I had not realized until a couple of days ago that our most
honorable governor of this our fair Tennessee had signed a most unnecessary piece
of so-called ‘legislation’ entitled ‘Religious Viewpoints Antidiscrimination
Act’. But sign it he did, on this past
10 April. Another vulture feather in the
coonskin cap of the “Greatest State in the Land of the Free” to go along with
the one awarded for the thankfully failed “Don’t Say Gay” Bill.
It is the latter failed attempt at making homophobic bigotry
not merely acceptable in the halls of Tennessee schools but real official
policy and praiseworthy behavior that gives insight into the real motivations
behind the former. To protect not
religious speech but hate speech. Not a
defense of anyone’s rights but of social dominance orientation and sociopathic
entitlement.
Let me give y’all an example of how things could easily play
out under this ill-conceived and completely unnecessary “law”.
Throughout my time at East Brainerd Elementary School, first
through sixth grades, a teacher from outside came into our class once a week
for Bible lessons. Yes, this was at a public school, from fall 1969 to summer
1975.
I am NOT endorsing this; absolute separation of church and
state is something I have always believed in and advocated even at my most
religious. Growing up I considered
myself Republican because that’s what my parents were. I even helped campaign for Reagan in 1980,
mostly because a girl I had a crush on in Mr. Cousin’s American Government
class was campaigning for Carter. Then
the Moral Majority and similar groups came to the fore soon after the election,
and I left.
Part of the reason I didn’t see a conflict with having a
Bible teacher in our public school at the time was that my teacher in first and
second grade at the school was also my Sunday School teacher at St. Martin’s
Episcopal. Both, incidentally, were
within easy walking distance of our house on Walnut Grove/North Joiner Road.
One of my most memorable arguments (there were several) with
this Bible teacher at school came when I was in sixth grade. This was either in the fall of 1974 or the
spring of 1975. Mrs. Genung was our regular
class teacher, and Malcolm Defriese was still principal back then, still had
his grocery at the Crossroads in Westview.
The argument was over her assertion that black skin was the
“Mark of Canaan” that all blacks wore as the stain of the sin of Canaan’s
father Ham against Noah. I objected
rather strenuously, and when my mom arrived at school after being called there
(something she was not unfamiliar with), she backed me up.
My point in telling this story is to point out that under
our legislature and governor approved ‘Religious Viewpoints Antidiscrimination
Act’, if a student made that assertion in a class speech or even before the
whole school assembly, that assertion would be protected, and if part of an
oral report could not be automatically failed.
Some might call the Tea Party Republicans who have taken
over the GOP of our fair state as well as our entire government the American
Taliban, Tennessee Chapter. In truth,
however, they are nothing more than old unredeemed Bourbon Democrats recycled
through a Tennessee Walking Horse.
No doubt part of their illogic is based on claims that they
have to defend Christianity from a nonexistent war against it. However, first, that is not and never has
been at any time a function of government in the United States of America. Second, there is no “war on Christianity”.
Christianity is no more under attack in this country than
George Zimmerman (murderer of Trayvon Martin) and Michael Dunn (murderer of
Jordan Davis) were when they were still sitting in their cars. No more than the ante-bellum property rights
of slave owners. No more than white
supremacists to discriminate against Afro-Americans in the days of the Jim Crow
South.
First the Tennessee legislature passed a law which was
signed by the governor allowing the bullying of gay kids in schools in the name
of protecting religious speech, but I didn't protest because none of my kids
were gay.
Then the Tennessee legislature passed a law which was signed
by the governor allowing the bullying of Muslim kids in schools in the name of
protecting religious speech, but I didn't protest because we're not Muslim.
Then the Tennessee legislature passed a law which was signed
by the governor allowing the bullying of Latino kids in schools in the name of
protecting religious speech, but I didn't protest because we're not Latino.
Then the Tennessee legislature passed a law which was signed
by the governor allowing the bullying of kids of trade unionists in schools in
the name of protecting religious speech, but I didn’t protest because I’m not
in a trade union.
Then the Tennessee legislature passed a law which was signed
by the governor allowing the bullying of Jewish kids in schools in the name of
protecting religious speech, but I didn’t protest because I’m not Jewish.
Then the Tennessee legislature passed a law which was signed
by the governor allowing the bullying of mixed race kids in schools in the name
of protecting religious speech, and I finally took notice, because my kids are
Irish-Kapampangan-Scottish-Sangley-English-Tagalog-Cherokee-Spanish, but when I
looked around, no one was standing behind me to back me up.
An injury to one is an injury to all. Whoever harms the least of these little ones,
it would be better for them to have a millstone to be tied around their neck
and be drowned the sea.
Bullying is an act, not speech.
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