ArunB wrote "And to think, we elected some of these jokers! -ArunB"

DeveshB added "I think there is a nationwide competition going on among state lawmakers for who can be the biggest jerk. I just found out that the
state senator from my district said that Dalai Lama is a cult leader. In his view, anybody who doesn't follow Christ is a cult leader; end of discussion.

Incidentally, this guy, a Republican, won by a huge majority.

ArunArya added: I share with Devesh the comment about biggest jerkiness. The standard buggering of democracy as indulged by US lawmakers is to attach their favorite bill on top of another unrelated bill. Idea is that voting against the provision is also voting against the desirable. In MN lawmakers have attached an abortion bill to funding for disabled. Governor has said clearly he will veto, shutting the government if they don't blink. The way out of this mess is simple - line item veto. Fuck the adamant poliiticians hard. Another way out is mine after all these years to seriously battle the sub animals of Lowell - permanent computer memory with familial implications. In this case, politicians will shy away from this kind of jerkiness if they knew legal but horrible long term consequences for them and their family. When I was young, Schlitz ran a foul beer ad. Not only will I never drink it, I will bugger the stupid employees too. "anybody who doesn't follow Christ is a cult leader" hopefully is a wrong summary for if right I can now undertake familial devastation of the jerk.

The story

Copyright © 2001 The Seattle Times Company

Local News : Wednesday, May 09, 2001


Dalai Lama visit irks lawmakers

By Janet I. Tu
Seattle Times staff reporter

Who could object to young people talking about peace and
nonviolence with a Nobel Peace Prize winner?

But what if that Nobelist was the leader of a religion and
public-school dollars went toward sending the students to the
meeting? Would it violate the principle of separation of church and
state?

That's at the crux of a controversy regarding the three-day visit to
Portland this weekend by the Dalai Lama, the spiritual head of
Tibetan Buddhism and leader of the Tibetan government in exile, who
won the peace prize in 1989.

The Dalai Lama's visit, sponsored by the Portland-based nonprofit
Northwest Tibetan Cultural Association, will include a youth summit
Monday with about 9,000 high-school students from Oregon and
Southwest Washington.

The meeting has triggered complaints from several Washington state
legislators who argue that spending taxpayer dollars to send
public-school students to hear the Buddhist monk violates the
separation of church and state and represents a double standard in
regard to religion, one that is biased against Christianity.

Seven lawmakers signed a letter sent to Clark County School District
superintendents, asking for clarification on the schools' religion
policies and about how much money and time the schools are
spending to send students to the summit.

"My issue is not with the Dalai Lama visiting," said state Sen. Joseph
Zarelli, R-Vancouver, one of the signers.

"My issue is about what I believe is a very clear double standard... I
would be surprised if the school districts provide the same access to
the pope visiting town or a Billy Graham crusade. They probably
wouldn't even let them sell tickets on school grounds."

The school districts are providing, in many cases, transportation and
supervision for the students, as well as time off from their school
day
to attend the event.

Schools have used the doctrine of church-state separation to prohibit
students from reading Bibles at school, praying at graduation
ceremonies or holding Bible studies on school grounds, the
legislators' letter says.

So why is it, they ask, that school districts are sending students to
a
summit that "cannot be viewed as anything but a religious event"?

The letter continues, "One cannot ignore the reality that the Dalai
Lama is the spiritual leader of the Buddhist religion; is touted to be
the reincarnation of the 13th Dalai Lama; delivers a religious
perception by his mere presence; and whose message cannot be
separated from who or what he is: a Buddhist monk."

The lawmakers' statement is not precise. Court rulings have held that
students are free to pray alone or in groups or read Scripture so long
as the activities are truly voluntary, not disruptive and
student-initiated.

While public schools may not sponsor religious baccalaureate
ceremonies, parents and faith groups are free to sponsor such events
for students who wish to attend. And students may form religious
clubs in public schools if the schools allow other
noncurriculum-related clubs to meet outside of class time.

The Northwest Tibetan Cultural Association says that of the Dalai
Lama's seven Portland engagements, only one - a Buddhist seminar
at Portland State University - is religious. The rest will be talks on
peace, nonviolence and Tibetan culture.

The youth summit "is not a religious event," said event manager Barb
Audiss. "This is an opportunity for high-school students to hear
directly from a Nobel Peace Prize laureate how to resolve conflict
through nonviolent means."

The cultural association is sponsoring the Dalai Lama's visit to raise
funds to build a Tibetan Studies and World Peace Center.

Because he's convinced the event is nonreligious, "I don't see it as a
separation-of-church-and-state issue," said Milt Dennison,
superintendent of the Camas School District in Clark County.

About 60 students from Camas High School will attend the summit,
missing two hours of school. The students will pay $3 each for the
school bus. Three teachers, in addition to parents, will serve as
chaperones.

"If the pope gave a speech here on nonviolence, I wouldn't have a
problem with the school district providing the same level of support,"
Dennison said.

The Vancouver School District, which will spend $940 to bus several
students to the event, in a letter to the legislators, said it is
playing a
proper, neutral role in regard to religion.

"The Dalai Lama was selected for the youth summit not because of
his religious beliefs but because he was awarded the Nobel Peace
Prize for his views on peace, compassions and nonviolence," the letter
says. "The event will provide students a unique cultural and
educational opportunity ... "



Copyright © 2001 The Seattle Times Company