Women & Religion

I'm picking up where I left off. As such, I believe that due to Santorum’s (and Gingrich’s) fanaticism (bigotry) regarding religion that America’s heartland seems to have lost its heart; there are 2 Oklahoma sisters on YouTube singing him praises. It feels like the Civil War all over again but this time it’s about those spreading hate and those that believe in the Constitution’s right to equally and freedom of religion.

The March 9, 2012 LacrosseTribune.com website printed this story: Administrators, teachers and students did not get what they expected Thursday (March 8) during an extended school program. Everyone anticipated the message from Junkyard Prophet, a traveling band based in Minnesota, to be about bullying and making good choices. Instead, junior and senior high students at Dunkerton High School (Iowa) and faculty members said they were assaulted by the group's extreme opinions on homosexuality and images of aborted fetuses. "They told my daughter, the girls, that they were going to have mud on their wedding dresses if they weren't virgins," said Jennifer Littlefield (an upset parent). Littlefield also said "They told these kids that anyone who was gay was going to die at the age of 42," she said. "It just blows me away that no one stopped this."

The assembly began with music and overall, Superintendent Jim Stanton said, the group offered "a very strong anti-violence, anti-drug, anti-alcohol" message. "The kids were rocking out," Stanton said. He noted Junkyard Prophet performed at the school years ago prior to his tenure. According to Stanton, staff members at the school at that time and officials from other districts had positive impressions of the group. However, Stanton said, the group apparently changed and misrepresented its total message going into Thursday's appearance. After performing, the group separated boys, girls and teachers in the building. During the breakout session, the young men learned the group's thoughts on the U.S. Constitution and what one Prophet referred to as its "10 commandments." The leader also showed images of musicians who died because of drug overdoses, including Elvis Presley. Members of the group blasted other performers, like Toby Keith, for their improper influence. The girls, meanwhile, were told to save themselves for their husbands and assume a submissive role in the household. According to witnesses, the leader in that effort also forced the young ladies to chant a manta of sorts about remaining pure. Those who walked out or attempted to confront the speakers were shouted down or ridiculed as disrespectful, according to students. Heidi Manahl, Littlefield's sister, also had a student at the assembly. She, too, was appalled by Junkyard Prophet's message and tactics. "I've never had so many young women come up to me crying because of what was said to them. They were bullied by these people and forced to sit there and told to be quiet," Manahl said. Stanton spoke to the student body again at day's end, emphasizing the positive aspects of the group's message. But he also told students the presenters shared "an opinion about intolerance that's not in line with the beliefs of the Dunkerton Community Schools." "We promote tolerance for one another," Stanton said. "We will continue to celebrate diversity in our student body." Littlefield said she appreciates that the administration has accepted responsibility for the assembly, which clearly went awry. "But the damage has been done. You let these people stay in the school for three hours," she added. Manahl is concerned about what comes next. She hopes administrators and teachers reach out to "students who don't fit in." "There are students in that school who are homosexual and they need to be protected," she said. Littlefield also said "Something definitely has to be done to make the situation better".

On February 14, 2012 Deborah Feldman, a mother of 2, was on the View to talk about her book – Unorthodox, the Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots. The book is about her experience; they didn’t go to public school but instead to a religious private school where they learn how to be a good wife. She said they don’t get the education to get a diploma (at age 16 they graduate with a 4^th grade reading level). The Hasidic community she said was founded by Holocaust survivors and children are trained to trust only Hasidic people and no one else,  marriages are arranged and she met her husband only once at age 17 and felt she was in a twilight zone because she didn’t know how to deal with men. She said her marriage wasn’t consummated right away and even though gossip is forbidden it’s everyone favorite pastime and everyone knew. She and her husband moved to a liberal Jewish community because the atmosphere was too stressful for the both of them. She was learning to drive (which is forbidden) and sneaking out to go to college where she saw the Barbara Walters Gallery (had never watched TV); she learned Barbara’s story (it motivated her to be a better person) and left the Hasidic religion.

I am irritated that women who sleep around are called sluts while men are called studs and wonder how many other atrocities secretly go on in America for the sake of religion. I’ve heard of 2 families (Bates and Duggar) that have 19 natural born children. I do have to praise those with religion for having enough sense to know they shouldn’t follow religion 100% and for realizing that God is good and religions are manmade.