Kay Ivey owes my son an apology

My son Alex is a member of the Leadership in Action Network at his school. This weekend he took his second trip to meet leaders in Alabama state government and to hear them speak. One speaker was State Treasurer Kay Ivey.

Now, I do not know Mrs. Ivey, have never had any dealings with Mrs. Ivey and until today had no reason to dislike Mrs. Ivey. That's all changed now.

I asked my son how the trip went and he said it was great until Mrs. Ivey spoke. He said out of the blue and near the end of a very good speech she stated the following, "I am only speaking for myself...but if you are one of those people who believes we evolved out of a pile of goo, that you have no purpose in life...then you should just crawl back to the pile of goo you came from."

Now that isn't verbatim and is second-hand...but it is still intact enough to really piss me off.

We are an Atheist family. My children have always been free to choose religion or leave it alone. Thus far they have chosen to leave it alone. They are creatures of logic and therefore waste no time on things that are obviously illogical to them. However, being Atheist does not mean that we believe we have no purpose in life. Not at all. It simply means that we found our own purpose instead of trying to pull it out of a book written thousands of years ago.

My children have been raised to be respectful of the beliefs of others no matter how fairy-tale death-cultish they are. Why can't state leaders show the same respect to the rest of us? Why do they always have to insert their irrelevant religious beliefs into every thing they do? Do they really think that every smart kid in Alabama is a Christian who ignores science?

I'd like Kay Ivey to apologize to my son. She had absolutely no right to throw in that statement about her personal beliefs at a state function and she made my son feel very uncomfortable and out of place. Who gives a rat's ass what she thinks of people who don't think and believe the same things that she does?

I've just sent her the following email. We'll see what happens.

Mrs. Ivey,

My son Alex attended the LAN conference at the Embassy Suites in Montgomery on Jan. 28, 2008 and he heard you speak there. He mentioned that your remarks about evolution ("If you believe you came from a pile of goo....") made him feel very uncomfortable. You see, we are an Atheist family and we feel evolution has more credibility than creationism. We also are firm in our convictions that our purpose in life is as meaningful as yours and everyone else's. As an elected official you should be more respectful of the views of others. We elected you to keep track of our money....not proselytize to our youth at a function that has absolutely nothing to do with your religious beliefs.

I believe you owe my son an apology. You can call him at 251-650-2271 or email him at *****************

Regards,
Loretta Nall