Friday, December 28, 2007

Imaginary Assault

This kid has balls of solid brass:

"This boy got up and his visual aid was a Bible and a book. And he got up and started his speech by saying 'Now, this piece of crap' and pointed to the Bible."

...

"He took the Bible and he said, 'I'm going to do this because I can. I'm going to do something that your stupid, little minds aren't going to be able to comprehend and he took the Bible and started ripping out pages."


A kid in school gets up in front of his class, throws a few insults at Christianity, and proceeds to rip pages out of a Bible. I've done it before, it's no big deal. But of course, the Stokholm Syndrome sufferers in the classroom had to take the action as a threat directed against them personally, and the kid is most likely suspended.

The next time some theist insults evolution, or so much as looks at a Dawkins book crosseyed, I'm gonna file assault and battery charges against him. No, not really, as that would be ludicrous. To rip pages from a Dawkins book (pardon my ripoff of Jefferson) neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg. But these poor brainwashed children in the classroom felt that the destruction of a holy book was a personal assault against them.

Officials said that ripping up a Bible is constitutionally protected, adding the punishment has nothing to do with the student's Freedom of Speech demonstration.

"Any actions that were taken in this case were because of behavior separate from the Bible," said Parker High Principal Dale Carlson.


Yea right.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

You know the paperwork is going to cite the student's "antisocial behaviour" or "hostile demeanor" as the reason behind the punishment.

It's the nature of the religious to hide their hostility towards the non-religious (or differently religious) behind secular language. They're more than willing to mis-use the language of the law to inflict punitive measures against apostates, heretics and heathens.

They are, by nature, hypocrites when it comes to freedoms of this sort. (ie. expressions of belief)

wade419 said...

Agreed about the balls of brass - this kid has guts. But as unsurprising as it may be, I'm gonna have to side with the school officials and people talking about the kid's "vicious, vile manner".

Granted, the whole 'pulling your kids from school' thing is a bit extreme. But taking disciplinary action against the kid's action is not.

Think about it this way - imagine a class had been reading Shakespeare, and the teacher had been telling the class all about the importance of Shakespeare's writings. What if the kid had gone up to the front of the class and said, "this stuff is crap and this is what I think of it", and ripped up a Shakespeare book? Would it be okay to consider disciplinary action in that case?

I feel that it would, and citing a "hostile demeanor" would be plenty justification for something like that. The fact that he ripped up a book that is known to be considered Holy by a large portion of the population just proves that the kid was trying to stir up negative feelings - I mean, seriously, using words such as "something that your stupid, little minds aren't going to be able to comprehend" doesn't help his case, it makes him seem arrogant.

Hopefully, if you take a step back, it should be clear that the kid's attitude was not right for a demonstration of this kind, and that people taking offense to simply his attitude is justified.

On the other hand, if the kid had taken a much different stance on the issue, ripping up the Bible would be an acceptable form of freedom of speech. That's the country we live in - we tolerate different opinions than the majority with the hopes that the "best" or most "right" opinions will come out of it in the long run. I personally feel that defacing the Bible is very wrong: I would never do it, and I would (peacefully) try to stop anyone who was doing it. But we have freedom of speech for a reason, and taking legal action against anything other than the kid's angry attitude and intentions would be hypocritical.

breakerslion said...

I once saw Jimmy Swaggart tearing pages out of the Bye-bull during one of his rants. Nobody in the audience seemed to have enough of a problem with it to try to stop him. I guess it's all in the delivery.

Aaron Kinney said...

What if the kid had gone up to the front of the class and said, "this stuff is crap and this is what I think of it", and ripped up a Shakespeare book? Would it be okay to consider disciplinary action in that case?

No, provided that he ripped up his own copy of it (not school property) and cleaned up his mess afterwards.

angelsdepart said...

"Any actions that were taken in this case were because of behavior separate from the Bible," said Parker High Principal Dale Carlson.

Suuuuuuurrrrrrreeeee it is!!!!!!!!

Lenoxus said...

I agree with Wade419, and add that a better approach would simply have been for the kid to demolish the book metaphorically speaking, through debate. Thankfully, that kind of "attack" happens in classrooms and elsewhere throughout the U.S. every day, and if it had lead to suspension in this case, with the kid doing nothing but politely disagreeing with the book, that would have been much more interesting, and much less defensible on the district's part. Personally, I find any work of art, including all books, to be so inherently sanctified that I wouldn't even lay a finger on Mein Kampf, but that's just me.

Reason's Whore said...

I don't understand people feeling physically threatened by the destruction of any book.

The example Wade gave: so what if someone wants to tear up ANY book in order to make his rhetorical point? Unless the person destroying the book is making actual threats against someone else, it's just theatrics.

I'd be interested in the follow up.

Lenoxus said...

Hmm, I would certainly agree that he had every right to do what he did, and I hope that he isn't suspended (although it sounds like he might need a different environment for his own sake). I just feel that his action was rude and immature, like reckless swearing. A poor stand-up comedian has every right to base her stchick on cursing, but that doesn't make her any funnier or more interesting. Even if believers did have "little minds" (a phrase that made me wince), saying so wouldn't help expand them.

Anonymous said...

Do you know every day planned for us was written in a book before even one came to be and burning or ripping the book will not change that plan because everything was finished before it was even started that is awesome to think about. The only reason we exist is to bring Him joy and Glory. Our flesh doesnt bring Him Glory. We were created to worship God and to bring Glory to Him and the only thing that brings God Glory is His Son Jesus so guess what Jesus will manifest Himself in His people. You will have to make a decision either to chose to believe in Him or not to. and you will live forever. Either with Him in Heaven or totally seperated from Him and from love all together, Hell was created for the devil and he does not want people around him or in his area and you will have no friends or loved ones in hell because its all hate and is a place the worm never dies, Jesus said some would have to be snatched from the fire he is not willing that any should perish but taht all would live but he gave you the choice so you make your own decision. He cannot allow sin and rebellion in His kingdom. He knew some would struggle with the answer so He even gave them the answer. He said Today I set before you Life and death, choose Life. In Jesus Name Choose Life

Aaron Kinney said...

Re: not ashmed of the gospel,

Do you know every day planned for us was written in a book before even one came to be and burning or ripping the book will not change that plan because everything was finished before it was even started that is awesome to think about.

Did you know that the Bible is a lie? Its a fantasy book of made-up stories written by ignorant ancient sheperds who thought that the Earth was flat. Of course, me ripping up a Bible wont change any truths in the world, regardless of whether or not God exists. This Bible burning/ripping was done for personal symbolic reasons, obviously.

And no, the Bible is not an awesome thing to think about.

The only reason we exist is to bring Him joy and Glory.

So much for omniscience and omnipotence then! What kind of God needs to create shit to glorify him? Its a contradiction.

Our flesh doesnt bring Him Glory. We were created to worship God and to bring Glory to Him and the only thing that brings God Glory is His Son Jesus so guess what Jesus will manifest Himself in His people. You will have to make a decision either to chose to believe in Him or not to. and you will live forever.

Forever goes both backwards and forwards. In other words, forever means eternity in both past tense and future tense. Have you always existed?

He cannot allow sin and rebellion in His kingdom.

So was Lucifer cast into Hell before or after he rebelled against God?

He knew some would struggle with the answer so He even gave them the answer. He said Today I set before you Life and death, choose Life.

As Ive repeatedly explained in this blog, to "choose life" is to reject the AFTERlife by necessity. To choose God is to choose the afterlife in favor of THIS life, and is therefore the opposite of "choosing life."

To choose the afterlife is to choose a different life, and to reject this one. It is literally to choose death and the end of this existence. Thats anti-life.

So, yes, I choose life. Thats why I reject God and the afterlife.