What happened to separation of church and state?
Before anyone laughs at that, I'm serious. So, it's bad for someone to talk about their faith (regardless of what that faith is) in a state environment, but it's to be celebrated that a religious text should be changed & mocked?
How does it teach tolerance to mock people's religious faith, regardless whether they are Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, or they believe the moon is made from cheese? If memory serves, Hitler started slowly and quietly gaining power by mocking the Jews through media outlets and blaming them for the people's problems in life. We talk a lot on this site about the value of an animal's life, what is a human life worth to you? What was it worth to Hitler?
You can disagree with people without mocking them and tearing them down. This play mocks someone's faith. Think how you feel when people spit on the rights of animals. Can you put yourself in other people's shoes? The idea that it is okay to laugh at people of other faiths and distort their beliefs is being taught to children. Is this school paid for by taxpayer money? If my child was going there, I would probably pull her out.
To me, it is not so much about the homosexual part of it (that's a whole other subject that needs more time), it is that the religious text is being changed. And that "religion" is being shared at school. Again, what happened to separation of church and state?
I am going to come back to this thread when I have more time, but my short statement - I am offended.
Oo! I wish I had more time right now. I have lots to say on this matter.
I am also wondering the same thing about what happened to separation of church and state, however I feel we may have two differing opinions of what this entails. It is not bad for someone to talk about their faith in a state environment, it is bad however to try to enact laws and rules that force these opinions on others. Don't get me wrong, in my opinion it is sometimes taboo or frowned upon to talk about religion in state environments just as it is other places as well. I am glad that this is so. I have had many differing opinions than fellow coworkers, and because of that I leave my personal preference on religion and politics at the door and do not bring it to work, however when directly questioned I will not refuse to answer. It has made for some very uncomfortable workplaces no matter how I tried to approach the subject matter.
No where was it mentioned that a changing of a religious text is to be celebrated, however I can also understand this interpretation through the subject matter of the play. However, in my opinion art is art. It is meant to be an outlet to express opinions and tackle those harder to talk about topics such as religion, homosexuality, etc. The story line its self is not so much about a atheist viewpoint or the retelling of those Christian stories in a rude or condemning manner, but instead about some larger philosophical topics. The main point of the play is to make you think about this topics. Yes, it does use the stories of the bible as a form of allegory, however that is for maybe half of the play. While this may be viewed as mocking or offensive to others this play is meant as a form of art and not to be taken personal. It represents a perfectly valid mindset of a large group of people in our country.
I agree that you can in fact disagree with others without mocking them or tearing them down, however I find nothing wrong with this play personally after doing some research on it. It tells the story from a homosexual viewpoint throughout the ages, through the Christian mindset of creationism all the way to modern day. It is not directly insulting a Christian mindset, but more of saying what if "this" were the story. As for this play or anything else distorting someone'e belief I find this a strange thought process. In my opinion for one to have stronger faith and belief, one
should be able to question their own beliefs and through that process further strengthen their faith.
As I said before we could possibly have two different definitions of church and state separate. Religion or lack thereof is a major cultural and societal factor and has influenced many events in not only our history, but the entire worlds history. By having the mindset that we should not "share" religion in the school, we are leaving out a major portion of many different classes. This play in no way forces someone to learn about religion. When in a play, you are given a choice to participate, you are given the choice to attend, and you are given the choice to protest it. However, I feel that the problem with the separation of church and state is when someone is forced to participate in actions that in no way correlate with your religion or lack thereof.
I think the main thing though, is that this play is getting blasted and protested for promoting and or featuring homosexuality, not necessarily for mocking a certain religion. I think that it is crazy that in this day and age people pick and choose homosexuality over so many other sins to protest or to bash. There are far more serious things happening in the world that need to be addressed. So what a play is saying that it is okay to be gay. It is not saying you must be gay. Instead it is addressing the issue that homosexuals should have the same rights and not feel threatened to live their lives as how they see fit.
