I've Got Your Evil Little Thing Right Here

The young lady in the middle is Jessica Ahlquist.  This is the face of bravery. 

Jessica Ahlquist is my hero.  She should serve as a role model and inspiration to all who call themselves American citizens and to all who believe in standing up for what is right even in the face of adversity.  Rhode Island State Rep. Peter Palumbo (D - Dist. 16, Cranston), on the other hand is not my hero, nor should he be considered a hero by anyone.  Palumbo has taken to the airwaves to spread venom against Jessica, even going so far as to call her a "evil little thing."  Apparently, Palumbo has never encountered an outright evil little thing.  Welcome to my bat cave.

First, to give you some background information:  Jessica Ahlquist is a sixteen-year-old student at Cranston High School West.  For many years, a banner hung in the auditorium of Cranston High containing a prayer addressed to "Our Heavenly Father," e.g. skydaddy.  Folks, skydaddy is a creation of the Abrahamic pantheon, and the phrase "Heavenly Father" tends to be Christian.  An endorsement of any particular version of religious belief in a government-funded facility is unconstitutional.  At the very least, it is a violation of the Captive Audience Doctrine.  Jessica Ahlquist is an atheist.  Looking at the endorsement of skydaddy day-in and day-out was offensive to her.  More to the point, though, was the unconstitutionality of the banner.  Although she is in the minority and has endured jeers, taunts, ostracizing, and even death threats, Jessica did the right thing and sued the school district to have the banner removed.

The text of the banner is/was:

"Our Heavenly Father,

Grant us each day the desire to do our best, to grow mentally and morally as well as physically, to be kind and helpful to our classmates and teachers, to be honest with ourselves as well as with others, help us to be good sports and smile when we lose as well as when we win, teach us the value of true friendship, help us always to conduct ourselves so as to bring credit to Cranston High School West.

Amen"

The school officials said with a straight face that this isn't a prayer.  It has "SCHOOL PRAYER" on it bigger than Dallas, not to mention the "Heavenly Father" and "Amen" business.  

The banner has allegedly been hanging since the 1960s and authored by a former student who grew up to be Rip Taylor's ugly kid brother (thanks to the Atheist Camel for noticing the resemblance).  A little bit of rewording to remove any reference or inference to any deity or "higher power" and I'd say these are good goals.  In its current state, it is a prayer to a specific deity and allowing it to hang without prayers to any other deities is an endorsement of a specific deity by a governmental entity, i.e. the school.  Jessica Ahlquist, being well informed of Constitutional issues dealing with  separation of church and state, sought the help of the ACLU and filed a lawsuit to have the banner removed. Jessica did the right thing, and there is no telling how many students who came before her wanted to do the same thing.  The Court ruled in her favor and the offensive banner is down, but not without much weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth on the part of the true believers.  Among their number is Rhode Island State Rep. Peter Palumbo.

I'd love nothing more than to sit here and throw rocks at Herr Palumbo, starting with the cruel irony that his name rhymes with dumbo.  I'll refrain for now.  Instead, I'm going to talk about what a pure coward I find Palumbo to be.  Let's start with the fact that Palumbo is the state representative for the district that encompasses Cranston High School West.  He is Jessica Ahlquist's state representative.  After the ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Ronald Lageaux, Palumbo saw fit to take to the airwaves courtesy of WPRO.  Pandering to those who would commingle church and state, as politicians are wont to do, Palumbo did not refrain from the name calling and rock throwing.  He called Jessica Ahlquist an "evil little thing," and went on to say that he thinks "she's being coerced by evil people."  Palumbo is half right.  Jessica is experiencing a great deal of coercion by evil people - people who call themselves Christian and yet have called Jessica some of the most awful names and have threatened her with violence and death.  Yes, I'd call that flat-out evil.  Palumbo is a coward for pandering to that element.  Jessica sought to uphold the Constitution by enforcing the Establishment Clause, and Palumbo trods upon it to get votes from those who would also trod upon it.  Palumbo hasn't the courage to face what Jessica has faced.  By realizing that just because it's been done for a long time doesn't mean it's right and subsequently fighting to right a wrong, Jessica now has to endure an environment that was even more hostile than before.  Before challenging the banner hanging in the school, she could have simply gone along to get along.  Had she chosen to silently let this violation of the First Amendment continue, she would only have to deal with the occasional hateful comment directed toward Atheists in general from those who adore the banner.  Instead, she stood up for what is right and now she endures threats of physical violence and death from fine, upstanding citizens who call themselves Christian and who invoke the name of their chosen deity when making said threats.  Meanwhile, spineless Palumbo not only fails to condemn such behavior, he fans the flames with his "evil little thing" rhetoric.  Would you be spewing "evil little thing" rhetoric if it had been a Christian student fighting to remove a banner proclaiming "There is no god but Allah and Mohammed is his prophet."?   How about a banner with a pentacle and the Wiccan Rede?  Maybe a big black banner with The Eleven Satanic Rules of the Earth emblazoned in big, red letters?  Would you say that child was being coerced by evil people, or would you parade the child about and proclaim him/her to be baseball, hot dogs, apple pie, Chevrolet, god, guns and guts all rolled into one?  I think we all already know the answer to that.  So sad that you wouldn't stand up for your constituent who stood up to right a wrong.

I have a few questions for Palumbo and his ilk:  Why isn't your church and your home an adequate forum for your religious beliefs?  Why do you feel the need to force the rest of us to give you an audience when you decide to stoke the ego of your imaginary skydaddy?  Why is it so important to you to force the rest of us to likewise stoke skydaddy's ego?  Are you so insecure in your beliefs in your skydaddy that you also need for the rest of us to believe as an affirmation to/of you?  Do you scream to the sky that you fear Sharia law will become a reality in the US while at the same time trying to commingle church and state?  Whose church would be the ruling church?  Christians can't even decide among themselves who has it right and who has it wrong.  Shall we enact laws requiring all residents of the United States to take up serpents and drink poison as stated in Mark 16:18 as proof they are true believers?  The snake handlers would approve of this and would even handle a rattlesnake or two and drink arsenic to prove their point.  What's that you say?  You don't like that idea?  Then keep the church out of the state.  Do what your Jesus commanded in Matthew 6:5-6 - go to your room and pray in silence.  Remember what your Jesus said in Mark 12:17 and render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's.  Even your Jesus frowned upon public prayer and the commingling of the church and state.  Since you seem to worship him so much, maybe you should start practicing what he preached.  The thing is that even back at the time the Abrahamic mythology was being written, its authors recognized the annoyance of prayer for show and the danger of mixing church and state. 

Peter Palumbo, go wrap yourself in that flag and waive that cross in the air, you fascist.  And while you're prostituting yourself out to the believers to get their vote, look at Jessica Ahlquist and know what is true bravery.  Look at her and know that you have seen someone who truly respects the law and the concept of liberty and justice for all.  You're certainly not going to see that in the mirror. 

This is the face of cowardice.