I don't know Arabic, so I will trust your translation. I have zero problem with someone merely wishing me peace in any language. It's when they want God/Allah/Buddha/Flying Spaghetti Monster to create that peace for me that my craw starts to stick.


Well, maybe someone wishing that last deity bless me would make me giggle.

I don't agree with it, but apparently school policies trump student's free-speech rights on a constant basis. What planet have you been living on?

Free speech does not mean "You have the right to say whatever the fvck you want, whenever the fvck you want, without consequence." It means "You have the right to say whatever the fvck you want, whenever the fvck you want, without censure from the government."

I can't run around work screaming at the top of my longs that I hate every single person who works there and expect no repercussions. All I can expect is to not get arrested for it. I can surely be told to shut the fvck up, and I can be fired. That is not a violation of my free speech rights.

Being told "What you are saying is not appropriate for the setting you're in" is not a violation of free speech rights. It's civility.

Which makes me wonder why GD hates Long's so much.
:D

Sorry, couldn't resist. That's what 3 hours of sleep does to me.

If the school were a private organization then that would be completely true.

But if the government (in the form of the public school) is going to bar speech based purely on the content of it (which is what is happening if they're told they can't write scripture but can write other things) then they need to have a reason beyond simple civility.

That reason would be that the cheerleaders are somehow acting as representatives of the state and therefore there sign is establishment. I disagree. I suspect that the Supreme Court would agree (that is shouldn't be allowed) though I don't know if this particular level of remove has been ligitaged. They've certainly spoken on what the football coaches can do.

I agree that being all religious about running onto the field is obnoxious. But I think it is a very significant step to go from "politesse suggests you not do this" to "you will not be allowed to do this."

No, but if you are allowed to run around screaming on the street, they can't bar you just because what you scream happens to be religious.

I went back and read the original article that was linked in the OP.

I guess it is all about Jesus in that town, and majority does indeed rule.

So - Christian posters okay - Wiccan (and other) posters not???

How is this okay?

That's not what the school district's statement said. It was explaining that they wouldn't allow Christian messages just like they wouldn't allow other religious messages.

I took part in a prayer circle before a basketball game that I was coaching last MLK Day because our hosts were a private Christian school. I participated in the prayer because it does me no harm or inconvenience to do so. And I knew when we scheduled the exhibition game against a Christian school that there would be prayer. It's kinda part of the deal with those schools. Also, our hosts were kind enough to invite anyone who did not want to participate to step outside, no judgements attached. Cool people like that, I'll go along to get along. Why not?

Take the same situation at a public school, and I would have walked my team off the court until the nonsense was over. A very silent, very public protest, if you will.

You're right, Alex. I misread the context of the quote.