I'm taking a break from work at the moment and doing some reading of the day's news. Seems the fundiots are all up in arms about Obama's planned address to the students of the nation. I made the mistake of reading some of the comment threads at various news sites covering this topic. The good news is that the response from the rational sector is strong. The bad news is that the paranoid lockbrains are making a huge issue of nothing. Our president wants to inspire the young people of his nation, and the 'wingers are accusing him of "promoting his socialist agenda" directly to children.
What an ugly accusation. Worse, what an utter lack of faith in the intellectual abilities of your children. To state that they may only hear viewpoints filtered through your dogma is inane, foolish, and downright detrimental to them.
Of course, you can't follow a political/religious discussion (they are perpetually linked) without encountering those who rigidly adhere to the absurdity that morality stems from religious belief. It makes me angry, and it makes me feel isolated. I want to scream it out to all those I contact, "I am not immoral. You wouldn't be either without your god-belief." I want to offer myself and my children as concrete proof of humanistic goodness.
Why does it bother me? I think of the tongue-in-cheek observation of modern society: "I can't sleep. Someone on the internet is wrong!"
It really is that trivial. But it's not. I can't ignore the injustice of stifled learning going on in this country. That includes the push to "get Christ back in schools". I got a request to join this club on Facebook this morning. I resisted the urge to splatter the sender's wall with something, anything to counter the diatribe her father, a raging godbot, posts there almost every morning.
It's not worth it. Let it go. Be patient, and appreciate the real value of the people around you, religious or not.