I'd Call This Religious Discrimination
A Seventh-Day Adventist woman riding a Dallas transit bus was reading the Bible aloud to her small children on Saturday and was told by the bus driver to either stop or get off the bus. The woman refused. The bus driver said, "Well, I don't think this is the place or time to do so." The woman responded, "Oh, but it's the perfect time and the perfect place since it is our Sabbath and it is the time with the Lord and therefore I'm going to continue."
At that point, a transit supervisor came on board the bus and also instructed the woman to stop, and again, she refused. The family was removed from the bus.
The mother is convinced this is religious persecution. The transit authority claims it is policy because they do not permit any loud or abusive behavior on the buses. Sorry, but that's not going to fly in this case.
First, the policy as indicated on the warning decals posted inside the bus is referring to loud, profane, and abusive speech. The graphic on the sticker shows a balloon filled with expletive symbols and stamped with the standard red "NO" symbol. I hardly think the Biblical passages being read by the mother fit this category of speech.
Second, are we to honestly believe that this mother was yelling these readings to her children? Again, based upon the criterion that loud, profane, and abusive speech is what is prohibited, it is difficult to comprehend the mother was violating an arbitrary standard of loudness. How do they measure that anyway?
Lastly, and most important, the bus driver did not mention any such speech policies, but said "I don't think this is the place or the time to do so." Sorry, transit authority, but that is subjective and personal. The place and time to do such a thing is not an issue of concern to transit policy. This is religious discrimination, although a minor altercation, and by no means indicative of anything systemic in public transportation. The bus driver handled this poorly, and the "annoying" woman--she did have one of "those" personalities--would never win in this situation. Still, it is another example of the simmering animosity growing towards American Christianity.
At that point, a transit supervisor came on board the bus and also instructed the woman to stop, and again, she refused. The family was removed from the bus.
The mother is convinced this is religious persecution. The transit authority claims it is policy because they do not permit any loud or abusive behavior on the buses. Sorry, but that's not going to fly in this case.
First, the policy as indicated on the warning decals posted inside the bus is referring to loud, profane, and abusive speech. The graphic on the sticker shows a balloon filled with expletive symbols and stamped with the standard red "NO" symbol. I hardly think the Biblical passages being read by the mother fit this category of speech.
Second, are we to honestly believe that this mother was yelling these readings to her children? Again, based upon the criterion that loud, profane, and abusive speech is what is prohibited, it is difficult to comprehend the mother was violating an arbitrary standard of loudness. How do they measure that anyway?
Lastly, and most important, the bus driver did not mention any such speech policies, but said "I don't think this is the place or the time to do so." Sorry, transit authority, but that is subjective and personal. The place and time to do such a thing is not an issue of concern to transit policy. This is religious discrimination, although a minor altercation, and by no means indicative of anything systemic in public transportation. The bus driver handled this poorly, and the "annoying" woman--she did have one of "those" personalities--would never win in this situation. Still, it is another example of the simmering animosity growing towards American Christianity.
