Thanksgiving...Prayer..and Public School (prayers, missionaries, mission, catholic)

[rifleman]

Originally Posted by Salt & Light

Where does funding for public schools come from? Are you implying that Christians don’t have to pay taxes? Everyone continues to pay tax regardless of whether they attend public or private school or even if they have children enrolled in public school. I have a hunch you are a bit disconnected from the realities of the issue.


My friend I’m not sure where you are at but I’m fairly confident, from this and other comments you have made, that you do not have children in school. If you do, you are most likely among the 73% of parents that are disconnected from their kids’ education because the purpose of school is to simply baby sit.

Our kids have had healthy doses of most of those religions you list including Greek and Roman mythology. Again you can’t rightly understand history without knowing what shapes the views of the people within the culture. Like it or not, peoples' belief system, or faith, is fundamental in shaping their culture.

The dreaded NEA (National Education Association), truly a bunch of highly vocal socialist unionized teachers if there ever were any, have vigorously fought off any efforts at voucher schools, because that would detract from the funding they get to squander on their particular agenda(s). Freedom from having to listen to their agenda is not a desirable option apparently.

In their defence, Christians have historically offered private schools and colleges where the well-heeled could send little Johhny to get "a proper indoctrination", absent such lies as science tends to perpetrate about origin of Life & species, geology, paleontology, etc. I say: good'on yah mate!

The graduates from such austere organizations will have their own difficult academic crosses to bear; their career options in the true sciences will be limited, and their ability to accept new scientific discoveries will be similarly stultified. But.. it's their free choice, gol-darn it!

Meantime, the Constitution's really clear about proselytizing in our schools. There's absolutely no place for it, especially at the beginning of the day, when everyone is subjected to having to listen to something they may well find abhorrent, even if they don't have to directly participate. To some, like me, it's like having to listen to profanity.

Which is NOT to say we shouldn't teach the religious aspects of world and continental histories, either here in N. America or in the rest of the world. Especially it's neck-stepping role in Europe..

Remember: when this country was formed, almost everyone was a fearful Christian, not a thoughtful, respectful and philosophical one. They'd seen what happened in Salem to those poor innocent women! Under today's somewhat more liberal academic and cultural environment, many of those old-timers, our so-called "founding fathers" would have happily abandoned the strict rigors of the mandate faker Christianity their post-Euro cultural inertia had forced on them to pursue a more intellectually open life.

Those who suggest we return to mandatory school prayer, to the required teaching of Christian "values" and mores, are stuck in an outdated past. our global problems are NOT the result of [check one or more]: rock'n'roll __, heavy metal ___, hip-hop/rap __, lack of "roting" the Lord's Prayer ___, or of not forcing our children to go to Sunday School ___.

That's all very old fashioned thinking, and owuld do nothing to change anything. It's a result of the unprecedented growth of a population who have nothing much to do, and of the new communication paradigm.

[cleatis]

Originally Posted by MysticPhD

You clearly have no conception of what a CELEBRATION is as opposed to a HISTORY COURSE designed to educate. PC idiocy at its finest . . . ruin everything to make whatever negative point is deemed necessary to emphasize no matter what the real purpose of the event is. God save us from self-righteous public hypocrites.

Why don't you try answering the question? Why do we claim that what we celebrate on Thanksgiving is our heritage, when clearly what we are celebrating is almost nothing like our heritage?

[MysticPhD]

Originally Posted by cleatis

Why don't you try answering the question? Why do we claim that our Thanksgiving celebrations are our heritage, when they clearly are almost nothing like our heritage?

Because it represents the ORIGINAL celebration of our arrival and survival on this continent thanks to the native Americans. It should prompt us to acknowledge the debt we owe them. It should color our future interactions with those who chose to retain a dual citizenship after 1924. It should NOT highlight and emphasize the entire sordid past that cannot be undone . . . that is ludicrous for a celebration!

[freedom]

Originally Posted by Spotted1

I've mentioned before that my oldest daughter is in kindergarten at the local public school, and that we've had several instances of religion, prayer, and worship coming in class work. The school expects students to say "Under God" during the Pledge, there's a bible on display in the main corridor, there's a congregation that has their meetings on Sundays and Wednesdays in the school gymnasium, flyers are sent home for various church events, and hey.. it's the Bible Belt.

Anyway, I was going through Miss E's class papers from this past week. They've really focused on Thanksgiving..oh, and....prayer.







Those are 3 different pages from 3 different teacher-printed story books. I haven't even gone through the whole week's stack yet, so who knows how many more references to praying, worship, or god I'll find in the end.

Am i missing something? Did the Pilgrims give thanks or not?

I think that religion is a founding energy that led to this countries creation, freedom, and set of values.

Is there anything in the lesson that is saying that the student should be this as well?

Cuz there's all kinds of books read in school that i wouldn't want my kids to emulate. War, Fantasy, How two amoeba's make 4 etc....

Basically knowing about something doesn't mean that the child needs to be it.

Look at Oscar the grouch, or Big Bird.... It starts young.

Fortunately none of my kids have become either of those.


godspeed,

freedom

[Lamplight]

Originally Posted by rifleman

In their defence, Christians have historically offered private schools and colleges where the well-heeled could send little Johhny to get "a proper indoctrination", absent such lies as science tends to perpetrate about origin of Life & species, geology, paleontology, etc. I say: good'on yah mate!

The graduates from such austere organizations will have their own difficult academic crosses to bear; their career options in the true sciences will be limited, and their ability to accept new scientific discoveries will be similarly stultified. But.. it's their free choice, gol-darn it!

I graduated from one such educational beacon. We did have Physical Science and basic Biology (where evolution was discreetly absent), and we also had daily Bible class and chapel. One Bible class teacher I had (a preacher) was surprisingly open-minded and one grading period we learned about other religions of the world. It was interesting, but we didn't study it for long. The only reason I'd even heard about evolution before graduating high school was due to a very science-minded 6th grade teacher in public school who briefly described the theory to us. Unfortunately, she didn't delve into it enough to give us a decent understanding of it. Also around that time, I was "taught" about evolution at church by the congregation's "expert", who was a kind of nerdy guy who thought the whole theory was a crock.

To learn how it really works, I had to find out on my own just a few years ago. I know plenty who never do this and still view evolution in the manner they were taught in church, by people who don't understand it themselves.

[Ohio woman]

Hey if you dont like all the religion being taught in the school, transfer your child or learn to deal with it. weclome to life

[Spotted1]

Originally Posted by Ohio woman

Hey if you dont like all the religion being taught in the school, transfer your child or learn to deal with it. weclome to life

Transfer her? WHERE to, pray tell? We live in a town of 250 people. . It's bad enough she gets on the bus at 7:30 to get to school by 8:50, should I seriously have to transfer her to another county? How come she can't get a quality education close to home??

If I wanted her to learn religion, I would send her to Sunday School. Monday through Friday's curriculum should focus on actual education.

[Asheville Native]

Originally Posted by Ohio woman

Hey if you dont like all the religion being taught in the school, transfer your child or learn to deal with it. weclome to life

Does the phrase "separation of church and state" mean anything to you? Freedom of religion includes freedom FROM religion.

Or to a private school, which with very few exceptions steeped deeply in religion and indoctrination of the young?

[the minx]

This is just another important part of life and it's good that your kids are being exposed to the fact that what they (you) believe is not always what's going to be on the menu.

Instead of fussing and getting all wound up about it, maybe you can find a lesson in all of it and teach your kids something.

[katzenfreund]

Hmm, one wonders if the same answers would be given to a parent complaining about their children being indoctrinated into Islam at a public school. Somehow I doubt it.....