Poll: Should educators be fined or jailed for offering prayer in public schools?

Posted by Greg Laden on September 18, 2009
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WPTV.COM has a poll asking “Should educators be fined or jailed for offering prayer in public schools?” and the possible answers are “yes” and “no.” Which I guess means they are not really asking an “either/or” question although it is worded that way. Anyway, this relates to THIS STORY about people who work for a school system who are currently in trouble for contempt of court. Contempt of court is a jail-able offense, and it is NOT “offering prayer in public schools.”

Of course, it is true that these individuals were originally in trouble for violating the First Amendment Rights of the children and others in the school system they work for, and for mixing church/state business. They were ordered by a judge to stop doing that, they defied the order, and that is what got them in trouble.

Anyway this is a poll you might want to visit, but don’t just vote; Comment also. Let the poll-maker know that they are not really asking the right question.

The Poll is Here. It is currently at 10.6 percent yest, 89.4 percent no.

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Comments

  1. #1 SQB
    September 18, 2009

    Now at 48.7% yes vs. 51.3% no. I could read the comments just a minute ago, but they seem to be behind a login now. Good analogy, Greg, but I think you should’ve dumbed it down and used more CAPS and exclamation marks!!!! if you wanted it read. (Actually, I do that sometimes for our local eBay equivalent. I have a feeling it works, but I haven’t gathered data on it.)

  2. #2 SQB
    September 18, 2009

    Now even better. Any chance you can transclude it here?

  3. #3 JefFlyingV
    September 18, 2009

    The poll is now at 62% for yes. I’m glad to see the poll has been Ladenated.

  4. #4 noel
    September 18, 2009

    I think the wording was intentionally inflamatory – you know: liberals want to make prayer a crime, Christians are discriminated against, blah, blah, blah. Funny that it’s backfiring.

  5. #5 fireweaver
    September 18, 2009

    As I write, it is 86.4% yes, 13.6% no.

  6. #6 Gavinicus
    September 18, 2009

    And let’s remember that the teacher voluntarily submitted to the court order. It was part of a settlement of the original civil case.

  7. #7 jj
    September 18, 2009

    The poll is now at 62% for yes. I’m glad to see the poll has been Ladenated.

    I hate to break the news to ya, but PZ posted it too. But since it was Greg who posted first, and spurred PZ to post, by the transitive property, anyone sent to the site by PZ was sent by Greg.

  8. #8 DuWayne
    September 18, 2009

    While I don’t like the wording in that context, I think the answer is a resounding yes. When teachers grossly violate the law like that, I believe they should be punished for it. I think a reprimand is appropriate for the first time, possibly the second (depending on what exactly they did) but after that – fines for sure and if it is egregious enough, a night or two in jail might be just the thing.

    Keep in mind that I feel exactly the same about an atheist teacher who decides to push an anti-religious position as well…

  9. #9 TL
    September 18, 2009

    Jailed? Certainly not. Fined? Probably not. Fired? Yeah, that’s the ticket.

    Damned poll authors.

  10. #10 ajbroome
    September 20, 2009

    Someone should spend more time learning how to spell ‘prayers’ in a URL rather than advocating fiction as ‘a way of life’ too…