Lies and Religious Freedom

I know, I know, I said I would no longer post on issues.  Unless certain conditions warranted it.  Well, those conditions have been brought to my attention.  I blocked and banned Patheos from my browser some time ago.  As a result, I haven't read anything from Mark Shea for a long pleasant time.

But it came to my attention from someone I still follow on FB that he has posted a blogpost about an Ohio law attempting to loosen restrictions on religious expression and access in public schools.  As most know, it's a convoluted topic with no clear guidance: some schools all but banning the phrase God bless you when someone sneezes, others allowing anything short of Bible lessons and altar calls.

This bill seeks to clarify, while making sure students of religious upbringing can openly express their religious views in a host of classroom and academic settings.  It also makes it easier for religious groups to use school facilities in the same manner as non-religious, activist groups can use them.

Naturally the Left - requiring the usual toxic mixture of lies, BS and idiocy for tyranny and censorship - jumps in and says that the law will allow students who believe in the divine goose egg to insist the universe came from said goose egg while denying the existence of science.  And in a sadly predictable manner, Mark vomits the leftist, anti-Christian talking points.  Which isn't surprising.  In fairness, I didn't have the stomach to read his full article.  All I saw was a copy shot of the first paragraph, and that was enough to catch the gist.

But it is the usual lies as can be expected from the  movement of the Father of Lies.  The bill does no such thing and explicitly says that students will be obliged to learn and demonstrate knowledge of the subjects as taught in class, including science classes.   Here is one of many local stories doing the actual work of reporting the news.  Remember the local press is no more unbiased or hard right leaning than most, so Mark's take and those he references run afoul of what an otherwise sympathetic outlet is reporting.  The headline doesn't match the story, one of the clues that the story is likely correct (headlines often written by those other than the reporters in question, and often the journalistic equivalence of click-bait when trying to buttress a story that doesn't square with the hopes of the copy editor).

Again, the bill simply makes it clear that students can more openly express their religious views in public schools, on assignments, and have access to school facilities.  That's all.  They still have to learn and answer the subjects as taught.  The scare hysteria and lies of the Left are per usual wrong.  That Mark would so predictably side with the forces dedicated to silencing the religious expression of public school students by spreading lies about those trying to guarantee their right to be religious outside of the church ghettos shows one more reason why a banned list that had no other website banned but Mark's would be a fine banned list indeed.