MY LIFE

Keep this woman away from children!

A new Texas law requires all teachers to be fingerprinted.  This is a rational measure of protection for our state’s children, and is one of many levels of security to make sure teacher are actually safe to be around children.

Well, this one  woman believes that being fingerprinted is somehow the “mark of the beast” as predicted in the Book of Revelation.

Her attorney, Scott Skelton, said his client believes that the computerized fingerprinting, in which her fingerprints will be stored in a database, is the mark addressed in Revelation. The teacher does not believe that it is merely coincidence that Revelation says only those with the ‘mark on his forehead or on his hand’ will be able to buy or sell, since only those teachers who comply with fingerprinting requirements will keep their jobs, he said.

“This law prohibits the free exercise of her religion,” Skelton said in a telephone interview.

I’m sorry, but how is refusing to comply with employment requirements part of “free exercise of religion”?   I don’t believe there is ANY religious directive to refuse legal compliance for such a sensitive and important job. Nobody is saying she cannot believe whatever she wants to believe and there is nothing in the law prohibiting her “free exercise” of religion.

I get so sick and tired of people whining about “free exercise of religion” about things that have NOTHING to do with religion, and EVERYTHING to do with imposing religiously-based insanity on others.

There is no law saying that she HAS TO BE fingerprinted in order to “buy or sell” (i.e., conduct regular commerce).   But there is no law requiring her to be employed in a state public school.   If she refused to comply with the requirements for employment, she can go get a job someplace else.  Nobody is infringing on her right to believe whatever the hell she wants to believe.   Her belief is completely irrational and not worthy of respect.  Further, it doesn’t is fit the passages she quotes.   Having your fingerprints is NOT the same as “receiving” any sort of mark.  She was BORN with those fingerprints!  The state just wants a picture of those prints.

As several commenters posted at the article, she is clearly not a safe person to have around small children.  Certainly, if she interprets the Bible in such a bizarre way at this point, it’s a fair bet she is a literalist on other areas as well and in ways that she is not qualified to be teaching children.   I would not consider her able to teach a straight curriculum without interjecting her religious beliefs along the way, and I would absolutely want a monitor in her room to make sure she didn’t try to bring her God into my kids’ classroom.

She is entitled to believe whatever she wants to believe.  She is not entitled to use her religious beliefs as a way to skirt reasonable job or employment requirements.

And as a 22-year veteran teacher, has she not been fingerprinted for her driver’s license or for some other purpose along the way?

I truly hope if this woman’s case actually gets through the courts, the judge will laugh her out of chambers.  Her case has NO MERIT.