Given a chance to stand up for religious liberty, Bobby Jindal takes a pass

Raw Story: The administration of Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal on Tuesday broke its silence over a public school that allegedly advised a Buddhist family to change their beliefs if they didn’t want their child to face harassment.

In a statement to The Times-Picayune, executive counsel Thomas Enright said the Jindal administration had no comment until both sides of the case were known. He also warned against the government restricting religious speech.

“Religious freedom is foundational to liberty in America,” Enright said. “In this case, the plaintiffs are alleging violations of the establishment clause not the free exercise clause. We don’t want to comment on this particular case before hearing the defendant’s side of the story, but as a general rule, government needs to be very careful before making decisions that restrict any American’s religious freedoms.”

The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Louisiana filed a federal lawsuit against Negreet High School in Sabine Parish in January. A teacher at the school allegedly taught that the universe was created by God about 6,000 years ago. The same teacher is accused of calling 6th grade student “stupid” because he is a Buddhist and consequentially doesn’t believe in God.

When the parents of the students complained to Sabine Parish Superintendent Sara Ebarb, they were allegedly advised to change their faith or relocate their son to another school with more Asian students.

Here’s the fun part: “The Times-Picayune noted the Jindal administration commented on the case just days after warning of a ‘silent war’ on religious freedom in a speech at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Library.” So Jindal’s not overly concerned about speaking out about other cases, just this one in particular. And even if he did have a reasonable excuse to not weigh in, it wouldn’t be at all out of bounds to add a “If these allegations are true” remark, which for all intents and purposes would be a discussion of a hypothetical.

But let’s be honest: Jindal’s “silent war” fairy tale isn’t about religious liberty. It’s about forcing non-Christians to abide by Christian doctrine — the opposite of religious freedom. It’s the same strategy as Fox News’ phony “War on Christmas” — it’s propaganda designed to force people who aren’t Christian to act like Christians, to foster a sense of victimhood among Christians, and to paint everyone but Republicans as the enemies of the faith. If Jindal really did believe in religious freedom, he’d be as passionate in defending the rights of Buddhists in a very real situation as he has been in defending Christians in totally made up ones.

For conservative Christians like Bobby Jindal, “religious freedom” means you’re free to choose any of the delightful assortment of many Christian denominations. When it comes to defending other faiths, the best you can hope for is “no comment.”

John McCain on The First Amendment

A blast from the past. The video is from September of last year.

Typical of Republicans who tend to see the Second Amendment as the only thing worth a damn in the Bill of Rights. Long story short, he's against freedom of speech and says people who use it should be thrown out of the country.

clipped from www.reddit.com

More Than 40 Arrested At RNC Were Press

clipped from www.editorandpublisher.com More than 40 journalists were arrested or detained during last week's Republican National Convention in St. Paul, according to a report today by The Minnesota Independent. In her story, Anna Pratt alphabetically lists 40-plus names -- including Associated Press reporters, an AP photographer, a St. Paul Pioneer Press photographer, a New York Post freelance photographer, independent journalists, and college journalists. Some names, such as "Democracy Now!" host/King Features Syndicate columnist Amy Goodman, were previously known. Others were not. (YouTube views of a video showing Goodman's arrest have now topped 805,000.) Pratt's story and list can be seen here.

Seems to me we used to have some sort of First Amendment or something.

"Media representatives in town to cover the events, from both big and small presses, were slapped with citations and pending charges ranging in severity, including unlawful assembly, obstructing the legal process, misdemeanor interference with a peace officer and felony to riot plus other riot pretenses," Pratt writes. "Many others who weren't arrested or detained endured pepper spray and other arms used for crowd control."

Congressman is Openly Athiest; Religious Right Openly Hostile

Peter Stark made a statement about his religious beliefs, making him just one of many congress critters who've done so. In fact, for too many, their religious beliefs are their only real qualification for office -- they're empty suits who pump out religious dogma for a living. Stark's beliefs make for a nice change of pace.

Associated Press:

The American Humanist Association applauded Rep. Pete Stark for publicly acknowledging he does not believe in a supreme being. The declaration, it said, makes him the highest-ranking elected official -- and first congressman -- to proclaim to be an atheist.

The organization took out an ad in Tuesday's Washington Post, congratulating the California Democrat for his stance.

"With Stark's courageous public announcement of his nontheism, it is our hope that he will become an inspiration for others who have hidden their conclusions for far too long," executive director Roy Speckhardt said in a statement.

Of course, it didn't take long for the religious right to freak out about it.

Cybercast News Service:

"It is unfortunate in a society that is going down the path of godlessness and making right wrong and wrong right, that we continue down this path by celebrating one member of Congress who denies that God exists altogether," Concerned Women for America Director of Legislative Relations Mike Mears told Cybercast News Service.

No, what's unfortunate is that there are some in the US who would criticize someone for a religious belief. There's a word for that and it needs to be used much more often -- bigotry. CWA speaks for a lot of people in this country and every one of them who holds this opinion is a bigot. Pure and simple. These are people for whom 'freedom of religion' means the freedom to embrace their religion and no one has any right to believe anything else.

It's small-minded, sheepish, and a mindset unworthy of a free people.