muslims in kansas? why not. the hasidic jews in upstate NY (Kiryas Joel) got their own school district. but all the kids there go to private school so they can get a religious eduction--the public school district is just for handicapped kids. so, if the kansans want an evangelical 'education', they can go get one. but don't force it on everyone. unless they are willing to require side-curls if hasidic jews become the majority and force it on them.

I'd just like to point out that "fighting Quaker" is an oxymoron.

Thanks.

Hey, his "ironiker," not mine.

People ought to read this "fighting Quaker's" bizarre comments. Obviously his take on the Bible are unique and not subject to any ordinary review by traditionalists. Strange, I wonder if such activity was banned round the campfires of Valley Forge or at Gettysburg?

There is a difference between "banning" and "not giving preferential treatment to one religion over another."

You think it's ok for Christian Air Force cadets to get passes to worship while Jewish cadets cannot, for example?

Obviously his take on the Bible are unique and not subject to any ordinary review by traditionalists.

He's a Quaker. That's radical Protestant in the Anabaptist tradition. When you say "traditionalists" you're speaking of theology/etc from a seperate tradition than his.

"fighting Quaker" is not an oxymoron, but it is unusual. "Free Quaker" is another, extinct term.

Mmmm, yes. As a certifies religious nut, I believe we do have to keep in mind that anything that goes for us goes for Muslims and I think many of my fellows are being naive about this. Of course the idea promoted is that we are "Judeo-Christian" nation but it could be argued that Islam is an outgrowth of both faiths. So I have backed away from my own support of school vouchers, for example, because I really do not want to help support Wahhabist schools in the US.

But I do not morally equate Christianity and Islam. At the very least, as a religion we are at least 400 years more mature (some would say tired).

Oh, the response to Laura's routine just keeps getting better.

David Corn of the Nation talks about the "horse jerk-off" joke ("...he tried to milk the horse. What's more--it was a male horse.") Apparently, this "encouraged everyone in the room--and all those children at home glued to C-SPAN--to envision George W. Bush pulling on the penis of a horse." Yes, all those C-SPAN watching children(!) pick up on the jerk-off humor almost immediately. You know, I think there's a slight difference between a joke where she says "he milks a male horse" and something like "he grabbed a horse's cock and rubbed it until the horse ejaculated". Can't quite put my finger on it, but it's there. When I first heard the joke I didn't "envision" the process that graphically, but then again I'm not Washington editor of "The Nation".

Wlady Pleszczynski (editorial director of "The American Prospect") on the other hand, "won't begin to analyze the Bush milking the male horse joke and what it says about the Bushes' cynical use of the religious right." Which is a shame, because I read "The American Prospect" particularly for its insightful analysis of horse jerk-off humor.