response 275 of 372:

Jun 16 19:21 UTC 2002

I'm happy to respect other people's religious observances when I'm on their
turf.  I don't say the prayers, but I do sit (or stand) quietly and
respectfully when they do.  That doesn't bother me at all.

It *does* however, bother me when my government does something religious (like
having that useless phrase in the Pledge), or makes statements that imply that
all Americans are religious (like Bush does), or acts in a way that is biased
in favor of a or any religion (like Bush and Ashcroft do).

It also bothers me when religious people try to convince me I should believe
in their god, or when they give me shit for not being religious.  I respect
their beliefs, they should respect my non-belief.

response 277 of 372:

Jun 17 01:36 UTC 2002

I'm so old I can remember reciting the Pledge of Allegiance 
*before* "under God" was added.  I remember being annoyed over having 
to remember to include the new words when we recited the Pledge in 
school every morning.  Otoh, it was minor compared to the fact that the 
Bible passages we were made to recite every morning, right after the 
Pledge, were from the King James Bible, and as a good Catholic boy I 
knew it was a mortal sin to read from that evil Protestant book.  
Although having to learn two new words was nothing compared to being 
condemned to eternal damnation, I don't recall being concerned about it 
at the time.  I don't think the Jewish kids cared, either, since the 
selections were never from the New Testament, but always from the book 
of Psalms.  This was in public schools in Massachusetts.  Seems 
impossible now.

response 279 of 372:

Jun 17 01:53 UTC 2002

I mean, it seems inmpossible now that it ever should have been so, you 
humorless sack of shit.

response 281 of 372:

Jun 17 03:05 UTC 2002

Try some actual humor, and we'll see if it works...

response 285 of 372:

Jun 17 12:05 UTC 2002

Satanism is a recognised religion in the US, although I think the 
Church of Satan itself died out when its founder keeled over in 1997. 

response 289 of 372:

Jun 17 16:40 UTC 2002

Mynx, you can back up with a -n (pick a  number) at the Respond or pass
prompt. You can also back up by entering an earlier response number. 

response 291 of 372:

Jun 17 17:13 UTC 2002

#285> The Church of Santa still exists, although it may have lost steam when
LaVey passed. I've been to quite a few public Wiccan and Druid rituals, Bruce.
You didn't answer the question, you tried to make it irrelevant.
 
No conditionals, Bruce. Would it bother you if a Satanic teenager wanted to
do an invocation over the PA system before a High School football team? Let's
say he wanted to say, "May the Dark Force of Satan destroy our enemies and
clear the pathway for us to savor and gloat in our victory." You ok with that,
yes or no?

response 295 of 372:

Jun 17 17:49 UTC 2002

The CoS charges you a hundred bucks to join. Only the elite, though! ;) 

response 297 of 372:

Jun 18 17:27 UTC 2002

I don't suppose I would allow a satanist to say anything, but not because he
believes in satan.  I believe in satan.  Most Christians and moslems believe
in satan.  We just don't worship him.  So yes, I would have a problem with
a satanic message being broadcast.

It is evil, after all.  We kinda want to fight evil.  So my "guess" is that
most other religions would be opposed to it as well.  WE don't got on there
and say racist things, after all.  And not many would let the KKK stand up
and spout some racist remark.  Nor would we allow sexist commentary, or other
violent speech be broadcast.

SO satanism is right out.  Not because it is religious, but because it is
hateful and violent.

And I suppose the Wiccaare left out becausethe majority of people would be
against them running around naked.  Me included.  But if they want to do it
at night in a grove, hey, who am I to stop them.

The druids are just plain weird.  They have absolutely no knowledge of what
they are doing.  There is no history of Druidic Worship sinve the middle ages,
and even then it was barely remembered.  So the current Druids are working
out of whole cloth.  They are at best a cult, not a religion.  So they get
left in the cold as well.

No satanists, not druids, no wiccan.

I have seen indian shaman bless gatherings, so they are apparently acceptable.
The same with many of th eastern religions.  I have seen them make prayers
in public gatherings and no one stoned them to death.  They seem to be
acceptable.

If not overtly welcomed.

response 299 of 372:

Jun 18 19:29 UTC 2002

#297> Bru wouldn't allow the KKK to spout some racist remark. Bru wouldn't
allow the Wiccans because they all run around naked.
 
Now, if Bru were anything other than prejudiced, he'd know that most Wiccans
don't run around naked in ritual, especially public ones.

So, Bru, how precisely is your dismissal of Wiccans as a bunch of nudists and
Druids as "just plain weird" not rooted in the same ignorance as racism?
 
(Incidentally, Bru, you'd do well to go read some Ann Coulter. She's a
nationally syndicated journalist of some esteem, and she's of the opinion that
Muslims are fairly evil. So if you're ruling out Satanists, there go the
Muslims too. Just a sec, my phone is ringing... [Excuse me, yes, sir, he's
here...] It's the Mayor of Dearborn, Bru, he wants to talk to you.)
 
Bru, it's called the First Amendment, you asshole. That's what people like
you don't seem to get -- you don't get to have your cake and eat it too.
Either ALL the religions get to play, or none of them do. Pompous fucks like
you don't get to decide which are "acceptable" religions (religious *displays*
are another thing, but all my Satanist did was *say* something, and it was
a fairly inoccuous thing, the same sort of thing that some Christians might
say, but directed to a different God).
 
Pardon me while I go vomit.