Bullying is legal if it's done for religious reasons, say Michigan Republicans
By Virginia SmithNovember 7th, 2011, 11:00 amComments (84)Michigan Republicans turned what was supposed to be a new law protecting victims of bullying into a law pretty much declaring open season on them, thanks to a last-minute clause exempting anyone who can provide a moral or religious reason for their harassment.
"Matt's School Safe Law," which just passed in the state Senate and is now moving on to the House of Representatives, is named after Matt Epling, a gay teenager who committed suicide as a result of bullying. However, the president of the American Family Association of Michigan explained that the bill had to include the "religious motivations" loophole to prevent it from becoming "a Trojan Horse for the homosexual agenda."
Since the addition of the new clause Democrats have dropped their formerly strong support for Matt's Safe School Law, and Senate Minority Leader Gretchen Whitmer called the bill "worse than doing nothing," explaining, "You may be able to pat yourselves on the back today and say that you did something, but in actuality you are explicitly outlining how to get away with bullying. As passed today, bullying kids is okay if a student, parent, teacher or school employee can come up with a moral or religious reason for doing it."
Epling's father also had harsh words:
“Rather than providing a blueprint for schools to handle the situation they have given students an easy out to assault, harass, belittle and harm fellow students with no recourse by the schools. Religion should never be used as a weapon and in no circumstance should a state entity ‘sanction’ violence in the name of religion."
In spite of all the outrage the bill is expected to pass, marking a huge setback for students, anti-bullying advocates, and anyone even vaguely interested in civil liberties or the separation of church and state. Good work, Michigan.
Commentarium (84 Comments)
If only we had proper freedom from religion in this country.
And freedom from which other Amendments? The rest of the First? Second, Fourth, Women's suffrage, legal to drink alcohol? Strong arguments could be made against many Amendments. Let's not be too quick to make statements like that.
There is no amendment which guarantees a person's right to inflict their religious beliefs/hatred/bigotry onto others. People should have the right to practice their beliefs peacefully SO LONG AS they are not impinging on the rights of others.
@Corn, there's no amendment protecting bullying in the Constitution, but there is one separating church and state. No religious excuse should be valid for any crime in America, ever.
@mp, I agree with the sentiment behind what you're saying. But to say freedom from religion opens up a whole lot of unsavory Constitutional issues. I am very religious but not in favor of actions that counter our professed beliefs as this law would indicate.
@Kel, the Constitution says that the gov't can't force us to practice any specific religion but the seperation of church and state isn't in the Constitution. That was an idea put forth by Thomas Jefferson. Church and state can coexist without running afoul of the Constiution but it is a slippery slope. Nevertheless, the main concern with this article does have very strong implications regarding free speech.
@Corn, ACTUALLY: The first amendment EXPLICITLY states that it is illegal for the government to declare and associate a religion with the state. I.E separation of the church and state. And yes, church and state can coexist, but they cannot be one and the same thing. Freedom of religion does not just mean choosing which religion to follow. It means being able to choose which religion to follow, choosing whether to follow a religion at all and being free from exposure to other people's religious beliefs.
Damn, Cornholius just got pwned.
I just hate it when my advocates blather about shit they know nothing about. Fuck! Time for a pestilence.
Somebody could make good money selling "WHO WOULD JESUS BULLY" t-shirts in Michigan, no?
Jesus was rather famous for bullying the bankers (aka money lenders)
Everybody gets one.
Isn't the separation of church and state what distinguishes us from the barbarians? How has America not moved past this issue!?
Because we're not as noble as we imagine ourselves to be.
@BobbyBoB: Because for every progressive, sound-minded citizen out there, there are two bible thumping zealots with a new quote from Revelations.
@SeanNJ: It's not a question of nobility, but of solid belief in and loyalty to, our own principles.
Actually, Michigan was one of only three states that hadn't enacted any anti-bullying legislation until recently. Overall, when you actually READ the bill as passed by the Senate, it is a good thing. The part of the bill that everyone is taking issue with is Section 8. I understand the idea that allowing this freedom of religious expression could possibly turn sour, but to deny it is to directly interfere with our First Amendment Rights as citizens. To make laws inhibiting it, would be unconstitutional. We may not like everything we hear other people say, but one of the beautiful things about this country is that we all have the right to express ourselves freely. The issue is being greatly over simplified into an argument between one side (the LGBT community) and another (anyone who has strong religious conviction opposing homosexuality). The actual issue is more of a legal grey area that affects ALL of us, not just the members of these two opposing factions. If we allow government to tell us when it is allowed to say something and when it isn't, we allow them power to wield our First Amendment to their liking, which I cannot agree to. This issue needs more in depth analysis and legitimate ideas the resolve the line between what is and what isn't religious freedom, and exactly when our freedom of speech inhibits another individual's rights to life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. The presentation of this issue serves to sensationalize and incur emotional responses from people, rather than to actually DO any good.
If someone can use their religious beliefs as an excuse for bullying, where will it end? I don't care what someone believes, but I DO care how they act. Professing a belief is not sufficient justification for harming another person, ever.
First off, Freethinker, I agree completely with what you said. However, under my right to free speech, shouldn't a person be allowed to say that they believe that another is going to hell for certain actions or lifestyles? Again, I'm not disagreeing with you, but sometimes we pass laws to protects some while infringing on the rights of others. Finding the middle ground is the key. Just a thought.
Have you ever been bullied? Beat down in your own front lawn, right in front of a cop who ignored the assault? Kicked out of school for standing up and protecting yourself? How dare you say that allowing this is protecting a Constitutional right! I have a right to live my life in peace, without worrying about getting attacked by my neighbor because I believe different than him (I was bullied because I was, and still am, a socialist). And it wasn't just one person. I was the most hated person in my school, and I say that because of the way the students, teachers, and staff treated me. I was singled out as a victim because I was a socialist. Now what if I were an athiest (as I am.)? Would you justify a 13 year old being a victim of abuse from everyone he knew, because of his beliefs? I dare you to say that capitalism is an excuse to try and KILL someone! Not just attack, but KILL. Stab wounds, running for their life! I fucking dare you to say that. Can you? Can you justify that? Now say that religion has the right to do the same. You tell me that a person can try and kill someone during school, because the victim is not a Christian.
Chances are you got beat up because you're a sanctimonious turd not a socialist.
I laughed, anyway. Good on ya, Whiskey Coke.
I was merely referring to legal free speech. If you will notice, I believe that people's actions should mirror their beliefs of Love thy neighbor.
Having said that, however, I agree with Whiskey Coke. I'm sure that you were bullied not for your religious or political beliefs, but because you are a dick. I don't condone any bullying, but that is my presumption about your case.
"However, under my right to free speech, shouldn't a person be allowed to say that they believe that another is going to hell for certain actions or lifestyles?"
How is this relevant? I'm not sure what you're referring to. It sounds like you're saying if we didn't let the controversial part of the bill through it would be stifling free speech.
"Again, I'm not disagreeing with you, but sometimes we pass laws to protects some while infringing on the rights of others. Finding the middle ground is the key. Just a thought."
If this bill passes as is, the people that you would be protecting are bullies, and the ones you're infringing on are victims of bullying. That sounds pretty backwards to me.
CTL is right. He's talking about REAL bullying, with physical assaults. Your namecalling in response to a letter actually addressing the issue realistically is just childish.
This law gives a free pass to "religious" bullying, and the most ignorant bullies can easily be the spawn of racist, intolerant fundamentalists, who think everyone not like themselves is fair game.
If I understood Defiant Apple correctly, part of the problem here is a concern on infringing on our right to free speech. I assume the situation that is of concern is if a person were to say "I think your lifestyle is wrong because of my religious beliefs" they could be called a bully and be told they are not allowed to express this belief. I hope most people would agree this is as wrong as saying it is ok to punch, kick, stab, etc someone because of your religious beliefs. In an attempt to stop one extreme they have opened the door to the other. Seems like some more work should be done on the bill before letting that go through.
@fishbowtie, there is more to bullying than beating somebody up. But as deplorable as it is, calling somebody a fag and saying that aren't worth a damn is still free speech. I'm not sure if it's part of the "fighting words" clause but I don't think so. I think that provision is idiotic, but it could very well stifle free speech.
As to the second part of your reply. It isn't backwards at all. I'm just suggesting that the middle ground is finding a way to protect victims while still preserving free speech. Again, I'm against this provision but there needs to be more caution and thought to passing laws than some emotional reactions that do often occur.
@Cornelius
"calling somebody a fag and saying that aren't worth a damn is still free speech."
I agree ,that kind of speech does have protection under the first Amendment.
However In the Case of education and Minors, The government has always made exceptions in the case of school grounds where free speech has been limited before. Free Speech has been undermined before such as political speech if it threatens the order of the school.Verbal Harassment has always been deemed as a negative thing and has always been punished in the education system. Racial, political, it's been silenced before for the sake of protecting other students because a School building should be able to provide Students safety from discrimination.
However why now should we make it acceptable to call someone a Fag regardless if they are religous or not? What makes harassment with religious justification less harmful? It's not any less harmful that's for certain. If the issue really is freedom of speech, well then there have been plenty of times the government has ruled that some speech in our education system is unacceptable.
People can say whatever they want other places but schools have always been an exception. Students/Minors are not treated with the same freedom as ordinary citizens, which is why they have curfews, can't vote, can't watch porno, etc.
I'm not talking in any way about justifying bullying in the name of religion. Not at all. I am just talking about finding a middle ground that stops bullying without the First Amendment taking a beating.
And your point about schools and minors is well stated.
Yes, you are supporting bullying if it's done for religious reasons, if you think that there can be an exception for religious reasons.
The problem with your ill-thought out scenario is that we're talking about a school environment, where the government is requiring children to be, unless their parents make other arrangements. It's not like in the adult world, where people can walk away from a contentious debate. Those kids have to be there.
By your standards, the genocidal deity worshippers could use their free speech to pick on kids for religious reasons. But the thing with free speech is that it works BOTH ways. The genocidal deity worshippers pick on the GLBTs, the GLBTs pick on them back, one thing leads to another in today's environment, especially when kids notoriously have poor judgment and impulse control, and you have gangs and fighting and disorder.
That's why speech is limited in schools.
Besides, you don't give kids the right to get a driver's license from the state until they're X age. You don't let them vote until they're 18. Or drink until they're 21. We've established that kids don't have certain rights until they hit certain age markers. They'll get over not having 100% free speech rights until they're out of school.
I'm not a Yank, but I don't think that there's anything in the First Amendment that was intended to define slander as free speech.
But hey look at the flip side. Now any group can bully any other group.
We just need to make sure our kids can form well disciplined groups to protect one another, in and out of school. Lets call them 'gangs' for a lack of a better term.
For clarity, maybe each group could wear a certain color to identify itself. And it would be helpful for them to have their own space (territories?) to hang out in and express their opinions.
I really think your on to something there.
But we should not define their spaces.... we should let them work that out on their own.
Yea, good idea, let's give them some guns and see how it turns out.
I don't understand the bit about the "trojan horse for the homosexual agenda."
That's because it doesn't make sense. It's a homophobe spouting BS because he's scared of boys kissing boys.
Maybe we should be asking which religion is it that permits bullying. While I have yet to read the Koran, I can safely say that Judaism, Christianity, and Buddhism would not permit bullying. You know, Christianity and Judaism by the book. Not the sinful bullshit that's preached in the U.S.
Anyone who is religious is fully open to the idea that they are better than anyone else in any/every situation. That "sinful bullshit" you speak of can/is preached everywhere by someone having arrogant notions of grandeur. And in my experience, this is basically what bullying amongst children comprises.
One child thinks they are better than the other (lead by ideals of their parents/guardians) and the other child doesn't know how to deal with that thereby leading to these sorts of situations in which a child develops mental/emotional issues.
To solve all of this it would be best to ask children to keep their religious opinions to themselves while at school (possibly inciting an infringement on religious freedom). Or teaching children that if they don't have anything nice to say, then they shouldn't say anything at all regarding other students and their beliefs/lifestyles/etc.
Religious people don't have the market cornered here. My son has been made fun of for our beliefs by both atheists and people of other faiths, Christian and Muslim. He was teased when he was in Boy Scouts and for being in the school choir and play. I know that this article is specific to religion but it's a very widespread problem.
@Cornelius: "My son has been made fun of for our beliefs by both atheists and people of other faiths, Christian and Muslim." ... Right, so as long as these kids were doing it for religious reasons, you're saying that such behaviour should be totally fine and protected by law? Bullshit. Bullying must be curbed. We must stand upon the difference between expressing an opinion and bullying. There IS such a difference, and erasing the difference because of some religious crutch is horrific and indefensible.
I never said that bullying was okay under any circumstances. You and I agree that there is a difference between opinion and free speech. That's the middle ground that I was talking about.
if satan tells me to burn down the school, I am in the clear? That's all I am getting from this.
No, just abortion clinics.
Huh? He's getting abortion clinics from this?
I'm sure they'll all love it when their child is bullied for not eating halal, and they can't do anything. Oh right I forgot, we already know this is only going to be applied for one backwards religion, not all.
If jesus tells us to root out the evil doers of the loweliest, I can tell my kids to personally hunt down and destroy these bullies for the sins against another human being right?
i hope one of the politicians responsible for putting this through has his or her child get bullied by some radicals that don't share her beliefs to the point where they slit their wrists, just so they can see how ass backwards that fucking addition is.
So what about Christians bullying other Christians and saying that they're going to hell. Or Christians bullying Mormons or Jews. where would this stop? it's really an indefensible position. If the people supporting this think they're making any sort of rational argument let me be the one to dispel you from that notion. You're supporting bigotry. Plain and simple.
That seems reasonable to me!
Of course, I worship Odin, rape nuns and burn christian churches.
Those are my religious beliefs.
Odin, the All Father told me to do it.
So some republicans wanted to explicitly make sure that their constituents were still within their rights to tell gay people that they are going to hell (or something along those lines). Honestly, that's pretty understandable. This "controversy" is ridiculous though - laws are passed all the time with murky language and potential edge-case loopholes.
Until the law in put forth for interpretation in an actual courtroom setting, no one really knows where that magical line in the middle is going to be. But be rational - Michigan's not suddenly going to turn into open season for beating up atheists/homosexuals/Jews/Muslims/whatever. Calm down.
Of course not, it already is. :/
This is actually great news. I'm an anti-theist, so basically this new ruling will allow me to get away with picking on, tormenting, bulling and beating up young christian kids whom I disagree with (on my moral grounds). This new law will also freely allow a Muslim gang of kids to pick on christian children as it clearly states in the Koran that they are worthless infidels. This is a really good decision made by the Michigan Republicans and all those involved, I hope this clear and level headed thinking could spread to all the other US states and then on to the rest of the world. This is truly a great day to be an American where I will be free to physically express my hatred and bigotry of other groups free from any legal repercussions. Congratulations on all those who pushed forward and made this happen.
Religion is the cancer of society.
dear god, please protect me from those who believe in you
Great stuff. The gays of Michigan can now freely bully Bigoted religious cretins if they can make a case for it.
How about, "Well, they're bigoted religious cretins. That goes against what I believe."
People get bullied for a variety of reasons. Sometimes the bullying has nothing to do with gender, religion, sexual orientation, etc. Sometimes it's just assholes being assholes. Can we concentrate on that instead of everyone jumping up and trying to lay claim to being the most bullied?
Wow this is some of the most fucked up shit Ive ever heard... So glad i don't live in the USA. Wheres the common sense
What a crazy country! I feel sorry that you haven't shaken off religious influence in public life. You lead the world for a long time, now you seem like a relic from the past like a Muslim country.
Come on now, that is probably the most biased and uninformed comment ever. A country this large is incredibly hard to tend to and we live in an age with hundreds of laws being passed a day. You just heard about one negative one and that is what you are basing your judgement off of.
Kiwi- Doesn't New Zealand have two national anthems, "God Save the Queen" and "God Defend New Zealand"? And aren't those songs sung in public? And isn't the NZ flag the Southern Cross along with the Union Jack which is a combination of three different crosses? Unless you're not really a Kiwi, then nevermind.
@T, your country is way too religious and keeping you from advancing in the secular world. New Zealand has legalised prostitution, we don't have any problems with women wanting abortions, homosexuals are treated as equals not as lepars, we don't need guns to protect us from our neighbours, no government employee would ever talk about believing in god publicly, our last and present Prime Ministers are both atheist, we choose our elected officials not oil and tobacco companies, ...I could go on.
@just a thought, New Zealand is mainly secular and a large % of the population would like to get rid of the flag and choose a new one. No one sings God Save The Queen, and very few even know the words to God Defend NZ. God just isn't part of our culture over here.
Most Americans are lovely people as I am sure most Muslims are, but both are blinded by the bullshit of religion.
Atheism is effectively a religion and what you are doing is prosecuting other religions in your statement.
And don't think I support this measure, I am a gay libertarian with no theological beliefs. I am opposed to bullying and am for antibullying regulation in schools. But I am against the idea that religion does not teach generally good morals and that atheism is somehow exempt from the rules of other organized religions.
is a religion like not collecting stamps is a hobby.
How is atheism like a religion? Is that what theists like to tell each other, you know, in order to bring atheism down to their level? Atheism, as has been pointed out hundreds of times, is not a system of belief; it is simply an epistemological stance which says that the evidence for religion is unconvincing and thus, the proper stance is one of non-belief. That's all it is. There is no creed or dogma. The atheist is free to believe anything else under the sun. Atheism is as much a religion as not collecting stamps is a hobby.
@ Kiwi: I understand your stance, and I agree that atheism is not a religion. However, I find your opinion terribly biased. Just because the US still embraces religion as a part of life, and doesn't deny it in public, that does not mean that we as a people obsess over it in every aspect of our lives. I wonder, how many New Zealanders are actually religious-in any way-but are afraid to admit it due to fear of how their neighbors/bosses/etc. would react.
I don't collect stamps.
This should have nothing to do with religion and everything to do with who the minorities are. They are the bullied gay kids and the law must protect the minority. If it doesn't, well, then let me get my gun.
So you're okay with somebody in the majority getting bullied?
Anyway, this should go to the Michigan Supreme Court and then to the US Supreme Court. It looks like there is a violation of the First Amendment here.
Supreme court?
Isn't it everybodies responsibility to defend the constitution and ignore this law (or the part which is unconstitutional)?
The law is plainly unconstitutional.
This is so plain, that the lawmakers should not have bothered to vote for or against it.
whoa..just whoa! Way to go Michigan.Keepin it real.
The main problem I see is that the Bill is not specific enough for its purposes. Yes, I agree that a truly religious person should have the right to inform others of their beliefs. However, when that moves into the realm of harassment, it is a problem. The provision in the Bill is meant to protect people from being accused of bullying simply for stating their beliefs. However, the bill says "any reason being religious or moral in nature" which is basically telling every bully who reads it to claim that they have religious motivations. This needs more work, but the intentions are pure.
This is to bullying what the Patriot Act did to our civil liberties. Shame on you, Michigan.
This makes no sense. Are things so screwed up that a law had to be rendered to allow the delusional free run over everyone else. In this case, why house the psychotics, they are the masters of delusion. Surely they matter most.
In horror, we watch our neighbours to the south and shake our heads. More and more it seems that "Republican" is synonymous with "mentally disturbed." Double that for fundamentalist Christians. You have so much to be proud of, so many great people there, but all we hear on the news is this right-wing, Bible-justifying-hatred crap. It makes all Americans look ignorant.
1 Corinthian 13:4-8. All of you, STOP IT. As my mother would have said, "Shame on you." Shame on you for thinking it's okay to belittle someone, just because you found those 6 biblical verses about "man lying with mankind" -- instead of the 25+ verses on love. Shame on those Representative who allowed themselves to be bullied into including the clause. Shame on all of us, for thinking for ONE MINUTE that bullying, in any form, is acceptable. Matthew 22:39.
I am a CHRISTIAN, but I'm also an educator and I believe that NO ONE, no matter what their life or moral / religious choices should ever be bullied. It's their life, their freedom, their choice. God gave us all freedom to choose, that's what's so awesome about life--we don't have to be forced into living a life we don't want. God's so good and loves us that much that he gives us freedom, so lets give others freedom too, but not FREEDOM TO ABUSE!
One question I may ask is if we excuse bulling due to religion then someone can justify murdering another person for the same reason cant they?
Also this law is unconstitutional the constitution was set in place to protect minorities aka black, american muslims, atheists, oh and gays. I can see why more and more Christians are leaving thier faith and turning to other religions or even becoming enlightened with KNOWLEDGE due to extrimists perverting the faith. Im completely against this law and for any grown up to act so childish as to have to make exuses for a child to be bullied is absolutly sinister. Wanna talk about real EVIL look at our policitcians. Like my english instructor said "with power given to certain individual comes corruption, absolute power corrupts absolutly." How can we claim that we are the land of the free when we have extrmists stifling human progress. If this continues we may as well be on the same road as iraq. How sad. I am not against religion as long as it is not used to justify bulling, murder, or stifles human progress. STOP STIFLING HUMA PROGRESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I consider this very wrong.....im a christian but why would i want to start bullying gays, and other ppl......thats really harmful to their self esteem....Also, we could be friends with them and not hurt them....Anyone agree??
Religion has nothing to do with beliefs, Religion is using fear to harness peoples morals, people are stupid.
Religion has everything to do with beliefs. As a species, mankind evolved with a focus on the collective group for security, because evolutionarily speaking using the group to protect a species that depends upon intelligence for defense (e.g. large brains and helpless at birth) instead of offensive (e.g. teeth) or defensive (e.g. plate armour) was a very (short-term) good choice for the evolution of life on the planet. Because we chimps depend(ed) upon collective security for our survival , we evolved to want to ensure everyone in the group conformed to the common belief. In addition, convincing someone else of your belief helps to validate your own belief to yourself.
I disagree, I'm christian and blah blah ect
I kill you!
A basic christian rule is golden: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Far too many christians forget that.
Now you say something