Report Inappropriate Comments

I'd like to remind atheists and theists alike that this ruling and the separation of church and state have nothing at all to do with atheism or theism. Zero, zilch, nada.

A lot of my fellow atheists -- of the more loudmouthed, "empowered," New Atheist ilk -- have made the same mistake their supposed opponents, the fundamentalists on the other side, have made in trying to turn the separation of church and state into one more facet of the endless culture war.

It's a simple matter of the establishment clause. Period. The judge was spot on. End of story.

Also, the ACLU almost certainly went *easy* on Cranston. The quote will be challenged, of course, and I presume the RI ACLU lawyers aren't dumb enough to be shown to have high-balled the quote. Which might kill the branch in the state forever, frankly. I presume they really did lowball the quote.

So, if you don't like the bill, blame the people on the school committee who, in the full knowledge that they'd have to pay the bill since the case had no chance, decided to go ahead and do this anyway. Many, if not most, of them will vote for an appeal -- hey, why not double down? I hope none of them do, frankly, and I think one person has changed her vote. Great.

I hope the past weeks since the ruling have been spent trying to build the best case possible for not pursuing the appeal. Though that won't satisfy some in the pitchfork crowd who have launched a jihad in favor of appealing the ruling. Oh, well. Funny that they are more concerned with keeping an illegal, unconstitutional school prayer (titled, "School Prayer") up than, say, trying to feed the poor or tend to the sick.

Let's hope this idiocy comes to an end on 16 February. If a politician in Cranston had had the guts to stand up and try to educate the public on this issue, s/he might have saved the town $200k. If any politician did do that, and I missed it (entirely possible), I'd like to learn of it.