Keep Thy Commandments To Thyself

Yes!  Finally!  A victory for common sense instead of whining.

http://www.nbc4i.com/story/28535731/marion-high-school-wont-put-ten-commandments-back-up

Marion, Ohio has been all abuzz an in an uproar over the idea that it might not be appropriate for a publicly funded school to post the Ten Commandments in their hallways -- you know, seeing that this is a country that has separation of church and state, and it's a religious document, and whatnot.

Hundreds of hysterical good Christians -- or as I like to call them, my ShortBus customer base -- lost their minds (or at least the space where their minds WOULD be) because some students dared to question conventional wisdom and suggest that they shouldn't have to be exposed to someone else's mythology at school.  They then descended upon a Marion school board meeting -- and I'm guessing the overwhelming majority of these concerned citizens were doing so for the first time.  After all, bitching about someone trying to take God away from you is red meat for dopes.  Concerning yourself with class size, budgets or textbooks is just too lame a reason to put down a beer and drag yourself away from Fox News for a couple of hours.

Well, apparently someone important got it.  I applaud school board president Steve Williams for actually following the requirements of his job over his own personal preferences:

"...It is likely that a visitor to my home knows where my heart lies, however as an elected official, I am sworn in a path that I support."

Loosely translated, my job is to respect everyone's right to privacy and religious choice, and not just cater to the loud majority.  Bravo, sir.

This is the only country in the civilized world that actually has, in its national charter, a provision that allows for a separation of religion and government.  We should appreciate it more.  But we don't, because the Christians have had it their way so long in this country, and it's the religion of majority.  But it's high time that the zealots start getting the message that the United States isn't Burger King -- you don't automatically get it your way all the time. 

By the way -- spare me the rhetoric about how the country is going down the tubes, and it's all because we're taking God out of the joint.  As if.  Do I have enough time to list all the fucked up shit the Christians have done over the years?  Talk to any altar boys lately?

Apparently, some of the my-God-is-the-only-way-to-go crowd aren't quite ready to let it go, yet.  The fallout seemed to indicate that legal action could follow.  Although I would have to assume that any judge who didn't buy his robe from Bed, Bath and Beyond would get a good laugh out of it.  I don't know from what law any judge could ever draw the authority to tell a public school board they were OBLIGATED to hang a religious document.  Sorry folks, your best shot at this was at the school board meeting itself, and it went by the boards.

If having God in your kid's life is so important to you, you're going to have to resort to a new strategy.  Like, I don't know... parenting.