Today was a frustrating day.
(Disclaimer: This blog has ceased to become much more than a place for me to occasionally write a post about something that strikes me as worth pondering. No longer do I post to solicit admiration, provide entertainment, or collect comments. If you happen to be one of the few who still checks my blog, feel free to commiserate... Just fair warning that my "audience" when I am writing has slowly changed in the last year or so...)
When I opened my work email box, the first thing that I saw was a short email from an administrator regarding President Obama's upcoming speech. Next week, President Obama is planning on making a short 2-minute speech to the nation's students on the topic of staying motivated and excelling in school. A nice gesture, right?
Apparently not. The political opposition to Obama is so fierce, that our schools are receiving requests from parents to excuse their children from the two-minute cheerleading session from our nation's leader.
Do they think that he is going to address the controversial topic of healthcare to the young minds of America? Are they worried that his charm might brainwash their children into believing that he is actually somebody that students could see as a role model? Maybe he's going to, in one hundred and twenty seconds, turn them in mini-Socialists!!! (*Gasp*)
I'm sorry, but I don't understand. While there has never been any question which side of the aisle that my political ideals gravitate towards, I feel like I have an open mind. If President Bush had wanted to make a short speech to the nation's students, I would have welcomed the opportunity for my son to be exposed to the political leader of the free world. I would have encouraged him to think critically about what was said and to form his own opinions about it, whether they differed from mine or not.
When something as trivial as this becomes a politically charged issue, it makes me feel sad about the state of our nation. I cherish the right to freedom of speech and I am glad that parents have the right to choose what their children are exposed to and what they are not. What saddens me is that people are so entrenched in their political ideals that they can't see the value in anything that has to do with the "opponent" and will dig their heels in if that is what the idealogues tell them that they should do.
I wonder how this country has managed to become so divided. I worry that we will never be able to make progress in any way if both sides refuse to work together to set some common goals. And I wish that we could find some common ground. However, if when one side reaches out a hand and the other simply slaps it away, how is progress to be made?
Showing posts with label politics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label politics. Show all posts
9.03.2009
11.07.2008
Your Political Compass
What's this? Two posts in a single day? Yeah, that's right...
In case anybody hadn't noticed, I have some pretty well-developed ideas about politics and society. The Comeback Kid posted this on his blog and I thought it was pretty cool. It is called The Political Compass. It rates you based on your economic views and also your view of the role of government in society.
Violet's political compass:
Economic Left/Right: -6.12
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -5.54
It then compares you to other historical political figures like George W. Bush, Pope Benedict XVI, and Hitler.
Mine placed me in the same vicinity of this guy.
Check it out if you get the chance.
In case anybody hadn't noticed, I have some pretty well-developed ideas about politics and society. The Comeback Kid posted this on his blog and I thought it was pretty cool. It is called The Political Compass. It rates you based on your economic views and also your view of the role of government in society.
Violet's political compass:
Economic Left/Right: -6.12
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -5.54
It then compares you to other historical political figures like George W. Bush, Pope Benedict XVI, and Hitler.
Mine placed me in the same vicinity of this guy.
Check it out if you get the chance.
10.25.2008
10.03.2008
Don't Vote
The deadline for registration for the upcoming election is October 8 in the state of Missouri. I know that I have made my views pretty clear on this blog in recent months, but I strongly encourage everyone to vote, whether you agree with me or not. Preferably, if you agree with me, but you know... :o)
BTW - The video has some funny parts, if you have a couple minutes. Sarah Silverman is pretty good.
9.25.2008
Vapid much?*
Anybody else notice the similarities?
Watch this video, whether you are Republican, Democrat, or whatever and tell me that this is the person that you want to be the next V.P. of the U.S.
Ummm... Sarah? Honey? Have you ever met with one of the leaders of those countries? What about the states that border Mexico? And when Putin enters your "airspace," just what do you propose to do about it?
Listen, I'm all about feminism and electing a woman to the highest office in the land. But to elect a woman simply because she has a va-jay-jay? Don't think so!
And, by the way, McCain? Grow some balls and freakin' show up to the debate.
Watch this video, whether you are Republican, Democrat, or whatever and tell me that this is the person that you want to be the next V.P. of the U.S.
Ummm... Sarah? Honey? Have you ever met with one of the leaders of those countries? What about the states that border Mexico? And when Putin enters your "airspace," just what do you propose to do about it?
Listen, I'm all about feminism and electing a woman to the highest office in the land. But to elect a woman simply because she has a va-jay-jay? Don't think so!
And, by the way, McCain? Grow some balls and freakin' show up to the debate.
9.24.2008
"Drill, Drill, Drill"
A letter from Eve Ensler, the American playwright, performer, feminist and activist best known for "The Vagina Monologues." I checked the validity of this on Snopes.com before posting it.
I am having Sarah Palin nightmares. I dreamt last night that she was a member of a club where they rode snowmobiles and wore the claws of drowned and starved polar bears around their necks. I have a particular thing for Polar Bears. Maybe it's their snowy whiteness or their bigness or the fact that they live in the arctic or that I have never seen one in person or touched one. Maybe it is the fact that they live so comfortably on ice. Whatever it is, I need the polar bears.
I don't like raging at women. I am a Feminist and have spent my life trying to build community, help empower women and stop violence against them. It is hard to write about Sarah Palin. This is why the Sarah Palin choice was all the more insidious and cynical. The people who made this choice count on the goodness and solidarity of Feminists.
But everything Sarah Palin believes in and practices is antithetical to Feminism which for me is part of one story -- connected to saving the earth, ending racism, empowering women, giving young girls options, opening our minds, deepening tolerance, and ending violence and war.
I believe that the McCain/Palin ticket is one of the most dangerous choices of my lifetime, and should this country choose those candidates the fall-out may be so great, the destruction so vast in so many areas that America may never recover. But what is equally disturbing is the impact that duo would have on the rest of the world. Unfortunately, this is not a joke. In my lifetime I have seen the clownish, the inept, the bizarre be elected to the presidency with regularity.
Sarah Palin does not believe in evolution. I take this as a metaphor. In her world and the world of Fundamentalists nothing changes or gets better or evolves. She does not believe in global warming. The melting of the arctic, the storms that are destroying our cities, the pollution and rise of cancers, are all part of God's plan. She is fighting to take the polar bears off the endangered species list. The earth, in Palin's view, is here to be taken and plundered. The wolves and the bears are here to be shot and plundered. The oil is here to be taken and plundered. Iraq is here to be taken and plundered. As she said herself of the Iraqi war, "It was a task from God."
Sarah Palin does not believe in abortion. She does not believe women who are raped and incested and ripped open against their will should have a right to determine whether they have their rapist's baby or not.
She obviously does not believe in sex education or birth control. I imagine her daughter was practicing abstinence and we know how many babies that makes.
Sarah Palin does not much believe in thinking. From what I gather she has tried to ban books from the library, has a tendency to dispense with people who think independently. She cannot tolerate an environment of ambiguity and difference. This is a woman who could and might very well be the next president of the United States. She would govern one of the most diverse populations on the earth.
Sarah believes in guns. She has her own custom Austrian hunting rifle. She has been known to kill 40 caribou at a clip. She has shot hundreds of wolves from the air.
Sarah believes in God. That is of course her right, her private right. But when God and Guns come together in the public sector, when war is declared in God's name, when the rights of women are denied in his name, that is the end of separation of church and state and the undoing of everything America has ever tried to be.
I write to my sisters. I write because I believe we hold this election in our hands. This vote is a vote that will determine the future not just of the U.S., but of the planet. It will determine whether we create policies to save the earth or make it forever uninhabitable for humans. It will determine whether we move towards dialogue and diplomacy in the world or whether we escalate violence through invasion, undermining and attack. It will determine whether we go for oil, strip mining, coal burning or invest our money in alternatives that will free us from dependency and destruction. It will determine if money gets spent on education and healthcare or whether we build more and more methods of killing. It will determine whether America is a free open tolerant society or a closed place of fear, fundamentalism and aggression.
If the Polar Bears don't move you to go and do everything in your power to get Obama elected then consider the chant that filled the hall after Palin spoke at the RNC, "Drill Drill Drill." I think of teeth when I think of drills. I think of rape. I think of destruction. I think of domination. I think of military exercises that force mindless repetition, emptying the brain of analysis, doubt, ambiguity or dissent. I think of pain.
Do we want a future of drilling? More holes in the ozone, in the floor of the sea, more holes in our thinking, in the trust between nations and peoples, more holes in the fabric of this precious thing we call life?
Amen, sister!
I am having Sarah Palin nightmares. I dreamt last night that she was a member of a club where they rode snowmobiles and wore the claws of drowned and starved polar bears around their necks. I have a particular thing for Polar Bears. Maybe it's their snowy whiteness or their bigness or the fact that they live in the arctic or that I have never seen one in person or touched one. Maybe it is the fact that they live so comfortably on ice. Whatever it is, I need the polar bears.
I don't like raging at women. I am a Feminist and have spent my life trying to build community, help empower women and stop violence against them. It is hard to write about Sarah Palin. This is why the Sarah Palin choice was all the more insidious and cynical. The people who made this choice count on the goodness and solidarity of Feminists.
But everything Sarah Palin believes in and practices is antithetical to Feminism which for me is part of one story -- connected to saving the earth, ending racism, empowering women, giving young girls options, opening our minds, deepening tolerance, and ending violence and war.
I believe that the McCain/Palin ticket is one of the most dangerous choices of my lifetime, and should this country choose those candidates the fall-out may be so great, the destruction so vast in so many areas that America may never recover. But what is equally disturbing is the impact that duo would have on the rest of the world. Unfortunately, this is not a joke. In my lifetime I have seen the clownish, the inept, the bizarre be elected to the presidency with regularity.
Sarah Palin does not believe in evolution. I take this as a metaphor. In her world and the world of Fundamentalists nothing changes or gets better or evolves. She does not believe in global warming. The melting of the arctic, the storms that are destroying our cities, the pollution and rise of cancers, are all part of God's plan. She is fighting to take the polar bears off the endangered species list. The earth, in Palin's view, is here to be taken and plundered. The wolves and the bears are here to be shot and plundered. The oil is here to be taken and plundered. Iraq is here to be taken and plundered. As she said herself of the Iraqi war, "It was a task from God."
Sarah Palin does not believe in abortion. She does not believe women who are raped and incested and ripped open against their will should have a right to determine whether they have their rapist's baby or not.
She obviously does not believe in sex education or birth control. I imagine her daughter was practicing abstinence and we know how many babies that makes.
Sarah Palin does not much believe in thinking. From what I gather she has tried to ban books from the library, has a tendency to dispense with people who think independently. She cannot tolerate an environment of ambiguity and difference. This is a woman who could and might very well be the next president of the United States. She would govern one of the most diverse populations on the earth.
Sarah believes in guns. She has her own custom Austrian hunting rifle. She has been known to kill 40 caribou at a clip. She has shot hundreds of wolves from the air.
Sarah believes in God. That is of course her right, her private right. But when God and Guns come together in the public sector, when war is declared in God's name, when the rights of women are denied in his name, that is the end of separation of church and state and the undoing of everything America has ever tried to be.
I write to my sisters. I write because I believe we hold this election in our hands. This vote is a vote that will determine the future not just of the U.S., but of the planet. It will determine whether we create policies to save the earth or make it forever uninhabitable for humans. It will determine whether we move towards dialogue and diplomacy in the world or whether we escalate violence through invasion, undermining and attack. It will determine whether we go for oil, strip mining, coal burning or invest our money in alternatives that will free us from dependency and destruction. It will determine if money gets spent on education and healthcare or whether we build more and more methods of killing. It will determine whether America is a free open tolerant society or a closed place of fear, fundamentalism and aggression.
If the Polar Bears don't move you to go and do everything in your power to get Obama elected then consider the chant that filled the hall after Palin spoke at the RNC, "Drill Drill Drill." I think of teeth when I think of drills. I think of rape. I think of destruction. I think of domination. I think of military exercises that force mindless repetition, emptying the brain of analysis, doubt, ambiguity or dissent. I think of pain.
Do we want a future of drilling? More holes in the ozone, in the floor of the sea, more holes in our thinking, in the trust between nations and peoples, more holes in the fabric of this precious thing we call life?
Amen, sister!
8.06.2008
"Thanks, Old Dude"
My opinion of Paris Hilton has just increased ten-fold in a matter of a 1-minute and 50-second "Funny or Die" clip. I wonder what Britney will come up with.
BTW - Did you know that Paris' parents are contributors to the McCain campaign? How's that for pissing in your Wheaties?
See more Paris Hilton videos at Funny or Die
BTW - Did you know that Paris' parents are contributors to the McCain campaign? How's that for pissing in your Wheaties?
12.09.2006
No Child Left Behind
THE FOOTBALL VERSION*
1. All teams must make the state playoffs and all MUST win the championship. If a team does not win the championship, they will be on probation until they are the champions, and coaches will be held accountable. If, after two years, they have not won the championship their footballs and equipment will be taken away UNTIL they do win the championship.
2. All kids will be expected to have the same football skills at the same time even if they do not have the same conditions or opportunities to practice on their own. NO exceptions will be made for lack of interest in football, a desire to perform athletically, or genetic abilities or disabilities of themselves or their parents.ALL KIDS WILL PLAY FOOTBALL AT A PROFICIENT LEVEL!
3. Talented players will be asked to workout on their own, without instruction. This is because the coaches will be using all their instructional time with the athletes who aren't interested in football, have limited athletic ability or whose parents don't likefootball.
4. Games will be played year round, but statistics will only be kept in the 4th, 8th, and 11th game. It will create a New Age of Sports where every school is expected to have the same level of talent and all teams will reach the same minimum goals. If no child gets ahead, then no child gets left behind. If parents do not like this new law, they are encouraged to vote for vouchers and support private schools that can screen out the non-athletes and prevent their children from having to go to school with bad football players.
*I can not take credit for creating this... It was forwarded to me from a friend and the author is unknown.
12.04.2006
Presidential Predictions
Dave and I were having a conversation over the weekend, and I'd like your input, too. Please participate in this little survey, if you don't mind.
Do you think that there will be:
Do you think that there will be:
- A woman president OR
- An African-American president first?
Okay, then... I guess that is assuming that it will be an African-American before another minority. Do you think that the first minority (perhaps soon to be non-minority) president will be:
- An African-American OR
- A Mexican-American OR
- An Asian-American OR
- A different ethnicity/nationality?
And it isn't just about race. What about sexual orientation? Do you think that:
- A male homosexual OR
- A female homosexual will be the first elected president?
And, finally, let's throw religion in there, just to make sure that I can try to include everyone. Do you think that there will be:
- A Jewish president OR
- A Mormon president OR
- A Muslim president OR
- Another (non-Protestant, non-Catholic) president first?
I'm interested to hear your input.
11.08.2006
One more political ad...
This clip is only 38 seconds long and I promise that it will make you laugh!
Hooray for the elections finally being over!
11.07.2006
Watching the returns...
So, Dave's down in Jeff City celebrating his brother's birthday... (Happy Birthday, Ron!)
My Tuesday night included cleaning my apartment, ordering a pizza, surfing the net, and watching the election returns on The Daily Show's "Midterm Midtacular."
My Tuesday night included cleaning my apartment, ordering a pizza, surfing the net, and watching the election returns on The Daily Show's "Midterm Midtacular."
Don't tell Dave about the pizza, okay? But, I didn't have any food in my fridge!
Gotta love the square beyond compare!
Election Day...
Normally, I simply "select all" and "delete" the messages from my junk e-mail box. Today, as I scrolled through the list of senders, I noticed that I had a message from none other than President George W. Bush!
"Laura and I urge you to vote Republican and to ask all your family and friends to go to the polls. The stakes are too high for you to stay at home."
As I scrolled a little further, another message caught my eye. This one was from President Bill Clinton.
"We need every Democrat, every volunteer, and every vote. Because when the stakes are this high, we can't be satisfied with merely being right. We have to win."
Apparently, the stakes are high during this election.
I had several other e-mails regarding the election, too:
"The President is committed to winning Republican victories at all levels and we are criss-crossing the country campaigning for GOP candidates and spreading our message. But with precious little time remaining, our President needs your help today, too." ~Laura Bush
"America wants change. We want an end to the disgraceful lies and the astonishing incompetence. We want a government that won't sell out our children's future to enrich the wealthy and the well-connected." ~Senator Chuck Schumer
"Same-sex marriage was legalized by the Massachusetts state Supreme Court in 2004. Please join with us in our fight to insure that more children are raised in a home with a mother and a father!" ~Matt Daniels, President of Alliance for Marriage
"Your vote and your support are critical and very well might make the difference between a Senate that continues to make America safer and stronger - and a Senate run by Hillary Clinton, Ted Kennedy and their liberal special interests." ~Senator Jim Talent
I'm not sure how I became so lucky to get on all of the mailing lists from both of the major political parties in the U.S., but reading their e-mails today is too little, too late for my vote. I voted absentee yesterday.
On another note of the political nature...
Today Missouri is voting on Amendment 2, which is in regard to stem cell research. This amendment has made national news with the advertisements in the state for and against the measure with Michael J. Fox supporting it, Rush Limbaugh bashing him for doing so, and Kurt Warner and Jeff Suppan participating in a rebuttal ad.
Many of the people who are voting on Amendment 2, both for and against it, are extremely ill-informed about what the measure actually means.
I find it extremely disheartening that the American public does not take the time to find out the facts about the issues before making a vote. Much of the religious right is against Amendment 2, citing their opposition to abortion. The truth is that stem cell research and abortion are unrelated in terms of this amendment. Also, the amendment is simply providing specific regulations and provisions for stem cell research that is already protected under federal law.
But, my guess would be that most people did not take the time to actually read the amendment. It is pretty clear about the issues that people are trying to muddy.
My guess is that Amendment 2 will not pass, because as a friend so accurately said, "Missouri is just as backwards as Kansas."
By the way... If you don't vote, I am prohibiting you to comment on this post. Because if you don't take the time to get your ass out and vote, then you are actively giving up your right to have an opinion.
EDIT: MISSOURI IS NOT AS BACKWARDS AS KANSAS! THE STEM CELL INITIATIVE PASSED BY A SMALL MARGIN, BUT ENOUGH TO GET THE AMENDMENT ON THE BOOKS. WHO KNEW???
"Laura and I urge you to vote Republican and to ask all your family and friends to go to the polls. The stakes are too high for you to stay at home."
As I scrolled a little further, another message caught my eye. This one was from President Bill Clinton.
"We need every Democrat, every volunteer, and every vote. Because when the stakes are this high, we can't be satisfied with merely being right. We have to win."
Apparently, the stakes are high during this election.
I had several other e-mails regarding the election, too:
"The President is committed to winning Republican victories at all levels and we are criss-crossing the country campaigning for GOP candidates and spreading our message. But with precious little time remaining, our President needs your help today, too." ~Laura Bush
"America wants change. We want an end to the disgraceful lies and the astonishing incompetence. We want a government that won't sell out our children's future to enrich the wealthy and the well-connected." ~Senator Chuck Schumer
"Same-sex marriage was legalized by the Massachusetts state Supreme Court in 2004. Please join with us in our fight to insure that more children are raised in a home with a mother and a father!" ~Matt Daniels, President of Alliance for Marriage
"Your vote and your support are critical and very well might make the difference between a Senate that continues to make America safer and stronger - and a Senate run by Hillary Clinton, Ted Kennedy and their liberal special interests." ~Senator Jim Talent
I'm not sure how I became so lucky to get on all of the mailing lists from both of the major political parties in the U.S., but reading their e-mails today is too little, too late for my vote. I voted absentee yesterday.
*************
Warning: If you are easily offended or
extremely close-minded in terms of political issues,
do not read further!
************
extremely close-minded in terms of political issues,
do not read further!
************
On another note of the political nature...
Today Missouri is voting on Amendment 2, which is in regard to stem cell research. This amendment has made national news with the advertisements in the state for and against the measure with Michael J. Fox supporting it, Rush Limbaugh bashing him for doing so, and Kurt Warner and Jeff Suppan participating in a rebuttal ad.Many of the people who are voting on Amendment 2, both for and against it, are extremely ill-informed about what the measure actually means.
I find it extremely disheartening that the American public does not take the time to find out the facts about the issues before making a vote. Much of the religious right is against Amendment 2, citing their opposition to abortion. The truth is that stem cell research and abortion are unrelated in terms of this amendment. Also, the amendment is simply providing specific regulations and provisions for stem cell research that is already protected under federal law.
But, my guess would be that most people did not take the time to actually read the amendment. It is pretty clear about the issues that people are trying to muddy.
My guess is that Amendment 2 will not pass, because as a friend so accurately said, "Missouri is just as backwards as Kansas."
***************
By the way... If you don't vote, I am prohibiting you to comment on this post. Because if you don't take the time to get your ass out and vote, then you are actively giving up your right to have an opinion.EDIT: MISSOURI IS NOT AS BACKWARDS AS KANSAS! THE STEM CELL INITIATIVE PASSED BY A SMALL MARGIN, BUT ENOUGH TO GET THE AMENDMENT ON THE BOOKS. WHO KNEW???
7.25.2006
I was baptized Catholic.
I received my First Communion in the Episcopal Church.
I was confirmed as a Lutheran.
However, since I left high school, religion has not been a big part of my life. I am spiritual in a way that works for me. I choose not to attend church services. I've been extremely disillusioned by people in the world who claim religion as the excuse to be intolerant pricks and war mongers.
Even as a young child, I remember getting into heated debates at the Baptist Vacation Bible School that I would attend. "How was it fair that just because a person is born in another part of the world, they would go to hell because they weren't born into a Christian family?" I would challenge. No answer was ever good enough for me.
Currently, the Episcopal Church is under a lot of heat for their "liberal" stance on issues such as allowing both women and homosexuals to be members of the clergy. Time Magazine did one of their "10 Questions" interviews with Katharine Jefferts Schori, a woman who has recently been elected as the Presiding Bishop for the USA. Read the article here.
Two of my favorite questions and answers in the article:
What is your view on intelligent design?
I firmly believe that evolution ought to be taught in the schools as the best witness of what modern science has taught us. To try to read the Bible literalistically about such issues disinvites us from using the best of recent scholarship.
Is belief in Jesus the only way to get to heaven?
We who practice the Christian tradition understand him as our vehicle to the divine. But for us to assume that God could not act in other ways is, I think, to put God in an awfully small box.
It is nice to see a religious leader who is sane enough to recognize that there is a real world out there and that trying to encompass all of it within the realm of theology causes us to discount a big part of what the universe is all about.
Almost makes me want to wake up early on Sunday morning and go to church.
I received my First Communion in the Episcopal Church.
I was confirmed as a Lutheran.
However, since I left high school, religion has not been a big part of my life. I am spiritual in a way that works for me. I choose not to attend church services. I've been extremely disillusioned by people in the world who claim religion as the excuse to be intolerant pricks and war mongers.
Even as a young child, I remember getting into heated debates at the Baptist Vacation Bible School that I would attend. "How was it fair that just because a person is born in another part of the world, they would go to hell because they weren't born into a Christian family?" I would challenge. No answer was ever good enough for me.
Currently, the Episcopal Church is under a lot of heat for their "liberal" stance on issues such as allowing both women and homosexuals to be members of the clergy. Time Magazine did one of their "10 Questions" interviews with Katharine Jefferts Schori, a woman who has recently been elected as the Presiding Bishop for the USA. Read the article here.
Two of my favorite questions and answers in the article:
What is your view on intelligent design?
I firmly believe that evolution ought to be taught in the schools as the best witness of what modern science has taught us. To try to read the Bible literalistically about such issues disinvites us from using the best of recent scholarship.
Is belief in Jesus the only way to get to heaven?
We who practice the Christian tradition understand him as our vehicle to the divine. But for us to assume that God could not act in other ways is, I think, to put God in an awfully small box.
It is nice to see a religious leader who is sane enough to recognize that there is a real world out there and that trying to encompass all of it within the realm of theology causes us to discount a big part of what the universe is all about.
Almost makes me want to wake up early on Sunday morning and go to church.
5.06.2006
Cultural Diversity???
Here's an interesting story...
A parent decides that she is distressed that the public school her children attend calls the two-week vacation at the end of December 'Winter Break' instead of 'Christmas Break.'
Last year, she listened to commentators, particularly Bill O'Reilly of the Fox network, who criticized stores and public institutions for not recognizing Christmas.
"Christmas is being virtually wiped out," she said. "This is a tradition. . . . It is a part of the American culture."
So, the woman contacts the school board and presses for them to change the name of the break on the district calendar. Thursday night, the school board voted 4-3 to approve the change. The district will now have an official "Christmas Break."
One of the board members who voted AGAINST the change is a local pastor.
"I believe in democracy," he said. "I do not believe in theocracy ... This is a public institution, and we should try not to offend people."
I find it interesting that a pastor can see the point of wanting to include all segments of the population that attend school within that district, however, some pusillanimous egoists feel that their way is the MOST important, to the exclusion of others.
When I was in elementary school, I remember reading an essay which described America as a "melting pot" of people, with many different cultures coming together and becoming one. Since then, that analogy has become rather outdated, with the newest comparison being to a "garden salad" - different types of cultures coming together to create a diverse society with each embracing its own identity.
My personal feeling is that the school board should stay out of it. If a family chooses to call it "Christmas Break," "Hannukah Holidays," or "Ramadan Retreat" within their home, more power to them.
How boring would the world be if we always expected everybody to be exactly the same?
Click Here: The Original Article
Click Here: The Follow-Up
A parent decides that she is distressed that the public school her children attend calls the two-week vacation at the end of December 'Winter Break' instead of 'Christmas Break.'
Last year, she listened to commentators, particularly Bill O'Reilly of the Fox network, who criticized stores and public institutions for not recognizing Christmas.
"Christmas is being virtually wiped out," she said. "This is a tradition. . . . It is a part of the American culture."
So, the woman contacts the school board and presses for them to change the name of the break on the district calendar. Thursday night, the school board voted 4-3 to approve the change. The district will now have an official "Christmas Break."
One of the board members who voted AGAINST the change is a local pastor.
"I believe in democracy," he said. "I do not believe in theocracy ... This is a public institution, and we should try not to offend people."
I find it interesting that a pastor can see the point of wanting to include all segments of the population that attend school within that district, however, some pusillanimous egoists feel that their way is the MOST important, to the exclusion of others.
When I was in elementary school, I remember reading an essay which described America as a "melting pot" of people, with many different cultures coming together and becoming one. Since then, that analogy has become rather outdated, with the newest comparison being to a "garden salad" - different types of cultures coming together to create a diverse society with each embracing its own identity.
My personal feeling is that the school board should stay out of it. If a family chooses to call it "Christmas Break," "Hannukah Holidays," or "Ramadan Retreat" within their home, more power to them.
How boring would the world be if we always expected everybody to be exactly the same?
Click Here: The Original Article
Click Here: The Follow-Up
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