So illegally baptizing school footballers is OK; watching Obama's speech, not so much

A few days ago, there was this big story over how a football coach for a Kentucky school took his players to a local church, where half of them got baptized – all this, with the superintendent's support (there's that fabled Separation of Church and State again ...). It would seem this particular school administration just loves to look like idiots, for now, it appears that in order to see President Obama's school speech a couple of days back, students had to bring notes signed by their parents telling them they could watch it.

Seriously.

As I was writing up a little story this morning about a Kentucky high school football coach who took his players to a Baptist revival where several were baptized -- at least one without parental consent -- I said to myself, I bet they didn't play Obama's speech today.

A quick phone call to the high school got me transferred to the school district's main offices, where a friendly woman answered but did not want to give her name when I identified myself as a reporter.

"Mam'," I began, "I just have one question that's not even related to the baptism thing and the coach. I just want to know if the district's schools played President Obama's speech on education today."

She responded by putting me on hold. Upon returning, she claimed to have no first-hand knowledge but had been told by someone else in the office that ...

"The students who watched the president's speech today had to get a note signed by their parents that said they could watch it."

In other words, students at the school district where a top official -- the superintendent -- does not see anything wrong with taking football players to be baptized at a Christian revival, were forced to get a parent's signature to "opt-in" (instead of out) for the president's speech.

As Johnny Carson used to say, "Weird, wild, wacky stuff."

You forgot "stupid", "ridiculous" and "appalling". Though you can't really have put "surprising", sadly. So breaking federal law in taking students to be baptized is just fine, even if it's without parental consent and the students are feeling coerced into following (you know, what with the coach being the authority figure you just don't contradict and all that), but allowing kids to view a presidential speech about determination, doing what's right and focusing on goals in your life ... that's just wrong.

*Sigh*

(via Dispatches from the Culture Wars)
Technorati tags: obama · speech · school · kentucky · baptism · webster retort