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How would you refute the points raised in this stupid poem?

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battleknight24 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-03-04 01:11 AM
Original message
How would you refute the points raised in this stupid poem?
Edited on Fri Dec-03-04 01:37 AM by battleknight24
I got this from www.snopes.com. No, this poem was NOT written by a teen from Arizona.

* * * * *

THE NEW SCHOOL PRAYER

This was written by a teen in Bagdad, Arizona. This is incredible!


Now I sit me down in school
Where praying is against the rule
For this great nation under God
Finds mention of Him very odd.

If Scripture now the class recites,
It violates the Bill of Rights.
And anytime my head I bow
Becomes a Federal matter now.

Our hair can be purple, orange or green,
That's no offense; it's a freedom scene.
The law is specific, the law is precise.
Prayers spoken aloud are a serious vice.

For praying in a public hall
Might offend someone with no faith at all.
In silence alone we must meditate,
God's name is prohibited by the state.

We're allowed to cuss and dress like freaks,
And pierce our noses, tongues and cheeks.
They've outlawed guns, but FIRST the Bible.
To quote the Good Book makes me liable.

We can elect a pregnant Senior Queen,
And the 'unwed daddy,' our Senior King.
It's "inappropriate" to teach right from wrong,
We're taught that such "judgments" do not belong.

We can get our condoms and birth controls,
Study witchcraft, vampires and totem poles.
But the Ten Commandments are not allowed,
No word of God must reach this crowd.

It's scary here I must confess,
When chaos reigns the school's a mess.
So, Lord, this silent plea I make:
Should I be shot; My soul please take!

Amen
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neuvocat Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-03-04 01:16 AM
Response to Original message
1. Exodus 20, bearing false witness.
I see a number of half-truths and lies in this thing, not a good testimony for someone making a profession of faith especially when the author has been made up.
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samwisefoxburr Donating Member (245 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-03-04 01:18 AM
Response to Original message
2. Well, since it is fake we shouldn't worry about it...
...however, a start would be to use the Bible against them. Jesus doesn't even believe in public prayer.
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rwenos Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-03-04 01:28 AM
Response to Original message
3. Congress Shall Make No Law
Edited on Fri Dec-03-04 01:29 AM by rwenos
respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.


Also:

Art. VI (3): no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.

And finally:

No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immuinities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

(Emphasis added.)
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dpibel Donating Member (898 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-03-04 02:53 AM
Response to Original message
4. Why am I doing this
I must be bored.

Just out of curiosity: why did you post this? Are you telling me you find it somehow convincing? I mean, really, there's nothing to refute. It's not an argument, it's a piece of dumbass drivel that collects various dipshit fundy canards.

Now I sit me down in school
Where praying is against the rule


I'll take the writer's word for location. The second statement is true only to the extent that compulsory prayer is prohibited. This person can pray to his/her little heart's content. Except out loud during class. Then again, during class they also can't recite the Bagavad Gita, Walt Whitman, or the telephone book. And they can't converse with the voices in their heads. If they want to walk down the hall praying aloud, I don't think anyone can stop them.

For this great nation under God
Finds mention of Him very odd.


Except, I guess, during the ritual to which our poet is alluding: The Pledge Of Allegiance, in which mention of him is not only not odd, it's mandatory. For that matter, if our poet wants to respond to the question, "What is the answer to this equation?" by saying, "God," our poet will not be arrested. Flunked, perhaps, but that's only fair.

If Scripture now the class recites,
It violates the Bill of Rights.


That depends on the context. If teacher wants to start the day with a reading from the good book to get the little ones' heads screwed on right, that's a problem. If the class is literature, and they're reading the part of Song of Solomon about antelopish boobs, the wanker who wrote this doggerel would probably like it, and nobody would get in trouble. (For the irony-impaired: this would apply equally to reading the Sermon on the Mount as literature. It's the lit part, not the boobs.) But, yeah, we don't do Bible readings in class. We don't read sutras, or the Koran, or the Torah. We don't, like, do spiritual training in public schools.

And anytime my head I bow
Becomes a Federal matter now.


To use a term of art from constitutional law, this is horseshit. No student in the United States of America has ever been haled into federal court for bowing his, her, or its head for a moment of silent communion with the ghost of his/her/its choice.

Our hair can be purple, orange or green,
That's no offense; it's a freedom scene.


When schools try to force students to color their hair, get back to me. Until then, this makes no sense.

The law is specific, the law is precise.
Prayers spoken aloud are a serious vice.


Again, it's not about "prayers spoken aloud," it's about prayers coerced. Walk down the hall praying like a Pharisee as much as you want. Your seriously repressed mouth-breathing fellow worshipers will think you da bomb; everybody else will roll their eyes and say, "There goes WankerPoet again." The feds will not come and arrest you, no matter how much you would like to be a martyr for the lord.

For praying in a public hall
Might offend someone with no faith at all.


Actually, it would be far more likely to amuse them, but see martyrdom, supra, if it gets you your jollies. If by "public hall," our poet means using the school facilities for organized prayer meetings, that probably will result in trouble. Not because it might offend some prickly atheist, but because it would constitute a state endorsement of religion.

In silence alone we must meditate,
God's name is prohibited by the state.


Frankly, this bozo would have done him/her/itself a great favor by remaining silent. But we here remind our poet again of the Pledge. And money. You can walk up and down and all around just saying, "God" over and over and over again, and no one will care. Except maybe the school psychologist.

We're allowed to cuss and dress like freaks,
And pierce our noses, tongues and cheeks.


And if these things constituted religious observances and were required, we could have an analogy here. But they aren't. And we don't.

They've outlawed guns, but FIRST the Bible.
To quote the Good Book makes me liable.


This will be very distressing news to the NRA. Poet should get on the horn with them forthwith. Also, no one is going to bother our little versifier if it wants to quote the Bible. As above, if Poet wants to respond to the question, "What is the theme of The Iliad by saying, "For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten son," the ever-present federal agents will not break down the door and carry his martyred ass off. Flunking may follow, but it will be for stupidity, not for quoting scripture. I guarantee you that, every day, all across America, little farts are throwing Bible Facks at their biology teachers what absolutely once and for all show that man didn't come from no monkeys. Not a blessed one of them has ever been hauled away in irons.

We can elect a pregnant Senior Queen,
And the 'unwed daddy,' our Senior King.


Well, you probably can. Which proves what? If Poet votes for them while he/she/it is so worried about praying, he/she/it is more confused than I'm giving he/she/it credit for (although we suspect that Poet would so vote, having fatasized a lot about what she had to do to get that way). Am I to understand that, if only Poet were free to lead the class in prayer every morning, that would preclude this result?

It's "inappropriate" to teach right from wrong,
We're taught that such "judgments" do not belong.


No, it's inappropriate to teach that one particular religion has a corner on the definition of right and wrong.

We can get our condoms and birth controls,
Study witchcraft, vampires and totem poles.


Lemme get this straight: Poet goes to a school where they open the day with a Wiccan ceremony. Last I heard, vampirism wasn't a religion. 'Way back in the godly days, when schools kicked off every day with a dose of prayer and the good book, they studied totem poles. As for the condoms and "birth controls," this is a bad thing? And has just what to do with beseeching the almighty?

But the Ten Commandments are not allowed,
No word of God must reach this crowd.


We again have an analogy struggling to fight its way into existence, and failing miserably. To the extent that anyone "studies" witchcraft in American schools, it's as part of comparative religion, or literature. In that context, the Ten Commandments (one version or the other) is every bit as allowed. You can even study all the words of god in that context.

It's scary here I must confess,
When chaos reigns the school's a mess.
So, Lord, this silent plea I make:
Should I be shot; My soul please take!


Well, I'm convinced now. This kind of rigorous argument just shouldn't be put in front of my eyes, because now I'm gonna have to get right with god and start writing stupid poetry. On the other hand, if it means I have to hang out for eternity in heaven with the kind of nits who write this kind of shit, maybe I'll take a pass on it.

Amen

Bite me.
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ever_green Donating Member (430 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-03-04 04:33 AM
Response to Reply #4
8. Excellent response!
Perfect.
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GreenPoet64 Donating Member (897 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-03-04 03:05 AM
Response to Original message
5. I wrote my own version . . .
Edited on Fri Dec-03-04 03:20 AM by GreenPoet64
A TOLERANT SCHOOL PRAYER

Here I sit in public school
Where prayer to God is not a rule
For this great nation under God
Considers forced prayer to be odd

No scripture does the class recite
It violates the Bill of Rights
My head I often freely bow
My silent prayer is offered now

In thanks for hair—purple, orange, and green
Which is no offense in freedom’s scene
The law is specific; the law is precise
Silent prayer is never a vice

For praying in a public hall
Would offend someone with no faith at all
No one is forced to meditate
No one religion enforced by the State

We can cuss if we want to, and dress like freaks
And pierce our noses, tongues and cheeks
Guns are not outlawed, nor is the Bible
To quote the Good Book makes no one liable

We can elect a pregnant senior queen
Or an unwed daddy as senior king
Because our rights are more important than our wrongs
Who is to judge that others don’t belong?

We have access to condoms and to birth control
Can study witchcraft, vampires, and totem poles
Living by the Ten Commandments is more than allowed
But no word of God is forced on the crowd

It’s a public school; I must confess
When religion is forced, the system’s a mess
So, Lord, this silent plea I make
Shoot me if my freedom they take!


Amen


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hfojvt Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-03-04 04:27 AM
Response to Reply #5
7. I just do not like the meter
A TOLERANT SCHOOL PRAYER

Here I sit in public school
Where prayer to God is not a rule
For this great nation under God
Thinks that forcing prayer is odd

No scripture does the class recite
'twould violate the Bill of Rights
My head I often freely bow
My silent prayer is offered now

In thanks for hair — orange, and green
Which is no offense in freedom’s scene
The law is specific; the law is precise
Silent prayer is never a vice

Forced praying in a public hall
Would offend one with no faith at all
No one is made to meditate
No one religion espoused by State

We can cuss if we want to, and dress like freaks
And pierce our noses, tongues and cheeks
Guns are not outlawed, nor is the Bible
To quote the Good Book makes no one liable

We can elect a pregnant senior queen
Or an unwed daddy most popular teen
Because our rights outweigh our wrongs
Who is to judge which don’t belong?

We can get condoms and birth control
study witches, vampires, and totem pole
Living by the Bible is more than allowed
But no word of God is forced on the crowd

It’s a public school; I must confess
When religion is forced, the system’s a mess
So, Lord, this silent plea I make
Shoot me if my freedom they take!


Amen



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ever_green Donating Member (430 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-03-04 04:34 AM
Response to Reply #5
9. Much better!
:)
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Breeze54 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-03-04 05:17 AM
Response to Reply #5
10. Very Cool!!
Awesome response GreenPoet!

Yikes!

They teach witchcraft in the schools now??

Jeez! Now that explains what my teenage son has been doing with my spaghetti pot and why my candles, oregano, hair on my brush and toenail clippings have dissapeared!!

And I believed him when he told me he was taking a Humanities Cooking Class for extra credit!!

Well, I guess I should read those letters the school sends me once a month...

Thanks for the 'heads up'!

:toast:





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Mike Niendorff Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-03-04 03:50 AM
Response to Original message
6. In poetic form:
Edited on Fri Dec-03-04 04:02 AM by Mike Niendorff
----

I sat down in a Republican church
Where telling the truth can get you hurt
They claim they worship an honest God
But most of their argument is fraud

When they can't get money from everyone's taxes
They claim it's an anti-religious practice
And if they can't get preference in public schools
They claim that the Devil must've written the rules

Then they claim that God Himself has been banned
And that devil-worshipping freaks have taken over the land
Yea, the Good Christian kids are at risk to get shot
And some green-haired gay kid wants to hook them on pot!

Oh, what will become of the youth of today!
They need government religion to show them the way!
And the church said "Amen", with a standing ovation
And they gave the Republicans lots and lots of donations

And George W Bush, with a wink and a nod
Said "it's time to bring America back to God"
And he promised them judgeships, and political power
And in no time flat, the relationship flowered

"That'll teach all those freaks in those public school classes!
"Now we'll show them who's boss! We'll shove God up their asses!
"We'll take all their textbooks! It's time to rewrite!
"By the time we get done, '2+2' equals 'Christ'!

They marched on like an army, how they waved and saluted
"That'll teach all those heathens! We won't be persecuted!"
And they got public money, and they waved the flag more
And they didn't say anything when George Bush screwed the poor

And they found out real quickly that being on the take
Means you don't ask questions about "Niger" and "yellowcake"
And they got very quiet about "knowing right from wrong"
When the critical lie was "only sixteen words long"

Soon the bombs were fast-falling, somewhere in the distance
(Iraq or Afghanistan, c'mon, what's the difference?)
But the Republican church shouted a godly "Amen!"
And gave more donations to George Bush again

And if anyone balked, they got downright psychotic
"You God-hating heathens! You're unpatriotic!
"We'll teach you what happens when you show your face!
"You're all freaks! You're all queers! You'd best know your place!"

It brought their temperatures right up to a boil
"How dare you suggest that a Bush might want oil?!!
"If you don't want this war, you love Saddam Hussein!"
And they smiled, and Bush smiled, and went on with the game.

Now they weren't in the service, and they didn't enlist,
But they were on every Republican Party mailing list
And they ponied up big, earning paybacks and favors
Which is helpful when draftees may be looking for waivers.

Yet somewhere in the heartland, a new widow weeps
By a flag-covered coffin, where her husband now sleeps
So they tie yellow ribbons, and they talk of God's plan,
And gin up the next case, for a war with Iran.

Because Jesus is coming, and Armageddon is nigh
And they're desperate for a fix of the apocalyptic high.
Plus, whatever they do, God has said it's okay
'Cuz they're "moral" for making public school kids pray!

----


MDN




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