I ask this because these people, who presumably are our friends and
neighbors, seem to become such strange, arbitrary and remote people
when they reach offices such as city council and local school board.
 School boards are the worst - I can't believe some of the stories I
heard about this recent holiday season - kids can't wear red or green
to school in December, can't wear Santa costumes, can't sing any
Christmas carols, even secular ones.
 I also cannot understand some of the zero tolerance policies - cases
where basically decent kids slip up once and are banned from the
school for a whole year - and no amount of begging and notes from
supportive teachers will change anyone's mind.
 I'm also shocked when city councilpeople propose and approve
outrageous hikes in parking fees - some of them in the hundreds of
dollars for petty violations.   Doesn't it occur to these people that
for many of those ticketed, the resulting fine is equal to a day or
more of their take-home pay?  Where is the sense of proportionality
and decency?
 Or maybe I'm the one who's completely cuckoo...

---

Clarification of Question by pcventures-ga on 27 Dec 2004 20:29 PST

I wrote this question because it occurred to me that these people
claim to represent us, but every decision they make seems to lack all
reason, common sense and compassion.
  No one I speak to ever seems to agree with "No Christmas" policies
during Christmas, zero tolerance policies, or outrageous fines for
petty offenses.

---

Clarification of Question by pcventures-ga on 28 Dec 2004 09:03 PST

Well, I brought this up not so much to talk about the
misinterpretations of the first amendment, but to see how much
agreement there was with the notion that people with power over other
people make these bizarre, counterintuitive and ultimately unpopular
decisions on behalf of those they supposedly represent.

---

Clarification of Question by pcventures-ga on 28 Dec 2004 12:11 PST

Insightful comments by all - thanks!

Perhaps not Martains, but Uranuians...  ;)

You should make sure the school board knows that its policies infringe
on freedom of religion.  Religious expression in public schools is not
against the law, as long is it come from the students.  Obviously
teachers and admin cannot encourage such things, but they cannot ban
it either.

Actually, I think they're replaced with robots.  Wind-up automatons. 
And they seize power just to fuel themselves with bickering.

Pcventures-ga: 

I think the reason behind much of this behavior is a fear of lawsuit. 
While you're probably correct that a majority of folks don't agree. 
However, there seem to be enough suits by individuals that have put
the um... fear of God ... into them.  And after all, sometimes reason
might be pushed aside due to fear of monetary suits.  For example:

 	 	   	 
Lawsuit Challenges NJ Schools' Christmas Music Ban
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/12/272004b.asp

Additionally, this site offers a list of just some of the lawsuits: 
Court Decisions on Nativity Displays
http://atheism.about.com/od/religioussymbolsholidays/a/nativitydisplay_4.htm

Similarly: http://atheism.about.com/library/decisions/indexes/bldec_HolidayIndex.htm

Bitmaven-ga

Hi PC,

It isn't just school boards and councils. Have you not noticed similar
in most organizations? Journalist-ga has intimated toward the cause.
People can become rather anal when promoted beyond their capabilities
of handling responsibility.

Give someone a gun and a badge. Do you notice any difference in their
demeanour compared to the day prior to receiving the gun and badge?

Give someone a power of authority. Some seem to have to "try it out"
to see how it fits. Others seem to have to exercise the power to be
seen to be actually doing something. I am lucky to have a great boss.
The man actually asks the opinions of his own staff and says it how it
is. Guess what? He has all of his staff in support of him. Pity the
small minded.

An industry within itself is OH&S. Occupational Health and Safety.
Bitmaven-ga has already hit on that point. OH&S has nothing to do with
the duty of ACTUAL care to employees or the public. It is a precise
function to avoid public/employee liability claims. Unfortunately this
has come about as a result of exorbitant claims from those unwilling
to be responsible for their own actions. Go back 30 or 40 years. If
you tried to sue because you tripped over on the street, you would
have been laughed at.

The Martians as you put it have been created by one common denominator. Fear.

I could write a thousand words, as I understand exactly what you mean.

S7

Separation of Church and State...  the phrase has been used very often
in recent decades and has caused quite an uproar in anti-Christian
circles (notice there is a huge difference between anti-Christian and
non-Christian).

Thomas Jefferson used this phrase in 1802 in a letter addressing his
concerns that the government would intefere with freedom of religion:
"Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely
between man & his god, that he owes account to none other for his
faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach
actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence
that act of the whole American people which declared that their
legislature should make no law respecting an establishment of
religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, thus building a
wall of separation between church and state."
  ~~part of a letter by Thomas Jefferson  Jan 1, 1802
http://www.usconstitution.net/jeffwall.html

If you read more of the letter or any of Jefferson's writings or
speaches it is clear that Jefferson was not afraid that religion would
interfere with government... he was afraid that government would
interfere with religion.

And unfortunately today his phrase is used to force government to
interfere with religion.  The government (judges) allow these lawsuits
to happen and judge in favor of supressing religion as much as
possible many times.

PCVentures, you might want to remind your elected officials the spirit
of the phrase "seperation of church and state".  Show them it's roots
and let the read for themselves why Jefferson wrote that.  They might
change their mind on some of their policies.

PCV, your point was understood.  And you are right that they do make
seemingly bizarre decisions.  But unfortunately they make them on
seemingly necessary grounds... grounds that are set by lawyers and
judges.
As long as lawyers are successful in convincing judges that these
unpopular ideas are what is best for the country then the small-time
lawmakers cannot fight this (congress could have some sway against the
judges, but so far they have not used their power to change things). 
So for now the lawmakers are stuck upholding what the judges see as
morality (ie minimizing the word Christmas because of the root word
Christ, removing the 10 commandments from every official building, all
the Christmas examples you gave... the list goes on and on...)
The schoolboard doesn't want to risk getting sued (as bitmaven said)
and therefore they have to appease the judges just like everyone else
does.