[Authoress’s Note:

[First off, this isn’t as timely as it might’ve been if fpc had been *working* at all last week.  But we’ll ignore that.

[This is so far below my usual quality of work.  The language and composition are crude, and I’m aware of it.  It’s not even a proper essay, but I felt the need to post it here to get the word out.  Because people need to hear about things like this.  We hear all about the Christians protesting the removal of the 10 Commandments from a courthouse, but absolutely nothing about the infringements on other faiths that happen on a daily basis.]

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Woman says cat statue 'an insult'
A Texas woman stood before Tarrant County commissioners yesterday, insisting that a bronze statue of a panther be removed from government grounds because it represents "paganism."
"That pagan statue is an insult to Christians everywhere, and I respectfully request its removal from any local, state, county [or] federal property," said Blanca Castillo.
Having just finished their normal business, County Judge Tom Vandergriff and three commissioners stared at Castillo, seemingly bewildered that someone would object to the bronze statue of a sleeping panther -- a symbol, to many, of Forth Worth's history.
In the late 1800s, a Dallas attorney reportedly claimed that "things were so quiet, he had seen a panther asleep on Main Street" in Forth Worth.
Vandergriff told Castillo, of North Richland Hills, that commissioners would take up the matter at a later meeting because "the law is such that we're not allowed to respond to this today."

~~found on page A2 of the Richmond Times Dispatch, 27 August 2003
It's worthy to note that the above itty-bitty article (reproduced here in full, all rights reserved to the New York Times News Service) was put directly next to a quarter-page picture of some stuck-up self-righteous protestor at the Alabama courthouse.

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I'll say this for today’s daily news -- I'm so fucking glad that monument to Christianity was removed from the Alabama courtroom. And I think if the panther was intended (though I highly doubt it) as a monument to paganism, it should be removed from government grounds. Separation of religion and state -- that's all religions and all government.  However, you’ll notice that Miss Castillo didn’t have a problem with separation of church and state – she had a problem with paganism. She doesn’t want the statue removed because it’s violating the Constitution; she wants it removed because it’s offending her narrow-minded sensibilities.

Now here's my rant. Christians in this country get pandered to. It's okay for them to be biased and prejudiced and intolerant, because they've got the upper hand. No one wants to offend the Christians. But when it comes to imposing on the rights of the rest of us, no one gives a flying fuck. It's okay for the Christians to declare that the laws of our country come from their supreme authority, but if someone of another faith were to suggest that, he or she would be facing at the least unimaginably harsh criticism. I wouldn't put it past some parts of this country to form a lynch mob. It's okay for Christians to go into a rage when someone puts restrictions on how much they're allowed to inflict their belief system on the rest of us. But if someone of another faith were to get that worked up, they'd probably get committed to a mental institution. And it's okay that the Christians garner sympathy and support (not to mention national recognition) when they have protests about how much they're suffering for their faith. But if people of another faith formed a protest, they'd probably get hosed down and have rubber bullets shot at them.

But I think what ticks me off most is that it's okay for the Christians to say they're "insulted" by any reference to paganism. How the fuck do they think we feel, when we can't go a single day without having some reminder of Christian dominance thrust in our faces?

It just plain pisses me off. So many Christians are so close-minded against anything that they don't espouse. Now I'll say this right now -- I've been using the term Christians pretty generically in this essay, and yes, I know that not all Christians are like this. I used to say that most aren't. But I'm not so sure anymore. I'd love to ask all my Christian friends to give some serious thought to how they treat other religions, consciously or unconsciously. Do they give other faiths the respect and deference the rest of us are expected to grant to them all the fucking time? I doubt it. I very highly doubt it.  However, I do know that most Christians wouldn’t be so blatantly insolent as Miss Castillo.

I was seething when I read that article. Insulted. Our faith insults her, and, apparently, everyone of her faith. Well forgive me if I don't fucking care. I've suffered enough personal attacks from people like that self-important bitch that I think a little insulting is what Christianity could use. Might take them down a few notches, make them realize they're not the only and absolute faith in this world. She said that like Christians are so superior to the rest of us, like our mere presence is a blot on their perfect world.

It's just so fucking condescending. Insulted, my lily-white pagan ass. People like that need to be beaten about the head with a stick until they admit that they're being bitches. Tolerance doesn't just mean for you guys and your innumerable sects of the same religion! It means you don't disrespect the other 5 billion people on the planet! But, no. It's not socially acceptable to hate or mock blacks, Asians, Hispanics, gays, fat people, foreign people, the disabled, or the ill-educated. And it's not socially acceptable for anyone to hate the Christians. But it is socially acceptable for the Christians to hate whoever they damn well please on a religious basis.
Something needs to be done.