Driving a bus to hell, I see?

Every now and then I'd be Googling around the interwebs and run across bizarre news stories. Not the ones that are front page headliner news, but the random ones that make most people go, "WTF?" if they stopped to think about the implications of the ridiculousness of the news story. This week was no different. I give you this picture: Which, in my opinion is not nearly as offensive as possibly this favorite picture of mine, which was even used in last week's blog: But apparently is IS offensive: http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20090819/NEWS/908190370/1001/DART-suspends-driver-after-she-refuses-to-use-bus-bearing-atheist-ad According to the article: "Controversy over a bus advertisement promoting a local atheist group has found its way to the driver's seat. On Monday, the Des Moines Area Regional Transit Authority suspended bus operator Angela Shiel after she refused to drive a bus with an Iowa Atheists and Freethinkers ad on its side. Shiel, 41, said the ad's message, 'Don't believe in God? You are not alone,' went against her Christian faith." The article continues with: "Shiel, a DART bus driver for four years, now could be fired because of her refusal to drive the bus. DART policy states that drivers cannot choose which buses they drive, DART General Manager Brad Miller said. 'Drivers are not permitted to reject a working bus," Miller said. "It's a very fundamental policy for DART. ... It's an essential rule that we will maintain.'" And this: "According to the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa, DART's driver policy also helps uphold advertisers' First Amendment rights. The union recently dropped a review of DART that began when the atheist group's ads first came off the buses. 'As a government agency operating a public forum, DART and all of its employees, including its drivers, are required to follow the First Amendment,' said Ben Stone, executive director of the ACLU of Iowa. 'Since DART managers cannot claim a religious reason to censor bus ads, neither can drivers.' Stone likened the situation to a government employee claiming a religious right to refuse to work with someone of a different faith. 'When you work for the government, part of your job is to respect the rights of your fellow citizens, and you cannot use your religious beliefs to evade that responsibility,' he said." There's a few more points in that article that make me raise my eyebrow, like the woman's husband's point, according to the article: "'This has been her faith since the very first day on the job,' Glenn Shiel said. He said that making her drive the bus would be telling her to be 'two-faced for the fact that she wants an income. To me, it's kind of wrong to deny a person of their job because they have a belief.'" Another interesting point is that passengers have been bypassing the so-called "Atheist Buses" as well. Now that everyone has sufficient background information, I give a hearty, "What's YOUR Deal, lady?!?" You're not driving a bus to a concentration camp! It's a bus, with a sign on it. How is it any less offensive than walking down the street and seeing this ad? Or the countless ridiculous commercials about herpes and the wonderful bicycle rides and kayaking trips that people suffering from herpes can apparently go on because their herpes make excellent river guides or something. There so many other more offensive things in the world than a tastefully done ad from an atheist organization. How is that ad any more offensive than religious ads? I've seen some pretty bad ones of those, telling me that I'm going to hell and assorted other things. I'm sorry, folks, I'm Buddhist. Your ad doesn't mean anything to me. Likewise, if your faith is strong, does it MATTER that the bus you're driving is advertising for a atheist group? You can use that ad as a conversation starter on your bus to tell people about your religious convictions if you want. Not that I want my bus driver to be talking to me about religion if all I want to do is get from point A to point B... but the option is there. The bus isn't taking away anyone's right to their own religious belief, it's a government bus. It's supposed to be unbiased. Your religion, whatever it may be, can also buy ad space on one. This woman isn't being fired, she's being suspended for not doing her job. I'm sorry, I can understand that if I'm a bus driver and I refuse to drive a bus... that makes me not a very good bus driver. Can any other profession just refuse to do their job and still expect to be employed? What if your doctor saw your cross, Star of David, or other religious identifier and refused to treat you? What if people in the military just said, "Fuck it," and abandoned their posts? Would you want these people to still be gainfully employed, while not doing what they're being paid to do? NO. But this woman still has a job despite refusing to do it. Why must religion be so overbearing? Why can't it understand the separation between church and state? The state has an obligation to ensure everyone has the right to believe what they want to believe. This bus is no different. DART isn't suspending or firing the woman because she's religious. They're not going, "Oh, you're not ALLOWED to drive this bus, because you're Christian." She did it to herself! Drive the stupid bus! Don't try to martyr yourself to some non-existent cause because you want your name in the newspapers and a "What's YOUR Deal?!?" devoted to you. Yes, religion is a touchy subject. But it really shouldn't be. The government, should NEVER say anything for or against ANY religion. And the DART policy of, "Hey, pay us and you can have an ad on our bus," is really quite non-denominational. It's not like it's advertising killing or violence against any religion group either. It's just an ad that says, "Hey, you don't believe in God? It's okay." That's about as non-threatening as an ad can be. What more do you want? Kittens and puppies? Religion, get out of government. Nothing bothers me more than when religion is used to explain why something should or should not happen. This is what irks me the most about the entire gay marriage argument. Um, gay people want to get married because of legal rights not because gay people are trying to burn down your church and everything it stands for. If your church doesn't want to perform gay marriages for the religious aspect, then DON'T. Why can't a gay couple just go down to City Hall and get a marriage license without the religious mumbo jumbo? How is that at all a threat to religion? If you don't want gay marriage in your personal life, then don't get married to the same sex yourself. If you don't want to be a passenger on a bus advertising something you don't believe in, don't get on the bus. Don't complain if you're late to school or work because you did that, though. But if you're paid to drive that bus, knowing the policies of your employer, drive the bus or face the consequences. It's not a hard concept. Especially if you consider the flip side to all of this. How many times do we all see the word God in our day to day lives. American money, the American Pledge of Allegiance, etc., etc. How do you think that makes atheists feel? Hmmm? Now that you've refused to drive a mile in their shoes, you know how it feels to have to conform. We're all equal. Our lives aren't gumdrops and candy canes, for us to function as a society we need to realize that everyone around us is different. And that's okay. We need to accept that people believe different things, people dress differently, look different and it's all okay. And just because other people are different, they not a threat to your own personal beliefs, dress, and appearance. And we're not all going to hell for it.