Religion
Related: About this forumFree Speech and the Bible Museum
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/richard-j-rosendall/free-speech-and-the-bible_b_5616498.htmlRichard J. Rosendall
President, Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance (GLAA)
Posted: 07/24/2014 7:16 pm EDT Updated: 07/24/2014 7:59 pm EDT Print Article
Exposing religious zealotry is undermined if we are overzealous ourselves.
An effort by the pro-LGBT group Truth Wins Out (TWO) to block the opening of a private Bible museum in the Nation's Capital is a misguided assault on constitutional protections that properly protect everyone, including LGBT Americans and their opponents.
A July 16 New York Times story reported on plans by Hobby Lobby owner Steve Green to convert a building near the National Mall in D.C. into a Bible museum:
TWO's Wayne Besen wrote on July 16:
Citing Green's ties to the secretive National Prayer Breakfast group "The Family," Besen wrote:
more at link
edhopper
(33,615 posts)those aren't Constitutional reasons to stop this. There are probably a large list of rules and regulations about Museums in this area, and this Museum may not meet them. But the ideology of the Museum can't be one of them.
cbayer
(146,218 posts)trying to stop it really has the potential to backfire.
As a very wise Skinner once told me, let them do whatever they want. It is they who will look like fools in the end, not you.
edhopper
(33,615 posts)this will be bad. Many if not most visitors, and especially foreign ones, will not understand that this is not a Government sanctioned museum.
It will promote their fundamentalist view of the Bible, and Bible illiterate visitors (and let's face it, that is a big chunk of the population) will be told things that are not true and harmful to our country.
It's a pity, but like I said, unless they violate a regulation, they are allowed to build it.
I just don't see an upside for this.
cbayer
(146,218 posts)Let me be clear. I think the museum is a disastrous idea. I also think it will fail.
But I have no interest in trying to protect the general public from this kind of idiocy. I think that most people who choose to go there will already share beliefs with Ham or they will go there to laugh.
That's pretty much the makeup of the creationist museum attendance.
The upside is that they will be obvious and the country is turning away from this kind of fundamentalism.
At any rate, it's there right to do this and it's a right that I personally cherish, so while I may try to undermine them with ridicule and facts, I would not try to stop them.
edhopper
(33,615 posts)we disagree on the gullibility of the public.
cbayer
(146,218 posts)he is hoping to sell this.
I would support informational and educational booths outside the museum, which would address some of your concerns I think.