they like to read about “god” because it’s one of the few words they can spell good

in texas only 25% of 8th graders can read at an 8th grade level…

…to put things in perspective, that’s what we look at “average literacy” as. 8th grade level. that’s why, until the current one, presidential speeches were written at an eighth grade level – makes you sound intelligent to the slightly dim, but it’s all pretty easy to understand. until, of course you get a president that can’t read, let’s say, forty-five to forty-seven percent of what’s written at an eighth grade level. his had to be dumbed down to fourth grade. no names mentioned to protect the (far from) innocent here.

but with us ranking 44th in reading does it really matter if they assign bible stories? will most of them even get what they read in the first place? i love how “religious freedom” is always touted by the followers of the one faith bombastic enough to refer to their deity as “the one true god” as if they’re being persecuted. bitch, please…go to any town in texas. ANY town in texas. no matter how big or small, one fact will always be undeniable…the number of libraries and bookstores combined will never match the number of churches. ever.

and for that matter, the number of synagogues and mosques combined will never match the number of christian churches. ever.

this is being written on sunday morning before i go suffer through some yard work, but last night on my way home i hit the liquor store for some whiskey to have afterwards. why? because i can’t do so today because THE CHRISTIANS WON’T LET YOU BUY LIQUOR ON SUNDAY HERE. that’s also the reason why, if i ran to my favorite taco joint for breakfast, they’ll put chips and salsa on my table before i even ask. actually, right right now they wouldn’t, because it’s only 8:31am, and, again, the christians won’t let them serve booze before 10am. but AFTER ten they’ll throw down some chips and salsa before your ass even hits the chair. why? because before noon you can only have booze if it’s served with food, you godless heathen.

seriously – it is NOWHERE in the bible that imbibing in spirits on “the lord’s day” is a bad thing. the christians in the south just made it that way. and yet they feel they need to make bible stories required reading in public schools to make sure their message doesn’t get lost. trust me, god boy – we can’t escape your bullshit no matter how hard we try!

i’m all about good things in moderation. i drink, but only a couple times a week. i pop weed gummies and hit thc vapes, but typically before crawling into bed. and while i’m staunchly anti-religious, i still like to think mom and dad and budnik and all that have left before me are now someplace nice, and i still say “bless you” when people sneeze. i’ve always felt that if someone saying “bless you” to you means you have to be snarky back, you’re just as bad as the folks pushing this bible shit on kids, just on the opposite end of the spectrum. your views are your views – that’s fine, just don’t feel like you need to make them EVERYONE’S views.

i get it – there was a time when a lot more of the country was originally from here, and were a bit paler in complexion, and all knew each other from church. my parents grew up in those times, and most of us watched a fictionalized version of them on a show with a title that showed that the generation before us missed those times, which was why the show was called “happy days”. a place where even the rough, tough, cool former gang member was lovable and adored by everyone. and fifty years later, at least THAT hasn’t changed. henry winkler is a national treasure and that man can FISH. seriously.

i want that much joy in my world! (this is literally a good chunk of his twitter feed)

moving on…muslim kids and jewish kids and hindu kids shouldn’t have to learn stories from the christian bible any more than christian kids should have to learn stories from the koran. and if they do, than they should learn about all of it. the interest does appear to be there later in life, or at least it used to be. when i was in college (which it’s hard to believe i graduated over thirty years ago) the one class i really wanted to take but could never get into during long semesters (because it always filled up) was anthropology 3313 – magic, ritual, and religion…with a very heavy emphasis on that last word, not so much on the first couple. i finally got in my last summer of summer school (1994) and was fascinated by it. you learned about everything from anton’s church of satan in cali to the appalachian snake handlers. but the way that one filled up, i don’t doubt the thirst for knowledge on the topic. and most of the students were just like me – small town white kids who had been raised in the church and wanted to learn “how the other half lived”, as it were.

so i don’t see a reason to force it down anyone’s throat, just let them seek the info on their own. of course, forcing it down the throats seems to be the nature of the beast – just google what happened with the native americans, or the crusades, or any number of altar boys if you wanna view the phrase more literally.