Month: May 2021

Coercion, not freedom

Posted on by backuphill

Photo by Vijay Putra on Pexels.com

Hold up!

I think we have started moving the “free to choose” idea into the Soviet establishment of Communism. Lenin and Stalin used to like giving people the feeling like they had the ability to choose…only to find themselves in front of a firing squad or shipped off to a gulag in eastern Siberia. “Sure, you have a choice…my way or the highway…”

Here’s another historical example for you – the Nazis used to ask for “papers” at checkpoints to prove you were or weren’t a Jew. In modern terms, you are now going to have “checkpoints” to determine your eligibility to enter based on your vaccination papers. “Your papers, please…vaccinated to the right, unvaccinated to the left…”

If this whole topic doesn’t scare you as an American citizen, then I am not sure what it will take to wake you up. If this is acceptable now, then where does the line get drawn? Moreover, what other lines will be drawn and socially acceptable as time goes on?

The news about allowing for “vaccinated only” sections is sanctioned discrimination, it is also coercion, which is not the same as “freedom.” Essentially you are telling people that if they want to participate in activities they did before the pandemic that they are going to have to be forced to get the vaccine.

Let’s think about this from this point of view?

  • Have we ever asked if someone has gotten the flu shot before allowing them to enter any facility or venue?
  • Have we ever asked for vaccination proof for measles, mumps, rubella? Diphtheria? Polio?
  • Have we ever verified that someone doesn’t have hepatitis before they are employed or attend a sporting event?
  • Have we essentially banned people with HIV/AIDS from participating in regular societal activities?

No?

Then why would this be any more acceptable? *HINT: It’s not.”

Medical decisions should be between you and your physician, or others you specifically designate. It shouldn’t be subject to “passports,” or proof, to participate fully in society. Anything that allows for someone other than those you designate to decide whether you participate in regular society would be medical discrimination.

Anything other than totally opened and accessible to all citizens, regardless of vaccination status, is just another brick in the road towards a social system that resembles precisely what America was designed not to become.

Inappropriate display

Posted on by backuphill

Photo by Brett Sayles on Pexels.com

Is it appropriate for a teacher to display a “Black Lives Matter” poster on their wall or wear a t-shirt with the same message? Is it appropriate for a teacher to leave a Bible or other religious text sitting on their desk? Is it appropriate for a teacher to promote one political party over another? Is it appropriate for any of these things to be done while with students and on school time?

I was doing a training the other day with a school district and one of the teachers participating in the Zoom meeting had a poster on the back wall, in plain view of the camera, that essentially was advocating for a political viewpoint. Obviously this teacher was demonstrating they were an “activist” of sorts and wanted whomever was seeing them on camera to see that they felt a certain way about certain issues currently on the forefront of conversations for society as a whole.

I found the poster to be inappropriate for a teacher to be displaying – especially if this was a background that would be seen by students. I didn’t find it inappropriate because I disagreed with the subject matter. I found it in appropriate because I see it as a violation of professional standards.

Now, before I continue, I want to reiterate that I am all for free speech and allowing people to express their views. If you have spent time on this blog over the years you would know this. I don’t have many instances where expression of one’s views should be limited because I believe that the expression of one’s self is that important.

However, having been a high school teacher and an American Government teacher and knowing enough about freedoms within the school and limitations of those freedoms, there would seem to be a double standards – again.

Professional standards say that, as people who have a position of power over students, our personal views should be kept to ourselves. In the past this has generally been applied to things like politics and religion. The reasoning behind this is that students are moldable and if given undue influence, they might take on the beliefs or thoughts of their teacher. Makes sense, and as a teacher I tried to keep the students guessing when it came to these two topics – not my job to instill these things in students, that’s their parents’ job and eventually they should develop these views and opinions on their own with their own reasoning.

However, over the last 20 years, it has been more acceptable for teachers to express their political views but not their religious views. When I was teaching I heard my own colleagues express their political views in the classroom with students. I have had my daughter relate to me that one of her teachers was actually passing out bumper stickers for one particular presidential candidate. Conversely, I have seen and heard of school employees and teachers being punished for expressing their religious views or even practicing their religion while on school grounds.

Is it another double standard? Is it another practice of “it’s ok for me, but not for you” when it comes to politics and religion?

Look, it should be all of one, or all of the other. Either keep all politics and religion out of the classroom or allow all politics and religion in the classroom.

But, what do you think? Is there a fine line between what is appropriate and what isn’t? Is one more acceptable than the other?