Technically they are wrong. There is no prohibition from promoting a faith, just like this is not prohibition from promoting no faith.Well would it be appropriate if there was a religious symbol added to it, like a cross or Quran? The thing to understand here is that, to an atheist, faith (the very idea of faith) is against their "religion". The idea of a god or idle (perhaps apart from Darwin) is anti-atheistic, and therefore so is prayer or messages associating patriotic symbols with religious acts (especially ones depicting children). They see it as promoting faith (albeit not a specific faith) and technically, they are not wrong. If it is inappropriate to depict in a public school imagery promoting a specific faith because it is offensive to those of other faiths, then how is it any more appropriate to use imagery that promotes faith at all when there are those whose beliefs exclude it? To say that people who don't believe in religious concepts (like faith) have a problem is a condemnation of the Atheistic belief system.
I am not defending anything here, only stating my rational perspective. As much as I detest these PC rules, when it comes to public spaces, they are a necessary evil. Without them we would soon see schools (and other public spaces) decorated with posters of boys kissing in front of a rainbow flag and/or posters saying gays are destined for hell, etc. etnausium. So mutual respect and empathy for those with different beliefs and lifestyles must be regulated and enforced. It's stupid because society is stupid (present company excluded of course).
- Chameleon
That's a great point. Are they against people praying for America? How is praying for this country offensive? If you don't want to pray for America so be it, but what is offensive about promoting praying for America? Don't we have the free will to pray or not pray if we wish?What I don't understand though is why they have a problem with preying to the American flag? Are atheists anti America?
In a perfect world that would be how things go. But there is a huge demographic of people who just LOVE their stupid BS, and another, partially overlapping demographic that consider the expression of any opinion that conflicts with their own to be malicious propaganda. Besides one must also consider that controversies such as these put their belief system in the spotlight, regardless of how the situation plays out. For some, there's no such thing as bad publicity. I think to be fair, the school should keep their poster and put up the monkey-man poster somewhere equally prominent. There, balance restored.I disagree that all these things should be taken out, I'm merely pointing out there is plenty of promotion of anti-faith in our schools. I'm all for giving all points of view and presenting all sides. I believe, to be as fully educated as one must be, all viewpoints should be presented fairly and respectfully. Without that, one's viewpoint is uneducated, whether that viewpoint be of faith or without faith.