When ‘Religious Liberty’ Meets The Flying Spaghetti Monster

TheDude wrote: He's a human being just like you or me. ... What kind of people are we if we dehumanize other people, regardless of their actions, and treat human beings like dogs, expecting them to speak only when we deem it acceptable and only in a way that we agree with?

Amen. We cannot be surprised at high rates of recidivism if we take away people's humanity. No one wakes up and decides to be a criminal. It's a long road, and often a self-perpetuating cycle unless that cycle is broken (incarceration, especially in the United States, usually doesn't do the trick.)

If there was an incarcerated Jedi I would hope we would step up to help them, and not angrily chastise them for "drawing attention to themselves."

lol are people really entertaining the idea that his human dignity is being denied because a judge refused to give him five million dollars and allow him to run around in a pirate outfit and eat spaggheti every friday while serving time in a state prison for attacking people with a meat cleaver?

i have been to a similar facility and i can tell you that they do in fact insult your dignity in many different ways but this aint one of them lol

i have no sympathy for this guy, except in the sense of having sympathy for all people who suffer from serious mental health issues, which he probably does

but if this case does anything at all it makes legitimate cases of inmate grievance more suspicious in the eyes of the public

The inmate obviously wasn't helping any part of the process with this. It just looks, to me, as if he figured there's nothing he could do to make things worse, he heard of FSM at some point, and he decided to make a show of the whole thing. Brings to mind the 15 minutes of fame shtick. If anything, it doesn't do or prove anything useful, but I doubt being useful was the point.

OB1Shinobi wrote: lol are people really entertaining the idea that his human dignity is being denied because a judge refused to give him five million dollars and allow him to run around in a pirate outfit and eat spaggheti every friday while serving time in a state prison for attacking people with a meat cleaver?

i have been to a similar facility and i can tell you that they do in fact insult your dignity in many different ways but this aint one of them lol

i have no sympathy for this guy, except in the sense of having sympathy for all people who suffer from serious mental health issues, which he probably does

but if this case does anything at all it makes legitimate cases of inmate grievance more suspicious in the eyes of the public

Thank you. This guy is being a Special Snowflake. You all know I am the queen of compassion, but this is just silly.

The Hindu believe that God takes many forms and faces. Who's to say he can't be a spaghetti monster?

TheDude wrote:

Snowy Aftermath wrote: [strike]Stephen, you're in prison for first-degree assault. You tried to kill two people with a hatchet. Don't attach yourself to a childish atheist metaphor whose goal is to antagonize people and drag us down with you, just SHUT UP.[/strike]

I really, really hope any incarcerated Jedi don't draw attention to themselves like this.

Why not?
He's a human being just like you or me. Let him wear an eyepatch if he wants. I don't care if he attacked or killed somebody, that doesn't make his life or his desires any less legitimate than yours or mine. Standing against his right to self-expression as a human being, regardless of circumstance, doesn't seem admirable to me. Frankly, if you or I take the stance that he doesn't have the right to say whatever he wants to say or do whatever he wants to do so long as he's not harming anyone, I don't see how we're any better than him or any other violent criminal. What kind of people are we if we dehumanize other people, regardless of their actions, and treat human beings like dogs, expecting them to speak only when we deem it acceptable and only in a way that we agree with?

I dare say that we live in an age where we treat dogs like humans and say we trust animals more than other humans , very often i read the phrase " When you get to know humans , you start to love animals " I find this an awfull statement really and i also believe that humans should keep the right of self-expression. The FSM may not be a religion in a sense that we are used to but it is a legitamate counter religion and is even based on the aversion of the hypocrisy of organized religion. I think they have some good point and seeing i am in an syncretic religion myself i will not discard then on the basis of bias. That would make me bias , would not it ?

Snowy Aftermath wrote:

OB1Shinobi wrote: lol are people really entertaining the idea that his human dignity is being denied because a judge refused to give him five million dollars and allow him to run around in a pirate outfit and eat spaggheti every friday while serving time in a state prison for attacking people with a meat cleaver?

i have been to a similar facility and i can tell you that they do in fact insult your dignity in many different ways but this aint one of them lol

i have no sympathy for this guy, except in the sense of having sympathy for all people who suffer from serious mental health issues, which he probably does

but if this case does anything at all it makes legitimate cases of inmate grievance more suspicious in the eyes of the public

Thank you. This guy is being a Special Snowflake. You all know I am the queen of compassion, but this is just silly.

I always thought that Amercan prisoners can only wear orange overalls ? Am i wrong can they wear other clothes aswell?

MartaLina wrote: I always thought that Amercan prisoners can only wear orange overalls ? Am i wrong can they wear other clothes aswell?

I was under the same impression. And in prison, you can continue be whatever religion you want WITHOUT anyone making any special accomodations for you. This goes for any creed the prisoner might follow.

Manu wrote:

MartaLina wrote: I always thought that Amercan prisoners can only wear orange overalls ? Am i wrong can they wear other clothes aswell?

I was under the same impression. And in prison, you can continue be whatever religion you want WITHOUT anyone making any special accomodations for you. This goes for any creed the prisoner might follow.

Yeah so ...why again are we having this discussion :laugh:

the exact dress code depends on the facility, but every facility has a definite dress code and they definitely mean it

to my knowledge, none of them include pirate outfits lol

generally, there are no rules forbidding anyone from believing any particular thing and there arent any rules demanding you believe in or admit belief in any palrticular thing - youre allowed to believe on the inside as you do out in the world (my observation has been that incarceration makes some people more religious, for a variety of reasons) but youre not FREE - you dont get to choose what you wear or eat and you dont get to change the rules

the holidays of all the established religions are supposed to be respected, in many cases this does also include dietary needs such as not eating pork and the ramadan rule of only eating after sun down and before sunrise, but i imagine every facility is its own animal with some being more and some less tolerant, but generally the law does give some protection to legitimate religious custom

but what this kid is asking is absurd, and its really not justifiable as religious observance
he isnt suing for the right to believe in fsm, he is suing for five million dollars, to wear a pirate suit, and to eat spaggheti every friday (i think its friday)

the answer is "no"

if there is any special accomodation that he ought to recieve which this case brings to light it may be that he should be housed in "MHMR" rather than general population, but he still wont be allowed to wear a pirate suit lol

the state generally takes the position that you lose that right (to dress up as a pirate and eat spaghetti whenever you want to) when you start attacking people with meat cleavers lol