HERE IS ANOTHER OPTION FOR CONVERSATION ON THIS COMMING WED., AUG 29th!!!!
I'll bring the full article that night (please try to read it before though) if we want to talk about it!!!! It's up to you guys!
AGAIN, PLEASE DON'T COMMENT ON HERE UNTIL AFTER THE 29th UNLESS YOU CAN'T MAKE IT THAT NIGHT!
Can't wait until wed!
-j
2 comments:
Well if any one would like to know what pisses me off, well here is an excellent description. I believe the proper expression to this particular article is the Pot Calling the Kettle Black.
Now when you hear my disdain for the rationality for these new private schools, first you may say, “Trace, didn’t you go to a private Christian School?” well yes I did, which is why I have a particular problem with this article. Now I have no problem with private schools per-se, but I have serious issues with the reasons put forth in this article for establishing them. Now if we choose to overlook some inherent flaws in numerous private schools (especially, private religious schools), like the lack of certified teachers, lack of diversity, and the open hostility toward anything which challenges the approved doctrine there are still serious issues involved in the stance this Jackass Daniel Akin takes, yeah I said jackass. If someone makes a jackass statement they deserve to be called a jackass, the same applies to me. I am also a jackass.
In the opening of the article he essentially takes the stance, which gave rise to my first offense in the article. Jackass states, “’In the public schools, you don't just have neutrality, you have hostility toward organized religion,’". Now this is probably true if you are Muslim, but the last time I checked kids were not running down the halls calling Christians towel head terrorists. If they were at least then it would be equal. The statement that public schools are openly hostile toward Christianity is simply preposterous. Hell, public schools are not allowed to take a stance on any religion simply because they must remain neutral, if they were to take an anti-christian perspective then they would be reprimanded for taking a stand on religion. Public Schools are designed to be neutral in almost all areas especially involving religion and politics. I can assure you that private Christian schools are not neutral regarding any of these issues. I can still remember float charts being drawn on the board regarding what political candidates (Vote Republican) I was suppose to encourage (vote republican) my parents to vote for (vote republican, or your going to hell).
In this article they also use what is easily refer to as double speak. They condemn Public schools for being hostile toward Christian beliefs then talk about how many Christians work in public schools and how good of a job they are doing. So essentially, these Christian are hostile toward Christianity but somehow are doing a wonderful job. I believe it would be interesting to take a little straw pole to see just how many Christians actually work in Public schools, and for that matter how many of them are science teachers. If the Public schools are so hostile towards Christianity the numbers must be terribly low.
It astounds me that these people seem to openly ignore the fact that Christian Private schools are in no way neutral. I can tell you that in my 13 years of Christian indoctrination I was taught nothing regarding other religious perspectives, very very little regarding other cultural perspectives, and I was continually told that anything that fell outside of the frame-work of a prescribed doctrine was a slippery slope and damned one straight to hell. I call bullshit. I simply find it interesting how Mr. Akin openly chastises the failed neutrality of public schools while he desires to create a system in which there is no neutrality.
Then there is their desire to teach creationism vs. evolution and abstinence vs. responsibility. Creationism despite other claims is a theological assumption directly tied to a religious institution. Now I will admit that my education was not full of theological creationism since one can only stretch out seven days so long, and aside from day long rants of how woodpeckers could not possibly have evolved, the majority of our science classes actually consisted of what can actually be called the study of science. I think it is interesting that once you get past the beginning stages, of the beginning, where no one knows exactly what the fuck was going on, that science based upon creationism and evolution look remarkably the same. However, inside Christian schools there is again open hostility toward anything that closely resembles or mentions the word evolve. We were never taught the principles of evolution, never taught why it became the predominate theory of the beginning of life, we were only taught why it was wrong. Which I am sure made us all well rounded people who had no idea what the hell we were talking about.
Oh then there is this whole rant about abstinence vs. responsibility. I remember sex education in the sixth grade and though I had no real clue what a picture of a fucked up rams head and a bloated snake in mid digestion had to do with sex, I was pretty sure the teacher was just as confused as I was since he found it necessary to clear his throat every time he said Penis or Vagina.
Of course we were taught abstinence since sex outside of marriage would damn us to hell. Apparently, this worked wonders since only about 10% of the females in each class got knocked up and were expelled from school. Oh but no worries in this respect the school was quite equal, the knocker-upper was also expelled. Apparently, the whole love and acceptance principle falls out the window when pregnant. I always found it interesting that these classes taught us to deny the very desires and actions we were intelligently designed to partake in, while never teaching anyone how to responsibly deal with them. In a sense, these classes seemed to sponsor ignorance vs. understanding since they were afraid that if we knew about something we may want to try it and fall into sin. I guess they never realized that we could figure it out on our own, which most everyone did, and since we were never taught the responsibility that went along with such actions, some paid the price of ignorance, and were openly chastised for it. Oh but what do I know, I am sure it was just some type of love and acceptance I am not familiar with.
Then there is this silly little notion that apparently parents can completely control their children’s environment, by how did they phrase it, placing values in the classroom, which of course mean their values, and no one else’s. One parent said she wanted to teach her Children decent behavior, well no shit. What parent worth half a dam does not want to teach their children decent behavior. However, I cannot see where isolation from anything outside a singular world view, open hostility towards differing viewpoints, and condemnation are a catalyst for decent behavior. A catalyst for fear and ignorance yes, decent behavior no.
I believe I have ranted on enough for today, but I suppose I should sum up the point I am trying to make. In this article and the reasoning derived from it, one gets the impression that Southern Baptists feel public schools are failing because the believe them to be openly hostile towards Christianity (which they are not). They claim they are not neutral and are thus failing. However, the remedy for these failures in public schools is not to help promote neutrality, but rather to create schools where they do not even fake being neutral.
It intreagues me that these families and churches blame public school for not teaching their children proper values rather than themselves. They blame public schools who’s duty was never to instill values, but place no blame on themselves. The fact that in some cases school provides the only outlet a child has for free expression does not matter, the fact that public schools provide children with diverse experiences and interaction does not matter. Instead they desire school to be another enforcer of doctrine, something public schools, justly, were never designed to be. We are a nation that is increasingly isolating itself, and narrowing its world view. This is simply another step in that direction ensuring neutrality, acceptance, and understanding fall by the wayside. God Bless America.
Trace
I put this on my facebook last Sun. and thought I would share it with you guys! I enjoyed the discussion tonight. :) Trace, I loved the comment about parents wanting to teach their children decent behavior! Cracked me up!
So....I went to check out a church on Sun. and the pastor referred to an article in the N & O that talked about Southern Baptists wanting to promote going private schools over public schools. I agree with the stance the pastor of this church took, by saying that it's the parents' choice to send their kid to private or public school,or to do home-schooling based on the NEEDS of the kid. Whatever is best for a child is good with me! However...
In this article, there were many reasons why someone might choose private school over public school: teaching creationism, different sex ed. curriculum, smaller class size, modest dress, etc. Whatever the reason, the comment in the article that ticked me off was from Daniel Akin, president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. He said, "In the public schools, you don't just have neutrality, you have hostility toward organized religion."
I can say that I have never experienced that in all the schools I've been a part of and nor do I experience that now working in a public school. Most of the teachers I have met are some of the nicest people who care deeply for ALL students. One of the main reasons I was led to work in a school or public sector instead of a church or private school was the scripture from Luke. In Luke 5:31-32, Jesus said,"It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." Why do Christians want to seperate themselves so much from those that need Christ the most?
I LOVE the fact that I get to serve all children. I LOVE the fact that my job REQUIRES me to not judge others and to show unconditional positive regard. I LOVE the fact that I get to teach children how to show kindness, caring, compassion, courage, etc. to EVERYONE! It's a shame that some Christians siting in a church don't even get that message; a message that is promoted at public schools!
What's ironic is that many private schools were established during the 70s b/c parents wanted to avoid integration. Maybe society and the "secular" stance just might be the more "Christ-like" stance?
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