When did you choose to be straight? Show me the straight DNA if that is what you are basing your argument upon.

If your faith practices bigotry and hatred, that is your right to subscribe to those Neanderthal beliefs. The US has said that all people are created equal. If a school wishes to say that not all people are equal based on religious dogma, that is their right, but they will be doing it on their own, not by receiving a subsidy from the government to promote their message of hatred and intolerance.

Marie, Are you a geneticist? You do not know if homosexuality is a choice. I personally do not believe that a person decides one day, gee I think I'll be a homosexual.

I agree, a private school should be able to take any student that they want, Just don't take any government funds or tax subsidies.

Okay, I'll play your game. Should schools that do not allow Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Muslim or any other religious group get public funding?

If they are "private schools" they can choose WHOMEVER they wish to be members! Why is that so hard to understand?

Not wanting to change the subject, but, in truth, State and Federal public funds should not be spent on education, period....in any circumstance! Education is a local issue and should be funded 100% by local communities!

Apples and oranges. Planned Parenthood doesn't refuse to provide services to certain groups of people, and the public funds that go to Planned Parenthood are used for things like birth control, cancer screenings, and family planning education (not abortion). They offer those services to anyone who walks in the door. Public funding should not go to organizations that exclude people.

The argument is that you don't want public funds to go to organizations that don't share YOUR belief system. Planned Parenthood doesn't support my belief system. The argument that they don't use public funds for abortions is a non-sequitor. By using public funds for other services, they redirect other donations to abortions. Money is fungible in these organizations. Without public funds, Planned Parenthood would be unable to perform the 300,000+ abortions that they do every year!

Good point!

Absolutely. Did you know that Congress just spent $3,000,000 to defend a ridiculous heterosexual privilege to... Oops!

http://www.equalityloudoun.org/2013/01/28/worst-argument-ever/

Heterosexuals aren't being persecuted by zealot homosexuals. The same is not true the other way around.

I don't have a problem with anyone that is gay. The problem starts when they try to get people to accept it as natural.
When was the last time you saw a Straight Pride Parade?

I don't have a problem with anyone that is gay. The problem starts when they try to get people to accept it as natural.
When was the last time you saw a Straight Pride Parade?

You are very confused about what is allowed and available in public schools. Marie. As a parent of two public school children, I have lost NOT ONE of my rights regarding my children. Are they exposed to diverse groups, including GLBTs, Muslims, Jews, Christians, Indians, Asians, Hispanics and many others? YES! And thank goodness, because that is how the real world works. Are they around people who have made bad decisions (Smoking, drugs, etc.)? YES! And because I, as their parent, have done my job and taught them since birth how their decisions will effect their lives - they know what to do. My children will leave our public schools, with not only a wonderful education (which I enrich and expand upon - again, MY job as a parent) but also with knowledge of how to conduct themselves and how to work with a wide variety of different people. Good for you and your private education, and good for you if that is what you want for your children, but stop slamming those of us who have made a different choice for ours. YOU DON"T GET TO JUDGE EVERYONE ELSE!!!!!! I know a wide variety of GLBT individuals, including teachers, managers, artists, students, blue collar, and white collar - they are wonderful people who deserve all the opportunities that others are given. Why you, or anyone else, should believe that you get to judge a person based on who they love is absurd. If a private school wants to exclude them, they shouldn't get public money, it's a simple as that.

JL is a good example of a typical fascist personality type.

quote: YOU DON"T GET TO JUDGE EVERYONE ELSE!!!!!!

Well, JL, isn't that exactly what you are doing? Telling EVERYONE ELSE that they should be EXCLUDED because they do not agree with your philosophy?

Good for you if that is what you want for your children, but not everyone else does. You don't have the right to tell other people what they have to accept any more than they have the right to tell you. AGAIN, which is exactly what you are doing.

The world doesn't ''work like that''. Go to any islamic country, an Asian country, etc., and see how 'diverse' their schools are. THEY ARE NOT. The only part of the world where people like you insist that the world is like that all over, are countries that were founded on Christian principals, and created by Europeans, and much to our detriment.

What you promote, is that you think the world SHOULD be like that, whether it is, whether or not everybody agrees; and that people who don't obey your ideals should be punished financially by having their choices of schools dictated only by other people like you. THAT'S FASCISM.

The schools themselves are not the recipients of tax dollars, the PARENTS of the students receive the tax credits. It is their right to send their children to a religious school that teaches whatever values the parent follows, NOT YOURS.

Where the hell is this public school you're talking about, Gomorrah? It is absolutely false to say teachers can take students off campus without parental consent for vaccinations or any other reason. It's false to imply that students can somehow be forced to interact with Gay/Straight Alliance counselors. It's false that teachers can say whatever they want regarding sexuality. Might students at public school actually have to meet and interact with gay people on a regular basis? Sure. That's part of life. Will they be forced into graphic sex education or dozens of forced off-campus trips to a vaccination-happy mad scientist? No. Not at any school system in the country. Not without parental consent.

Way to go JL. "they are wonderful people who deserve all the opportunities that others are given." This is the core issue that unfortunately the overly religious seem to miss out on the message that Jesus was supposed to be promoting. Everyone is HUMAN, black, white, gay, straight, Asian, rich or poor. The message of tolerance has been lost in a fervor of misplaced righteousness and what people see as an attack on their faith. No one is attacking Christian faith by removing public funding to schools that practice exclusion. Those schools are welcome to their faith, no matter how misguided it may be, it is their right to believe that nonsense. Just like Pastafarians who believe in the Flying Sphagetti Monster. But do expect public funding if you make it a point to say that you are going to practice bigotry.

*Do not expect..."

I don't know where Will01 lives but there were 3 stories on the news THIS WEEK where schools took students off campus without parental consent.
One was to a Mosque and the students were seperated and the boys had to say a prayer.
The parents had NO IDEA that it happened and the school system just said oops we made a mistake.

Rusty: You mean the field trip to a Mosque in Boston, in 2010, was on the news this week? A field trip that, yes, required parental consent and included parents and grandparents of students as chaperones:

http://www.boston.com/yourtown/wellesley/articles/2010/09/18/wellesley_pupils_prayers_at_mosque_fuel_call_for_policy_change/?page=2

The issue there was over the prayer, not parental consent. And that was based on one witness who claimed that the boys had been forced to participate. Other witnesses said it was not even suggested that they should participate, but a few did so out of respect, much as I participate out of respect when visiting the place of worship of another faith.

My mother has been a public school teacher for 40 years in systems across the country, and I called her to get her take on this. Simply put: Off-campus trips require parental consent at some stage of the game, period. I'm not saying maverick teachers have never taken students off campus without consent, but those who do are asking for a lawsuit.

Because everyone benefits from an educated society. It's sad that your private education neglected to teach you that. With your line of thinking, should I not have to pay for the fire department since my house has never caught fire?

Very good questions Marie. And a good answer JL with one exception. We are doing a poor job educating our children. So many can't even read upon graduating from high school. So, why should I spend money on that? I would prefer not to pay taxes for education since I don't nor ever have had kids in the GA public school system. But since I am forced to pay them, shouldn't I be allowed to designate where they are used?

@JL, (not directed at Marie)

Yeah, cause the USA has benefited so tremendously from it's ''well educated'' society due to the wonderful standards of public schools. HA !

Because you don't get to pick how your tax dollars are used. I'm a pedestrian who barely ever needs to use the roads. That doesn't mean I'm going to demand a refund of the portion of my taxes that goes toward road construction.

If you get tax credits you are in fact getting funding.

What Marie is saying is that the parents of these kids are ALREADY paying into the system for someone else's kid to be educated. Why can't they use this money as THEY see fit.

Your argument about the fire does not hold water (pardon the pun) because YOU are paying for YOUR house not your neighbor's.

@Will01 ... you don't pay road taxes, that is derived from taxing gas and since you are a pedestrian.............

Rusty:
Point taken, and thanks for the correction. A more germane example, then: I was vehemently against the war in Iraq, but my federal tax dollars went, in part, to fund that war. But I don't expect a refund. Once again, the system would not work if taxpayers only paid for what they agreed upon or the services they personally planned to use.

It is actually "riddance". I hope you find tolerance and peace for all people which is what Christian faith is about.

The "fly" in this study is, "it was done by the government". Need I say anymore?

Hammer meet nail head!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No one is taking your choice away, it just says if you want to private school your children you pay for it. Private schools in the South proliferated after schools were segregated in the mid-sixties. Most of them had one purpose, that purpose was to keep white children from going to school with black children. It is still like that in my opinion. Many whites have been trying to do away with public schools since Brown vs Board of education in 1954.

@ Afairhope... private schools proliferated AFTER they started taking GOD out of schools. The majority of private schools are RELIGIOUS not segregated. I went to one and it had NOTHING to do with trying to be segregated.

Carolyn, that is the typical tactic of the left. Throw out red herrings which have ZERO to do with the conversation at hand and insult people who have an opinion different from theirs.

what does any of those snotty sarcastic and rude things you just said have to do with anything Marie said? Are you trying to say that genetic predisposition to being homosexual is accepted by the scientific community as a proven theory? Because it's not, it's not proven. It doesn't matter whether or not I believe some people were born that way, because I do, but I also believe others who are gay were not born that way and due to circumstances became homosexual.

Either way, global warming isn't accepted by the entire scientific community either.

Just because you believe in something or agree with it or are in favor of it, that has absolutely nothing to do with whether or not other people should be forced to, or else they can't get tax credits to send their children to the school of their choice, but only YOUR CHOICE.

p.s. statement in a recent genetic study of males and whether or not genetics are related to 'gender non conformity'.
Thus, childhood gender nonconformity does not appear to be an indicator of genetic loading for homosexuality.

Carolyn - I actually know that global warming is a hoax. The earth is actually cooling. Sun spot activity is very low. Liberals prove the theory of evolution. Liberals are de evolving.

Who has EVERY said that global warming AND global cooling do not exist?
Now MAN MADE global warming I will argue about. Of course the globe warms and then it cools it is cyclical.
Some people even call it SEASONS

Global warming is a real and measurable ongoing event. http://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/

Changes in Mars' south polar cap may represent climate change, but this is likely due to phenomena particular to Mars.
Changes in Neptune's brightness do seem to correlate with changes in the Sun, but the linking mechanism (if any) is unknown.
Changes in Pluto's atmosphere seem to be seasonal; work is ongoing on this topic.
In the cases of Mars, Neptune, and Pluto, our understanding is incomplete. They may prove to have no connection to mechanisms for natural climate change on Earth. At the same time, some global warming believers have been too hasty in dismissing these observations. Still, they do demonstrate that we don't fully understand climate change.

It does raise an agenda question though. If the government was TRULY concerned about deaths and the way to keep people from killing each other would they not try and ban EVERYTHING on the list you provided??
More people are killed with cars, hammers and knives every year than guns by a LONG shot!! Pardon the pun.
Makes you wonder does it not?

If you are getting a tax credit from the government then they are public funds whether you think they are or not. with a tax credit the government is forfeiting whatever the amount of tax credit is.
Someone said that if you send your children to a private school you shouldn't have to pay for public schools. In all places that I know schools are partially financed by property taxes. So, if you own property and pay property taxes you support public education. I've never had any children, but I have paid for a lot of public education.
One thing a private school can do and the government will not bother them is to take no public funds.

Well then the reverse should be true. If your kids go to private school then you should not have to pay school tax.

why should I pay for obama care, or what about all the years I was single without a child in school. My property tax paid for a lot of schools which I never used. why should my tax dollars pay for planned parenthood? why should the government take my tax dollars and pay for a service that I was not going to use. I guess we don't always get a choice. Don't know what church that you have been attending, but most do some charitable work.

Why should I have to pay for war? Or no-bid padded defense contracts? Or Congressmen or state legislators who work for lobbyists and special interests and themselves instead of for the people who voted them in? For Congressional junkets and partying at taxpayer expense? Or ER care for people who don't buy insurance or pay their own way? For bridges to nowhere or municipal airports in the boonies with little to no traffic? For any of the Congressional pork projects all over the country, for foreign aid? We all share the expense of living in a civilized, modern, convenient society - that's why. We don't get to choose. We do get to vote.

GGY, but you want to decide who should and shouldn't be eligible for a tax credit, based on YOUR criteria.

This is why ALL state and federal subsidizing of education is a bad idea. It is used by those holding the purse strings to reward those who "think" like them and punish those who don't.

100% local control of funding for schools is the only sane answer!

"A tax credit is government money."

Not the first dumb thing I've heard today but certainly one of the dumbest. Government money? Wouldn't that be OUR tax dollars. Wouldn't WE be the government? Shouldn't WE decide where our money is spent?

I don't want to pay any tax. Toll roads, private security, fire protection provided by your insurer just like the old days. When we let government get involved, things went downhill fast and are still declining...at a faster rate.

@Hal - no, I recognize that it's not up to me or my "criteria". Too bad so many others don't. It is up to Constitutional law - you know, that document that the right supposedly reveres and no one else does?. There must be separation of church and state. As is fully evident on these threads - not everyone's religion is the same. It's a parent's choice whether to public school, home school or private school. They choose to forfeit tax dollar assistance when they pick a school that discriminates for any reason, be it religious, racial, political, ideological. That's their choice.

So GGY, show me in Constitutional law where the US government has the right to tax its citizens. Show me where and why we have to "choose to forfeit tax dollar assistance."

Here is a hint for you: Don't waste your time looking because it isn't in there.

Damn, Mr. B! I guess we've all been duped for 200+ years!

Except, wait . . .

"Section 8. Clause 1. The Congress shall have Power to lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States."

I believe this is known as the General Welfare Clause.

And, the 16th Amendment authorizing federal income tax:
"Passed by Congress on July 2, 1909, and ratified February 3, 1913, the 16th amendment established Congress's right to impose a Federal income tax."

Actually a tax credit does not mean that you are getting government money, a tax credit means that they are allowing you to keep more of YOUR MONEY.

Huh? I was commenting on the fact that we taxpayers don't get to choose how our tax dollars are spent, and I illustrated some of the ways that I disagree with the spending. Others on this thread were doing that, too. To clarify, I was responding to Mark's reply to you - not directly to your post. I didn't see the comment, "When asked how much government do you want, the respondent said, "enough to give me what I want and to deny the others."

But, thanks for the acknowledgment of sometime agreement. That's rare for me. I don't expect anyone to agree with me on everything, and many on nothing. So, I'll take it. Basically, I come here to state, not debate.

Ain't that the truth?!

We agree on that except I don't think it should even be a discussion item. You don't want to see tax monies used for private schools. I don't want to see government collect and distribute tax monies into any school system. Keep our money out of politicians hands and give it to schools we choose for our children. I have never had children in GA schools yet I have paid more tax into the school system than most Georgians.