Florida Flipping Out, Part II

IF OVERT RACISM, thinly disguised as education, were the only malady currently afflicting the potentially great state of Florida, some semblance of hope would remain and be apparent. Tragically, such is not the case. Several diseases, among them malaria and leprosy, are spreading through the state, largely because of irrational, superstitious attitudes about the efficacy of vaccinations and modern medicine. But even that is not the total extent of Florida's stately bennightedness. As tends to be the case among political conservatives and evangelical Christians, who are generally the same people, hatred of homosexuality and all other forms of sexual non conformity runs rampant in the "sunshune state", over which a dark cloud of benightedness currently looms and malingers. As tends to be the case wherever political conservatives ana evangelical Christians, who, as now stipulated, are usually the same people, gather together, hatred of homosexuality and all other forms of sexual non conformity prevails. Hence, "don't say gay", as detractors properly term it, is the law of the land, by the disgrace of God fearing Republican reprobates. The upshot is that in Florida's public schools students are not allowed to be informed that any form of sexual behavior other than straight heterosexuality exists or should exist. Whether teachers are allowed to reference the fact that sometimes people have sexual intercourse without being married in a Christian church remains unclear; probably not. Either way, why take chances? Teachrs like to keep their jobs,but when pushed beyond the limits of reasonable tolerance often cannot; many are leaving the profession and even fleeing the the state in search of sanity and safe employment. Since teachers are required by law to be at least minimally educated in order to hold forth in the classrooms of most public schools, most teachers, graes K through grauate school,tend to be progressive politically and socially. This fact is yet another thorn in the brain of conservative America, which unsurprisingly distributes the false conspiratorial nonsense that a vast left wing conspiracy has taken over education in America, K through PhD, and must be opposed,by force of violence if necessary. When in doubt, start an insurrection, goes the far right wing reasoning. Recent historical reality amply bears out the stark reaility of this nefarious ideological lunacy. (see: "Capitol Insurrrection: 1.6.21). What we call "red states" tend not only ot be washed in the blood of Jesus, their resultant lack of oxygen supplied to the brain precipitates more forms of derangeement than are dreampt of in your philosophy, to paraphrase Skakespeare, who is also being censored among the bloodwashed throngs. Like all untreated diseases, far right insanity will get worse before it gets better.The time might well come when nobody in Florida who graduates high school has ever heard of, much less read Shakespeare, Faulkner, or Carl Sagan. Why is Carl Sagan among those in jeopardy of censorship? Why, because Florida bans book, and because he (Carl Sagan)e espoused the virtues of something intolerable to tyrants and philistines only; something mistrustful of arbitrary authority and blind faith based ignorance,something called "science".