First Graders Ostracized by Teachers Because Parents Don't Believe In God

[Midgardian]

Originally Posted by 3~Shepherds

Can they not teach religion without getting into personal beliefs? My teachers must have had some kind of special talent, they taught history & religion, without involving personal belief about God.

Yes, it can be done. The problem with teaching ancient history (think B.C or B.C.E) is that those people often thought in terms of supernatural influence on natural and human events. The Bible is the best source we have for the historical background of the ancient Israelite civilization, and much of it is supported by archaeological evidence and inscriptions found that were made by Near East kings up to 3,000 years ago.


Yet, the ultra-secular atheists would scream bloody murder if the Bible was used as a primary source in any public school, because of either their hatred for and bigotry against organized religion, or that ancient historians and political figures cited God or gods for their successes, failures, or natural occurrences. The Bible can be read both historically and religiously.


If one wants to see it as a historical document, you only have to read the references to a Supreme Being as being cultural hallmarks of the time they were written. If one wants to see it in a religious context, there is no problem. That is the beauty of the Bible. It's authors preserved history while giving their own spin on what occurred. No one has to believe that Yahweh was the central actor, or that Jesus is in all the pages of both the Old and New Testament. Neither should anyone dismiss the Bible just because it is considered a holy book either in part or fully for Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.

[phetaroi]

Originally Posted by Midgardian

Do you take the incident at the school in Georgia at face value, however?

Not necessarily. Settlements don't tell us much.

For example, our large school system used to fight almost all cases of negligence unless it was obvious. Then one day a community member who was in a community group that used our gym for adult volleyball in the evening sued the school district for faulty equipment. There was nothing wrong with the equipment. The volleyball poles holding up the net had a metal dial that was used to screw the base into the floor. The adult who sued had fallen during the game and hit her head on the dial. Without the dial you could not have a stable net, and there was nothing wrong with the dial. The county settled...because it was cheaper than hiring lawyers to fight the claim.