 2008Context means a lot.
At a religious service on a state college campus, a congregant violated etiquette at communion. Some reports noted that sect members bullied the congregant on the spot. The congregant fled the service, according to some reports. An advocacy group for the religious sect demanded apologies, legal action, and ostracism for the congregant. Threats of violence against the congregant started rolling in. The congregent was told he will be murdered.
A professor at a good, small midwestern state college used his pen to urge calm among the sect’s members. Threats of violence are foolish, he says. Calm down, he said.
The professor tried to put things in perspective: Threatening murder for a violation of communion etiquette is beyond the pale, one of the dangers of violent religious sects. Such actions are the opposite of American tradition.
But then the prof took a step farther: This religious sect is functioning on superstition, he said. He said the superstition can be exposed, and he would use his skeptical powers to expose the superstition, to show everyone that threats of death on such issues are unwise, unnecessary, and to be avoided.
Rod Dreher, who last week complained in his column about the lasting damage that bullies can do to kids in schools, weighed in on the communion/death threats matter with a column this week in the Dallas Morning News.
How did Dreher weigh in?
A. He calls for an end to bullying, and urges calm.
B. He says religious wars started this way, and he urges calm.
C. He calls for an end to bullying, but urges the professor to lay off debunking the religion.
D. He calls the professor hateful, and supports the side that issued the death threats.
See below the fold.
13 Comments | Rampant stupidity, Reason, Religion, Religious Freedom, Violence | Tagged: Reason, Religion, Religious Freedom, Religious Violence, Superstition, Violence | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Encore post: Jefferson on religious freedom, “infidels of every denomination”
July 31, 2008Jefferson on religious freedom
August 1, 2006
*
In his Autobiography Jefferson recounted the 1786 passage of the law he proposed in 1779 to secure religious freedom in Virginia, the Statute for Religious Freedom:
The bill for establishing religious freedom, the principles of which had, to a certain degree, been enacted before, I had drawn in all the latitude of reason and right. It still met with opposition; but, with some mutilations in the preamble, it was finally passed; and a singular proposition proved that its protection of opinion was meant to be universal. Where the preamble declares, that coercion is a departure from the plan of the holy author of our religion, an amendment was proposed, by inserting the word “Jesus Christ,” so that it should read, “a departure from the plan of Jesus Christ, the holy author of our religion;” the insertion was rejected by a great majority, in proof that they meant to comprehend, within the mantle of its protection, the Jew and the Gentile, the Christian and the Mahometan, the Hindoo, and the Infidel of every denomination.
Life and Selected Writings of Thomas Jefferson, Modern Library 1993 edition, pp. 45 and 46.
* Image is a photo of detail from a painting of Jefferson by Rembrandt Peale, courtesy of the New York Historical Society by way of the Library of Congress.
[Encore post from August 1, 2006]
An encore post; fighting ignorance takes repetition.
2 Comments | 1787, America's founding, Bill of Rights, Civil Rights, Famous quotes, First Amendment, History, Law, Quotes, Religion, Religious Freedom, U.S. Constitution | Tagged: Civil Rights, First Amendment, History, Law, Quotes, Religion, Thomas Jefferson, U.S. Constitution | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Torturing children, the Constitution, and a teacher’s duty to protect children
June 23, 2008This is the device Ohio teacher John Freshwater was using to shock students and brand them with crosses: A BD-10A high-frequency generator tester for leak detection, from Electro-Technic Products, Inc.:
BD-10A high frequency generator tester leak detector, from Electro-Technic Products. “BD10ASV OUTPUT: 10,000-50,000 volts at frequency of approx. 1/2 megahertz. Power 230 V, with a momentary ON/OFF switch”
As described at the company’s website:
- Model BD-10A is the standard tester
- Model BD-10AS features a momentary ON/OFF switch
- OUTPUT: 10,000-50,000 volts at frequency of approx. 1/2 megahertz
The company also offers a line of instruments for teaching science — notably absent from that part of the catalog is this shocking device (literally).
Generally, this tester should not produce serious injury, even when misapplied. Standard middle school lab safety rules would suggest that it should never be used to “test” a human for leaks. Such voltages are designed to produce sparks. Sparks do not always behave as one expects, or hopes. High voltages may make cool looking sparks, but the effects of high voltage jolts differ from person to person. It may be harmful.
“We have instructions to warn people that it’s not a toy,” said Cuzelis, who owns Electro-Technic Products in Chicago. “If this device is directed for seconds (on the skin), that’s a clear misuse of the product.”
Cuzelis said he is not aware of anyone seriously hurt with the device and said that his company has never been sued for injuries.
What sort of lab safety rules did Freshwater have for other experiments?
If you discovered your child’s science teacher had this device, designed to produce high-voltage sparks to highlight holes in rubber and plastic liners of tanks, would you be concerned? If you know what should go on in a science class, you’d know there is probably little use for such a device in a classroom. It’s been described as a Tesla coil.
Tesla coils of extremely small voltages can be safe. They should be safe. But one occasionally finds a safety warning, such as this generalized note at Wikipedia:
Even lower power vacuum tube or solid state Tesla Coils can deliver RF currents that are capable of causing temporary internal tissue, nerve, or joint damage through Joule heating. In addition, an RF arc can carbonize flesh, causing a painful and dangerous bone-deep RF burn that may take months to heal. Because of these risks, knowledgeable experimenters avoid contact with streamers from all but the smallest systems. Professionals usually use other means of protection such as a Faraday cage or a chain mail suit to prevent dangerous currents from entering their body.
Freshwater was using a solid state Tesla coil, if I understand the news articles correctly. Knowing that these sparks can cause deep tissue and bone damage in extreme cases, I suspect that I would not allow students to experience shocks as a normal course of a science classroom, especially from an industrial device not designed with multiple safety escapes built in.
Freshwater had been zapping students for years.
Here is a classic photo of what a Tesla coil does, a much larger coil than that used by John Freshwater, and a photo not from any classroom; from Mega Volt:
Tesla coil in action, from Mike Tedesco
There is nothing in the Ohio science standards to suggest regular use of a Tesla coil in contact with students performs any educational function.
I offer this background to suggest that the normal classroom procedures designed to ensure the safety of students were not well enforced in Freshwater’s classrooms, nor was there adequate attention paid to the material that should have been taught in the class.
The teacher, John Freshwater, has been dismissed by his local school board. Freshwater supporters argue that this is a case of religious discrimination, because Freshwater kept a Bible on his desk.
Among the complaints are that he burned crosses onto the arms of students with the high-voltage leak detector shown above. This gives an entirely new and ironic meaning to the phrase “cross to bear.”
Cafe Philos wrote the most succinct summary of the case I have found, “The Firing of John Freshwater.” Discussion at that site has been robust. Paul Sunstone included photos of one of the students’ arms showing injuries from the schocks. He also included links to news stories that will bring you up to date.
Amazingly, this misuse of an electrical device may not be the most controversial point. While you and I may think this physical abuse goes beyond the pale, Freshwater has defenders who claim he was just trying to instill Biblical morality in the kids, as if that would excuse any of these actions. Over at Cafe Philos, I’ve been trying to explain just why it is that Freshwater does not have a First Amendment right to teach religion in his science class. There is another commenter with the handle “Atheist” who acts for all the world like a sock puppet for anti-First Amendment forces, i.e., not exactly defending a rational atheist position.
Below the fold I reproduce one of my answers to questions Atheist posed. More resources at the end.
16 Comments | Academic freedom, Accuracy, America's founding, Bill of Rights, Classroom management, Creationism, Education, Education quality, First Amendment, Free speech, Freedom - Political, History, Intelligent Design, James Madison, Lessons of history, Pedagogy, Politics, Public education, Religion, Religious Freedom, Santayana's ghost, Science, Separation of church and state, Teaching, Thomas Jefferson, U.S. Supreme Court, War on Education, War on Science | Tagged: Creationism, Education, Evolution, First Amendment, Intelligent Design, John Freshwater, Law, Religion, Religious Freedom, Science, State Education Standards, Tesla coil | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
The inaccuracy and spin go all the way to 11
April 22, 2008There’s a guy who doesn’t like my comments on his blog, so he’s banned me. Every once in a while I find a headline or link to something, and it takes me over there — and I remember why he doesn’t like my comments.
Rationality and accuracy are barriers to be overcome for some bloggers, and this guy often falls into that category. Today he’s bummed that gay students and their friends and relatives protest bullying of gays with a Day of Silence. Neil Simpson wrote:
The Day of Silence (where schools encourage kids to be completely silent for a day to protest alleged discrimination against gays) is back, and students’ rights are being violated left and right. It is bad enough that they disrupt the learning process for a whole day, but now some schools aren’t permitting students to miss school that day or instituting other requirements.
Okay, that’s enough. I gotta stop the quoting and make corrections. “Where schools encourage kids to be completely silent for a day?” There is no such place. This is a fabrication of someone. Who?
The link in the quoted paragraph goes to Kevin Bussey’s blog; from there we get a link to a story in WorldNet Daily, perhaps the single greatest source of information pollution on the internet.
But read the story — even WND doesn’t claim that schools are supporting the event. WND only decries the fact that schools won’t bully kids into not supporting the anti-bullying campaign (irony drips from every serif of this story . . .).
Gay clubs and the “Day of Silence” have no purpose in schools. The GLBTX propoganda machine just uses the Trojan Horse of being anti-bullying to get them in. It is all part of the drive not just for tolerance, not just for affirmation, but to silence all critics.
But why have sex clubs and school-sponsored protest days just for that? All you need is a simple and thoroughly enforced anti-bullying policy:
If you physically or verbally harass other students on or off school grounds you will have swift and serious consequences. It doesn’t matter if you are bullying because they are gay / straight / fat / thin / smart / dumb / pretty / ugly / etc., or if it is just because you are a mean jerk. Zero tolerance. Training over. Now go to class and learn something.
Bullying is wrong. I would always protect gays if they were being bullied, but that isn’t what this issue is really about. If it was, then the kids who are picked on for all those other reasons should get a special day as well, and schools wouldn’t persecute students who wanted to opt out of this special day.
Just a stand against bullying? Maybe Simpson will take a stand against bullying, you think? Maybe Simpson would urge his friends at the Texas State Board of Education to rejoin the National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE). Texas pulled out a few months back, protesting the anti-bullying curriculum NASB had put together. The Texas officials — speaking for themselves, not necessarily the people of Texas, let me assure you — said they didn’t like the part that said “don’t bully gays.”
When stuff like that happens, people will on occasion use their First Amendment right to petition and right to assemble and freedom of speech to protest the stupidity. In the immediate case, the protest takes the form of remaining silent.
When gays and the friends of gays don’t speak, it makes the hardcore fundies crazy. The voices in their heads seem so much louder.
Nuts.
8 Comments | Citizenship, Civil Rights, Education, First Amendment, Freedom of the Press, Politics, Public education, Rampant stupidity, Religion, Religious Freedom, Texas | Tagged: bullying, Christian hypocrisy, Day of Silence, Education, Freedom of Speech, Politics, Religion | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
100 biggest churches in America
February 4, 2008Some students really struggle with the idea of the role of religion in the founding and settling of America. Among interesting misconceptions I’ve run into in the past 18 months: Spanish settlers of Texas were Baptists (since so many Texans are Baptist today); the religious fights in England leading to the English Bill of Rights was between “Christians and others.”
I’m not sure Outreach Magazine’s list of the top 100 church congregations in the U.S., by size, would do anything to disabuse students of any of their misconceptions. Do we adequately teach about the role of religion in U.S. history? Why are so many students so ill informed? Can these churches help out?
Are churches doing their part in teaching the importance of freedom of religion, and especially of the history of religious strife in the western world? It doesn’t appear so. Maybe that list is the 100 top places for educators to visit to ask for help in getting the kids straight on the history of religion.
By the way: Spanish settlers of Texas were Catholic; the religious fights in England tended to be between Catholics and Anglicans, both considered Christian sects, to the surprise of too many students. Oy.
24 Comments | English Bill of Rights, History, Religion, Religious Freedom, Texas history, World history | Tagged: churches, History, Religion, Religious Freedom | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
I was working and I missed it: Happy Religious Freedom Day! (a little late)
January 18, 2008January 16 was Religious Freedom Day. I missed it again.
But I celebrate it most days, and you can, too.
They just don’t make many like Thomas Jefferson any more.
Thomas Jefferson, in bas relief, in the chamber of the U.S. House of Representatives, a gallery of lawgivers who contributed to the heritage of U.S. law and freedom. Architect of the Capitol photo. C. Paul Jennewein, sculptor
Leave a Comment » | History, Religious Freedom, Thomas Jefferson | Tagged: freedom, Religion, Thomas Jefferson | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Christian nation hoaxes: Jefferson and the Geneva Academy
October 31, 2007Chris Rodda has a bee in her bonnet about wacky claims about early U.S. government and Christianity — same bee I get on occasion (hence the famous phrase, “busy bee”).
At Talk to Action, Chris dissects one of the more odd and arcane claims of people like the late D. James Kennedy, that Thomas Jefferson tried to import a group of Calvinist seminarians to make the University of Virginia a religious institution. Kennedy’s claim is voodoo history at its most voodoo.
There are two things wrong with Kennedy’s claim. The first is the time frame. Jefferson did consider a proposal to move the Geneva Academy to the United States, but this was in 1794 and 1795, thirty years before the University of Virginia opened. The second is that, although the Geneva Academy was originally founded by John Calvin in 1559 as theological seminary, by the late 1700s it had been transformed into an academy of science. The plan considered by Jefferson was not to import a religious school. It was to import a group of Europe’s top science professors.
This one is so obscure I have heard it only a couple of times. I’m not sure if that’s because it is so far outside the world of reality that even most victims of these hoaxes recognize it, or if it just hasn’t gotten traction yet.
Jefferson’s relationship with religious instruction in higher education really never varied. When he was a member of the governing board of the College of William and Mary, the board of visitors, he successfully campaigned to rid the college of preachers in teaching positions, and with the money saved, he got lawyers hired to instruct in other topics instead. In his design for the University of Virginia, he most carefully left out religious instruction from the curriculum, and from the space of the university. Since he shared this view of religion in education with James Madison, Madison followed through on keeping the University of Virginia as an institution of learning and not religious indoctrination.
So, how could someone with the research chops claimed by the late Rev. Kennedy get this stuff so exactly wrong? He relied on an old hoaxer, Mark A. Beliles. Why could a scholar like Kennedy could be sucked in by such a clear and blatant hoax? Bogus history seemed to attract him like seagulls to and overturned hot dog cart.
Read it, and gain enlightenment on the facts, if not on the motivations of Rev. Kennedy.
Tip of the old scrub brush to Ed Brayton at Dispatches from the Culture Wars.
Leave a Comment » | Accuracy, America's founding, Bogus history, First Amendment, Heroes, Historic documents, History, Religious Freedom, Voodoo history | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Christian nation trap ensnares John McCain
October 5, 2007Let’s put an end to the silly “Christian nation” notion once and for all. Can we?
I am a hopeful person. Of course, I realize that it is highly unlikely we would ever be able to disabuse people of the Christian nation myth.
Okay — then let’s at least lay some facts on the table.
First, some background. John McCain, U.S. Senator from Arizona and candidate for U.S. president, granted an exclusive interview to a reporter from Belief.net. Read excerpts here.
In the interview McCain falls into the Christian nation trap:
Q: A recent poll found that 55 percent of Americans believe the U.S. Constitution establishes a Christian nation. What do you think?
A: I would probably have to say yes, that the Constitution established the United States of America as a Christian nation. But I say that in the broadest sense. The lady that holds her lamp beside the golden door doesn’t say, “I only welcome Christians.” We welcome the poor, the tired, the huddled masses. But when they come here they know that they are in a nation founded on Christian principles.
Second, David Kuo properly, but gingerly, takes on McCain′s argument (hooray for Belief.net).
Then, third, Rod Dreher (the Crunchy Con from the Dallas Morning News) agrees with McCain, mostly.
McCain’s blithe endorsement of this myth, based in error and continued as a political drive to shutting down democratic processes. McCain may be starting to understand some of the difficulties with this issue. His remarks are a week old, at least, and there’s been a wire story a day since then. Will it make him lean more toward taking my advice?
Below the fold, I post a few observations on why we should just forget the entire, foolish claim. Read the rest of this entry »
48 Comments | 6th Amendment, Bogus history, Books, First Amendment, Politics, Religion, Religious Freedom, Separation of church and state | Tagged: Christian nation, Christian Nation Hoax, hoax, John McCain, Law, Politics, Religion, Separation of church and state, Supreme Court | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
What makes America worth defending
September 28, 2007Anyone who wonders why the United States is worth defending should read the judge’s decision in the case of Brandon Mayfield.
Mayfield is the Oregon lawyer who was accused of being a participant in the al Quaeda-connected bombings of commuter trains in Madrid, Spain. The accusation appears to have been based mostly on Mr. Mayfield’s religious affiliation, and not on any evidence. Mayfield was arrested, charged and held in jail, until the charges were dismissed.
Mayfield’s suit points out that the government acted illegally against him, in violation of the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution, which bans searches without a valid warrant. It appears that Mr. Mayfield’s religion was the chief basis for the search warrants obtained.
In what other nation, in a time considered to be a time of war, could such a suit protecting a citizen against his own government be entertained? In what other nation could one judge declare such a major action of its government to be illegal, with any expectation that the government would obey such a ruling?
The case will probably be appealed.
Ed Brayton at Dispatches from the Culture Wars covers the issue well enough to make a lesson plan out of it for government or civics classes.
Also:
- New York Times, “Judge Rules Provisions in PATRIOT Act to be Illegal”
- Adam Liptak, “Adding to Security but Multiplying the Fears,” note on the effects of tactics such as those used against Mr. Mayfield
- Washington Post, “Patriot Act Provisions Voided”
- John Dean, at Findlaw, on executive branch abuse of illegally obtained information
- The Fourth Amendment, at Findlaw (with annotations)
- The Bill of Rights, at Cornell’s Legal Information Institute
- Fourth Amendment, “Search and Seizure,” from the Government Printing Office
- Bill of Rights Institute, lesson plan on PATRIOT Act, national security letters and judicial action (see “Bill of Rights in the News,” 9.17.07-Sections of Patriot Act Unconstitutional
10 Comments | Bill of Rights, Civil Rights, DBQ sources, Fourth Amendment, Religion, Religious Freedom, War on Terrorism | Tagged: Civil Rights, Muslim, Religion, War on Terrorism | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Rwandan cleric shuts down Illinois church’s guest speaker
September 10, 2007Several very conservative Episcopal congregations in the U.S. complained about the U.S. church’s ordination of gays, and other policies they considered “too liberal.” So, in a huff, they pulled out of association with other U.S. Episcopalians, and obtained affiliation with the Anglican Church in Rwanda, whom they considered more acceptable.
The buzzards have started coming home to roost. From a story in Christianity Today:
All Souls Anglican Church had invited Paul Rusesabagina, whose life was featured in the 2004 movie Hotel Rwanda, to speak during Sunday morning services. The Wheaton, Illinois, church, a member of the Rwandan-led Anglican Mission in America, invited him as part of a fundraiser to build a school in Gashirabwoba, Rwanda.
On Thursday, however, Emmanuel Kolini, the Anglican archbishop of Rwanda, asked All Soul’s pastor J. Martin Johnson to rescind the invitation.
Rusesabagina has been at odds with the president of Rwanda. The archbishop feared that the event could create a strain in the relationship between the Anglican Church of Rwanda and the government.
“Truly I am horrified that we could have such a negative impact without meaning to,” Johnson told Christianity Today. “I had no idea this was a controversial issue.”
Rwandan president Paul Kagame has criticized the Oscar-nominated movie Hotel Rwanda for inaccurately portraying the country’s 1994 genocide.
Hotel Rwanda highlights Paul Rusesabagina’s role as a hotel manager who saved more than 1,200 Tutsi refugees. An estimated 800,000 people were massacred during 100 days of the genocide.
Kagame disputed Hotel Rwanda‘s portrayal of Rusesabagina as a hero. Kagame has said that Rusesabagina happened to be there and that he happened to survive because he was not in the category of those being hunted.
Rusesabagina criticized Kagame in his 2006 autobiography An Ordinary Man, saying that Kagame surrounds himself with corrupt businessmen.
“The same kind of impunity that festered after the 1959 revolution is happening again, only with a different race-based elite in power,” he wrote. “We have changed the dancers but the music remains the same.”
Sometimes, when we defend human rights, we defend the rights of people we don’t agree with, and maybe even people we think to be sinners (though of course, such judgments are not ours to make). Wishing to avoid standing up for the rights of homosexuals in America, this congregation and all others in the U.S. who have joined the flight to Rwanda’s archbishop, now stand stupefied to discover they’re endorsing corruption in Rwanda’s government, at least so far as they cannot celebrate one of the precious few heroes who stood against the Rwanda genocide.
Who did the due diligence work on this deal? Read the rest of this entry »
2 Comments | First Amendment, Globalization, Human Rights, Religion, Religious Freedom | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Turkish creationists censor 1 million WordPress blogs
August 19, 2007It’s an act worthy of Nicolae Ceauşescu, or Idi Amin — but the Turkish creationist Adnan Oktar has taken legal action that effectively blocks more than a million weblogs from access in Turkey — all the blogs on WordPress, the host of this blog.
Here’s the general announcement to WordPress clients. This site has the text of the threats from Oktar’s lawyers to WordPress.
Here’s a link to Matt’s blog, which has more discussion.
Adnan Oktar is the guy who pays people to write under the name Harun Yahya. Under that name he has published dozens of anti-evolution screeds. You may recall that, in the past year, he has financed the publication of an 800-page book, handsomely bound with scores of pictures (many of them plagiarized), claiming evolution could not account for features of living things. The scientifically vacuous book was delivered to schools and libraries across Europe in 2006, and then to thousands of U.S. scientists, teachers and libraries earlier in 2007. (Here’s a good summary of creationism and Islam, from Taner Edis.)
I suggested in comments that protests should be made to the European Union. Turkey is working to gain admittance to the EU, and childish, totalitarian eruptions such as Oktar’s getting a court to censor a million blogs, significantly detract from Turkey’s chances and case. There is high irony here, too — Oktar is one of those who has willingly spread false claims that evolution was a cause of the Holocaust (when he’s not busy denying the Holocaust happened; consistency and accuracy are not among his strong points) — heck, just a few months ago he was claiming evolution is the cause of terrorism.
Do you have better ideas about what to do?
I hope the few of you who read this blog will spread this word far and fast.
Such disruptions of communication over an entire nation are the dreams of terrorists. Are we to understand that Adnan Oktar does this because Darwin convinced him? Or are his actions direct denial of his earlier claims?
I have been a journalist for a long time, having joined the Society of Professional Journalists in 1974. I spent many years in Washington, slugging it out against people who wished they had the power of censorship, and some who actually did have that power in other nations. I do not recall any similarly stupid activity outside of totalitarian governments, most of which are now gone.
Nuts.
50 Comments | Adnan Oktar, Censorship, Creationism, Evolution, Free press, Freedom - Political, Junk science, Religious Freedom, Totalitarianism, Voodoo history, Voodoo science | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Liberal evangelicals? Go see: Jim Wallis in Dallas
July 21, 2007To counter the notion that “evangelical Christian” is synonymous with “conservative enough to make Attila the Hun blush,” the editor of Sojourners magazine speaks out in favor of helping the poor, protecting the environment, and generally not being so crabby about life. If you’re in the North Texas area next Tuesday, you can hear the message first hand.
Jim Wallis will speak in Dallas, at Wilshire Baptist Church, on July 24, at 7:00 p.m., part of the Faith and Freedom Speaker Series of the Texas Freedom Network. Wallis speaks forcefully for faithful people who do not share the crabby views of the religious right. This is a great opportunity for Dallas to hear a voice of goodwill from faith — some call it a prophetic voice. The TFN website says:
Rev. Wallis has boldly proclaimed that the monologue of the religious right in this country is over. In his evening lecture, he will explain how to renew the values of love, justice and community in Texas.
The Dallas organizing committee meets on July 12, 7:00 p.m., at Wilshire Baptist Church, 4316 Abrams Road, (see map in the sidebar). Please come!
Admission is free, but TFN asks people to click in advance to reserve seats, or call 512-322-0545 (TFN’s offices in Austin).
Pre-speech discussions among the organizers have suggested follow-up events to discuss Rev. Wallis’s ideas, and to fan the flames of freedom of faith in North Texas. In short, this will be a good networking event, too.
Who is Rev. Wallis?
Rev. Jim Wallis is a bestselling author, public theologian, preacher, speaker, activist, and international commentator on ethics and public life. His latest book, God’s Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn’t Get It, was on The New York Times bestseller list for four months. He is president and executive director of Sojourners/Call to Renewal, where he is editor-in-chief of Sojourners magazine — whose print and electronic publication reaches more than 250,000 people — and also convenes a national network of churches, faith-based organizations, and individuals working to overcome poverty in America.
Check out the Sojourners website.
More details are available at the TFN website. You may reserve a seat at the Sojourners website, also.
Mark your calendars: July 24, Jim Wallis speaks (that’s NEXT TUESDAY). To get to Wilshire Baptist Church, from Central Expressway take Mockingbird Lane east to Abrams Road, turn left onto Abrams, and the church is about one block farther, on the right. It’s big, it has a lot of space and a good deal of parking.
Leave a Comment » | Civil Rights, Environmental protection, First Amendment, Politics, Religion, Religious Freedom, Texas Freedom Network | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Even more on Odessa Bible class case
July 20, 2007Oh, and, there’s more.
Also see Ed Brayton’s posts here:
- New Developments in Odessa Case
- Historical Ignorance on NCBCPS Website
- Liberty Legal Institute to Defend Odessa Suit
- Jewish Teacher in Odessa Speaks Out
- The Adoption of the NCBCPS Curriculum in Odessa
- NCBCPS Curriculum Challenged in Court
Here’s the press release from the Liberty Legal Institute:
The ACLU put their initial complaint on-line, and may follow with more documents as the case progresses:
The Texas Freedom Network has sponsored high-level criticism of Bible study class curricula; their critiques forced changes in the curriculum used in Odessa, but the modified curriculum does not pass Constitutional, academic or Bible study muster, according to a careful report from Southern Methodist University (in Dallas) Bible study professor Mark Chancey. TFN has several reports and press releases on the general issue:
And from the local newspaper, the daily Odessa American:
- “Free Bible Defense” (On Liberty Legal Institute’s defending the district at no cost)
- “ECISD fights lawsuit” (ECISD is Ector County Independent School District)
- “ACLU, parents sue ECISD”
- “Closed-door Bible class”
Leave a Comment » | Bill of Rights, Citizenship, Curricula, Education, First Amendment, Freedom - Political, Historic documents, History, Jurisprudence, Law, Lesson plans, Literature, Plagiarism, Public education, Religion, Religious Freedom, Texas Freedom Network, Textbooks, U.S. Constitution | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Odessa Bible class case
July 20, 2007In the continuing religious freedom/education drama in Texas, the school district in Odessa, Texas, approved a Bible study course using a curriculum indicted by the Texas Freedom Network’s expert-in-Bible-studies advisors as religious indoctrination rather than academically rigorous study. Citizens in Odessa sued the district to have that action declared unconstitutional.
The case is being readied for trial, with motions from plaintiffs and defendants flying back and forth. I should be watching it carefully, and I probably should be offering close coverage here for teachers, parents and administrators in Texas.
But I haven’t been able to dig into the stuff yet. In the interim, Ed Brayton at Dispatches from the Culture Wars has been following the case closely, and providing timely blog updates. He’s made connections with the legal teams on both sides and has access to the legal documents filed so far.
Don’t wait: Get on over to Dispatches from the Culture Wars and get updated on the case.
This would be a good topic for a civics class project, too, it seems to me. You may want to capture documents as they come out for DBQ exercises in the coming school year.
Leave a Comment » | Bill of Rights, Capturing history, Citizenship, DBQ sources, Education, First Amendment, Freedom - Political, Historic documents, History, History blogs, Jurisprudence, Justice, Law, Public education, Religious Freedom, Texas, Texas Freedom Network, U.S. Constitution | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Millard Fillmore's Bathtub 