A group that advocates for the separation of church and state wants Arkansas officials to investigate whether a preschool owned by a state legislator is using taxpayer dollars to promote religion.
A spokesman for Americans United for the Separation of Church and State said today the Washington-based organization sent a letter Tuesday to the Arkansas Department of Human Services and the Arkansas Department of Education asking for an investigation of Growing God’s Kingdom in West Fork, which is owned by state Rep. Justin Harris, R-West Fork.
Spokespeople for the Human Services and Education departments said today that officials at those agencies had not seen the letter.
That’s from here.
So now I have to tell you a story….
… One day I went with a friend to my friend’s sister’s house for dinner. This was in a remote town in Arkansas. We got there, and the two kids were running around playhing, and Sister was finishing up dinner, so we hung around in the living room for a while. Sister was married, but as of just a few weeks earlier separated from her husband, living in a new place (we had actually just been over to the husband’s house the day before).
After a while, we heard a sound from the bedroom, and a moment later a man came out. He was wearing a blue suit. We were kind of expecting that he’d be there, but we weren’t sure.
Introductions were made. This was my friend’s sister’s boyfriend. They had been having an affair for some time now … in theory the newly estranged husband did not know about this. The reason he was hiding in the bedroom was because he wanted to make sure it was only us. You see, his wife (oh, yes, he was married, of course) had been growing suspicious so he was taking extra precautions.
Finally, we sat down to eat dinner. During the entire dinner, Dickhead (I’ll call him Dickhead) constantly harangued the two young children to behave better at the dinner table. He told them Baby Jesus would not be happy if they were not good. When he wasn’t bother them, he was talking to me … ME OF ALL PEOPLE … about his Family Values Coalition and how they were going to push a few Democrats out of the state Legislature next election and take over the house.
Yes, it was true. I was having dinner with the head of the County’s Republican Party organization. Talking about family values and watching him harass the kids for being rude (which they were not) at the dinner table. All in secret because Sister’s Husband and Republican Leader’s Wife were not supposed to know about this affair they were having. And had been having for a couple of years.
I’m not sure why I felt the need to tell you that story just now.
Anyway, back to the news:
DHS spokeswoman Amy Webb said once the department does receive the letter, it will initiate an investigation.
The group says that since 2005 the preschool has received more than $1 million from the Arkansas Better Chance program, which provides state funds to pre-kindergarten programs across Arkansas. ABC is primarily funded with state money but also receives some federal dollars.
“We have strong reasons to believe, based upon numerous documents received in response to public records requests, that the provision of ABC funds to Growing God’s Kingdom violates the U.S. Constitution,” the group said in its letter.
The group noted that the preschool’s staff handbook instructs staff members to “share the love of Jesus with these children” and “teach them the word of God.” Also, a handbook provided to parents advises that the preschool strives to “ensure that your child feels the love of Jesus Christ,” and internal records show that “Bible time” is a part of the curriculum.“At the very least, the Growing God’s Kingdom school should be required to stop injecting religion into the government-funded portion of the program,” Rob Boston, a spokesman for the group, said in an interview.
By the way, to be clear, I’m not implying slyly that this Dickhead is the same Dickhead I had dinner with that evening in the Ozarks. Its just that I was reminded of him from the picture. Those Dickheads all look alike to me.
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So did you keep a straight face for the entire evening? There is now way in (imaginary) hell that I could have.
No. I didn’t have a straight face for even a minute!
I’ve met many like Dickhead.
Moral Values are what he seeks to impose on others .
As for the school it is what I have come to expect.
During your dinner with “Dickhead” – did you say ~anything~ about his hypocricy? I see that you didn’t keep a straight face… but I have to know, did you say anything?
About his hypocrisy, no, that was a family matter. I was invited to dinner. Would have been rude. But I recall sticking to my guns on the politics.
I totally understand that you were a guest and pointing out the hypocricy would have been rude… you’re a stronger man than I would be I think! Kudos!
I think the reason all Dickheads seem to look alike is a phenomenon I come to believe in called “Republican hair.” Look at a picture of the House sometimes and see if you can identify the Republicans and Blue Dogs on no other criteria but their hair. You’ll be surprised!