I went into a post office yesterday morning. It wasn’t one I normally go into, but it was here in Milwaukee. The clerk had a “boom box” sitting up on the counter, just blasting some religious station that was preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. The minister on that thing was full of fire and brimstone! Just screaming about Christ saving our souls!
It was so loud I couldn’t even hear the clerk talk to me, and her face was only about 18 inches away. When I asked her to turn it down, she did, but was real pissy and rude to me after that. After I left the sevice window I noticed she cranked it back up.
Now, I personally am not offended by the content that was being spewed out. What gets me is that she would have anything (music, news, etc.) blarring so loud. It’s unprofessional.
But for debate purposes, I wonder if she was violating anyones rights by forcing them to listen to the gospel while patronizing the U.S. Postal Service.
Probably not, since it seems like an individual employee simply listening to her favorite radio program. The loud volume was unprofessional, though, and I’m surprised it was allowed to go on for that loud. I’d like to believe that if you had talked to her supervisor about it, something would have been done.
Now, if the clerk was standing by the door, handing out “Jesus Saves!” pamphlets to everyone who enters, and this was sanctioned by her supervisor and/or during regular working hours, then you’d have a potential SoCAS situation. As it is, you just had an annoying clerk with no sense of decorum.
Which is actually not the same thing as “SoCaS”-- a convenient shorthand phrase that can nonetheless lead to confusion as to what is actually legal and what is not. For example, if you consider that all governent offices are closed on Christmas, a postal clerk listening to a religious radio tation seems mild in comparison. Perhaps the clerk is violating some local noise ordinances, but that’s about it.
I counsel tolerance. Not the ideal tolerance, but the real, gritty, day to day tolerance of putting up with our fellow beings, the tolerance of shrugging off the obnoxious. In an ideal world, the seperation of church and state would be pretty tight, but it isn’t, and it isn’t.
Take the pledge thing. I think the argument that the invocation of God is a rhetorical device is valid enough, it’ll do. It simply pumps up the rhetoric with hot air, holy hot air, but its harmless enough. I very much doubt that the word “God” in our pledge, or on our money, has suddenly converted an otherwise reasonable person into a raving, snake-handling Pentecostal.
Tolerance. Let them have it, its not so much, not enough to fight about. We’ve got plenty to fight about, real stuff to fight about, let’s save our ammo. We of the left are also well advised to be humble, a lot of the roots of progressive movements grow in religious soil. A genuine Christian is about the best ally we could have, what a friend we have in Jesus!
As to faith based initiatives: don’t worry about it. It will eat itself, it will start with its tail and be gnawing on its own asshole before a week is out. Because the Southern Baptists are perfectly ok with government support of thier noble goals and outreach programs. But they will go totally ape-shit if the same respect is shown to the Moonies, never mind the Scientologists! Are they going to support Nation of Islam outreach programs in our prisons? Sure, the day after they nail thier collective pecker to a tree and set the tree on fire.
I’d better clarify something here:
I don’t buy the “seperation of church & state” jazz that others on these boards do. I believe the 1st amendment only outlaws a specific state religion. But I realize most haven’t interpreted it that way. As my OP said, the content of the radio broadcast didn’t offend me.
In my opinion, it’s not a violation of anything. But I used the experience to post here and see how others view this. I’m just currious.
Unlike, say a teacher, the postal clerk is not in a position of authority, and is not personally spouting the stuff, so this is not a religion or SoCaS issue.
But, say a Jew walks in and the radio is blaring that you must find Jesus or burn forever. It then becomes an issue of this person creating a hostile environment for her customers. I’m certain that this is a violation of Post Office regulations - the noise also. It’s the same as if she were playing X-rated rap. That’s why she’s out of line, not because the content was particularly religious.
Playing a radio that loud, and from the posts it sounds like it was REALLY loud, is clearly unprofessional and may have been a rules violation. I’m wondering why other workers weren’t complaining to the employee or a supervisor. Were no customers complaining? Sounds like that particular PO needs better supervision. Then again, maybe all employees and supervisors are hard of hearing or born-again Christians there.
