New Orleans school board member doesn't believe in church/state separation

[MountainLaurel]

http://www.nola.com/education/index.ssf/2013/07/orleans_parish_school_board_vp.html#comments

An Orleans Parish School Board discussion over an anti-bullying policy affecting five schools erupted into a jaw-dropping argument spotlighting racial and religious tension. In the process, board Vice President Leslie Ellison said she doesn't believe in the separation of church and state, a fundamental tenet of U.S. constitutional law.

Or does she? Her statement at Tuesday night's board meeting marked a 180-degree turn from the philosophy she espoused in the spring of 2012. That was when she testified in support of a bill letting charter schools exclude gay students, saying it could infringe upon religious freedom in the schools.

However, both her statements dovetailed to the same end: She doesn't support banning discrimination based on sexual orientation, a philosophy she had never stated publicly in her six months on the School Board.

Her disclosure came when a spectator at the board meeting commented on her religious beliefs -- she works for the Gideon Christian Fellowship International and rallied church members to lobby board colleague Nolan Marshall Jr. on the bullying policy -- and asked, indignantly, whether she believed in the separation of church and state.

[mbperrin]

1. Another female female impersonator.

I don't know the process by which old patriarchal attitudes are infused into women. It's nefarious and getting quite common.

I hate that.

[Curmudgeoness]

2. I swear, the religious fanatics are getting bolder and bolder.

I find it shocking that anyone would voice this opinion in public....although I know there are a lot of people who believe this way. That they are openly speaking out this way is troubling, to say the least.

[Zoeisright]

3. God, she is STUPID.

Since when is hatred and bigotry "religious freedom"?

Oh, I know - most religious people are full of hate and are bigots. Certainly the ones I know are.