Public School Teachers Refuse To Distribute Flyer For Atheist Summer Camp

[Achán hiNidráne]

The following news item was sent to by by my local atheist/freethought club:

http://www.humaniststudies.org/enews/?id=300&article=0 (http://www.humaniststudies.org/enews/?id=300&article=0)


Public school teachers who were required to distribute a flyer promoting an atheist summer camp allegedly refused, calling the flyers "offensive", "disgusting" and "outrageous."

The flyers promoting Camp Quest (http://camp-quest.org/), a summer camp aimed at children of non-religious families, were approved by the Albemarle School District in Virginia for its Distribution of Materials by School-Sponsored, Governmental or Outside Organizations (http://schoolcenter.k12albemarle.org/education/sctemp/3310cd2bc9ea869f85dc40ed2120da62/1181067822/KF_0906.pdf) program, also known as the "Backpack Express." Teachers are required to distribute district approved flyers to students.

According to the conservative online publication, WorldNetDaily.com (http://worldnetdaily.com/resources/about_WND.asp), some teachers refused to distribute the Camp Quest flyers on the grounds that their religious beliefs were violated. The WorldNetDaily.com (http://worldnetdaily.com/resources/about_WND.asp) article does not include any names of the teachers or the schools where they are employed. [See: Teachers rebel over atheism promotion (http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=55854), World Net Daily, May 25, 2007.]
Before anyone gets it in their head that the teachers were made to distribute just the Camp Quest flyer....

Initially, the flyer-distribution program did not allow religious flyers. But a Christian organization sued (http://www.lc.org/pressrelease/2006/nr080906.htm) the county for access to the program. The program was expanded to allow Christian groups to access the program, but a court decision (PDF) (http://pacer.ca4.uscourts.gov/opinion.pdf/051508.P.pdf) ruled that all groups must be given the same access. All flyers must include language that states that the school district does not endorse or sponsor the organizations.Of course, I highly suspect that if the situation were reversed and an atheist teacher had thrown out flyers from the various religious summer camps, the theocrats from World News Daily and other shrill voices of the right-wing blogosphere (e.g. link (http://sibbyonline.blogs.com/sibbyonline/2007/05/the_culture_war.html), link (http://jpbcstylos.blogspot.com/2007/05/here-we-go-again-camp-quest-flyer-flap.html)), would be having a conniption fit.

[MelBrooksfan]

No doubt. It'd be interesting to see what the teachers do if they get a religious-based summer camp flyer. "Offensive," "disgusting," and "outrageous" eh? They do like their drama.

[Cheesejoff]

See, this is why we need to create a religion that gets offended at stupidity.

Any time something like this happens, we claim Christians have "violated our beliefs" by being hypocritical fools.

[Miss Anthrope]

This is so outrageous. Quite frankly I could care less if anything in the flyer offended them. "Win a god free $100 bill!". Oh, fer shame!
:curse

[Bob Klase]

Seems to me a winning lawsuit shouldn't be long in coming.

some teachers refused to distribute the Camp Quest flyers on the grounds that their religious beliefs were violated.

I'd have to say tough crap- get a job at a private school if you can't respect everyone else's freedom to believe things you don't.

[tsg]

See, this is why we need to create a religion that gets offended at stupidity.

Some would argue that the two are mutually exclusive.

Any time something like this happens, we claim Christians have "violated our beliefs" by being hypocritical fools.

I prefer to complain about them violating all common sense, but to each his own.

[ponderingturtle]

The following news item was sent to by by my local atheist/freethought club:

http://www.humaniststudies.org/enews/?id=300&article=0 (http://www.humaniststudies.org/enews/?id=300&article=0)

Before anyone gets it in their head that the teachers were made to distribute just the Camp Quest flyer....

Of course, I highly suspect that if the situation were reversed and an atheist teacher had thrown out flyers from the various religious summer camps, the theocrats from World News Daily and other shrill voices of the right-wing blogosphere (e.g. link (http://sibbyonline.blogs.com/sibbyonline/2007/05/the_culture_war.html), link (http://jpbcstylos.blogspot.com/2007/05/here-we-go-again-camp-quest-flyer-flap.html)), would be having a conniption fit.


You have to remember that to many religious individuals equality is a form of oppression.

[ponderingturtle]

No doubt. It'd be interesting to see what the teachers do if they get a religious-based summer camp flyer. "Offensive," "disgusting," and "outrageous" eh? They do like their drama.

Here (http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=70132) is a earlier thread when the same religious people who got religious mail accepted into the backpack mail system got pissed that non christian groups could use it too.

[Crossbow]

I am a part-time teacher myself I have found it best to even mention religion in class.

If I were in there place, I would not distribute any flyers of any sort that has a religious theme regardless of what the school board says.

[slingblade]

um.........ooookay......hope it's not English.

[ponderingturtle]

um.........ooookay......hope it's not English.

I don't remember religion having much of a role in English class, most of the works read where pretty secular. Now social studies or history, religion was a required topic to a certain level. Music would also probably have religion come up.

Now in say math or science, I fail to see how religion could come up unless someone had a specific agenda.

[slingblade]

I don't remember religion having much of a role in English class...

No. I meant I hope the producer of run-on sentences who can't spell "their" and do subject/verb agreement isn't an English teacher. ;) It was a joke-type thing.

[ponderingturtle]

No. I meant I hope the producer of run-on sentences who can't spell "their" and do subject/verb agreement isn't an English teacher. ;) It was a joke-type thing.

And to what statement where you referring to?

[slingblade]

And to what statement where you referring to?

I wasn't talking to you. I was speaking about another poster; the one previous to mine.

[joobz]

And to what statement where you referring to?
Don't worry pt, I think slingy was refering to crossbow's errow.
I am a part-time teacher myself I have found it best to even mention religion in class.

If I were in there place, I would not distribute any flyers of any sort that has a religious theme regardless of what the school board says.

[Beerina]

some teachers refused to distribute the Camp Quest flyers on the grounds that their religious beliefs were violated.


This kind of thing has been to the Supreme Court over and over again. Your employer, including the government, can indeed tell you what to say and what not to say while on the job.

And, while it's true that, as government employees, they, the government, is limited on what it can require employees to say, I find it ironic that the same people who are happy someone else sued to open up flyers to religious themes are now claiming their rights are violated with an athiest one.

[ponderingturtle]

And, while it's true that, as government employees, they, the government, is limited on what it can require employees to say, I find it ironic that the same people who are happy someone else sued to open up flyers to religious themes are now claiming their rights are violated with an athiest one.

You just have to remember Christians are the most easily oppressed people in the world. You only have to fail to provide them with enough special treatment and they will sue, you can do absolutely nothing and they will sue(I am thinking of the case of the girl told to stop reading the bible by the assistant principle during lunch, and it just happened to be a day that the assistant principle was not even in, so this only goes to show that you do not even need to be present to oppress a real Christian)

[slingblade]

You just have to remember Christians are the most easily oppressed people in the world.

http://forums.randi.org/imagehosting/thum_5604466eff1379aad.jpg (http://forums.randi.org/vbimghost.php?do=displayimg&imgid=6338)

[ponderingturtle]

http://forums.randi.org/imagehosting/thum_5604466eff1379aad.jpg (http://forums.randi.org/vbimghost.php?do=displayimg&imgid=6338)

So you don't here all about how Christians are so oppressed in this country? The very nature of that argument is that if you fail to give Christians enough extra rights and supremacy over other groups then that is oppression.

This is a major theme in modern Christian politics, so such Christians really must be the most easily oppressed people in the world, as simply treating them like everyone else becomes oppression.

[slingblade]

So you don't here all about how Christians are so oppressed in this country?

Nope, I sure don't. I know they claim to be, and I know that's what they tried to teach me when I was one.

But the only ones who ever oppressed me were other Christians.

[pgwenthold]

Slingblade, I think you need to tweak your sarcasm detector.

Read the rest of the post you quoted.

[sphenisc]

um.........ooookay......hope it's not English.

Catty, but brilliant! ;)

[ponderingturtle]

Nope, I sure don't. I know they claim to be, and I know that's what they tried to teach me when I was one.

But the only ones who ever oppressed me were other Christians.

We seem to be largely in agreement, but this seems that you would agree with my real point, and that is that there are many Christians who feel a need to think of themselves as oppressed, and try to get everyone to realize how not giving them enough special privileges that they would go ballistic if it given to someone else, is oppression.

[Achán hiNidráne]

...there are many Christians who feel a need to think of themselves as oppressed, and try to get everyone to realize how not giving them enough special privileges that they would go ballistic if it given to someone else, is oppression.

Well, Christianity is a religion based on a persecution complex:

5:10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

5:11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.

5:12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

Matthew 5, 10-12.

[Meadmaker]

It's cases like this one that I point to whenever I hear anyone getting bent out of shape about the presence of Christianity in public schools. I remember when the original suit came up, and some folks on JREF were outraged that the public school would be distributing religious flyers.

Well, I am glad the Christians won that suit, because now they don't have a legal leg to stand on when trying to complain about Camp Quest.

I draw the line at school prayer, meaning public recitation of clergy-selected devotional material, but other than that, I say let there be lots of access for religious groups, because that includes atheists, Unitarians, and every weird wacko group you can imagine. The consequence will be that a lot of kids will have their eyes opened to many possibilities their pastor didn't explain to them, and they will very likely see that their own religion doesn't have anything special compared to the other ones.

We'll win in a fair fight, so we ought not avoid one.

[slingblade]

Slingblade, I think you need to tweak your sarcasm detector.

Read the rest of the post you quoted.

Well, crap. Fine. I can flog myself. Really. :boxedin: sorry.

[Ducky]

Well, crap. Fine. I can flog myself. Really. :boxedin: sorry.

Lemme get my camera and handcuffs....

[kmortis]

I don't remember religion having much of a role in English class, most of the works read where pretty secular. Now social studies or history, religion was a required topic to a certain level. Music would also probably have religion come up.

Now in say math or science, I fail to see how religion could come up unless someone had a specific agenda.
When I was in hs, my sophomore English class (American Lit) had the first few weeks consumed with religious writings. Cotton Mather, Johnathan Edwards et al. All the way up through Thoreau, who gets rather preachy at times. The only secular bit I can recall (we are talking over twenty years ago) was Ben Franklin's autobiography.
Of course, at the time I was a bleever, so I didn't mind...other than the fact that neither Mather nor Edwards carry over into a modern setting all that well. Franklin is still rather pithy, but dated.

[Crossbow]

No. I meant I hope the producer of run-on sentences who can't spell "their" and do subject/verb agreement isn't an English teacher. ;) It was a joke-type thing.

You do not need to worry about me teaching English since I am not an English teacher. It is still difficult for me to tell the difference between an adverb and an adjective.

However, I thought my spelling was fairly good. Can you please tell me what was mispelled in my original posting?

[TheAntiLuddite]

[snip]
...I say let there be lots of access for religious groups, because that includes atheists, Unitarians, and every weird wacko group you can imagine. The consequence will be that a lot of kids will have their eyes opened to many possibilities their pastor didn't explain to them, and they will very likely see that their own religion doesn't have anything special compared to the other ones.
[snip]


I used to be very opposed to the idea of any religious instruction in public schools. I've since done quite a bit of reading on the subject. As Meadmaker mentions, a prime way to bump someone out of their particular religious bubble and onto the path to critical thinking is to expose them to other religions. Michael Shermer's book Why We Believe discusses this subject in some depth.

Now the only problem is to decide how to deal with the inevitable religious wars in the hallways and on the playgrounds.

[ponderingturtle]

I used to be very opposed to the idea of any religious instruction in public schools. I've since done quite a bit of reading on the subject. As Meadmaker mentions, a prime way to bump someone out of their particular religious bubble and onto the path to critical thinking is to expose them to other religions. Michael Shermer's book Why We Believe discusses this subject in some depth.

Now the only problem is to decide how to deal with the inevitable religious wars in the hallways and on the playgrounds.

The problem is the reason why most of these practices got canned is that they where being very very selective in what religions that they permitted. If I remember correctly it was catholics who brought at least one of the major school prayer cases.

So I would be for a comparative religion class in high school, but I am not sure about religious practices in school.

[Ocelot]

I'm no expert but I would have corrected it as follows.

I am a part-time teacher myself I have found it best (not?) to even mention religion in class.

If I were in there (their) place, I would not distribute any flyers of any sort that has (which had) a religious theme, regardless of what the school board says (said).

Missing out the initial not seem an honest mistake. Their/There is easy to remember. "Their" is a possessive, "there" talks about location. You remember which is which becase "there" contains "here" which also talks about location.

Then there's mixed tenses "If I were" is in past tense wherease "that has" and "says" are in present tense. These should not be mixed.

"That" and "which" is complex. I refer you to a suitable grammer and style guide. I get mixed up but I think this is a which instance. Though the "of any sort" may confuse the issue.

Besides which "If I were in their place" may be considered redundant.

Finally there's comma inserted before "regardless" I place this here allowing the reader to take a breath. Otherwise the sentance is too long. "Regardless of what the the school board says" is, i believe, a separate clause. Reorganising the sentance could add clarity. For example:-

"Regardless of what the school board said, I would not distribute any flyer which had a religious theme."

Now in the best traditions of correcting people's grammar in forums my own words should be dissected by someone far more competent in matters of language than I.

[Brian Pears]

You do not need to worry about me teaching English since I am not an English teacher. It is still difficult for me to tell the difference between an adverb and an adjective.

However, I thought my spelling was fairly good. Can you please tell me what was mispelled in my original posting?

There errors are grammatical.

"I am a part-time teacher myself I have found it best to even mention
religion in class."

There are two sentences here, so there should be either a full stop after "myself" or a conjunction such as "and" between "myself" and "I". I would also suspect that you intended to write "not" between "best" and "to".

"If I were in there place, I would not distribute any flyers of any sort that
has a religious theme regardless of what the school board says."

The word before "place" should be "their" not "there", and "flyers" is plural so it should be followed by "have" not "has".

[geni]

Teachers distributing Flyers in school? don't they have more important things to do?

[bignickel]

It's cases like this one that I point to whenever I hear anyone getting bent out of shape about the presence of Christianity in public schools. I remember when the original suit came up, and some folks on JREF were outraged that the public school would be distributing religious flyers.

Well, I am glad the Christians won that suit, because now they don't have a legal leg to stand on when trying to complain about Camp Quest.
So, they have pulled out their usual leg: it offends their religious beliefs.

Which is the canard that ultimately gets pulled out all the time. It's the one that we sooner or later must take head on. That religious beliefs are no more deserving of respect than any others.

Taking this on will be our biggest battle, I believe. The fundy and even moderate theists will not give this one up without a fight. All their real-world imposition of religious authority comes from it.

[slingblade]

You do not need to worry about me teaching English since I am not an English teacher. It is still difficult for me to tell the difference between an adverb and an adjective.

However, I thought my spelling was fairly good. Can you please tell me what was mispelled in my original posting?

:D Actually, that's pretty easy. Adverbs modify verbs and adjectives modify nouns. You can tell one from the other, since one conveniently has the word "verb" in it.

As to spelling, you simply used the wrong "their/there/they're." You wanted
"their," but used "there." I have an easy way to remember those, as well. "Their" is for people, because it has the word "heir" in it. An heir is a person. "There" is for places, because it has the word "here" in it.

To agreement: "flyers" is plural, and therefore takes "have" as its verb. A singular noun would take "has."

Finally, I apologize. I'm extremely bitter about teaching. I'm sorry I took it out on you. I get resentful of those who are allowed to do what I wasn't. That's hardly your fault.

My apologies to all, but especially to you, Crossbow. I am thoroughly ashamed of myself.

[tsg]

As long as we're nitpicking...

:D Actually, that's pretty easy. Adverbs modify verbs and adjectives modify nouns. You can tell one from the other, since one conveniently has the word "verb" in it.

Technically, an adverb can modify a verb, adjective or another adverb. For example, in "he ran very quickly", "quickly" is an adverb (it modifies "ran"), but so is "very" (it modifies "quickly"). And in "he is quite tall", "tall" is an adjective, but "quite" is an adverb.

[/derail]

[slingblade]

Yeah, well, when you've embarrassed yourself, you try to say things as succinctly as possible so you can run-go-hide. :blush:

[thaiboxerken]

I'm thinking that if no religious propaganda was handed out at public schools there would be no issue here. Instead, we have censoring of which religious propaganda will be handed out, or in this case, a non-religious one. Also, the same article mentions that pagan flyers were also refused to be handed out.

[FenrisWolf]

I draw the line at school prayer, meaning public recitation of clergy-selected devotional material, but other than that, I say let there be lots of access for religious groups, because that includes atheists, Unitarians, and every weird wacko group you can imagine. The consequence will be that a lot of kids will have their eyes opened to many possibilities their pastor didn't explain to them, and they will very likely see that their own religion doesn't have anything special compared to the other ones.

We'll win in a fair fight, so we ought not avoid one.

I understand this argument, and agree that atheism/freethought gives better than it gets in a fair fight... but, viewed locally, the fight isn't often fair.

Remember that there are many areas where there will be no alternate viewpoints presented. If, in a class of 20, 19 parents (and the teacher) are christian, and one parent is an atheist, what are the odds that the one atheist parent will continue to present alternate viewpoints in the face of continual disapproval by everyone else? If you're the one atheist parent, how much social stigma are you prepared to subject your kid to, in order to make a point?

Because local conditions will very often make it tough to have a fair fight, and because kids shouldn't be involved in the fight, I say keep the fight out of the schools altogether.

[Meadmaker]

So, they have pulled out their usual leg: it offends their religious beliefs.

Which is the canard that ultimately gets pulled out all the time. It's the one that we sooner or later must take head on. That religious beliefs are no more deserving of respect than any others.

Taking this on will be our biggest battle, I believe. The fundy and even moderate theists will not give this one up without a fight. All their real-world imposition of religious authority comes from it.

The key is that they are losing. The school said hand out the flyers. Once the school said it was ok to hand out the flyers, they couldn't say "no" to some flyers and not others based on the religious content.

The teachers in this case will lose, just like they lost with the pagans case. The Camp Quest flyers will be handed out, or the whole flyer handout program will be scrapped. Either way, atheists gain publicity.

[Meadmaker]

Because local conditions will very often make it tough to have a fair fight, and because kids shouldn't be involved in the fight, I say keep the fight out of the schools altogether.

In my opinion, it's impossible. Exactly what constitutes "religious belief" varies so widely that trying to ban everything religious would end up banning a lot of non-religious things as well.

When it comes to flyers, songs, valedictory addresses, clubs, or other non-academic activity, you can run around banning every possible reference to God, or you can say, "Fine, but you can't ban Odin, Buddha, the Flying Spaghetti Monster, or anything else you find offensive just because you don't agree with the philosophy."

[FenrisWolf]

When it comes to flyers, songs, valedictory addresses, clubs, or other non-academic activity, you can run around banning every possible reference to God, or you can say, "Fine, but you can't ban Odin, Buddha, the Flying Spaghetti Monster, or anything else you find offensive just because you don't agree with the philosophy."

Well, if that's the choice, I prefer the former. Because on a practical level, nobody's going to promote FSMism in enough schools to make a difference, but EVERY school has to abide by a state or federal decision to remove a given religious activity. Even if there are no freethinkers in a particular school to challenge the status quo.

I mean, what are schools doing promoting all these non-academic activities anyway? Have they already got every student making straight A's, and they have lots of time left over that they can't seem to fill?

My wife, who teaches 3rd grade, would be happy to get the parents of her students to read ANYTHING she sends home in the backpacks. Half of them don't even sign & return their student's report cards. Do you think these kids will be reached by a flyer for Camp Quest?

And yet, when a parent stepped forward to volunteer to teach the kids the Horah for a school assembly, she was allowed to do so. So everybody in the school sat around and watched the kids do a Jewish dance that they had learned during school time. Note that no atheist parents stepped forward to teach the kids the macarena, or whatever.

[Crossbow]

:D Actually, that's pretty easy. Adverbs modify verbs and adjectives modify nouns. You can tell one from the other, since one conveniently has the word "verb" in it.

As to spelling, you simply used the wrong "their/there/they're." You wanted
"their," but used "there." I have an easy way to remember those, as well. "Their" is for people, because it has the word "heir" in it. An heir is a person. "There" is for places, because it has the word "here" in it.

To agreement: "flyers" is plural, and therefore takes "have" as its verb. A singular noun would take "has."

Finally, I apologize. I'm extremely bitter about teaching. I'm sorry I took it out on you. I get resentful of those who are allowed to do what I wasn't. That's hardly your fault.

My apologies to all, but especially to you, Crossbow. I am thoroughly ashamed of myself.

Thanks much for the correction and the apology!

I do need the correction, but I do not need the apology, however I really do appreciate you being gracious to offer it. I do occasionally wish that more people here at JREF were as considerate.

Anyway, if you really desire to teach and have not been able to find a paying position, have you considered being a volunteer teacher and/or private tutor? In my area there is a real need for volunteer teachers and private tutors, and the same may be true in your area as well.

You may want to check it out.

Thanks again!

[ponderingturtle]

I'm thinking that if no religious propaganda was handed out at public schools there would be no issue here. Instead, we have censoring of which religious propaganda will be handed out, or in this case, a non-religious one. Also, the same article mentions that pagan flyers were also refused to be handed out.

But that was the original policy, then the Christians sued and got it changed, now we can no longer oppress them by preventing them from discriminating against others.

[jwr4a]

Here's one of our (yes, I live there) local rags on the issue. I feel that the language chosen in the article is biased in favor of the religious, unfortunately. But I am very pleased with the comments that follow.

http://www.readthehook.com/stories/2007/06/14/NEWS-1-atheistflyers-B.rtf.aspx

--
jwr

[Ladewig]

Then there's mixed tenses "If I were" is in past tense wherease "that has" and "says" are in present tense. These should not be mixed.


You have made a mistake in your reasoning. "If I were" is not past tense; it is the subjunctive mood. Therefore, it is perfectly acceptable to use present tense verbs with it.

E.g. If I were you, I would ignore whatever he says

[Meadmaker]

Well, if that's the choice, I prefer the former. Because on a practical level, nobody's going to promote FSMism in enough schools to make a difference,

It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.

I think you underestimate the power of a one voice.

Note that no atheist parents stepped forward to teach the kids the macarena, or whatever.

Sounds like the atheists are a bunch of slackers.

[Meadmaker]

Here's one of our (yes, I live there) local rags on the issue. I feel that the language chosen in the article is biased in favor of the religious, unfortunately. But I am very pleased with the comments that follow.

http://www.readthehook.com/stories/2007/06/14/NEWS-1-atheistflyers-B.rtf.aspx

--
jwr

I can't see what you could possible call biased in favor of the religious in that article, except maybe the reference to worldnet daily as a "major conservative newspaper". I thought the article wasn't biased in any way, and that it favored the secularists.


(Pet peeve of the day: I hate it when news organizations claim to be "objective" or "unbiased" because they treat both sides of an issue equally. When covering psychic powers, for example, an unbiased article will call it flim flam. )

[ponderingturtle]

And yet, when a parent stepped forward to volunteer to teach the kids the Horah for a school assembly, she was allowed to do so. So everybody in the school sat around and watched the kids do a Jewish dance that they had learned during school time. Note that no atheist parents stepped forward to teach the kids the macarena, or whatever.

I would dispute that the Macarena would count as a Traditional Atheist Dance.

I just wonder how can you tell if a parent who is actively involved is an atheist? If someone was teaching say traditional a traditional Norwegian dance, and was an atheist how would you tell them apart from someone else teaching the same dance?

[kmortis]

I would dispute that the Macarena would count as a Traditional Atheist Dance.

I just wonder how can you tell if a parent who is actively involved is an atheist? If someone was teaching say traditional a traditional Norwegian dance, and was an atheist how would you tell them apart from someone else teaching the same dance?

I'm pretty sure that the Macarena is the Traditional Satanic Dance.

[sphenisc]

I'm pretty sure that the Macarena is the Traditional Satanic Dance.

Dang, my coven is still doing The Time Warp.

[c4ts]

I don't remember religion having much of a role in English class, most of the works read where pretty secular.

I do. Authors like Milton, Dante, Spenser, and Bradford immediately come to mind.

[kmortis]

Dang, my coven is still doing The Time Warp.

I only said that it was the TRADITIONAL dance, not the only dance. Please, carry on putting your hands on your hips...to our lord Satan.

[ponderingturtle]

I do. Authors like Milton, Dante, Spenser, and Bradford immediately come to mind.

Not in high school for me.

[The Grave]

I wasn't talking to you. I was speaking about another poster; the one previous to mine.

Should it not be:"I was not writing to you. I was writing with regard to another poster; previous to my post."

Griff...