The United Christian States Of America
That's what one teacher's trying to preach, uh, teach, in a Silicon Valley public school, writes Andrew Gumbel:
If you haven’t spent the past couple of weeks tuned into right-wing talk radio and Fox News, you might not have heard of Stephen Williams. Out there in the land of Rush and Sean Hannity, though, he has already been enshrined as a folk hero of the triumphant new right, a saint and perhaps also a martyr.Williams is a fifth grade teacher in Silicon Valley and practicing Christian who fell foul of his school principal because he was overeager to emphasize the religious beliefs of the Founding Fathers in his history classes. So far, so banal. He wasn’t suspended or fired. The principal at Stevens Creek Elementary School in Cupertino simply became a little alarmed when Williams distributed a handout entitled “What Great Leaders Have Said About The Bible,” which quoted a handful of Republican presidents (all pro!) alongside Jesus himself. She became more alarmed still when he asked his class to read a chunk of St. Luke’s Gospel to help them understand the meaning of Easter. So, at the end of the last school year, she asked him to submit his lesson plans to her in advance to make sure his classes didn’t violate the separation of church and state.
When Williams edited down the Declaration of Independence to include only its references to a higher being, or when he reproduced chunks of George Washington’s prayer journal to the exclusion of the Father of the Nation’s more obviously political reflections, the principal drew the line and told him to take the discussion in a different direction.
There the affair might have ended had it not been for Williams’s friends in a Phoenix-based fundamentalist Christian outfit called the Alliance Defense Fund, who persuaded him that what was going on was a brazen attempt by Left Coast liberal heathens to airbrush God out of the public arena altogether. The ADF started spreading stories that he was the victim of an out-of-control principal who was as allergic to religious references as vampires are to garlic and rosewater. And they bankrolled a federal lawsuit against the school district, filed last month, in which Williams alleged that his First Amendment and other constitutional rights were violated.
Note to Hannity: It's "DEMocracy," not "THEocracy."
If President Jesus and his flock have their way, the U.S. will be a THEocracy. (Side note: I refer to our semiliterate leader as "President Jesus" as often as I can when I'm around my Republican father, just to piss the old man off.)
I implore everyone to pick up a copy of "The End of Faith," by Sam Harris. And if, like Jesus of Texas, you're allergic to books without pik-turz, at least cruise over to www.samharris.org (not .com) for excerpts and other mind-expanding material.
L
Lawaneke at December 17, 2004 4:54 PM
Fabulous book.I've posted a number of quotes and bits about it. If you go to "search" on my blog, and type in "Sam Harris" you'll see a bunch of stuff on it.
Amy Alkon at December 17, 2004 6:50 PM
Did you see the author photo? Sam Harris is very fuckable.
Lena at December 17, 2004 7:21 PM
All-powerful God and his unlimited surveillance capabilities used to scare the shit out of me so much when I was a kid. I couldn't even masturbate in peace, for chrissake. Growing up and losing faith has been a tremendous relief.
I had lunch yesterday with a friend who seems to be experiencing early-stage IBS (Icky Boyfriend Syndrome), as well as some problems at work. But instead of formulating Plans B, C, and D right now, before things reach crisis level, he's having faith that God will lead the way in the 11th hour. He is not a dumb guy, and it's frustrating to see him forego the use of his internal and external resources for a silly set of mythologies.
Lena and the Tree of Knowledge at December 18, 2004 3:51 PM
It's so sad. Why don't people get it -- that it's as rational as saying, "I have faith that a giant purple pterodactyl will swoop down and rid me of all my worries!"
Amy Alkon at December 18, 2004 6:25 PM
Also -- this idea that "god," as some anthropomorphic being who actually gives a shit that you're in some unhappy relationship -- (He's not exactly swooping down in Sudan, now is he?) -- will step in to make it all okay...is just...well, it's kind of weirdly arrogant to believe this, huh? As I've said before, when your four year old dies, nobody says, "God squashed the little brat because she must have deserved to die." The god guy only gets credit for the good stuff.
Amy Alkon at December 18, 2004 6:27 PM
Ah, but who are we to question why the 4-year-old Sudanese child was slaughtered by government thugs? God's grand plan is simply beyond human understanding. Every atrocity has a silver lining.
Lena don't suck religious dick at December 18, 2004 7:10 PM
"Every atrocity has a silver lining."
For the god squad, anyway.
Brilliantly put.
I'm just appalled that people, in the 21st century, believe in the utterly unproven and unlikely, and so fervently. John Stuart Mill said that emotionally held beliefs are clung to even more fervently when valid reasons they are invalid are presented. He's right, I think.
Amy Alkon at December 18, 2004 8:12 PM
What do people do with their ability to reason when they aren't using it? Sit it down to watch a Law & Order marathon?
Amy Alkon at December 18, 2004 8:13 PM
Only the ones with Angie Harmon. yummmmmmmm....
eric at December 18, 2004 9:51 PM
If you ever bother to direct your comments to Sean Inanity personally, he'll just way what he always does. That he doesn't respect you, therefore your opinions are meaningless to him.
Patrick, The Goddess Fan at December 18, 2004 10:10 PM
Eric --
I like to watch Law and Order when I'm holed up in hotels at conferences. All those friggin' cop shows are fun. I even like Judging Amy (and her black male sidekick gives me the PQs).
Patrick --
I've missed ya, darling.
Lena Baez at December 19, 2004 12:42 AM
Patrick, we all have. Speaking in the "royal we" sense, of course.
Amy Alkon at December 19, 2004 1:09 AM
What are PQ's?
I thought you would be off having fun instead of sitting in your hotel room... are you like the rest of us???
Angie Harmon has had me since "Lawn Dogs"....
eric at December 19, 2004 5:55 AM
"What are PQ's?"
Pussy quivers.
Lena and the Jackhammer at December 19, 2004 6:32 AM