Arizona Republicans Propose Bill That Would Not Allow Atheists To Graduate High School

[kpete]

Arizona Republicans Propose Bill That Would Not Allow Atheists To Graduate High School
January 25, 2013 By Hemant Mehta

A group of Arizona politicians — all Republicans, of course — have proposed a law (House Bill 2467) requiring public high school students to recite the following oath in order to graduate:

I, _______, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge these duties; So help me God.

To quote Comedy Central’s Ilya Gerner: “Nothing says ‘I take this obligation freely’ quite like a state law that withholds your diploma unless you swear an oath.”
Kevin Bondelli adds:

… graduating high school is not the same thing as voluntarily accepting the responsibility of a public office or admission to the legal bar. A high school diploma is, with extremely few exceptions, required to have a chance to live above the poverty level. It is the culmination of an education that up until that point was compulsory.

It’s bad enough the Republicans are demanding loyalty of the kind normally reserved for members of Congress and beyond — but there’s also no way I would say those last four words, and the current text of the legislation does not allow for any alternatives.

In other words, if this bill were to become a law, atheists would either not be allowed to graduate… or they would be forced to lie so they could graduate. Neither option is acceptable.

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2013/01/25/arizona-republicans-propose-bill-that-would-not-allow-atheists-to-graduate-high-school/

[Arugula Latte]

1. What.The.F@#$.

The next DUer who says that atheists are the militant ones should read this.

So sick of this crapola.

[Fresh_Start]

4. +100 nt

nt

[yortsed snacilbuper]

2. god, protect me from your followers!

[JaneyVee]

3. It's getting really hard to battle back against the sheer stupidity emanating from the rightwing

They're relentless. For a party that talks about "freedom" all they ever seem to do is try to march us towards theocratic-fascism.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

6. They seem like since 2011, they've become unleashed to push this stuff

I wonder if they're trying to get all this stuff "in before the lock"?

[riderinthestorm]

16. DUers were mad @ atheists expressing mere "disappointment" in the religiosity of Obama's oath taking

just recently...

All of them were solid Dems I presume, calling atheists who dared express discomfort as "complaining voraciously", "right wing trolls", "whiners", "Mitt lovers", "dumb ass straw grasping", "militant", ignorant of history and much, much worse.

For me, part of the problem appears to be that much of the country DOES just yawn at the religiosity that's crept into our public ceremonies. Expressing any kind of critique about that gets one swatted pretty hard - including here. If someone doesn't start drawing lines in the sand over this stuff it just creeps in more and more.

But the pushback from those on both the right and left is equally ferocious imho. This isn't just a Rethug thing. Maybe the Rethugs are actively working to insert the religiosity into the public sphere but the Dems passive acceptance is almost worse.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

5. Remember

how incensed the right was about President issuing videotaped statements about working hard, staying in school, and getting good grades? And now this???? Tell us again, how President Obama is like Hitler?

[JitterbugPerfume]

7. unfuckingbelievable

unless you have met my ex sister in law that lives in Arizona, then it all makes a perverted kind o sense

[CanonRay]

8. I think that is probably unconstitutional

at least for now.

[LiberalFighter]

9. They should all be sent to Gitmo permanently

[dballance]

10. This is Dead on Arrival Even if it Passes

If the legislature of AZ is stupid enough to pass this, and I have no doubt they are, then the governor should veto it in the best interest of not having to waste taxpayer dollars in already strained budgets defending it.

If Brewer is dumb enough to sign it into law, here again I have no doubt that's very possible, the first thing that will happen is the ACLU on behalf of some students and parents will file for an injunction/restraining order preventing this law from being implemented. They will get it because any reasonable judge will have to conclude they'll have a high likelihood of prevailing in court to get the law declared unconstitutional.

The Supreme Court has already ruled you cannot require students to take an oath in a case with respect to the Pledge of Allegiance. This is not only requiring but coercing the students to take an oath since they're going to withhold their diploma. That ain't gonna fly.

[msongs]

11. those christians are a laugh a minute nt

[quaker bill]

12. The problem with all oaths

is that liars have no problem swearing them. These dillweeds just want to have a fight to prove they are "persecuted". The persecution complex makes them feel more Holy. They aren't doing this to you, it has nothing to do with you, it is all about how it makes them feel when they are "fighting".

No remotely sane person believes that putting the 10 commandments on a plaque, a nativity scene in the public square, or this crap, actually does anything or creates any change. They just feel more richeous when they are making other angry about it. It is like a little boy pulling pranks for the attention.

[redqueen]

13. Untrue. This kind of sloppy journalism is just silly.

It's an idiotic bill but it won't pass anyway, and besides...

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/01/26/1500011/arizona-bills-require-public-school-students-to-recite-loyalty-oaths/?mobile=nc

As written, the bill does not exempt atheist students or those of different faiths from the requirement, though Thorpe has pledged to amend the measure. “In that we had a tight deadline for dropping our bills, I was not able to update the language,” he wrote in an e-mail to the Arizona Republic. “Even though I want to encourage all of our students to understand and respect our Constitution and constitutional form of government, I do not want to create a requirement that students or parents may feel uncomfortable with.”

[Viva_Daddy]

14. It's amazing how unchristian some christians can be.

[Moses2SandyKoufax]

15. Is this the point in the tread where DU's "liberal christians"

remind us that RW christians are only a loud minority and that militant atheist are just as bad and as big of a detriment to society as the fundies? Also, nobody should criticize the fundies cause we're not all like that, and an attack on one is an attack on all!

Is this the point in the thread?

[forestpath]

17. +1

[backscatter712]

18. In 3... 2... 1... n/t

[panzerfaust]

19. Just keep feeling that ole time Christian Love

Two Christian priests supervising the torture of a suspected heretic.

Religion is a mental disorder.