I support: Prayer in School. ID taught as curriculum as a plausible theory. Bible Classes as electives. Wholly.
Would that be American Indian prayer, Buddhist prayer, Islamic prayer, or Eskimo prayer? Just bible classes? What about other religions? Satanism classes?
As electives, why not send out a survey to the parents and see which ones would have the most appeal, you could then select the top two and involve the parents in the decision (ciriculum, teacher, theology etc) Just keep it an elective and then you could evaluate the classes each year as to value and demand.
when I was in high school there was an elective for steel-shop. There was a teacher that taught kids how to work with metals and steel. there were like four kids in that class. and they had all kinds of machinery and crap. The demand was nonexistent (well, it was 4) yet the class went on. The Fellowship of Christian Athletes was not allowed to have organized meetings on site yet there were something like 100 kids in it. (I went periodically but Iwas too busy chasing skirts and dringing beer). Where is the harm in a biblical elective? I would love for my son to be in it.
I don't trust public school teachers to teach my kid about God. Leave that to me. We'll pray in the home...out to dinner...wherever we want. I'll teach him to pray whenever he feels like it...whenever he feels like he should call on God. That may include school...and likely will if he's there 8 hours a day. But I don't want others teaching my kid about God in a school setting. Not in a public school. No thanks.
then send your kid to bible classes at your local church, funded by your donations, not in my public school funded by my tax dollars
i am talking about a social elective, not curriculum driven. the ID class coul dbe curriculum based, however. As far as a class teaching the Koran or the Torah that is fine providing there is a base of students that could substantiate it.
Just like that shop class? ___________ Would you support ID based on Hindu or Native American creationism?
Whether ID is taught in public schools is a separate issue from should Bible be taught in public schools. I see both responses and sides from Madmax and Chance. Schools today must be completely separate from orthodox religion but they are allowed to teach secularism, pantheism, atheism, humanism and a bunch of other 'ism's that are nothing more than religion themselves (belief systems, world views, philosphy of life etc) So from Madmax's view; who would trust a group of educators with an agenda to promote humanism or pantheism or atheism to teach Bible to his children? I wouldn't. Todays public schools are a horrible place to put Bible teaching. (as are some churches) But Public Schools are teaching religion- the religion of secular humanism. So from Chance's view; What is wrong with a Bible elective? All kind of other moral issues can be addressed and there are students who would benefit and enjoy such an elective. I will add this also if humanism/atheism can be promoted as the moral fiber of the public school system why can't the non-humanist be allowed at least a religious elective? There is a discrimination that humanists and atheists and secularists don't understand or choose to overlook. Study the development of Public Schools from Dewey (A devout preacher of secular humanism) to today and you will see that the religion of humanism has won out over orthodox Christianity. Yale and Harvard (as most colleges) began as Colleges of Divinity (Bible Schools) Now they are Colleges of secularism. The issue of prayer, Bible classes, religion and public schools is sad, because many parents wish we had the moral base of the Bible being taught to their children in the public schools and yet the schools are so dangerously secular many other parents are fully aware that mixing religion into public schools would be a horrible mistake. Some parents feel that schools are neutral and they should remain that way (Madmax may feel that way) I would definately disagree and encourage him to research the secular humanist agenda, history and control regarding the nation's public schools. One book I would recommend is "Brave New Schools" by Berit Kjos Rabbit happily hopping home.
There's an assumption of equivalence here - as if two differing viewpoints are automatically equalized due to occupying opposing sides of a public debate. There is no real equivalence between science and religion, so someone saying "I don't want kids to practice [religion X] in school," is vastly different from saying, "I don't want kids to learn SCIENCE in school." It's not a quid pro quo thing at all.
WTF. Are saying that it is a requirement of the public schools to teach a course in *secular humanism*?
No. And let me also add that I have zero mind reading skill so I shouldn't assume anything about what Madmax and Chance are posting. Sorry. I am saying that secular humanists have had a big influence in education. John Dewey would be a good place to start...the "father of progressive education" co-authored the first Humanist Manifesto in 1933.
