BACKFIRED: Louisiana GOP Angry That Muslims Can Use School Vouchers

[UnrepentantLiberal]

GOP legislators in Louisiana have realized to their horror that their bill to provide vouchers for private religious schools can actually be used by Muslims.



Rep. Valarie Hodges, a Republican who represents East Baton Rouge and Livingston, now says she wishes she hadn’t voted for the Jindal voucher bill. “I actually support funding for teaching the fundamentals of America’s Founding Fathers’ religion, which is Christianity, in public schools or private schools,” Hodges told the Livingston Parish News. "I liked the idea of giving parents the option of sending their children to a public school or a Christian school,” Hodges added. The newspaper reported that she “mistakenly assumed that ‘religious’ meant ‘Christian.’” “Unfortunately it will not be limited to the Founders’ religion,” Hodges told the News. “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.”

Americans United for the Separation of Church and State writes:

Some legislators aren’t comfortable funding Muslim schools. What’s to be done? How about not establishing these programs in the first place? Let Muslims fund Muslim schools. Let Catholics fund Catholics ones. Let fundamentalist Protestants pay for the conservative Christian academies and so on.

The law has already gone into effect and provides for no state oversight regarding curriculum or educational standards.

More: http://www.joemygod.blogspot.com/2012/07/backfired-louisiana-gop-angry-that.html

[LiberalEsto]

1. Hoist on their own petards

[freshwest]

125. Couldn't happen to a dumber bunch! They won't understand the reference, though.

I guess saying, 'Haha, you just fucked yourself' is something they might understand.

But then they'd start a rant against masturbation...

Believe me, I've tried to make the fundies understand the peril of their ways.

But did they listen, Noooo...

[calimary]

137. GOOD one!

[LibertyLover]

195. Oooooh, I can help!

I'm in the SCA and we understand that whole Lord/Serf thing really well.

[freshwest]

198. Yeah, but you can leave the anachronisms when the Rennaisance Fair is over... Loved that stuff.

[Berlin Expat]

178. By the beard of the Prophet (saas)

this gives me a brilliant idea!

I'm going to establish, through the use of this program, a private, faith-based school. Perhaps I'll call it the "Ibn Sina Academy". Ibn Sina is better known to the Western World as Avicenna.

I actually personally know at least two retired Jesuits, a Sufi sheikh, and a former Chief Rabbi of Israel. I can feature them as lecturers in my comparative theology classes. And I'm sure I can use my connections in Japan to rustle up a Buddhist priest and a Shinto priest or priestess.

I'll have to hire the absolute best teachers in Math, English, History (American and World) and the Sciences. I plan to establish the highest academic standards; when our students graduate, they'll have the knowledge of a Ph.D.

I can have "debate nights". Perhaps invite prominent expounders of both creationism and Darwinian science to hold open and lively debates; I will of course, allow the students to make up their own minds as to what they choose to believe (it is after all, a faith-based school), and certainly, in Science classes, evolutionary biology will be taught.

And best of all? I'm going to set it up

Right.
In.
Her.
Congressional.
District.

Thanks, Representative Hodges!

Oh, and for an added needling, I also plan to set up a Sufi center/mosque on the premises as well. With a minaret. And I'll find a good muzzein to give the adhan, the call to prayer (but only the noon prayer, as doing that five times a day could be a bit much for the neighbors), so it can be heard all throughout her district.

I'll even invite her to the grand opening!!!

[UnrepentantLiberal]

188. Once a day?

BULLSHIT! Buy the finest speaker system available. Check that, buy crappy horns and lots of em and BLAST THAT MUSLIM CALL TO PRAYER FIVE TIMES A DAY AS IT SHOULD BE.

What I wouldn't give to have my hand on the volume knob.

[Berlin Expat]

199. LOL!!!

It would drive the Teabaggers insane! I could see them all hopping about, screaming about "It's teh evul Shariah coming to conkur us!!"

Their screams of impotent rage would be music to my ears.

[LibertyLover]

196. My dear Berlin Expat

I am an ordained Wiccan High Priestess. I would be delighted to offer lectures or a program of studies at the Ibn Sina Academy.

[Berlin Expat]

200. Outstanding! I've always

believed everyone should be well-educated on the wide variety of religious and spiritual beliefs that exist in the world.

Though I am a Muslim, my attitude has always been, and will always be, "To each their own".

[ChairmanAgnostic]

2. You racist (five letter word for a female dog)

Sorry if I offended anyone, including half the canine population.

[DBoon]

57. my female dog demands an apology

We always refer to her as "Madam Canine"

[ChairmanAgnostic]

98. apology sent. with tail and tongue wagging.

[RadiationTherapy]

89. Islam isn't a race.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

185. Tell that to the repigs.

I mean, if an ignorant repig hates Muslims because "he's a Muslim" - thinking Muslim is a race - , is he a racist or a religious bigot?

I think racist is a better catch-all because, let's face it, they hate "those people" even when they are Christian, or Hindu or Sikh.

Let's not get too tchnical....

[RadiationTherapy]

191. I am going to continue advocating for more accurate language when I can.

It was not a republican, but a DUer on a discussion board calling someone who hates muslims a racist. I think that is an appropriate opportunity to inform on this point.

[louis-t]

3. As I recall, some smart DUers saw this coming years ago.

This woman is a nutcase. “I actually support funding for teaching the fundamentals of America’s Founding Fathers’ religion, which is Christianity, in public schools or private schools,”
Where do you start with this statement? The Founding Fathers were not all Christian.

[siligut]

56. No, but now they are all Mormon, through baptism for the dead, that is

http://www.mormonchronicle.com/americas-founding-fathers-are-mormons/

“Shortly after President Kimball became President of the Church, he assigned me to go into the vault of the St. George Temple and check the early records. As I did so, I realized the fulfillment of a dream I had had ever since learning of the visit of the Founding Fathers to the St. George Temple. I saw with my own eyes the records of the work that was done for the Founding Fathers of this great nation, beginning with George Washington. Think of it, the Founding Fathers of this nation, those great men, appeared within those sacred walls and had their vicarious work done for them. President Wilford Woodruff spoke of it in these words:

“Before I left St. George, the spirits of the dead gathered around me, wanting to know why we did not redeem them. Said they, “You have had the use of the Endowment House for a number of years, and yet nothing has ever been done for us. We laid the foundation of the government you now enjoy, and we never apostatized from it, but we remained true to it and were faithful to God.” These were the signers of the Declaration of Independence, and they waited on me for two days and two nights….

“I straightway went into the baptismal font and called upon Brother McCallister to baptize me for the signers of the Declaration of Independence, and fifty other eminent men. (Discourses of Wilford Woodruff, Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1946, pp. 160-61)

Thought I would just mention this while we are talking about nutcases.

[amuse bouche]

104. Nutcases indeed

What gall these scary people have

[xfundy]

157. The Moonies do the same thing.

I recall being preached at about how the Moonies were a cult. "His name means 'sun and moon,' which is an obvious sign of Demonic activity."

But that was years ago, before Moon started supporting repigs. Nowadays, not a word is spoken against him. Repiglican politics has supplanted and replaced the religion of Christianity.

These days, most of my family thinks I am evil because I'm a "Damned librul."

I'm fine with it, honestly. I always hated to get around many of them, because they were judgmental pricks to begin with. I think that even if I were a repig I'd tell them I'm a damn librul just to get out of the "obligations" of seeing them to begin with. Luckily, I don't have to lie.

[BlueCaliDem]

58. Years ago? DECADES ago, you mean. The true reason why Righties hate social welfare

so much, isn't because they're against it for themselves. They're against it for those "lazy" black people and "social services draining" Mexicuns. Those "others" aren't worth it. They're fine with having taxpayers foot their bills, just nobody else's especially those of people of color.

This is why we scratch our head and wonder how TeaBaggers can protest universal health care and vote against their economic interests, but the answer has been there all along. All we needed to do is listen and look at their statements and lives - it's all about RACISM and their innate hatred for all things foreign.

[Posteritatis]

4. Bwahahahahahaha! (nt)

[JustAnotherGen]

5. First

I'm opposed to tax dollars - be it Fed, State, Local government going to fund ANY religious education. It basically makes me 'tithe' to a belief system I disagree with.

But that said - this is what is known as poetic justice. And she showed her ass to the world.

[Rambis]

6. "Educatin the Muslins"

Only leads to more cloth terrorists!

[pinboy3niner]

9. That sign is materially false

[Danmel]

19. you owe me a new monitor!

Brilliant!

[pinboy3niner]

130. It just hit me like a bolt...

...of Muslin.

[Roy Rolling]

44. good one

apparently, the argument on the sign is full of loopholes

[pinboy3niner]

53. That's where their argument unravels, alright

Clearly, it was made out of whole cloth to begin with.

[Fawke Em]

75. It certainly calls into question the issues looming over our nation. eom

[Tommy_Carcetti]

86. I disagree. Obama's policies closely mirror those espoused by Linen. nt

[pinboy3niner]

93. Vladimir Ilyich Linen?

[MrModerate]

172. Stop! Stop! Stop!

One more pun on the same thread and the universe will disapp

[rurallib]

208. John Linen?

[Rambis]

95. Friend of my mother called him a muslin

I said "he is a cloth terrorist" Yes he is a muslin for god sake. me " I am not scared of fabric terrorists"

[Aerows]

48. It undermines

the very fabric of our nation.

[zbdent]

128. yer linen ...

yer a fargin linen bastidge ...

[Thor_MN]

134. I'm having trouble following this thread

I don't know why I bother a Toile...

[pinboy3niner]

135. It always pays to take the measure of a thread...

...before waisting your time. But some always serge right in without thinking...

To help you out, I figured out what this thread really is about. The need for a new fabric that we might call...Morlon.

Twill we meet again...

[mia]

151. Hand-loomed morian twill

Made in America.

[xtraxritical]

42. What a moran!

[Manifestor_of_Light]

52. Is he three sheets to the wind, so to speak????

[TrogL]

67. Heresy! Abomination! You're mixing your fabrics.

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Leviticus+19%3A19&version=NIV

[tclambert]

100. I don't cotton to that belief.

[pinboy3niner]

122. Nor I. I heard Obama is 60% Rayon.

(I gotta quit peeking in on FR.)

[pinboy3niner]

138. What a load of crepe!

Crewel and unusual punishment is too good for that sign-bearer.

[AlbertCat]

139. Obama half-breed muslin

I bet he worships Satin!

[pinboy3niner]

142. Oh noes! A Satin worshipper!1!!

I think you're definitely batting 1000.

[tblue37]

154. Would that be cotton batting? It makes

good filler, you know.

[pinboy3niner]

162. Of course

It would be foulardy to think otherwise.

[Rain Mcloud]

143. This thread has gone off the hook

or is it chain?

[pinboy3niner]

145. It's 'off the hanger'

[Arugula Latte]

186. I'll be watching this issue unfold, waiting on pins and needles.

[LiberalFighter]

187. I'm totally confused

Would half-breed muslin be the same thing as saying 50% muslin and 50% cotton?

[Flashmann]

7. That's just

PRECIOUS!!!!!!!.......HAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!

[Swede Atlanta]

8. She is an ignorant woman....

If the state allows public funds to provide vouchers for students to attend religious schools then that means any school that conforms to the law's description of religious schools. I have not read the bill but one thing is certain.

They cannot write the bill in such a way as to provide vouchers if the school is Christian and is a fundamentalist snake-dancing Baptist church. They can certainly define their understanding of religion but it will be highly suspect under legal analysis. It cannot in any way discriminate among religious views and even for non-religion.

I would expect a legal analysis to support use of vouchers for an atheist school because atheism is simply the absence of theism.

These people aren't very smart are they?

[LynneSin]

10. Ignorant thinking our founding fathers were a bunch of religious nut jobs

I don't think Christianity was mentioned once in the Declaration of Independence.

[MattBaggins]

11. Pardon my french here but I have to release

Rep. Hodges; you are a stupid fucking moron.

You should have read the fucking bill you were voting on or just once turned on the damn TV. People were pointing this out to you idiots as you were drafting these steaming pile of shit. You are either an idiot or a liar who damn well knew and voted just to pander to a group and are now just trying to play the deniability card to feign surprise.

[xfundy]

163. Excellent French lesson!

Imagine my surprise when I realized I'd been speaking it for years!

Mucho merci!

[pinboy3niner]

165. Terrible French lesson

It didn't mention 'merde' even once!

[dembotoz]

12. poor thing --she voted as she was told to and SURPRISE

SURPRISE
SURPRISE


where is gomer pyle when you need him

[AlbertCat]

140. where is gomer pyle when you need him

He was smart enough to leave this stupid crap alone,....

[Proud Liberal Dem]

13. They've been pushing for years to erode the church/state separation (or pretended it doesn't exist)

Now, apparently, they're having second thoughts- because OTHER religions are taking advantage of stuff like this as well, not just Christians.

[RC]

63. Oh the horror!

I wonder what they would do if they found out most of the Founding Fathers were not really Christians in the first place? And that people came over here in the beginning because they were trying to get away from Christianity? So why would the Founding Fathers make Christianity the approved religion over all others?

[Proud Liberal Dem]

72. I know!!!

It will hit them like a ton of bricks. Maybe one day, they'll also realize that Dinosaurs and humans never co-existed.

[UnrepentantLiberal]

203. Did so!

[exboyfil]

14. I heard a clueless indvidual on a religious

station saying that Jefferson's "pursuit of happiness" was a call to spiritual happiness through doing your Christian duty (or something like that). I would have liked to call and say the phrase originally was "pursuit of property" which is about as opposite as his claim as you can be.

[Initech]

115. Sometimes I wonder if uber religious fundamentalists really do live on another plane of existence.

One where facts and logic don't apply. Thomas Jefferson would have absolutely hated the fundies' integration of religion with our government. This is truly scary what's happening.

[Cali_Democrat]

15. Is there any group of people the GOP doesn't hate besides old white christian men?

[Smilo]

16. They listen to David Barton and his

lies and more lies about how the Founders were Christians and this country should be Christian and then don't bother to think about what the consequences of their actions.

Bigoted, racist prats.

This is wonderful - and I do hope that those of any and all religions get to benefit from those vouchers.

[4th law of robotics]

17. So . . . don't fund religious schools

How is this complicated?

[jberryhill]

18. Really, how stupid does one have to be?

...not to understand that "religious schools" means schools of ANY religion, and that the government cannot limit programs on the basis of any particular religion?

What the fuck are they teaching people in Louisiana, that any citizen of the United States could fail to understand such a basic concept?

[LibertyLover]

24. Pretty damned stupid -

but I would wager that if you asked a sampling of oh, say 1,000 right-wing conservatives, what the word "religious", as in "religious schools", meant you would get pretty much the same answer - that it meant "Christian". A few more liberal individuals, perhaps 30 to 45, would expand on that to indicate it meant Roman Catholic schools and a smaller sub-set of those, I would guess roughly 10 to 15, would go so far as to include Jewish schools. I doubt highly that anyone would mention Islamic, 7th Day Adventist, Mormon, Hindu, Buddhist, Wiccan or generic pagan schools, or if they did, it would be to say that those types of schools should not be permitted or don't constitute religions.

[Odin2005]

194. That reminds of a customer at our thrift store.

She got all in a huff because in the religious section of our books there are Wiccan and Buddhist stuff, not just Christian material.

[arcane1]

28. They are teaching that the Loch Ness Monster is real, for one thing

and its confirmed existence disproves evolution

[freshwest]

149. They are correct. Evolution does not exist. OTOH, campy space monsters do. See this:

If that doesn't convince you, check out The Flintstones. This really is settled science fiction, I tell you.

[UnrepentantLiberal]

204. Stop it with the blasphemy.

[lapauvre]

20. Ms. Hodges appears to be lacking in education.

I wonder how old she is, when she demonstrates that, to her, the only religion is Christian. How did she manage to achieve an electable age and be unaware that there a numerous social groups that are considered "religions." I think some court decisions have even designated "atheism" as a religion in order to meet the Constitutional mandate of freedom from the compulsion to participate in any God worshipping fellowship.

How on earth could she not know? I'm from Louisiana, and I would like to know which section of the State elected this woman, who is obviously incredibly ignorant and hypocritical, dangerously so.

lap

[agentS]

141. The article says she represents EBR and Livingston, District 64

So basically she's repping the rich crazies of the state, the lily-white (and dumb as rocks) country-club set.

Either she didn't know there were Islamic schools in Louisiana or she didn't think they would be brave enough to apply. Either way the state's Christianofascist leaders wind up with egg on their face.

Who wants to set up a FLYING SPAGHETTI MONSTER school?! I do I do!

[NOLALady]

181. The rich crazies of this state

are just as dumb as the poor crazies of this state.

That's why Piyush Jindal is our Governor.

[HiPointDem]

21. either very stupid or very disingenuous.

[leftyohiolib]

22. the founding fathers had differing religious beliefs

the dumbass also forgot about the treaty of tripoli

[Ikonoklast]

23. Rep. Valarie Hodges voted for Madrasses to be subsidized by the State of Louisiana.

She must be a furriner.

[aggiesal]

25. This certainly BACKFIRED ...

but my point has always been, that there should not be
a voucher program period, for religious or non-religious privates schools.

You want to send your kids to a private school, be my guest.

But more often then not, most people got a public education, and their
parents didn't come close to paying what it cost to educate one child
through the public schools system, so it's time for that kid (now adult)
to pony up for the next generation.
The Selfish Bastards!

GOP = Greedy One Percent.

[sinkingfeeling]

26. I would sue any school district that taught the fundamentals of the Founding

Fathers' religion. I stand with Americans United.

[Grins]

27. Your tax dollars at work!!!!

Your tax dollars at work!!!!

You voted for this, Louisiana. Now soak in it.

[PopYoColla]

29. oops

looks like GOP bigotry rears it's ugly head again.....

"but but but we're not racists"

what's the difference between people who pervert Islam from people who pervert Christianity?

Nothing...the KKK carried crosses everywhere they went....

[struggle4progress]

30. "Wait ... what? There are other religions besides mine? Are you sure?"

[avebury]

31. I guess they never thought that

one through.

[Renew Deal]

32. Rep. Valarie Hodges voted to fund madrasas.

Put that in an ad.

[southern_belle]

92. +1 n/t

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

33. "Man is the only animal to have discovered the One True God.....several of them." Mark Twain

[frylock]

34. i wish that i could personally laugh in this idiot's face!

my goodness, what a fuggin' dumbshit!

[gejohnston]

35. Before you do that

let me set up my private school for Wiccan and Druid children.

[xtraxritical]

50. I prefer Rastifarian.

[UnrepentantLiberal]

65. Church of Satan?

[TrogL]

68. Mustn't forget FSM

http://www.venganza.org/

[UnrepentantLiberal]

81. Dear God...

What a beautiful can of worms.

[progressivebydesign]

118. I'm fond of Pastafarian, myself.

Long live the Flying Spaghetti Monster!

[pinboy3niner]

119. Fonda Pastafarian? ...

[tblue37]

156. Cool--and insist on the cannabis sacrament! nt

[hifiguy]

36. Dumber than rocks, bags of hammers, stumps.

Oh, go and read some history you monumental ignoramus. Any biograpy of Jefferson or Franklin, perhaps even of John Adams, will disabuse you of the notion that the Founders were "christian" in anything like the way you understand the term.

Gads, I keep thinking these people can't possibly get any dumber and that they have finally hit the earth's core of stupidity and they manage to top themselves.

[nxylas]

123. It wouldn't matter if they were

Every single one of them could have been a Bible-believing Southern Baptist and it wouldn't change the fact that the First Amendment explicitly prohibits the establishment of a state religion.

[LibertyLover]

197. Well, yes, any decent biography of Jefferson, Franklin, Adams, and several other

of the Founding Fathers would explain about their religious beliefs. But that would presuppose any of these idiots would actually read a book other than the Bible.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

37. Dumbasses

"But I thought it was a Christian bill."

[JHB]

38. She supports teaching Deism?

A good many of the FFs were Deists, which Rep. Hodges wouldn't count as "Christian".

IIRC, the forebearers of her general tradition tended to view Deists as something along the lines of "atheists who are trying to weasel out of admitting it".

And yes, this result was inevitable, and only a damn fool arrogant "Christian" politician (but I repeat myself) couldn't have seen it coming.

[Aristus]

84. Not to mention that Thomas Jefferson was a great admirer of Islam.

Had his own copy of the Q'uran and everything.

[Matariki]

39. The newspaper reported that she “mistakenly assumed that ‘religious’ meant ‘Christian.’”

[JHB]

40. Once again, someone shows that their view of "freedom of religion" means...

..."freedom to be any one of a cluster of protestant denominations, and the rest of you should know your place!"

[MineralMan]

41. Morons who think the only "religion" is

Christianity are morons. That ain't how it works in the US of A. Religion is religion, so if you pass a bill allowing a religious exemption or benefit, it automatically applies to all religions, including Islam, Wicca, and Scientology. Ignorance is freaking bliss for some people.

[Firebrand Gary]

43. Hahahahahahahahaha I really cannot stop laughing!

nt

[arely staircase]

45. this is what happens

when the people who forward right wing email spam are allowed to make policy _ dumb@$$3$ who are bewildered by the fact they voted for taxpayer -funded madrassas. KEEP YOUR GUVMINT HANDS OFF MY MEDICARE111!1

[Enrique]

46. I wonder what kind of school Valarie Hodges went to

and whether she was awake when they discussed the First Amendment.

[tblue37]

158. Apaprently her parents were similarly ill-educated, since they could not even

spell "Valerie" correctly.

[Akoto]

47. ... "America’s Founding Fathers’ religion, which is Christianity" ...

Anyone have the 'aw geez, not this shit again' guy?

[UnrepentantLiberal]

62. He hates this shit.

[frogmarch]

49. "America's Founding Fathers' religion"

I don't know how many, or if any, of the founding fathers considered Christianity their religion, but they agreed that church and state should be kept separate. How would they view government funding of any religious schools? I doubt they'd have gone for it.

Neener neener, Rep. Hodges.

[Liberal_in_LA]

51. I hope Wickens, Witches, and other alternative religions open schools & use vouchers

hee!

[Manifestor_of_Light]

55. Your point is good.

but it's spelled "Wiccans". Nevertheless, you're close.

If they wanna dress up in fancy robes and wave wands around, they're welcome to.

Bet she doesn't know about Waldorf Schools. They were started by Rudolf Steiner. She wouldn't know who he was, either.

[Liberal_in_LA]

105. lol. Thanks. I couldn't for the life of me remember how it was spelled, spelled it phonetically.

[DBoon]

59. I can't wait for Scientology to get on the bandwagon

Maybe then someone will figure out that having the government fund religious groups is a bad idea

[Liberal_in_LA]

91. scientologists would figure out a way to suck up all those vouchers!

[Manifestor_of_Light]

54. I want a Hindu school and a Buddhist school, dude.

Cuz I think those are cool religions!!!



Read the Treaty of Tripoli, signed by that bomb-throwing anarchist President John Adams, you stupid woman!!

[DinahMoeHum]

124. Don't forget the Wiccan school as well. . .

heh heh

[tblue37]

153. Since Wiccan is a recognized religion, I sincerely hope some clever Wiccan

opens a school for witches and insists on publicly funded vouchers for it.

I would pay to watch the Teabagging idiots' heads explode over that!

[LeftinOH]

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

well then, this idiot should have made her feelings known and supported the use of publicly-funded vouchers ONLY for Christian (presumably non-Catholic) education.

And it would have failed spectacularly.

[AJTheMan]

61. I believe that if a parent wants to send their child to a religious school, then that is their right

And that if they cannot afford to, the government should help fund the child's education. It doesn't matter if they are Muslim or Christian.

[retread]

101. The government already funds a child's education it's called public education. Any child may attend

whatever the religion of their parents.

[4lbs]

170. You don't believe in Separation of Church and State do you?

Our Founding Fathers did, even though they were all Christian.

That's because they knew what it was like when The Church, be it the Catholic one in The Vatican, or the Anglican one represented by King George, was also one that controlled government.

They didn't want that crap in America. They wanted religion out of politics and government as much as possible.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

64. This reminds me of when Texas banned ALL marriage.

[truebrit71]

66. The irony is so delicious I think I'll have seconds...

...what a silly, short-sighted, hateful little person she is..

[JDPriestly]

69. This proves what idiots these conservatives are.

They live in their own cocoons.

Why do they think Democrats oppose vouchers? Do they really think it is because we don't like religion? Some don't, but most Democrats do like religion. It's just that Democrats understand that not everyone agrees with their religion.

Sorry for the personal insult to the Republican trolls who are visiting DU. But Republicans are idiots. Conservatives are idiots. And this proves it.

[Ruby the Liberal]

70. Civics 101 should be required for any office holder.

The founding fathers established Christianity as "our" religion?

*sigh*

[JohnnyRingo]

71. Double edged sword

I've pointed out for some time to conservatives who want teachers to add religious content to public school classes that they'd sing a different hymn if they found out the teacher is a Muslim or Hindu.

Most conservatives would blow a fuse if they found out even a Jew or a Jehovah was introducing religious script to their curriculum in their kid's classroom.

Conservatives are bigoted idiots who can't see past the plastic Jesus on their own dashboard. Eventually, they'll hit something down the road that they never saw coming.

[EC]

73. Too bad the school she went to didn't teach

about the Constitution and History. A Civics class would have helped her emensely. Maybe she should have read that ALEC law before voting for it. That goes for all the other repubs that thought the same way she did.

[xxqqqzme]

74. Well, Texas

and Louisiana educated kids will have high school transcripts that are worth nothing unless they are bound for liberty or oral roberts u.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

111. Is Oral Roberts Hispanic?

Does he have a brother named Manuel???




Yeah I amuse myself verrry easily.

[pinboy3niner]

113. You're thinking of Órale Roberts

[Iggo]

182. lol.

[Fantastic Anarchist]

76. What do you expect when you're ignorant and that stupid, Valarie?

[obamanut2012]

77. hahaha They always think it'll mean only THEIR BRAND of Christianity

Not Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, liberal Christians, etc.

So funny.

[Deb]

78. This is Romney's party faithful

Sweet, thanks for sharing.

[Snarkoleptic]

79. The Law of Unintended Consequences strikes again.

Luv when these simple minded dipshits shoot themselves in the foot.
This is what you get when electing gubmint-hating pugs.
Lolz

[MNBrewer]

80. L O frikkin L!!!

Poor oppressed Christian majority!

[TeamPooka]

82. so good I need a cigarette..

and I don't even smoke....
I love this!

[obamanut2012]

83. And, most of the Founding Fathers were Deists

Although Washington, and probably Jefferson, were probably really what we would call agnostics or even atheists.

There were some Quakers and Congregationalists sprinkled in, but most weren't Christian.

They really all need to read the Jefferson Bible.

[hifiguy]

99. More than a few of the Founders were also Masons.

George Washington in particular. So there's another level of conspiracy to make the teabaggers gag on their Sanka.

Their ignorance of Jefferson, Adams, Franklin, Madison and the rest would be riotously funny if it weren't so sad.

[muntrv]

85. Your tax dollars support her whiney teabaggin' ass!

[W T F]

87. "Rep. Valarie Hodges is FUNDING TERROISTS!!!!!"

We need play this one like they would play it against a Dem. LOL!

[TeamPooka]

88. Okay, this "scandal" isn't really about bigotry at its core but most will see it that way.

It's about electing policymakers that are dumber than a box of rocks and can't think their way out of a wet brown paper lunch bag.

[retread]

102. Most hardcore bigots are dumber than a box of rocks.

[DCKit]

90. Wow, I'm not having a problem with this.

[Marr]

94. Christ, save us from these fucking morons.

[TeamPooka]

96. She used to be a professional Mime but she kept getting stuck in the imaginary box

what a marroon...

[Solly Mack]

97. Idiot.

[ErikJ]

103. The word God is not in the Constitution.

It has often been seen on the Internet that to find God in the Constitution, all one has to do is read it, and see how often the Framers used the words "God," or "Creator," "Jesus," or "Lord." Except for one notable instance, however, none of these words ever appears in the Constitution, neither the original nor in any of the Amendments. The notable exception is found in the Signatory section, where the date is written thusly: "Seventeenth Day of September in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and Eighty seven". The use of the word "Lord" here is not a religious reference, however. This was a common way of expressing the date, in both religious and secular contexts. This lack of any these words does not mean that the Framers were not spiritual people, any more than the use of the word Lord means that they were. What this lack of these words is expositive of is not a love for or disdain for religion, but the feeling that the new government should not involve itself in matters of religion. In fact, the original Constitution bars any religious test to hold any federal office in the United States.

[VWolf]

177. Well said, especially this:

"What this lack of these words is expositive of is not a love for or disdain for religion, but the feeling that the new government should not involve itself in matters of religion."

[tpsbmam]

106. Good god the Republicans are electing some shit-for-brains morons these days!! nt

[Marrah_G]

108. I don't think any religious school should get public funds

[aikoaiko]

109. This news brings a certain delight to my life.

[ejbr]

110. Awesome!!! n/t

[Initech]

112. So how's that freedom of religion thing working out for ya?

[tanyev]

114. Gosh, if only they could figure out how to establish a particular religion to receive vouchers

without violating the First Amendment. Durn librul activist Founding Fathers. Hmmph!

[progressivebydesign]

116. OMG! Is Hodges a real person? I mean did a real, elected, person actually SAY that???

Did she openly admit that she voted for this because it meant that kids would learn "the Founder's religion?" I'm stunned.. and then I remember why I don't live in the South.

[juajen]

164. You're painting with a broad brush.

There are many, and I do mean many, lovely democrats living in the South. We are also very familiar with education and some are knowledgeable about history.

[quaker bill]

117. You gotta love it

Prayers in school should include a Muslim call to worship a few times a month. That will put their knickers in a knot.

I think the Wiccans need to open a school, perhaps the Atheists or Secular Humanists as well. I am all for diversity in these things, and Quakers already run schools.

[ck4829]

120. LOL!

[Historic NY]

121. Oh boy Jindal authored and signed it....

wait until they find out.

[Eddie Haskell]

126. That's hilarious!

Our local school district is responsible for paying for iPads, computers and other supplies for home schoolers. Imagine the outrage when non-Christian freeloaders start using the system to skip school and furnish their living rooms. I can't wait.

[Gman]

127. Ha Ha!

[Crunchy Frog]

129. I wish I could send my kids to a Deist school at public expense.

I would like them to learn the fundamentals of the founding father's real beliefs.

[Politicub]

131. These people sound so stupid

If she doesn't understand what the bill of rights plainly states, she has no place governing.

The "founders," indeed.

[Paula Sims]

132. Bring on the Satanists & Mormons (n/t)!!!

[Beartracks]

133. Another facepalm moment brought to you by the GOP.

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

[SaveAmerica]

136. Can a liberal homeschool family make up a religion to qualify?

There are a lot of families who are homeschooling who are not religious, conservative, or Republican. It's my hope that they found their way into this voucher program.

And, this article made me laugh out loud at the absurdity of it all. Idiots.

[Rain Mcloud]

144. As an ordained Priest in The Church Of The Latter Day Dude

I should open a Dudestary in her home parish in her honor of course.
Remember,The Dude Abides.
Follow us on Facebook.

[mikeytherat]

173. If you did that, she'd probably play The Eagles at top volume.

She doesn't care what kind of night you've had.

mikey_the_rat

[dflprincess]

146. " teaching the fundamentals of America’s Founding Fathers’ religion..."

I wonder if she knows about Thomas Jefferson's version of the Bible?

[pinboy3niner]

147. From what we've learned from a subthread above...

...apparently, their religion was fabrics and textiles.

[proud2BlibKansan]

148. Why don't these idiots EVER listen???

[RagAss]

150. Heeeee Haaaaawwww ....fucking Gomers.

[tblue37]

152. Blithering idiots. nt

[sueh]

155. Good! It came back and bit them in the ass!

[Zoeisright]

159. God, repukes are stupid.

I mean, really fucking stupid.

[DFW]

160. Jindal U Akbar !

Why not? "Christianity was the religion of the Founders?" Where did she get that one?

I suppose that she will next tell us that the natives of Massachusetts all converted to Christianity the moment the Pilgrims arrived in Plymouth in 1620, and immediately declared the fourth Thursday in November to be Thanksgiving, too.

[Violet_Crumble]

161. It must hurt to be as stupid as Hodges is...

Nasty, bigoted POS...

[joshcryer]

166. This is beautiful. I'm honestly surprised they didn't legislate Christianity.

But of course that wouldn't have passed any constitutional test by any means whatsoever.

[Iggo]

167. She.Can't.Be.That.Stupid.

[Martin Eden]

175. Yes.She.Can.

And.People.Who.Are.Even.More.Stupid.Will.Re-elect.Her.

[quaker bill]

176. I take it you haven't met or worked with politicians directly...

The craft apparently requires "good camera presence" and an ability to stay on message. People are either born with "good camera presence" or they aren't (some are helped a bit by plastic surgery and makeup artists).

However, the easiest to stay "on message" is to only know one message. With republicans, the message is quite simple to learn and repeat.

Many politicians barely get by once elected because they have less camera ready staff with an education.


There are exceptions,

Huey Long was quite smart, but he was careful to keep it well hidden when making speeches.

[Douglas Carpenter]

168. now, how on earth could they not see that coming? what on earth would make then think that other

religions wouldn't also be eligible for their vouchers?

[eShirl]

169. dur!

that's what happens to people who weren't taught during childhood how to think things through logically

[mick063]

171. Jaw dropping stupidity

Unforseen consequences is the kindest way to put it.

Do you want folks like that determining foreign policy?

The folks that say, "I didn't expect it would turn out like this"

Isn't that what Hitler said?

[eomer]

174. Another empathy-impaired person who doesn't get it until it applies to her.

And even then she still can't see the other person 's perrspective.

Government money to fund her own religious views - fine with her. Government money to fund any other religious views - gosh, she certainly wouldn't favor that.

[NOLALady]

179. O MY.

The secret is out. Now everyone knows that we breed idiot politicians.

[davidpdx]

180. Several people in this thread put it better than I probably can

The woman is a moron who thinks Christianity is the only religion. If you say "oh, we'll let the kids go to religious schools instead of public school" then that means ANY religion. Hell I could start my own religion (women already worship my belly ) maybe I could call myself Santa Claus and teach children to swear like truck drivers. Now those are some real family values.

[suffragette]

183. She makes a great case for the need for appropriate education and critical thinking skills

particularly the need to actually read and have the guidance of a competent teacher in analyzing primary sources such as the Constitution and historical writings such as those from people like Jefferson.


Instead, here's an example of what the children there will be subjected to:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/01/us-education-vouchers-idUSL1E8H10AG20120601

The school willing to accept the most voucher students -- 314 -- is New Living Word in Ruston, which has a top-ranked basketball team but no library. Students spend most of the day watching TVs in bare-bones classrooms. Each lesson consists of an instructional DVD that intersperses Biblical verses with subjects such chemistry or composition.

The Upperroom Bible Church Academy in New Orleans, a bunker-like building with no windows or playground, also has plenty of slots open. It seeks to bring in 214 voucher students, worth up to $1.8 million in state funding.

At Eternity Christian Academy in Westlake, pastor-turned-principal Marie Carrier hopes to secure extra space to enroll 135 voucher students, though she now has room for just a few dozen. Her first- through eighth-grade students sit in cubicles for much of the day and move at their own pace through Christian workbooks, such as a beginning science text that explains "what God made" on each of the six days of creation. They are not exposed to the theory of evolution.

"We try to stay away from all those things that might confuse our children," Carrier said.





This continues the privatization of siphoning more money from public education which Naomi Klein described so well in The Shock Doctrine:
http://www.naomiklein.org/shock-doctrine/excerpt

Friedman's radical idea was that instead of spending a portion of the billions of dollars in reconstruction money on rebuilding and improving New Orleans' existing public school system, the government should provide families with vouchers, which they could spend at private institutions.

In sharp contrast to the glacial pace with which the levees were repaired and the electricity grid brought back online, the auctioning-off of New Orleans' school system took place with military speed and precision. Within 19 months, with most of the city's poor residents still in exile, New Orleans' public school system had been almost completely replaced by privately run charter schools.

The Friedmanite American Enterprise Institute enthused that "Katrina accomplished in a day ... what Louisiana school reformers couldn't do after years of trying". Public school teachers, meanwhile, were calling Friedman's plan "an educational land grab". I call these orchestrated raids on the public sphere in the wake of catastrophic events, combined with the treatment of disasters as exciting market opportunities, "disaster capitalism".

Privatising the school system of a mid-size American city may seem a modest preoccupation for the man hailed as the most influential economist of the past half century. Yet his determination to exploit the crisis in New Orleans to advance a fundamentalist version of capitalism was also an oddly fitting farewell. For more than three decades, Friedman and his powerful followers had been perfecting this very strategy: waiting for a major crisis, then selling off pieces of the state to private players while citizens were still reeling from the shock.

[UnrepentantLiberal]

190. God all mighty.

That's the side of this that isn't funny. They're nuts and they have destroyed this country.

[suffragette]

205. Never forget that Friedman viewed the destruction of New Orleans as an "opportunity."

http://www.naomiklein.org/shock-doctrine/excerpt
"Most New Orleans schools are in ruins," Friedman observed, "as are the homes of the children who have attended them. The children are now scattered all over the country. This is a tragedy. It is also an opportunity."

That comes from the OP-ED he wrote for the WSJ just 3 months after Katrina. The full article is, of course, behind a pay wall.

Sourcewatch has a page on Friedman's voucher pushing foundation:
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Friedman_Foundation_for_Educational_Choice


And his influence has been global and the destruction from that influence has been global as well.
Good article here on that:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/13/weekinreview/13goodman.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all


I think it's no coincidence that the children are viewed as dollar figures through this lens (the number of vouchers the private schools will receive), then placed in settings that teach certain skills and behaviors (though these are not the skills the schools highlight).

There is teaching and learning going on there, including:

Adherence to fundamentalist thought that promulgates not questioning authority, being uncritical, and valuing doctrine, obedience and exclusivity.

Restriction or complete non-access to materials that would counter or call any of the above into question.

Conditioning to systems and environments that emulate corporate models (the isolated cubicles being a prime example of that)


Scary stuff altogether and the astounding ignorance of proponents such as the politician in your OP just makes it even scarier.

[UnrepentantLiberal]

206. Yep, just evil.

"What is wrong with these people in Baton Rouge? Thisisn'tanopportunity. It's a goddamned tragedy. Are they blind?" A mother with two kids chimed in. "No, they're not blind, they're evil. They see just fine."

[suffragette]

207. Yep, that quote is spot on.

[They_Live]

184. Wait till she finds out

about Wiccans, Pagans, and Flying Spaghetti Monster schools.

[DonCoquixote]

189. Quit whining Jaizzuss freeks

Here in Florida, the SCIENTOLOGY folks have already picked up on it, using a charter school to target minorities.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/education/article1217694.ece

Just WAIT until the Ayn Rand types get a hold of this. Or the Satanists.

[Jennicut]

192. Next time she should look up the definition of "religion"

Last time I looked it did not exclusively mean "Christianity". Idiots.

[alfredo]

193. Many early Americans were Muslims. Some were freemen, some were slaves. Some fought

along side our founding fathers as they sought to expel British rule. There were Muslims at the battle of Bunker Hill.

A third of the male African slaves were Muslim.

I remember during my tour of Fort Jesus (Mombasa Kenya) seeing where the future slaves scratched words into the beams of the fort. The script was Arabic. I later learned they were Muslim prayers.

If the Southerners don't want Muslims in America, they shouldn't have enslaved them to work the fields of Louisiana and other slave states.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

201. OMG It just occurred to me:

Republicans are now responsible for helping support.............."SHARIA LAW"!!!!!

[YankeyMCC]

202. she “mistakenly assumed that ‘religious’ meant ‘Christian.’”

How do people with such lack of clarity of thought manage to get elected in the first place?