Education in America
Time is reporting on Butler University that defends its anti-Trump class. The class is titled "Trumpism & U.S. Democracy" and offers ways to engage in "strategies for resistance" to the president. Nice.
Strange Standards
A 16-year-old girl in Granite Falls has been charged with two felony counts of first-degree statutory rape of a victim under the age of 13. Of course, it's a girl who is facing charges and public opinion is largely, "Oh, I don't know ... should we actually be charging a girl for this?" The other side is saying, "Hey, if it was a 16-year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl, we'd all be pretty sure he should do jail time." I'm wondering, "Why is it that most of us are sure to some degree that kids under adult age are not yet mature enough to be making decisions regarding having sex, but many of us are equally sure that kids under the age of that 13-year-old are fully capable of determining that they are not the gender they were born with?"
Religion of Peace
Former governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (say that five times fast) has been sentenced to two years in prison in Indonesia. His crime? Blasphemy. Prosecutors recommended a lesser "spreading hate", but the judges ignored them. What blasphemy or hate was he spreading? Well, he is a Christian, but his big crime was quoting a verse from the Quran to prove to his supporters that Muslims could vote for non-Muslims. Hater.
It seems that Indonesia is growing "more conservative", by which they mean "more conservative followers of Islam." They are pushing, for instance, to criminlize homosexual behavior. Why it is that people in this country consider Christianity an offense though it never seeks to criminalize the behavior but Islam is "the religion of peace" deserving respect and protection?
The article says the trial was "seen as a test of Indonesia's religious tolerance." I guess this means they failed the test.
Breaking News
Another wonderful headline. The ACLU tweeted, "BREAKING: Dan Heyman from @PNS_News has been arrested at the WV State Capitol by Capitol Police for trying to ask Secretary Price a question." That's what they tweeted. That's what the headlines read. That's what's being reported. Except that no one has charged Mr. Heyman with "trying to ask Secretary Price a question." The charge was "aggressively breaching the secret service agents to the point where the agents were forced to remove him a couple of times from the area walking up the hallway in the main building of the Capitol. The defendant was causing a disturbance..."
Now, the truth might be that he thought he was just asking a question and the truth might be that the secret service was overzealous in attempting to protect the Secretary, but it doesn't seem within the capabilities of the media (or the ACLU) to report, without severe bias, the simple facts, as evidenced by headlines like "Reporter arrested after repeatedly questioning Health secretary", "W. Va. reporter arrested for 'yelling questions' at HHS secretary", and "Public News Service Reporter Arrested After Questioning Tom Price". Where's the "fair and balanced" "Secret Service arrests reporter who they thought was creating a disturbance" headline?
A Bad Start for a Commencement
Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos gave a commencement address to Bethune-Cookman University grads this week. She opened with, "While we will undoubtedly disagree at times I hope we can do so respectfully. Let's choose to hear one another out." In a reciprocal attitude of respect and attentive tolerance, "some students stood and turned their backs to her. At times hecklers drowned out her remarks." Because the university invited DeVos to speak, the NAACP Florida State Conference has urged the president and board chairman to resign. A reported 60,000 signatures were obtained asking the university to stop her from speaking. In like manner, Senator John Cornyn of Texas was "disinvited" to speak at Texas Southern University's commencement. His crime? He was guilty of "discriminatory policies" such as voting for a constitutional amendment to uphold traditional marriage, voting to confirm DeVos, and voting to withhold federal funds from sanctuary cities. The cad! Clearly, free speech and respect are not a value in this graduating class. Is this indicative of this generation? Of this country? Surely not just the "well-educated".
Recommended Reading
Came across this piece (keep in mind, it's satire) and had to pass it on. It's worth reading. It's called The Case for Idolatry: Why Christians can Worship Idols.
Heard it on the Internet
Great headlines like "‘Down With Capitalism!’ Cries Man In Guy Fawkes Mask Ordered On Amazon", "Christian Bravely Questioning Biblical Doctrine Persecuted With Book Deal, Interviews", and "‘2 + 2 = 4,’ Insists Closed-Minded Bigot" make me laugh and point to some serious truths.
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