I was watching Keith last night and Kos came on and discussed the idiot running my state right now and his new ad in Iowa. It's a laughable ad, by a laughable candidate and there are plenty of blog entries outlining how idiotic a comparison Perry made between homosexuals serving their country and school children. But what folks are not talking about is just the bold faced lies Perry served up despite the reality in his own #^%#^^ing state.
Children can celebrate Christmas openly in Texas public schools and they can openly pray in Texas public schools. Kos, of course, pointed out the absurdity of the gay soldiers to school children comparison, but he accepted as fact the Perry assertion that students cannot pray in public schools. They can. In fact, in Texas, every morning, by law, there is a "moment of silence" where children and staff are allowed to pray, meditate, or just stand there like mutes EVERY DAY. The mandatory moment of silence is the law in this state. Christmas is celebrated openly too. My sons, a high school orchestra student and a middle school orchestra student, just played winter concerts that featured... wait for it... Christmas Carrols. Gifts are still exchanged at elementary school parties. Decorations are hung. Oy vey...
The lack of school prayer myth thing really gets me angry. When I worked at a San Antonio middle school about ten years ago a student and faculty group was started. It was allowed to meet on school grounds before school. It was a prayer group. I actually lost a friend over this issue on Facebook. She loves to post religious themed sayings and observations. I have no problem with it. One day, she posted a rather offensive myth that basically said school violence was the result of the lack of prayer and deference to God in public schools. I called her on it. I pointed out to her that prayer was allowed in public schools, that my son's health teacher talks about his faith almost every day to the kids in class, and that teachers are allowed to have personal items in their classrooms that profess their faith. She was just perpetuating the myth that Perry was hoping to capitalize on with people, well, like her. And, unfotunately as her post showed, it's working. (She told me to stop commenting on her posts. Oh well.)
Just last year, a Texas court upheld the right of students at Medina Valley to lead a prayer at the high school's graduation ceremony after an atheist family objected and filed a lawsuit. The government run courts in his own state make what he says no longer exists legal. My head hurts.
Perry is lying. He is attempting to play on the fears of gullible people with stereotypes of the schools he for all intensive purposes, leads. Why doesn't someone ask him why he doesn't appoint an education commissioner who will guarantee the rights of children in school to pray? Oh, that's right, he doesn't have to because they already have that right. Pathetic.