Oh all right, it’s kind of funny…
But it’s also tragic. Tragic, in that any elementary school is run by administrators and teachers who think such facile slogans as “no human is illegal” and “kindness is everything” are anything but evidence of weak minds and lazy logic; tragic, that such people would publicly display what proclaims their incompetence; tragic, in that sentiments that make Hallmark card inscriptions seem like “Crime and Punishment” are regarded as profound by in this institution, which is charged with the enrichment of young minds.
Mostly, however, the sign is tragic because the parent who posted this photo wasted time taking it, rather than instantly removing her child from the clutches of indoctrination-bent fools who should not be trusted to educate a marmot, since, among other things, they don’t know how to spell “kindness.”
Ethics Alarms 
Did they post it for the spelling error or because they thought it was wrong?
Unclear.
Probably the former; the latter was just the cherry on the top of the sundae. But isn’t the fact that “kindness” was spelled incorrectly just evidence that the school is more concerned about indocrination than in actual education?
ahem…indoctrination, I mean.
Yes, I am aware of the irony of mispelling a word while criticizing a school for mispelling one.
At least you didn’t post it on your home.
Let’s take these one at a time, adding what is meant, but unsaid in parenthesis:
1. Black lives matter (more than white, yellow, red, brown, or any other non-black lives).
2. Women’s rights are human rights (and only they get to enjoy them because they are special).
3. No human is illegal (because we don’t care what the laws we disagree with say).
4. Science is real (but religion is fake and unworthy).
5. Love is love (but it’s extra special when it’s between two people of the same sex).
6. Kindnes is everything (and I dont have two spell corectly or do actual critkal thinking caus I am kind).
Glenn Logan,
Wait a minute. Let’s take it more slowly:
Black Lives Matter. That is true, as far as it goes. However, if it is okay to say Black Lives Matter, but not White Lives Matter, then, when you say Black Lives Matter, you are saying more than just that Black Lives Matter.
Women’s Rights are Human Rights. I am not sure that that is true. Leaving aside whether “Human Rights” actually exist, it would appear to be suggesting that every human has Women’s Rights. I don’t think they mean that. I think they mean Human Rights are Women’s Rights; any right that is a Human Right is possessed by women, not that any right a woman has is enjoyed by all humans. Sloppy writing.
No human is illegal. This is a pretty silly sentiment. “Illegal” is typically an adjective that modifies a known. Illegal human is, admittedly, a weird concept. An “illegal alien” is not. An illegal occupant (of a home, for example) is not. An illegal entrant (a burglar) is not. An illegal formation (God, I hate it when the NFL uses “illegal” to describe a rules violation, much as I hate when Microsoft tells me I have attempted an illegal operation) has a group of illegal people. It really is just a stupid platitude.
Science is real. This is probably one of my favorites. Science is NOT real. Reality is real. Science is a DESCRIPTION of reality. It can be more or less accurate, but science itself is not real. This does actually hit a more complex notion as to whether there ACTUALLY ARE natural laws. Are Newton’s laws merely a description of reality or are they actually embedded in reality, almost as if by design…sorry, lost my train of thought. But, anyway, this issue comes up, not to besmirch religion, as much as it is to prop up global warming theories or (now) epidemiological forecasting. This is based upon the implicit notion that All Science is Equal. That is simply false. Different sciences are subject to different levels of proof. Relativity theory has proven to be testable in the here and now; evolutionary theory is not (it is interpreted through the fossil record for the most part); climate science is not (it is largely based upon analysis of prediction made by mathematical models, which I hear are getting better with every error). I guess it is just easier to say Science is Real.
Love is Love. Hard to argue with a tautology. Just don’t bring up pedophiles.
Kindness is everything. Uh…okay. Then, what is unkindness? Nothing? Good to know, because there’s a whole lot of nothing going on in the world, and less and less of everything everyday.
-Jut
I’m pretty sure women’s rights is a reference to abortion.
JP, yes, and, as a human, do I have that right?
-Jut
Sure, but then say so, and don’t hide behind generalities when your intent is specific. Serial killers’ rights are human rigts. Cannibals’ rights are human rights. The rights of people who sculpture their fecal matter and then eat it are human rights. To those who hang or post that sign: Are you stupid, or do you think we are?
Jack, the internet children would call this “based”, and I would agree with them.
”Based”? Based on what? The Council of Trent? Yes, absolutely. Based.
What???
“Based” has emerged as a slang term, originally in communities like 4chan. You’ll get various meanings if you look around, but it seems to have something to do with being yourself and speaking your mind, regardless of political correctness. Often combined in the phrase “based and redpilled” to imply that someone understands the true nature of our world and isn’t afraid to say so.
Thanks. That sign is too pandering and silly to be called “based.”
I’m still figuring that out myself. I think it’s a compliment. Their corrupted English is best interpreted from context, so definitions are impossible.
That ‘science is real’ is particularly bothersome to me. Science is that body of testable physical hypothesis. I’m pretty certain they mean (climate change) science is real as there really is no disagreement (at a popular level) that gravity is real, computers are real, or chemo treats cancer. So it must be some other area where what they think is science is treated as unreal, right?
I doubt a sign touting real science is even aware of the meta history of the sciences, that not all sciences turn out to be real once the science FAILS at repeatable outside confirmation. There’s plenty of examples they probably forget in their quest to make colorful signage: the oldest non-science is probably alchemy which was one of Newton’s passions. A more recent was phrenology with detailed charts and analysis of personality from skull shape. If science is real as a blank statement, what about the science of eugenics? NOT all science is real, a lot has been tragically flawed or incomplete.
Climate science has already failed to match predictions from the 90s and we have not done the classic control&test run that are needed to be termed a science, unless they’ve been hiding the earth-twin somewhere. ‘science is real’ is an article of belief, like believing in Tinkerbell, Belief in a flat earth, fairies, and the moon is cheese do not stand up to skeptical science that gives us smart phones and hobbies shared around the world on the net. Science is real and needs no defence, fake science deserves no defense so that statement isn’t worth sithspit.
Dr. Fauci saying the danger of coronavirus was “miniscule” is another example.
Or the World Health Organization (presumably a group that believes science is real) saying the Wuhan flu was not transmissible from animals to humans!
When was that?
Nice!
Re: No. 6:
Yeah, see the racism inherent in your statement? Do you? Only white privilege would point out a spelling error where the message is far more important than accuracy. We believe in truth not facts, dammit!
jvb
I’m properly chastened. 😉
Try entering the school without documentation from the office first and wander the halls if no person is illegal.
I can tolerate some mindless platitudes when public education is the topic of discussion; those are part of the deal. The high school where I taught featured a plaque in the main entry proclaiming, “Strengthened by Diversity.” No, actually, we’re stronger with unity.
But, the platitude that bothers me the most is ‘Black Lives Matter’ because it is hypocrisy and a lie that goes well beyond a platitude.
Of course, Black lives matter. All of them. But the BLM activists get energized only for the Black life that is politically useful at the moment, currently to strike a blow against the establishment or Trump. Other Black lives, snuffed out in gang wars, left behind in lousy inner city schools, ignored except when votes are needed, they don’t matter to that crowd.
Then there’s the complication of the group that uses this name. If you truly support Black lives, then you cannot support this group. Some of what they advocate has proven disastrous for all kids, but especially minorities.
So, what do you do when a family member posts a selfie of their marching in a BLM protest? What do you do when you casually are asked, “Do you support Black Lives Matter”? What do you do when BLM activists surround you at a restaurant and demand you signify agreement?
I dislike simplistic memes. I dislike lawn signs and bumper stickers. But, I hate where we are right now with BLM.
I think the only rational response has to be, “Just what do you mean by Black Lives Matter’? And then, go from there. I wonder how many BLM activists could muster a rational response to that question.
Boy you definitely shouldn’t visit Portland. Those signs have been on a number of schools for a few years.
Spelling “kindness” like that?
There’s a sign with most of these… whatever… on the road to my neighborhood. I took one look and shook my head at the silliness. I didn’t get far enough down the list to see if “kindness” was misspelled or not.
By the way, Jack, you do know that criticizing the spelling of “kindness” is racist white privilege, don’t you? Of course, I’m right there in the white supremacist boat with you since I mocked it above.
We need to get with the woke program, I guess. Or not. I think the latter…
I’m old enough to remember the “Imagine World Peace” bumper stickers, which don’t seem to be popular any more. (Then there is the still popular “Co-Exist” bumper sticker.) Funnily enough, a very smart but earnest woman I worked with back in the ’80s had a bumper sticker on her car that said “Imagine Whirled Peas.”
If only John Lennon had written a song about Whirled Peas.
Well, there is “Give Peas a Chance.”
And the Trump campaign doesn’t know how to spell “Nobel.”
I wouldn’t want the Trump campaign educating my kids either.
Fortunately, that’s not their job.
Unlike teachers.
When I did my psychiatric training at a large state institution there was a sign over the admission building entrance that declared, “We are not all here!”
That slogan, at least, had a semblance of truth and reality.