A certain strain of Christians like to loudly proclaim how they are being persecuted for being Christian in modern American society—this despite the fact that a majority of Americans openly declare themselves to be Christian. Actions such as allowing a woman to buy birth control, or selling a wedding cake to a same-sex couple, have stretched the concept of religious persecution to the point of meaninglessness, while actual persecuted Christians die in bomb attacks or other violence in other parts of the world. It makes us wonder how far this absurdity can be taken.
Fortunately, there is good news to be had on this front. The Supreme Court has finally found a Christian whose claim of persecution was too much even for all of its conservative members to believe. Make the jump past the invisible depiction of the flying spaghetti monster (in tasteful orange) to learn the details…
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The standard Oklahoma license plate, shown above, features an image of a sculpture by Allen Houser, an Apache artist. Its title is “Sacred Rain Arrow,” and it depicts an episode from Native American legend, where a man shoots an arrow into the sky in the hopes of attracting the attention of the rain god, as a plea for rain. Oklahoma likes to promote the culture of its significant Native American population.
A Methodist minister by the name of Kevin Cressman was offended by the prospect of having to put this license plat on his car because he felt it depicted an act of pagan or polytheistic faith, contrary to his Christianity. (This case was brought to the attention of Daily Kos readers back in 2013 by vuzvilla.)
Cressman lost his case in court, and then also on appeal, all the way up to the 10th Circuit. So, Cressman appealed to the Supreme Court...which, last week, refused to hear his case. The Court pointed out that the image would not be universally perceived to be a religious depiction so much as a cultural one. Further, if Cressman finds the image offensive, he always has the option of purchasing a vanity plate that excludes the image, at somewhat greater cost than the standard plate.
So chalk one up for common sense and actual religious freedom, and a win against the cultural and political hegemony of Christianity.
And now, on to the comments!
TOP COMMENTS
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From brillig:
Meteor Blades’ diary about voter suppression of American Indians caused many to say “I didn’t know” which is why I nominate MB’s comment AND include it in its entirety: This sort of information is pretty much ignored, just as American Indian issues are pretty much ignored across the board. We’re invisible except as stereotypes and relics.
Let’s NOT keep this invisible!
TOP MOJO
Top Mojo for yesterday, March 27th 2016, first comments and tip jars excluded. Thank you mik for the mojo magic! For those of you interested in How Top Mojo Works, please see his diary on FAQing Top Mojo.
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Top Pictures for yesterday, March 27th 2016. Click any picture to be taken to the full comment. Thank you jotter!