The god problem: “teenager faces jail time for ‘desecrating a venerated object’

I leave the reportage on this absurd story to Jerry Coyne on his Why Evolution Is True: Pennsylvania teenager faces jail time for “desecrating a venerated object” « Why Evolution Is True.

And really, Pennsylvania legislators. You have to get a grip: mocking symbols of anything cannot be a criminal or even civil complaint. Even if your constituency believes a person named Jesus actually lived and did miraculous things (I do not), this is a statue. If belief can’t allow a teenager to make fun, even if raunchily, of a statue, then that belief is too fragile, too simplistic for this world.

Moreover, there is no place for this belief in the public sphere we supposedly maintain in a democracy. If you’re so outraged, take it home and kvetch in your living room, out of my sight and hearing.

This entry was posted in The god problem and tagged , . Bookmark the permalink.