Quote:
Originally posted by bloodrayne
I have read this entire thread and I have to say that you are ALL arguing an invalid point...
Christianity, or any other religion, has never been "taught" in any public school...Evolution (The DENIAL of Christianity) IS taught in public schools...Placing the Ten Commandments where they can be seen, and saying the Pledge Of Allegiance is NOT teaching anyone about God...The Ten Commandments are basically a good code of ethics for EVERYONE to consider, and pledging your allegiance to your country is about PATRIOTISM and standing united..NOT a "lesson" in Christianity...
Damn...It is SCARY, when I have to be the one to present the voice of reason:rolleyes:
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You calling evolution the "DENIAL" of Christianity is not the voice of reason. The Theory of Evolution happens to be the foundational theory for all of the Biological sciences. Species evolve. This is a
fact. And I think a good science classroom should teach facts, regardless if they vaguely contradict someone's theological beliefs. If what you believe doesn't jibe with the facts, maybe you need reevaluate your beliefs. This is what education is all about! If you read Genesis, you'll see that plants were growing all over the planet before the sun was even formed ... so will you argue with a Biology teacher when they tell your kids that plants need sunlight to grow? Or, should that Biology teacher check herself all the time and say: "Unless you believe in God, through which all things are possible" every now and then?
And the Ten Commandments being a good code of ethics for "EVERYONE" is far from reasonable as well. I'll admit that there are several commandments that I agree with, but there are
some that have nothing to do with ethics or morality at all. The first three, for example: I am the Lord thy God and thou shalt have no other ... no graven images ... no taking the Lord's name in vain. These are all well and good, if you want your Chrisitian child to show the proper respect to
your God. Then there's the one about setting aside the sabbath and keeping it holy. My family does not believe that any days are more "holy", or profane, than others. The other ones are okay, but pretty confusingly simple: thou shalt not kill (how about in self-defense?), honor thy mother and father (what if you have abusive parents?), don't commit adultery (ok ... we can keep from doing that), don't even think about wanting your neighbors cattle or his wife (well ... that we can't help. You're going to condemn us for our thoughts??)
As far as the Pledge of Allegiance being uttered in school, I have no problem with it. But, keep in mind that the phrase "under God" was not in the original pledge. The original pledge was as follows: 'I pledge allegiance to my Flag and (to*) the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.' The author considered placing the word, 'equality,' in his Pledge, but knew that the state superintendents of education on his committee were against equality for women and African Americans. [ * 'to' added in October, 1892. ] In 1954 congress, after a campaign by the Knights of Columbus, decided to add "under God" in the pledge, thus making it both a patriotic oath and a public prayer. Most of it is good, but we are
not one nation under God. We are a nation under many gods, or no gods at all. But, the pledge as it is clearly favors a monotheistic faith.
No ... ever since school-led prayer was taken away, the Christian community of our nation have taken it upon themselves to get their God back into the public schools any way they can. They have even gone so far as to argue that violent children are the result of not being exposed to their God on a daily basis in school. Posting the Ten Commandments is just one of the ways they have recently tried to serve the community with their God (whether or not the community is Christian), and thankfully it was unsuccessful. But, here in Mississippi, they HAVE succeeded in making it a law that the phrase "In God We Trust" be framed and posted in every classroom where it is visible by all students. Some will say that they are not trying to expose the kids to their God, but are just making "patriotic" signs. Bullshit.
Like I said, if I had the time to homeschool, I would.