Cross-posted from the newsgroup alt.atheism

Hello folks,

I just read a story in the Albuquerque Journal today (12-18-92)
syndicated from a newspaper in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The story
was about the various fundamentalist groups in Colorado Springs, their
financial impact on the community, and their social impact on the
community. After reading some of the absurd activities some of the groups
are engaged in, I have hard time conceiving of anyone as stupid as these
folks functioning in a larger society.

Two recent episodes by two different groups strike me as incredibly
stupid at the very least, and a clear and present danger at worst.

The first episode is involves a group of people who called around a
local school district to gather the names of single teachers. Their
logic (or lack therof) is that if a person is single, then that person
must be either homosexual or bisexual. Aside from an obvious invasion of
privacy to ask a person's marital status, I am concerned that people
this stupid are allowed to drive and perform anything more than the
most menial tasks.

The second episode is so stupid that I really worry about the future of
the human race. A group calling themselves Cowboys for Christ (5
minutes of laughter here) filed a two-part lawsuit. Part one I agreed
with, which was to teach the bible in Greek and Roman mythology
classes. This makes sense to me. Teach the bible for what it is,
mythology, folklore, and philosophy. The second part of the lawsuit
sought to have the bible taught as the sole source of western law.
Fortunately the judge threw this lawsuit out.

My concern is that there are people this STUPID running around trying
to affect public policy. This is not Family Values (tm), but rather
mind control. What is next, public lynchings for breathing in when
everyone else is breathing out?

This post is not meant to imply that all Christians are stupid and
irrational. I have had some interesting discussions with
self-described Christians via e-mail. But what is happening in the
name of Family Values (tm) has nothing to do with family or values. It
is a 20th century inquisition. And the movement is growing. I fear that
the concept of freedom of conscious, so valued by our founding
fathers, is being threatened by a group of bigoted idiots.

--john chadwick
johnchad@triton.unm.edu