Thursday, April 01, 2010
Can't Spell Irony Without A-C-L-U
Amazingly, this is not an April Fool's joke. Unless the organization in question has decided to make itself look like a fool.
The Mississippi ACLU -- upset that a local school canceled its senior prom rather than allow a lesbian to bring her girlfriend to the dance -- decided to help organize the raising of private funds to sponsor alternate events. Then it got a $20,000 donation -- and the fun really started.
The organization explained why it chose to reject the gift:
Now, if the ACLU were a "political" organization -- as traditionally understood -- such a decision might be understandable. But this is supposedly a civil liberties group. It's supposed to stand for unpopular speech or groups that express unpopular ideas! When did the ACLU only acquiesce to the views of the "majority"? Heck, the "majority of Missippians" likely have problems with the word "lesbian."
So if Mississippi banned the Humanist Association from even operating in the state because it was "atheist," would the MS-ACLU decline to help represent it?
Maybe they're just planning on changing the meaning of their abbreviation to American Caving Leisurely Association.
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The Mississippi ACLU -- upset that a local school canceled its senior prom rather than allow a lesbian to bring her girlfriend to the dance -- decided to help organize the raising of private funds to sponsor alternate events. Then it got a $20,000 donation -- and the fun really started.
The organization explained why it chose to reject the gift:
The gift, to sponsor one of several privately sponsored alternate events, came from the American Humanist Association, an advocacy group whose mission is to promote “good without God.”So, rather than take on the controversy of being associated with a group that could be labeled atheist, the Mississippi ACLU is rejecting the gift! Talk about craven!
“Although we support and understand organizations like yours, the majority of Mississippians tremble in terror at the word ‘atheist,’ ” Jennifer Carr, the fund-raiser for the A.C.L.U of Mississippi, wrote in an e-mail message to Roy Speckhardt, executive director of the humanist group.
Now, if the ACLU were a "political" organization -- as traditionally understood -- such a decision might be understandable. But this is supposedly a civil liberties group. It's supposed to stand for unpopular speech or groups that express unpopular ideas! When did the ACLU only acquiesce to the views of the "majority"? Heck, the "majority of Missippians" likely have problems with the word "lesbian."
So if Mississippi banned the Humanist Association from even operating in the state because it was "atheist," would the MS-ACLU decline to help represent it?
Maybe they're just planning on changing the meaning of their abbreviation to American Caving Leisurely Association.
Labels: ACLU, Mississippi
