Quote:
Originally Posted by lashbear
Maybe they can put up some nifty Westbro Baptist banners calling for the abolition of teen abortion (and warning of the dangers), and maybe some warning to any faggot players on the team that they're going to hell. After all, it IS their right to do that during a school sporting event according to the Bill Of Rights, isn't it ?  |
Well, first, those examples are hardly comparable to the butcher paper pep sign, but technically, yes, those would be within their rights. That's the great, and often messy, thing about freedom and our Constitution; everyone's voice gets to be heard, even if they're a bigoted douchebag. Why do you think Westboro keeps popping up and being such hate-mongers? Because they have a right to, regardless of how asinine their message is or where they present it. Noam Chomsky made a great comment, "If we don't believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don't believe in it at all," that, in my mind, applies perfectly here.
And, as someone else mentioned earlier, if everyone were forced to attend and repeat the phrase and pray and pass a tithing basket, then that would be an issue. But writing it on a piece of paper that the team runs through? Please. It's just a quote, that even if you're an atheist has a good message. No different than a quote from the Dalai Lama, or a comic book strip, or Lord of the Rings. Would anyone be offended by being wished, "As-Salamu Alaykum?" It means "Peace be upon you," but since it's associated with Islam, should an atheist be offended by it, or appreciate it for what it is?
Last, to be pragmatic, if this offends you (not
you Lash, generic tense of you) then so what? Show me someone who isn't offended by something every single day. I find countless things done in schools to be offensive, much more so than a saying on a piece of butcher paper at a football game, and they don't have any basis in any Judeo-Christian beliefs. They're just things that offend me, and run counter to my beliefs and morals. But do I get outraged and hurt by them? No, because in reality, I have no right to expect the world to fit perfectly into my little box of "How Jeff sees the world" or for me to live in Jeffreytopia where nothing offensive ever happens. And neither does anyone else. Somebody is offended by a Bible phrase, somebody else is offended by an atheist phrase. Somebody is offended by one symbol, somebody is offended by its absence. That's life. Let things get to you, or let people be themselves and move on. Each of us has that choice, especially at a football game.