My daughter came to us on the first day of school telling us that one of her teachers had a cross and a Bible quote on the wall. I didn’t want to get my daughter into trouble by letting the principal know about it myself since they would attach my name to it and she might face retaliation. So I wrote to the FFRF, sent them a picture my daughter drew of the cross and the Bible quote (no phones in class, so she couldn’t get a photo).
Not only were they responsive quickly when I contacted them, within a few weeks, they sent an email to the school superintendent with all the relevant legal information as to why this teacher needs to take the cross and Bible quote down and without identifying who reported her.
I’m not a member due to some financial issues right now, but as soon as those clear up, I am going to join. They do good work.
Consider joining yourself: https://ffrf.org/
Is there any amount of religious iconography that is not egregious in a shared public space like a school (school, hospital, library etc)? I’d love to understand where your curiousity is coming from
‘Public space’ and ‘government-funded space’ are not strictly the same.
It’s reasonable where it’s strictly educational, and no faith is getting preferential treatment. Qurans, bibles and other religious books in the library? Sure. A display on ‘religions of the world’. Fine.
A teacher having a small cross or scripture somewhere near their desk, in the same way they might have a picture of their spouse/kids? Probably fine, but only if you’d also be happy with Arabic or Hebrew scripture, or a Satanist pentagram.
Yeah, totally getcha, but also wouldnt want to see it lets say displayed on public roads, public parks, public trains etc. I cant really think of a public space that isn’t government owned or funded? Not saying things seen public by the way, e.g. a church while driving on a public road… which is obviously on private land, or someones house, while walking past it. But you betcha I wouldnt appreciate scripture on the sidewalk.
I drove past dozens of crosses every day on the side of public roads. They’re often covered in cheap plastic flowers or other trash. I wish they were gone. Memorialize your dead in your own space. That stuff shouldn’t be cluttering up public roadways.
I’d also be fine with it in the context of a historical lesson or a survey of world religions. It’s rather difficult to discuss history frankly without discussing religion’s outsized role in a lot of it. So perhaps an image of a knight riding under a cross wouldn’t be out of place, so long as it was properly contextualized.
I mean, Jesus said some things that go along with what we teach in our SEL curriculum, so having a scripture quote regarding the treatmeant of other humans doesn’t seem awful to me. It could be argued that Dr MLK Jr was also a religious leader, so is having quotes from him appropriate or not?
Also, damn with all the downvotes - I was just asking where this person was coming from. I wasn’t saying they were wrong, but I’m also not someone who would make a big deal about religious iconography which was not particularly intrusive, so I was trying to see where they were drawing the line.
I kinda get you, but people dont typically say “Dr MLK Jr the great christian, who was also an activist” in favour of “Dr MLK Jr the great activist, who was also Christian.” One defines him, from the context of society that is, more than the other. Instead of splitting hairs though, we have 8 Billion people alive today, and untold historical figures, im sure the curriculum wont suffer if posters about Jesus, Buddha or Mother Theresa aren’t on the wall.
Also, hope you dont take the downvotes personally. People are telling you they dont agree with your viewpoint here, not judging your overall character by a single thought.
I’m not saying I would promote the use of religious iconography, I’m saying I don’t find all religious iconography objectionable. Also, many of my co-workers have personally chosen items on their walls, and if they had a Jesus quote that doesn’t necessarily promote Christianity, I wouldn’t find it objectionable.
I don’t take the downvotes personally, but the problem I have is I did not express my viewpoint. I asked a question, and I think some people made an assumption about my intentions. That’s a bit frustrating.