Pious Christians, inspired by their Bibles felt this was appropriate, after prayerful consideration, in maintaining their theocracy. (NSFW)

What they call "the good old days."

I don't think that articles sounds like anything like that was occurring, so I think you are trying to blow things out of proportion. 

You might also note, that while things like the inquisition unfortunately did take place, a lot of what occurred can be attributed to the problem of mixing religion with politics.  These type of things where geographically and chronologically isolated for the most part.  That is they occurred in a particular time and place, and don't necessarily reflect the ideology of Christianity.    Interestingly enough I've heard the idea, that "freedom of religion" only makes sense in Christianity.

I'm glad I disgust people like Neo. Tells me I'm doing something right when I upset maggots like him.

How can prayer, piety, Bible, and Jesus lead people to the sunshine and flowers and God is wunnerful Christians we have today and also the Christians of the middle ages with their horrific tortures?

Is every one right? Is every one wrong? Is there a way of using prayer, piety, Bible and Jesus to discern error in other people who are using prayer, piety, Bible and Jesus too but who are doing different things ???

Here's where the 'rubber meets the road', religion touts being able to address the big weighty questions of the day. Looks like I just posted one.

(May 14, 2018 at 11:08 am)emjay Wrote: You can't take social and sexuality issues out of the classroom because that's where they're developing; gay kids can no more put their social and sexual development on hold for school than straight kids can. And then faced with bullying on account of that, and the teachers side with or turn a blind eye to the bullies because of their religious beliefs, do you think that's right or wrong? If you were a teacher in that situation, what would you do?

No child should be bullied for any reason. As I understand it, bullying has less to do with whatever pretext is attributed to it and more to do with a simple perceived power imbalance. Bullies make excuses to target other kids that appear weak and vulnerable regardless of their demographic. I do not know what should be done about it. I know that schools have anti-bullying programs now-a-days and I only know about them second had. The general consensus is that school officials cannot be everywhere at all times to stop teasing, etc. There also often are issues at home that teachers cannot hope to remedy. Children are encouraged to band together and confront bullies with social pressure,..."not cool", etc. Turning it into a social identity issue doesn't seem helpful to me. When the issue is framed as one between abuse of power and vulnerability, then children can more easily cross demographic and cliche lines. Maybe the solution is not to emphasize tribal identities; but rather, to focus on common causes. Maybe then you would see more Christian kids standing up for the weak (like they should be doing) by recognizing a common humanity despite profound differences of worldview.

(May 11, 2018 at 11:40 pm)Divinity Wrote: https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/11/health/lg...1526095927

Quote:

•  student said she was hit in the hand with a skateboard by another student who made homophobic comments. When the victim complained to the school resource officer, the officer was dismissive and said homosexuality was a choice and not in line with their personal religious beliefs, the student said.
  

• A student was required by the superintendent to read a passage from the Bible as punishment on at least two occasions. The building administrator acknowledged in an interview with state education officials that he required Bible reading as a form of discipline.
  

• During a class discussion, a teacher said "If same sex marriage is okay, what about marrying your dog? It's about the same thing."
  

What great people these Christians are.  "You were hit in the head by a skateboard?  Well you're gay, so you deserve it!"

Those employees should be fired immediately, and never allowed to work in public schools again.  I'm sure they'll find many 'christian' schools that will accept them.  Though I think they should be responsible for paying any money the district loses in any lawsuits.  100% of it.  Make them pay through the ass.

I should hope the secretary of education will address this immediately.[/sarcasm]

(May 14, 2018 at 11:56 am)RoadRunner79 Wrote: I don't think that articles sounds like anything like that was occurring, so I think you are trying to blow things out of proportion. 

RR, how can you make statements about what was or wasn't occurring? Are you saying OP was misrepresenting the article? (I disagree.) Or are you saying that the alleged victim of bullying is making misstatements? (How can you know that?)

It's safe to say that if the claims in the article are true, that's bullshit! I live in the Appalachian mountains, and I've seen gay bullying first hand. It does happen, and grown adults do participate in it. One of my best friends in the world is gay, and when he lived in my hometown with me, he internalized a lot of bullying that was heaped upon him. He even got engaged to a woman at one point thinking that was a way to resolve the issue. He had a master's degree in computer science but was wasting away in the middle of nowhere subjecting himself to the judgments of lower lifeforms. At several points, he confided in me that he was contemplating suicide.

But one of his friends invited him to live with him down in DC. He got a good-paying job, a boyfriend, and began going out to gay clubs. When I went to visit him, he was like a new person: optimistic, happy, and with a future ten magnitudes brighter than when he was tending bar in the middle of ignorant-ville. Now he makes six figures, has put his nephew through college, and is preparing to do the same for his niece. He is a giving, caring, self-realized person who IMO outclasses every single ignorant redneck who judged him for being gay--(by the way, about half of them are either in prison or addicted to opiates right now--ie. the opposite of putting their nieces and nephews through college).

Gay bullying is destructive any way you slice it. If Christians were half as moral as they pretended to be, they would never condone treating anyone in an ill manner simply because they are gay. They would realize that, even assuming a gay "lifestyle" is self-destructive (which it isn't) that it isn't nearly as destructive as abusing and ostracizing someone because they are different. My friend is a perfect example of this.

That snooty twat will go and buy skateboards for all school "resource officers," ( a euphemism for the Army of Occupation.)

(May 14, 2018 at 1:06 pm)vulcanlogician Wrote: Are you saying OP was misrepresenting the article?

I am. The OP demands firing, blacklisting, and personally bankrupting someone. For all the talk on AF about how hateful Christians are for having opinions, it should be obvious from the OP who the real haters are. They want to destroy lives.

Otherwise I generally agree with your post.