lab@qubix.UUCP (Q-Bick) (03/24/84)
I guess my idea of the flames I would generate wasn't too far off...
But now the situation is out in the open, and the hidden assumptions
upon which a lot of "facts" have been based are being exposed.
"A light that shines in a dark place..."
Martin Taylor's claim that I am perverting the truth doesn't stand.
Where were you (excuse me, it probably wouldn't have affect Canada) when
Transcendental Meditation was being taught in New Jersey public schools?
I didn't see the ACLU rushing to get that thrown out. Likewise for
horoscopes (you may not, but some people take them *seriously*).
And Dave Ihnat's words apply well in the other direction. The state
essentially forces its beliefs on students in its governance of school
material. Have you seen any protests - ever - on "Inquiries in
Sociology" [Allyn & Bacon, 1972], with its bold advocation of situation
ethics? Are you saying I don't have the right to educate my children?
More exactly, are you saying my children aren't mine, but are really the
state's, and I get to keep them as long as I teach them state doctrine?
I do intend "to foster intelligent beings, who can rationally evaluate
both the universe around [them], and the beliefs that are taught." Such
treatises as Wilbur Smith's excellent "Therefore, Stand" will be a major
part of their education (that particular work in the later years). By
this, they will encounter other beliefs - but they be firmly grounded in
the faith, and be able to discern other beliefs by having something to
compare them against. Dave's job of teaching religion is easy, what with
the reinforcement of the media and the state - or with people like Brad
Miller, who cries out against "indoctrination," then turns around and
says "We should be educating children to understand why religion isn't
necessary." Humanism is alive and well and working in Rochester.
"If your beliefs are so wholesome and proper, they would be universally
accepted." Smith tackles that statement on page 1. Man doesn't accept them
because he doesn't *want* to. Romans 1:18-32 addresses this very topic.
Don Stanwyck's experience with a Bible Club on his high-school campus is
NOT atypical, as the Lubbock School District case will attest. That
decision, against those who wanted to meet outside of school hours to
read the Bible, was upheld by the US Supreme Court in January 1983.
Jon White's "difficult time sympathizing" might be different if he
realized what is going on in the classroom with values indoctrination.
Jon focuses mainly on externals, while the reading assignments, views
expressed by teachers, values being blared over the boob tube in the
medium of action rather than preaching per se (how nice to get someone
to pay you megabucks to preach) are going after the internals. Actually,
the idea of teaching Zorkism might be superior to what we have - at
least we would KNOW that Zorkism is being taught. As it is now, the
state religion is carefully camouflaged.
Steve Bellovin provided the source for my final points. In his lengthy
quote from the 1960's Court case, he wrote:
"Included within [the State's] secular purposes, it says, are
the promotion of moral values, the contradiction to the
materialistic trends of our times, the perpetuation of our
institutions and the teaching of our literature...."
What moral values? The schools are essentially teaching "anything goes,
just don't get caught, and here's what to do if you are caught."
Materialistic trends are hardly being contradicted, and "our
institutions" and "our literature" seem more like shacking up and
Slaughterhouse Five. Think about it - how many of you who attended
public school were ever assigned a book to read that demonstrated life
from a Christian viewpoint? And that doesn't count the "Vanity Fair"
portion of _Pilgrim's Progress_ - I read that and didn't understand it
until I read the whole book > 7 years later.
The "secularized aspects" of Christmas could well be described as
"paganized." In (too) many places, Santa Claus has replaced Jesus Christ
as the theme of Christmas. Perhaps I could drive the point home better
to Steve with the words of a former co-worker who was made that his son
"didn't want to know about Chanukah - he wanted to know about Santa Claus."
And Steve unwittingly spoke favorably of one of the bases of MM when he
described Thanksgiving as a "theistic holiday." A theistically-based
morality will stand; but when man makes himself the measure of morality,
it crumbles, because man does not see himself moving. To set public
policy within "the bounds of rational debate," some fixed starting point
must be used - and man is hardly fixed. At least with MM, the basis is
known; Lear & Co. are afraid to let theirs be revealed.
--
The Ice Floe of the Q-Bick
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