Pirate's Cove

As Weasel Zippers notes, “This is the same guy who called a man a “punk faggot” on national TV.” And we surely can’t forget Sharpton’s involvement and leadership in pograms against Jews.

“This is a key moment for the country. Too often in our history, we’ve seen religion used to justify attacks on other people’s rights, from slavery, to Jim Crow, to women’s right to vote. That same fight is with us today, and we can’t let it stand.”

Interestingly, Leftists just like Al Sharpton are only interested in these attacks from one religion that occurred in the past. They are less than interested in those same attacks that come from Islam. In fact, if you even bring these issues up, you’ll be branded a racist, a bigot, and an Islamophobe. Honor killings? Jihad? Anti-Semitism? Forcing women to be covered from head to toe? Making women obtain 4 witnesses if raped, otherwise she will be whipped? Not allowing women to drive? Stoning women for adultery? Hanging gays? These are all issues, and the list keeps going, from hardcore Islam. Why are Leftists unconcerned about these actions? Actions which would not be allowed under Indiana’s RFRA. Indiana Governor Mike Pence penned an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, which is, sadly, behind the pay wall, that explains the law. Here’s a snippet via the governor’s home page

“I want to make clear to Hoosiers and every American that despite what critics and many in the national media have asserted, the law is not a ‘license to discriminate,’ either in Indiana or elsewhere.”

“I abhor discrimination. I believe in the Golden Rule that you should ‘do unto others as you would have them do unto you.’ If I saw a restaurant owner refuse to serve a gay couple, I wouldn’t eat there anymore.”

“As governor of Indiana, if I were presented a bill that legalized discrimination against any person or group, I would veto it. Indiana’s new law contains no reference to sexual orientation. It simply mirrors federal law that President Bill Clinton signed in 1993.”

“Some express concern that Indiana’s RFRA law would lead to discrimination, but RFRA only provides a mechanism to address claims, not a license for private parties to deny services. Even a claim involving private individuals under RFRA must show that one’s religious beliefs were ‘substantially burdened’ and not in service to a broader government interest—which preventing discrimination certainly is. The government has the explicit power under the law to step in and defend such interests.”

“The hospitality and character of Hoosiers are synonymous with everything that is good about America. Faith and religion are important values to millions of Indiana residents. With the passage of this legislation, Indiana will continue to be a place that respects the beliefs of every person in our state.”

He also notes that much of this was about protecting religious people from Obamacare.

Here’s the thing: many people and businesses are legally allowed to deny service. “No shirt, no shoes, no service”. People can be banned from businesses for improper conduct. Does a business have to make a “Hitler cake“? No. What if someone wanted a cake with violent tones on it? No, they do not have to make it. Does a business have a right to discriminate simply because a person is gay, Black, a woman? No. However, they wouldn’t have to make a gay a wedding cake.

What if someone came into a Muslim (or Jewish) bakery and wanted a cake with bacon on it? Would the baker be within their religious rights to say “no, I cannot make that”? Yes, they would. In a rational world, the people wanting the cake would say “I understand. I may not agree with your religious beliefs, but I understand, and respect your beliefs. Can you recommend a good baker?” In today’s society, where everyone is Offended, that is not what seems to happen, and Something Must Be Done, forcing compliance, particularly under Government intervention.

Crossed at Right Wing News.

Read: Sharpton: Indiana Religious Freedom Law Totally Like Slavery And Jim Crow Or Something »

Your first thought was probably “finally, a newspaper that is concerned about all the idiotic suspensions for kids who do something like make a pop tart gun or makes a gun with their fingers or something”. Nope. Here’s the Editorial Board

The weed that wasn’t

THE NEWS is full of instances in which deficits in common sense produce bad outcomes. But rarely is the deficit so clear, or the outcome so wretched, as in the case of a sixth-grade boy in Bedford County, Va., who received a year-long suspension from school for possessing a single leaf of marijuana — which, on closer inspection, turned out not to be marijuana at all.

The pupil, who is 11, was enrolled in a gifted-and-talented program not far from Roanoke when an assistant principal found the leaf in his backpack in September. Leave aside the possibility — hardly remote in middle school — that the leaf may have been planted as a prank, which the boy’s parents suspect is the case; the leaf was not in dried, smokable form, and there is no suggestion that the boy smoked, sold or purchased this particular leaf — or any other.

The boy was suspended for a year and charged in juvenile court with possession. Then, whoops, they realized that it wasn’t even marijuana. But, the school did not back down, noting that policy prohibits imitation drugs. The parents, both teachers (who would probably freak out if a kid made “bang bang” sounds) sued the school and the sheriff’s department. The school ordered the child to undergo a substance abuse evaluation.

“But by then,” wrote Dan Casey, who broke the story in the Roanoke Times, “the boy had other problems.” His parents says he now suffers from depression and panic attacks and fears being in public. Hardly surprising if you remember that this is an 11-year-old.

He was finally allowed to return to school, but a different one, and is on super-secret double probation, meaning, one slip up, and he’s out.

Whatever damage that single leaf could have done, even if it had been marijuana, cannot possibly compare to the harm that has resulted from the school system’s policies and actions. The real question is: Why couldn’t anyone in Bedford County figure that out?

This begs the question: why hasn’t the Washington Post EB stood up for all the kids treated in the same manner when it comes to fake guns, made with fingers, pop tarts, cookies, as well as water pistols?

Read: Washington Post Very Concerned Over Child Suspended For A Year »