A federal judge has just ruled that public funding of private schools with creationist curriculums violates the 1^st amendment:

A Louisiana District judge named Tim Kelley recently ruled that a Louisiana voucher program which used public money to pay for tuition for private religious schools has been deemed unconstitutional to the cheers of some, and sneers of others.

In July Republican Louisiana Governor, Bobby Jindal, enacted legislation that allowed more than $11 million taxpayer dollars to be given to schools that teach Christian creationism. At the time this was a big win for Jindal, who is a self-professed Christian.

According to Reuters.com the state argued public money was well within the rights of the state to grant to religious institutions, but Judge Kelley disagreed. He ruled that:

Louisiana’s annual education appropriation, calculated under a complex formula known as the Minimum Foundation Program, was intended exclusively for public schools. To divert it violated the state constitution.

It’s a loss for the people who are trying to divert public funds to private schools in order to fund religious education and desegregate the schools, which makes it a win for the good old US of A.

One interesting thing though, the article, from the Examiner uses a very interesting turn of phrase to describe Bobby Jindal.  They called him a, “Self-professed Christian.”

Why the hell do they call him that?

There are any number of reasons to dislike Jindal, he is, after all, a right wing Republican who spends much of his time pandering to the basest instincts of the right wing, but his record regarding his personal faith has been very consistent.

I note this, because the Examiner has a noted right-wing editorial bent, and Bobby Jindal has a surfeit of pigmentation, and I think that the two are linked.

They are doubting his religiosity because he is not white enough.

H/t DC at the Stellar Parthenon BBS.