Archive for November, 2010

If the Bible truly calls for gays to be put to death, then don’t public school students have the right to wear t-shirts to class that simply repeats the Scripture? Yes, says faulty thinker Jerry Moore, in perhaps the dumbest argument in favour of "Straight Pride" shirts yet.

When a handful of teens showed up to St. Charles North High School in Illinois wearing "Straight Pride" shirts ("If a man lay with a male as those who lay with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination and shall surely be put to death," was written on the back), they were told by administrators to cross out the offending Biblical passages with marker. They complied, and the next day a different set of students wore homemade "Straight Pride" shirts, sans Bible verses. But barring kids from wearing shirts with Christ’s alleged teachings on them is an infringement of their religious freedoms, argues Moore, the opinions editor for Suburban Life Publications in Chicago.

Which is akin to saying that if students believe some random fairy tale that says Jews — or blacks, or women, or puppy dogs — deserve to be slaughtered, that too is protected speech. It is not. And Moore winds up his haphazard argument without really concluding one way or another whether Biblical teaching can qualify as prohibited speech.

Also true. But missing from Moore’s argument is standing precedent that allows students’ First Amendment rights to be infringed if their activities inhibit the normal activities of a school. Saying your classmates deserve to be executed surely qualifies as problematic. [via Queerty]

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