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Two Christian (sic) legal groups, Citizens for Objective Public Education and the Pacific Justice Institute, are suing to stop the Kansas State Board of Education from implementing the “Next Generation Science Standards” in the state’s public schools. The science classes demonstrate scientific findings, not the Christian (sic) view of creationism as described in the Bible. The groups claim that this non-religious approach is actually a religious bias for atheism, which they rename a “nontheistic religion”.
The Pacific Justice Institute stated in a press release, in part, “To promote religious beliefs that are inconsistent with the theistic religious beliefs of plaintiffs, thereby depriving them of the right to be free from government that favours one religious view over another”. Brad Dacus, President of Pacific Justice Institute noted, “It’s an egregious violation of the rights of Americans to subject students… as young as five… to an authoritative figure such as a teacher who essentially tells them that their faith is wrong. Its one thing to explore alternatives at an appropriate age, but to teach theory that’s devoid of any alternative which aligns with the belief of people of faith is just wrong”.
However, the Kansas schools aren’t “teaching religious beliefs”, but rather science classes, which don’t choose or promote any religion.
The Citizens for Objective Public Education used the same tactic, saying in a press release that the science classes were actually atheism, which is really a “concealed Orthodoxy“. John H Calvert, counsel for the plaintiffs, stated, “This case is actually about a concealed Orthodoxy that requires all explanations provided by science to be materialistic/atheistic. It’s particularly problematic in the area of origins science, which addresses ultimate religious questions, like, ‘Where do we come from?’ … Public education about origins science needs to adequately and objectively inform age-appropriate audiences about the use of the Orthodoxy and the relevant information and data it suppresses. Origins science is a historical science that studies the origin and nature of the universe, life, and the diversity of life. The Orthodoxy isn’t religiously neutral, as it permits only materialistic/atheistic answers to ultimate religious questions. The concealed use of the Orthodoxy in the F&S has the effect of promoting the core tenets of nontheistic religions like Atheism and Religious (secular) Humanism”.
27 September 2013
Michael Allen
Opposing Views
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In June, Kansas adopted a set of science standards to be implemented in kindergarten through grade 12 classrooms statewide, and Christian (sic) groups filed a pair of federal lawsuits to block the new curriculum. According to the Pacific Justice Institute, the new public school science standards could create “a hostile learning environment for those of faith” by not teaching the Christian creation story {most real Christians reject the six-day Creation fairy tale: editor} as an alternative theory to evolution. The suit alleges that the new standards would “promote religious beliefs that are inconsistent with the theistic religious beliefs of plaintiffs, thereby depriving them of the right to be free from government that favours one religious view over another”.
However, in fact, the curriculum doesn’t promote or favour any religious belief over another, as evolution isn’t a religious belief. The statement went on to say, “It’s an egregious violation of the rights of Americans to subject students… as young as five… to an authoritative figure such as a teacher who essentially tells them that their faith is wrong”. In any case, the curriculum doesn’t call for any teacher to tell any student that their faith is wrong. Furthermore, many American Christians don’t find evolution… the primary point of contention… incompatible with their belief in a Creator.
Another lawsuit, filed 26 September by Citizens for Objective Public Education (COPE, Inc) also sought to block the science standards. COPE said that the new standards “would have the effect of causing Kansas public schools to establish and endorse a non-theistic religious worldview”, which the group argues is a violation of the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the US Constitution. COPE said that the “concealed Orthodoxy” of the science standards would undermine the faithful. It claimed, “The Orthodoxy isn’t religiously neutral, as it permits only materialistic/atheistic answers to ultimate religious questions. Questions like, ‘Where do we come from?’ can only be answered honestly by religion”.
Apparently without ironic intention, COPE’s statement went on to say, “Teaching materialistic/atheistic ideas to primary school children whose minds are susceptible to blindly accepting them as true” is unconstitutional and dangerous. The science standards incorporate “materialistic” ideas only insofar as they have to be observable through the scientific method, and “atheistic” answers only insofar as they make no mention of any deity. Both suits are calling for an injunction against the Next Generation Science Standards and the corresponding lesson plan handbook, Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas. If they can’t block the curriculum entirely, PJI would settle for stopping the standards for grades K-8, and would allow the standards for grades 9-12, as long as the standards are objective “so as to produce a religiously-neutral effect with respect to theistic and non-theistic religion”.
27 September 2013
Kristen Butler
UPI
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I’m not making this shit up! This is what the goofball Evangelicals really believe! Reflect on this… Fathausen wanted to ally us with such cockamamie yahoos. Thank God, he’s gone, and if the OCA Holy Synod has any brains, they’ll send him off to a far monastery (he IS a monk, after all, let him go to Athos or Siberia… that’d learn him).
I believe in evolution and I believe in God. I’m not alone in that… the majority of real Christians are that way. The above proves that it takes all kinds… and that some kinds are rather feral, indeed. Do have a care with the konvertsy… many of them sympathise with the sectarians. There be cow pats in that there field, kids…
BMD
Voices from Russia 
NONE DARE CALL THIS NIHILISTIC OUTRAGE “EVIL” Kansas Moves to Implement 25 USD ATM Withdrawal Limit for Welfare Recipients
Tags: Kansas, political commentary, politics, social welfare, social welfare system, United States, USA, Welfare, welfare reform
THIS is what our Holy Patriarch believes about Capitalism
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This is what our Holy Patriarch thinks of Socialism… he hasn’t changed his mind! HH has NEVER blessed a US Republican “Pro-Life” “Family Values” political asshat. NEVER. He’s a LEFTIE! He’s spoken often and forcefully on the NEED to strengthen the social safety net. All those who vote Republican spit in HH’s face.
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Editor:
Read this through… then, read it again. Read it in light of the quote from His Holiness posted above. We have much evil and rot in our Church here in the USA. I’ll say more later…
BMD
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Kansas plans to keep a controversial 25 USD limit on ATM withdrawals by welfare recipients, despite the possibility that the restriction might violate federal law. Earlier this year, Legislation passed to raise the limit, or do away with it entirely, but a newly revised version of Kansas’ welfare plan doesn’t permit withdrawals of more than 25 USD per transaction per day. It will also block out-of-state purchases. It will collect a 1 USD fee for every transaction, not including additional bank ATM fees. There is one loophole, however… Kansas’ plan, released publicly for the first time this week, places no limits on cash-back money received while making a purchase at a store. Welfare recipients are allowed two free cash-back transactions per month, but will be charged a 0.40 USD fee for each additional transaction.
To remain eligible for welfare block grants from the federal government, states must ensure that recipients of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or TANF, can receive “adequate access to cash assistance” with “minimal fees or charges” as required by the Social Security Act. Kansas receives 102 million USD in annual grant funds from the federal government. If the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services determines that the state’s 25 USD ATM limit violates the Social Security Act, those funds could be in jeopardy.
After McClatchy reported the potential conflict, Brownback signed a “fix-it” bill in June that allows Phyllis Gilmore, secretary of the Kansas Department for Children and Families, to raise or eliminate the 25 USD limit to comply with federal law. However, on Friday, Theresa Freed, a spokesman for the state department said that the 25 USD cash limit reflects what was passed and signed into law, “The legislative fix doesn’t give the secretary unilateral authority to change the limit”. Freed said language in the fix-it bill only allows changes to the limit with “guidance” from the federal government, saying, “There have been conversations, but we’ve received no guidance”.
Now, Kenneth J Wolfe, a spokesman for the HHS’ Administration for Children and Families, said in an email that the agency’s reviewing a copy of the new welfare plan it received from the state of Kansas on 30 July. The next step is for HHS to determine whether the plan meets the requirements of federal law. Wolfe said, “We’ll work with the state to resolve any issues that require clarification”. At least for now, Kansas welfare recipients won’t be subject to the 25 USD withdrawal limit.
Freed said that the changes are estimated to take at least six to 12 months to implement. She noted that the department would inform the public when the ATM limit goes into effect. The 25 USD ATM withdrawal limit was passed as part of a strict welfare overhaul bill that also prevented welfare recipients from using their benefits certain places, including movie theatres and swimming pools, and shortened the amount of time people in Kansas can receive assistance.
31 Jul 2015
Bryan Lowry
Wichita Eagle
http://www.kansas.com/news/state/article29709397.html
Editor:
This is evil… it’s nihilistic, cruel, amoral, godless, and a crass danse macabre before Almighty Mammon. This is what the GOP stands for… GOP… Greedy Oligarch Party… if you work for a living and vote Republican, you’re brain-dead. The Republican Party is in the hands of the ultra-rich… it’s their willing lapdog.
Orthodox people! This means that loudmouth righties such as Potapov, Dreher, Reardon, Whiteford, Paffhausen, and all their pals are out-of-step with the Mind of the Church. They lie and defend tall tales about welfare abuse that simply doesn’t exist. In fact, the largest amount of welfare fraud comes from doctors and banks… but that’s OK… they’re part of the Affluent Effluent; the worthies that I named never miss an opportunity to kiss the naked ass of the Powers-that-Be. By the way, that’s REAL Sergianism… which makes them “Chekists in riassas”… fancy that…
You may follow His Holiness and embrace Socialism or you can follow the named jabronies and embrace godless demonic Crapitalism. I follow HH… he blessed Comrade Fidel… he blesses Comrade Zyuganov… he thinks the Cuban healthcare system rocks. I oppose all the godless righties that I named… they embrace Greed (the Capital Sin) and reverently dress it in religious vesture. There’s a name for that… BLASPHEMY.
Think hard… choose wisely… the times are evil and the foulest flowers of malevolence grow in the shadow of the altar. God do preserve us…
One last thing… the so-called “Evangelicals” (American Radical Sectarians) slobber their approval of the cudgeling of the poor. If you needed proof that they aren’t Christian in the slightest way, this is that…
BMD