this post was submitted on 25 Aug 2023
1411 points (97.6% liked)

Malicious Compliance

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People conforming to the letter, but not the spirit, of a request. For now, this includes text posts, images, videos and links. Please ensure that the “malicious compliance” aspect is apparent - if you’re making a text post, be sure to explain this part; if it’s an image/video/link, use the “Body” field to elaborate.

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[–] [email protected] 116 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Black background would have been better.

[–] AngryCommieKender 23 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The law specified the background color.

[–] UnderpantsWeevil 15 points 1 year ago

Legalist authorization bureaucracies will hinge the draconian punishment for failing to hang a sign on the dye used to color fabric.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 1 year ago
[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 year ago
[–] [email protected] 101 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I've seen this before, but I've never been able to verify it as being real.

[–] [email protected] 122 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

It was a legitimate protest of a stupid law that uses a legacy of inconsistent thought and limited perception to do an end run around the first amendment, but the text of the law requires a poster per building, so if they have enough in English, there would be no "need" to accept or post them. Now, if a principal or administrator had some balls, I certainly don't see why they couldn't use one of these or to flank the posters they do post with lots of context or more diverse ideas.

[–] UnderpantsWeevil 18 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Now, if a principal or administrator had some balls

You don't become a public school middle manager in Texas by showing balls. You'd get weeded out before you even got through the substitute program for teaching gym class.

[–] [email protected] 86 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (6 children)

Doesn't that go against separation of church and state, and if this is government pushed, isn't this a first amendment violation?

[–] FlyingSquid 60 points 1 year ago (4 children)
[–] DarthBueller 38 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Fucking hate this. There is a local public meeting that starts with a prayer to the Evangelical God in Jesus’s name that I’m forced to attend because of my job. I hate being essentially compelled to participate in prayer. The SCOTUS precedent supporting this is 100000000% Christian bias.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The SCOTUS precedent

Don't worry they don't believe in Precedent anymore. You just need to grease their wheels. I hear it's cheaper than you think.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago

It's relatively cheap for their masters, but they won't buck the leash that got them into their position

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago

I would start invoicing people for your time until you get a legal cease and desist. Then sue them, just because they accepted responsibility.

Make it cost them money.

[–] AngryCommieKender 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You could counter with a Baha'i prayer. They are still an Abrahamic religion, and they have literally hundreds of prayers for practically every topic.

[–] DarthBueller 7 points 1 year ago

I don’t want any prayer. It’s coerced religion.

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago

Interesting. I'm going to be petty and start defacing my money.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago

Required ceremonial deism, even worse, yuck!

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[–] clockwork_octopus 34 points 1 year ago

Hahaha! They don’t give a fuck

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Look at the dollar bill. America has never given two shits about the separation of church and state.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 year ago (3 children)

In god we trust was added in the cold war because the old saying may have promoted something other than capitalism

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 year ago (1 children)

'E pluribus unum' was pretty good, but I liked 'mind your business' too.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago

Fuck You. Got mine.

Is pretty on point for the current dogma.

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[–] Syrc 63 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Rainbow background would’ve been the cherry on top

[–] [email protected] 55 points 1 year ago

I actually looked into this back when it was originally happening and the rules were fairly strict. It specified background color and wording but it didn't give a language so this guy did about the best you could given the rules.

However it would be a shame if someone printed a poster with UV reactive paint that changed to something else over time while it hangs.

[–] xantoxis 51 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Apart from this, what if you just donated several hundred posters at once? They all have to be displayed?

[–] [email protected] 28 points 1 year ago

New MrBeast video

[–] visak 14 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

No. They're not interested in playing fair or being consistent. They'll simply warp the rules to fit their outcome and declare these posters noncomplaint. You can't out-maneuver people who simply cheat.

The assholes on that side of things are a mixture of those who actually believe and want the US to be a religious state, and those who simply are using religion as a method of control. That second group is happy to see religious conflict because a) it distracts from real problems while they consolidate money and power, 2) they can use the fervor to further solidify their support form that religious base.

This is absolutely not new and has happened before in history. It's just sad to see the US going down this path.

[–] xantoxis 7 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

(I'm going to set aside the fact that your Very Serious reply to my joke post is off-tone, and actually give you a serious answer.)

If you sent hundreds of posters to a school, you would find some school administrators who were only too happy to have the opportunity to plaster the word "God" on every school wall because they're warped. I acknowledge that's a thing, let's move past it.

Most school administrators either a) hate this shit, or b) don't really give a fuck. If you pulled this prank on one of those schools which--and I really want to stress this--are not on board with the stupid law in the vast majority of cases, you are actually handing them a chance to pull a glorious act of malicious compliance. If I were one of them, I would comply with the letter of the law and wallpaper every wall in the school with these things. Give the kids and the parents a chance to see them, and complain. Who are they complaining to? Not you, your hands are tied, you're just complying with the law. You will explain this very patiently to every single one of them complaining about a school where every surface says "In God we Trust". You're on their side, but the school board and your legislators need to hear about this, because hey, we're on the same team.

You can even go with them, and testify that your staff had to spend hours putting them up, taking time away from school activities. What are you supposed to do? This hurts the children.

School administrators don't make the laws, but they can act in a way that brings the issue to the forefront of everyone's mind. School administrators can give the parents a good reason to take the fight to someone who can actually do something about it.

That might not work, in the end. Texas is run by lunatics, after all. But a huge pile of posters might just be the reason you sleep at night knowing you did what you could.

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago

One... Hundred... BILLION POSTERS!

[–] Shrek 6 points 1 year ago

That's where I thought it was going.

[–] [email protected] 41 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] Candybar121 17 points 1 year ago

(another) Texas moment

[–] [email protected] 37 points 1 year ago

*"Not like that!"

[–] [email protected] 31 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Donate thousands of them to a single school

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I think they made the rule that just the first one has to be displayed.

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[–] [email protected] 27 points 1 year ago (3 children)

What does it even mean to donate a poster?

[–] Viking_Hippie 31 points 1 year ago

It means this.

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[–] UnderpantsWeevil 26 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Selective enforcement is the name of the game. Ken Paxton won't be using this rule to take over a school district in Bastrop.

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[–] SpeedLimit55 25 points 1 year ago (4 children)
[–] dragonflyteaparty 12 points 1 year ago (2 children)

And there's tons of other schools who may not reject it. What exactly are you trying to say here with the single word "rejected" and a link?

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[–] Staccato 7 points 1 year ago

The way you present your message, it implies the effort was rejected statewide. That could be misleading some folks.

It was actually rejected by Carroll ISD, which is the school district covering the disproportionately white and wealthy suburb of Southlake, TX.

There are 1,021 more ISDs in Texas to go.

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[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The law requires that schools hang up "In God We Trust" signs, but I don't believe it requires them to hang up every sign that is donated to them.

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago

I've always thought that the upholding of these laws should instead result in quotes and "imagery" from Islam directly...or any non-Christian religion, really.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (2 children)
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[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago

Make poster: "In god we trust..."

Second line: "we pity fools"

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