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Nov. 7th, 2011
Many of you have already heard that Michigan’s state senate has passed an anti-bullying bill that includes a loophole for people who bully students for religious reasons.
The loop (written by Republicans) goes like this:
Which you can read one of two ways. If yr Senator Gretchen Whitmer (D-East Lansing) or Kevin Epling (the father of Matt Epling, the namesake of the bill who killed himself after being bullied for being gay), it’s a fairly obvious loophole for Christians who want to tell gay students just what they think of the gayz.
If yr Gary Glenn, president of the American Family Association of Michigan, it means Christian students can’t be bullied for exercising their First Amendment rights.
It may come as no surprise to anyone here that I’m with Whitmer and Epling on this. The AFA/GOP’s justification makes no sense whatsoever, not least because I can’t see anything in the bill that would allow Christian kids to be bullied for speaking their mind.
( And there he goes, blah blah blah ... )
The good news is that the subsequent national backlash seems to have put Michigan’s (GOP-controlled) House on alert, and it’s possible the clause will be rewritten.
If it’s not, we can only hope that the people who pushed for that loophole will all be made to look like fools the day some Jewish or Muslim kid uses the “moral convictions” defense for taunting Christian kids about Jesus being just some guy.
With God on our side,
This is dF
The loop (written by Republicans) goes like this:
(8) This section does not abridge the rights under the First Amendment of the constitution of the United States or under Article I of the State Constitution of 1963 of a school employee, school volunteer, pupil, or a pupil's parent or guardian. This section does not prohibit a statement of a sincerely held religious belief or moral conviction of a school employee, school volunteer, pupil, or a pupil's parent or guardian.
Which you can read one of two ways. If yr Senator Gretchen Whitmer (D-East Lansing) or Kevin Epling (the father of Matt Epling, the namesake of the bill who killed himself after being bullied for being gay), it’s a fairly obvious loophole for Christians who want to tell gay students just what they think of the gayz.
If yr Gary Glenn, president of the American Family Association of Michigan, it means Christian students can’t be bullied for exercising their First Amendment rights.
It may come as no surprise to anyone here that I’m with Whitmer and Epling on this. The AFA/GOP’s justification makes no sense whatsoever, not least because I can’t see anything in the bill that would allow Christian kids to be bullied for speaking their mind.
( And there he goes, blah blah blah ... )
The good news is that the subsequent national backlash seems to have put Michigan’s (GOP-controlled) House on alert, and it’s possible the clause will be rewritten.
If it’s not, we can only hope that the people who pushed for that loophole will all be made to look like fools the day some Jewish or Muslim kid uses the “moral convictions” defense for taunting Christian kids about Jesus being just some guy.
With God on our side,
This is dF
