Republican Horrified to Discover that Christianity is Not the Only Religion

[HarveyDarkey]

It's an honest mistake, assuming that the Constitution only protects your own personal megachurch faith. But one Louisiana Republican is learning the hard way that religious school vouchers can be used to fund education at all sorts of religious schools, even Muslim ones. And while she's totally in favor of taxpayer money being used to pay for kids to go to Christian schools, she's willing to put a stop to the entire program if Muslim schools are going to be involved.

Valarie Hodges admitted that when she supported Governor Bobby Jindal's school voucher program, she only did so because she assumed the religious school vouchers could only be used for Christian schools. Religious freedom means that everyone's free to follow Valarie Hodges' religion! She explains,

I actually support funding for teaching the fundamentals of America's Founding Fathers' religion, which is Christianity, in public schools or private schools. I liked the idea of giving parents the option of sending their children to a public school or a Christian school.

Snip>

Whoa! Record scratch sound! Dishes breaking! Islam is a religion protected by the constitution, too? No one told Valarie Hodges anything about religions being equal under the law! She can't support any sort of anything that could learn to families using taxpayer money to educate their kids in Islamic schools. She added Bachmannesquely,

We need to insure that it does not open the door to fund radical Islam schools. There are a thousand Muslim schools that have sprung up recently. I do not support using public funds for teaching Islam anywhere here in Louisiana.

http://jezebel.com/5923898/republican-horrified-to-discover-that-christianity-is-not-the-only-religion

[PDJane]

1. That's a very specific variety of willful ignorance.

[warrant46]

67. A Sea Cucumber has more intelligence than this Legislative specimen

[rurallib]

2. I bet truth be told there are probably many Xtians she wouldn't support either

and she may want to check out that thing about the founding fathers religion(s).

[zipplewrath]

33. There's alot she probably doesn't know

She might not understand alot of what these guys believed. It might get her in trouble with the Catholics. When the constitution was being debated, there were attempts to figure out how to prevent Catholics from holding federal offices. Truth is, that later on in our history, the inspiration in some areas for public schooling was that alot of private schools were run by the Catholics and people wanted an alternative.

I do wonder if she objected to these vouchers being used at Jewish runs schools.

[WestSeattle2]

3. Anyone this cerebrally challenged should not hold public office. It's time for IQ tests.

[d_r]

5. *VOTING*

is *supposed* to take care of that

[yesphan]

79. Three words

Gerry mander ing.

[d_r]

87. I wish I had a like button

for your post

[Rebl]

14. I agree

totally! Better yet, how about they have to pass a test on the constitution before they can run for a federal office. State legislators would have to pass a test of their state's constitution.

[Caretha]

18. I also support

making them walk across hot coals while swearing they understand "equality" after they have passed the IQ test.

[marew]

21. No wonder the GOTP is against post high school education!

Remember when Santorum called the President a 'snob' for valuing higher education? They don't want their members to be "too smart" but rather they should believe everything that Glenn Beck, Pat Robertson, and a bunch of other ejits say!
How could anyone be that stupid????

[QuestForSense]

23. I think this dummy should be forced to take the Louisiana “Literacy” Test.

That's the test Louisiana gave to black voters in the 1960s. It's a doozy! Check it out:

http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_vault/2013/06/28/voting_rights_and_the_supreme_court_the_impossible_literacy_test_louisiana.html?google_editors_picks=true

[maddiemom]

75. Long past time.

[MisterP]

4. yes, what does she think about the country of Islam?

[OffWithTheirHeads]

6. They don't teach geography in Glennbeckistan.

[MisterP]

12. kosher's okay, though, 'cos Jews worship Jesus

[Squinch]

51. And I bet she thinks anyone who speaks Islam and not English better learn English now!

She's not going to tolerate any Islamic language labels on stuff, no sir!

[maddiemom]

76. I once worked a job on the phones with a young (Black) college student from Africa

She spoke several languages well, including her grandparents' tribal language. She also had a good grasp of several other languages that she didn't speak so well (such as our students might gain from high school classes). A few (thankfully not many) of the "American " kids ragged her about her accented English. As a teacher, this caused me quite a bit of irritation, and I certainly took those kids privately to task. U.S. exceptionalism at work. I'd have hoped working alongside a number of foreign students would have broadened their horizons. To be fair, it did so to many others.

[Squinch]

82. A close friend of mine is African. Can't tell you how many times I have

heard people ask her if she speaks African.

Oy. Our insularity and ignorance are embarrassing sometimes.

[Brainstormy]

83. Oh, I believe it

My mother, the child of white Russian emigrants, was born in Shanghai. I've been told a hundred times that I don't look Chinese.

[Rain Mcloud]

60. Islam,is that over in Jefferson Parish

near the corner of Patriot and Destrehan Ave. in Harvey Louisiana?

[rustydog]

7. It is scary that these "people" are able to procreate

They lack the intellectual capability to see that THEIR brand of religion is just as blind, hateful and violent as the supposed evil Muslim religion.

How did so many Republicans become so fucking ignorant, stupid and powerful?

[PowerToThePeople]

31. Powerful - Because they lack any morals that would

stop them from abusing their fellow human being for personal gain. Because they lack any morals that would stop them from destroying the environment for personal gain.

Because they lack Morals.

[LisaLynne]

8. Yeah, I wondered when that idea was going to occur to them ... nt

[Shrike47]

9. I wonder what her stand is on Catholic School?

When I was a kid, that was the only religious school around.

[Thinkingabout]

10. I bet she thought only the SBC schools was going to be funded, ha, guess little ms missionary has

To face the hard cold truth.

[nyquil_man]

11. "There are a thousand Muslim schools that have sprung up recently."

This page only found 278.

http://www.theisla.org/page.php/SchoolSearchResults_Map?all_schools=all_schools

On edit: Only five are listed in Louisiana.

[surrealAmerican]

25. She's no better at math than she is at civics.

I wonder what school she graduated from.

[gtar100]

13. You have to understand, Valarie is under the threat of eternal damnation. If she shows any support

for another religion, she may be cast into the Lake of Fire for eternity. So this way of thinking is really because God is coercing her to abandon all reason and knowledge through horrific threats of eternal pain and anguish.

So it's not her fault for being this way. It's God's fault.

[Caretha]

20. That was good

Sarcasm and brevity in one post.

[Arugula Latte]

34. Yahweh is a loving invisible sky god...

until he smites your sorry ass.

[opiate69]

53. He'll fuck you up, doncha know?

http://m.

[Arugula Latte]

54. Ha ha! I think kids should sing that around the campfire at Christian summer camps.

[opiate69]

56. lok.. I think I would pay to see that!

[Tyrs WolfDaemon]

55. I just sent the video link to my dad

He is doing a Catholic Deacon Conference this coming weekend

and I suggested that we get my sister to sing this for them all.


Don't worry, he'll appreciate the humor.




Now as to my sister - she won't.

[opiate69]

57. Haha! Sounds like a cool dad, for sure!

[sulphurdunn]

62. lol

[toby jo]

15. Fear. She's spent her adult life filling up on it. Now nothing works.

[azurnoir]

16. well so after all this time they finally figured out what

Judeo-Christian means

[Bernardo de La Paz]

17. She's stupid and ignorant.

Like too many Republicans.

[AsahinaKimi]

19. Well of course, She is a bigot...

She probably believes America was formed as a Christian Nation. GOD FORBID that any muslims, hindus, buddhists, Jews, or Atheists are cut a break. After all, don't they all follow Satan?

SMH..the Stupid is strong with this one.

[DallasNE]

22. She Must Have Been Home Schooled

Because she sure doesn't understand either history or government, making one wonder how she could have even graduated from High School. How else could she have so stupidly proclaimed that our Founding Fathers' religion was Christianity or that you can write laws specific to one religion. While some Founding Fathers were Christians a very sizable number were Deist's. (Washington, Jefferson, Madison and Franklin, to name a few).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_deists

[HarveyDarkey]

27. Not just Deists but atheists/agnostics also

I doubt she's ever read "The Age of Reason".

[awoke_in_2003]

50. Those facts are being removed from public school books...

thanks to Texas.

[DallasNE]

61. While Unfortunate

She is of an age where that should not have been true.

[AAO]

24. Brainwashed and braindamaged.

[asjr]

26. This is one of the most frightening aspects

about the people who run for Republican office. And probably some Democrats also. They do not realize they are ignorant. And they are voted into political office by ignorance.

[heaven05]

28. good

hope her head explodes with all the information she must research and learn about ALL religions. I hope the Islamic schools do get money for vouchers. Man! That's a rich one to think about. You go Valerie!

[Renew Deal]

29. Valarie Hodges is a bigot

"I do not support using public funds for teaching Islam anywhere here in Louisiana."

[bread_and_roses]

30. Do I laugh or cry?

How does someone get through the public schools even in benighted Louisiana without understanding no "establishment of religion?"

[Hekate]

47. They skip that part, or she skipped that day, or she was home-schooled

An amazing number of citizens have no clue.

[tblue37]

48. Creationist politicians explicitly claim that the Constitution does NOT

separate church and state.

Here in Kansas they made that ignorant claim all the time while trying to force schools to teach Intelligent Design, which is just another version of creationism.

[Saviolo]

32. Honestly...

I came to this thread expecting an article from The Onion.

Well, just goes to show, satire is dead because real life has not only caught up, but -surpassed- the satirical headlines of The Onion.

[blackspade]

35. What a total dumbass.

[Initech]

36. Did that model who was on "The Newsroom" get elected?

[WoodyD]

37. "Bachmannesquely"

This is my new favorite word.

[Plucketeer]

38. Well, as dunces go....

she's got a nice smile!

[KamaAina]

39. As I recall, New Orleans has a neighborhood called "Algiers"

and the whole city is sometimes called the "Crescent City".

Coincidence? I think not. Behind all the jazz and gumbo and go-cups lurks a sinister Muslim conspiracy to convert Louisiana to Islam and impose Shari'a law.

[cbayer]

40. She withdrew her support for the voucher program shortly after this story hit last year.

[MrScorpio]

41. This woman is a special kind of ignorant. I call it "Ignint"

And just like most other ignint Xstian fundies, she's quite hateful too.

Go, Republicans!

[Beartracks]

45. lol "Ignint Murkans"

Fewer syllables FTW.



======================

[yellowcanine]

42. "I ... support... teaching....America's Founding Fathers' religion..." Would leave out Jews,

not to mention Primitive Baptists, Amish, Mennonites, Schenkenfelters and Moravians. Not to many founding fathers there.

[YOHABLO]

65. Many were Diests !! Look it up

[yellowcanine]

66. I did. Most Founding Fathers were not Deist. Not even close.

Mostly Congregationalist, Episcopalians and Presbyterians. Deists are actually fairly rare - I could only find three, including Jefferson and Franklin, and they are also listed as Episcopalian, as is the third one, Cornelius Harnett. There were also three Unitarians, which some equate with Deist. But even with that, it is six out of 204 signers of the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation and Delegates to the Constitutional Convention of 1787, commonly accepted by historians as the list which includes almost all of the Founding Fathers. I think Washington might not be in there but he was Episcopalian.

http://www.adherents.com/gov/Founding_Fathers_Religion.html

[Dustlawyer]

43. I always tell these types that yes, we should have school prayer! My good friend who is a Wiccan

would love to teach her kindergardeners how to pray to the Devil! This always makes their heads explode!

[tblue37]

49. Wiccans do NOT pray to the devil. The "religion" that worships Satan

is Satanism. Wiccans worship nature, the earth, the mother goddess.

Christians are the ones who falsely equate Wicca with Satanism. Wiccans don't even have Satan in their religion, for the same reason that Christianity doesn't include Aapollo or Coyote. Those beings are part of completely different pantheons. There is no overlap.

[Dustlawyer]

74. My apologies!

[tblue37]

77. No need to apologize to me--I am not a Wiccan.

I'm an agnostic.

But I do hate to see a gentle, ecologically responsible religion labeled with a label that was stuck to them by persecuting Christians, who then used the smear to torture and murder innocent people.

Even in the present some Christians feel justified in harassing Wiccans and even discriminating against them or physically attacking them because they believe them to be evil devil worshippers.

You can still use the same lesson for your Christian interlocutors, though. Just tell them that your Wiccan friend would like to teach their kids to perform Wiccan ceremonies and prayers, and your Muslim friends look forward to encouraging their kids to face Mecca and pray several times a day.

Also tell them cheerfully that by being exposed to all kinds of different religious practices in school, their Christian children will have sufficient knowledge and experience to make their own choice about what to believe--or whether to follow any religion at all!

Then you could ponder for a moment and muse aloud, "I wonder whether Satanism will also be taught in schools. I do believe it is recognized as a genuine religion, so I suppose they really can't exclude it, either."

[Marrah_G]

58. We don't believe in the Devil, that is a Christian thing

[AnotherMcIntosh]

81. And a Mormon thing, brothers even.

[niyad]

93. if your friend actually said that, then she is not wiccan. we do not believe in satan, which is an

xian construct.

I would be tempted to say something like, "yes, we should have prayer in school--it will be done skyclad, of course".

[Blaspherian]

44. Save the world

Ban all religions

[Bake]

46. And the Jews, of course, can fuggedaboutit!

What an idiot!



Bake

[Lunacee_2013]

52. From the article:

"I do not support using public funds for teaching Islam".

And I do not support using public funds to teach Christianity. So there!

[tclambert]

59. Why does Jesus even allow all these other religions to exist?

If He really wants His church to be the only one, why doesn't He miracle the others out of existence, throw a few (thousand) lightning bolts, do some smiting, that sort of thing? He's awfully tolerant, if you ask me.

[npk]

89. If Jesus was alive today, people like this lady would call him a Muslim.

She would also scorn him for his beliefs on helping the poor and sick and sharing his wealth with his community. Lets not even get started on Jesus' views on taxes. Oh boy.

[Douglas Carpenter]

63. the thought never occurred to her?

[Demoiselle]

64. Thomas Jefferson (to name just one)

would be thrilled.

[joshguitar]

68. k&r amazing

[blkmusclmachine]

69. Box of rocks.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

70. Next up, she will discover Chrisianity isn't the official religion and faint.

[TexasTowelie]

71. Ramadan Mubarak, Ms. Hodges!

[Warren DeMontague]

72. Fucking Dolt.

Jesus

[radicalliberal]

73. I know the following is chiched, but . . . Well, DUH!

What a hypocritical ignorant person! So, we should have selective application of laws? She didn't see this coming? A particular group should not benefit from some recently passed law because you don't like the group? I knew this would happen years ago. Wow! So, there actually are other religions? People like her embarrass me as a Christian. Words fail me . . .

[Fortinbras Armstrong]

92. My response to people calling for posting the Ten Commandments in public schools

Starts by asking "What are the first and second commandments?" Assuming that the person knows (I have come across several who don't), the response is "I am the Lord, your God. You shall have no other gods but me." I then ask "What is the difference between posting that and posting 'There is no God but Allah and Muhammed is his prophet'?" I have yet to get a meaningful response.

[radicalliberal]

94. Under a theocracy established by flawed human beings, everyone (except the power holders) . . .

. . . eventually loses -- those who are devout as well as those who are nonbelievers. The Founding Fathers were painfully aware of this sad historical fact.

[stevenleser]

78. K&R, priceless. nt

[JRLeft]

80. No religion should be funded by our taxes.

[Chemisse]

84. She said what they all were thinking

But a tiny spark of intelligence in their primitive brains prevented them from saying.

[Rebellious Republican]

85. K&R!

[dballance]

86. Who wants to break it to her the FF's weren't all Christians?

Jefferson is a noted example. Washington wasn't a FF per se but pretty important and he wasn't either.

[Hugabear]

88. This is what all rethugs want

Rethugs say that they want freedom of religion, and that they support religion in government.

However, they really mean Christianity, not any other religions. Especially Islam.

[BillyRibs]

90. Oops,

[Rebellious Republican]

91. Hey, I bet Scientologists would love to get in the voucher program as well, Valarie!