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The teaching authority of a state-funded school was used to make a (supposedly TRUE) statement about God …
THAT was a violation of the separation of Church and State …
If a Fundamentalist-Creationist biology teacher used his/her classroom to teach "Creation-ism," THAT would not (1) "make a law establishing religion," either, or (2) "impede anyone's free exercise of religion," either, or (3) "promote a single religion on behalf of the state," either …
But it WOULD be a clear gross violation of the separation of Church and State … How can you not *get* that … ***
It's not. Creationism was taught alongside science in my high school in the Republic of Kalifornia as it is in many schools. Separation of church and state is more a philosophy than it is something that's found in the Constitution as what is in the constitution is limited. You can major in religious studies in many publicly funded colleges such as the UC that I attended. That wasn't my major. I did take some liberal arts classes that taught religion however. One of the history classes was history of western civilizations, which was Europe from the Renaissance to the 18th century. It dealt a lot with religion as religion is a big part of history. That got much more specific and into denominations, all of it being various Christian/Catholic as opposed to creationism which is much more generic. Whether you're Muslim, Christian, Jewish, or Hindu creationism in some form is accepted. Most are less backwards than some Christian denominations but they still all believe in some degree of creationism although many, including many Christians, also believe in evolution alongside creationism.
It's not. Creationism was taught alongside science in my high school in the Republic of Kalifornia as it is in many schools. Separation of church and state is more a philosophy than it is something that's found in the Constitution as what is in the constitution is limited. You can major in religious studies in many publicly funded colleges such as the UC that I attended. That wasn't my major. I did take some liberal arts classes that taught religion however. One of the history classes was history of western civilizations, which was Europe from the Renaissance to the 18th century. It dealt a lot with religion as religion is a big part of history. That got much more specific and into denominations, all of it being various Christian/Catholic as opposed to creationism which is much more generic. Whether you're Muslim, Christian, Jewish, or Hindu creationism in some form is accepted. Most are less backwards than some Christian denominations but they still all believe in some degree of creationism although many, including many Christians, also believe in evolution alongside creationism.
Creationism is not science. Period. It should not be taught in a science classroom, other than as perhaps a paragraph related to current events.
Teaching about it in a religious studies course, or something similar, is perfectly kosher.
On the Buddhist website I frequent, there are so many fools that cannot differentiate between "faith" and "fact". The same is true for every religion. It's quite disturbing, particularly to think that children are being educated that way.
The difference between faith and fact is grayer than you think. This is basic philosophical stuff: How do you really know what "is" and how much faith must you have in your own senses and ability to reason to think you can determine what "is" without fail?
The difference between faith and fact is grayer than you think. This is basic philosophical stuff: How do you really know what "is" and how much faith must you have in your own senses and ability to reason to think you can determine what "is" without fail?
Faith: God answers prayers.
Fact: I believe there is a God who answers prayers.
I believe "God" is a myth. Nonetheless, it is not for her to tell students that "God" is a myth, and mark them wrong if they say otherwise.
Interesting comment.
I can't help but wonder where this topic/discussion would be going if the SLUG pretending to be a teacher had said Allah is a myth". Let us remember that this episode took place in Katy, Texas ... same place where an incident involving a mosque took place. Yes, I think that God is an over-used noun, but in the context of WHERE this took place, it seems to be quite specific unlike a GOD in the pantheons of Greek/Roman/multitude of other cultures. However, I have now entered a realm of the esoteric which is far from where this IDIOT went. Yes indeed the school/district administration gave phony backing to this SLUG pretending to be a teacher but what else were they prepared to do? Answer ....?
The teaching authority of a state-funded school was used to make a (supposedly TRUE) statement about God …
THAT was a violation of the separation of Church and State …
If a Fundamentalist-Creationist biology teacher used his/her classroom to teach "Creation-ism," THAT would not (1) "make a law establishing religion," either, or (2) "impede anyone's free exercise of religion," either, or (3) "promote a single religion on behalf of the state," either …
But it WOULD be a clear gross violation of the separation of Church and State … How can you not *get* that … ***
That's true. But you conveniently - or maybe cluelessly - misquote the Constitution.
The Constitution prohibits, and I quote (accurately),
Quote:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
--First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States
Note the word 'respecting'. The founders weren't idiots, and were well aware that people such as yourself would be tempted to effectively establish official religions by refraining from officially doing so while still enacting all sorts of that that effectively did so. So they not only prohibited official religions, they also prohibited anything that effectively established them in backdoor manners.
This was exactly what the United States Supreme Court noted in Edwards v. Aguillard (1987), which struck down all laws attempting to foist the idiocy of creationism on public school students (private schools, of course, are free to teach their students to believe in baseless idiocy).
And this was also exactly what Judge John E. Jones III (a George W. Bush appointee, by the way) ruled in Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District (2005) in a decision in which he lambasted and rhetorically destroyed the peddlers of creationist nonsense.
If you're going to quote the Constitution, then get it right. And if you're going to cite law, then know your caselaw.
It's not. Creationism was taught alongside science in my high school in the Republic of Kalifornia as it is in many schools. Separation of church and state is more a philosophy than it is something that's found in the Constitution as what is in the constitution is limited. You can major in religious studies in many publicly funded colleges such as the UC that I attended. That wasn't my major. I did take some liberal arts classes that taught religion however. One of the history classes was history of western civilizations, which was Europe from the Renaissance to the 18th century. It dealt a lot with religion as religion is a big part of history. That got much more specific and into denominations, all of it being various Christian/Catholic as opposed to creationism which is much more generic. Whether you're Muslim, Christian, Jewish, or Hindu creationism in some form is accepted. Most are less backwards than some Christian denominations but they still all believe in some degree of creationism although many, including many Christians, also believe in evolution alongside creationism.
No … The Fundamentalist Creationists insist that their view and absolute claims be taught INSTEAD of science ...
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