Religion in schools

[Geo]

After reading all the post regarding prayer and school, one thing comes to mind.
It's ok, to be scared.

Speaking of being scared. do you have any idea how scary all of this sounds to those of us who are not immersed in religion-

Our Country needs men and women of God, who have been saved by the blood of Christ shining the light, not hiding it.
I am sure this debate will go on until Christ comes back. Let us all be sure in our hearts, that when we have our turn to stand before Him, that He will be pleased. God Bless all of Sowal.
One more thing, being a Christian, it's not a walk in the park. Being a Christian is one of the toughest. Why, you ask? Because sometimes, God calls to stand before Lions.

 

[Geo]

Below is an essay of sorts that attacks our country's separation of church and state. It actually had references in it to blood and lions (I'm not making this up) which reminded me of other scary posts in this thread.

Anywho-

This was taken from a transcript made of a video released from Osama Bin Laden in September 2007.

"All praise is due to Allah, who built the heavens and earth in justice, and created man as a favor and grace from Him. And whoever obeys Him alone in all of his affairs will enter the Garden, and whoever disobeys Him will have refused..."

"You believe with absolute certainty that you believe in Allah, and you are full of conviction of this belief, so much so that you have written this belief of yours on your dollar. But the truth is that you are mistaken in this belief of yours. The impartial judge knows that belief in Allah requires straightness in the following of His methodology, and accordingly, total obedience must be to the orders and prohibitions of Allah Alone in all aspects of life. So how about you when you associate others with Him in your beliefs and separate state from religion, then claim that you are believers?!"

"You believe that Allah is your Lord and your Creator and the Creator of this earth and that it is His property, then you work on His earth and property without His orders and without obeying Him, and you legislate in contradiction to His Law and methodology."

 

[ShallowsNole]

Speaking of being scared. do you have any idea how scary all of this sounds to those of us who are not immersed in religion-

As well it should. It's better to be a bit scared now than after you take your final breath, when it is too late to do anything about it.

Moving along, there is one disturbing trend that is apparent in our schools and in our young adults for some time now (not all young people, or even the majority, but enough to know something has changed) - a total and complete lack of respect for authority. Lack of respect for parents, lack of respect for the administrators of the schools, and the one that personally raises our hackles, lack of respect for law enforcement and the judicial system. Many of the young'uns who walk through the doors of our workplaces have no clue that it is unacceptable to behave certain ways in a civilized society. It should be pretty obvious what my spouse and I and most of Walton County attribute this to, at least in part. (There is also the issue of arse whoopin', but one controversial subject at a time, please.) What do you guys who are more liberal than we are believe this is attributable to? Or heaven (no pun intended) forbid, do you think it is okay?

 

[Matt J]

As well it should. It's better to be a bit scared now than after you take your final breath, when it is too late to do anything about it.

Moving along, there is one disturbing trend that is apparent in our schools and in our young adults for some time now (not all young people, or even the majority, but enough to know something has changed) - a total and complete lack of respect for authority. Lack of respect for parents, lack of respect for the administrators of the schools, and the one that personally raises our hackles, lack of respect for law enforcement and the judicial system. Many of the young'uns who walk through the doors of our workplaces have no clue that it is unacceptable to behave certain ways in a civilized society. It should be pretty obvious what my spouse and I and most of Walton County attribute this to, at least in part. (There is also the issue of arse whoopin', but one controversial subject at a time, please.) What do you guys who are more liberal than we are believe this is attributable to? Or heaven (no pun intended) forbid, do you think it is okay?

I would bet that the majority of these "trouble makers" you are referring to come from self identified Christian households. I don't think the respect issue is directly tied to religion, but the actual childs upbringing as a whole. If the parents are not enforcing respect for authority figures then the child will not respect authority figures. This is across the board and regardless of religious beliefs. In fact I can't think of a single religion that doesn't teach respect for authority and elders.

 

[Geo]

As well it should. It's better to be a bit scared now than after you take your final breath, when it is too late to do anything about it.

Either you missed my point or are ignoring it.

I don't find what you say to be scary because I am "god fearing" and am considering the need to repent before I "meet my maker". I'm a good person with a clean conscience.

The only thing scary about what comes after my last breath is just my natural fear of the unknown. I really don't know what comes next. I just wish folks into religion would come clean and acknowledge that they really don't either.

What I find scary are the parallels in what you say and what followers of other religions say (you know- the bad ones)?

Moving along, there is one disturbing trend that is apparent in our schools and in our young adults for some time now (not all young people, or even the majority, but enough to know something has changed) - a total and complete lack of respect for authority. Lack of respect for parents, lack of respect for the administrators of the schools, and the one that personally raises our hackles, lack of respect for law enforcement and the judicial system. Many of the young'uns who walk through the doors of our workplaces have no clue that it is unacceptable to behave certain ways in a civilized society. It should be pretty obvious what my spouse and I and most of Walton County attribute this to, at least in part. (There is also the issue of arse whoopin', but one controversial subject at a time, please.) What do you guys who are more liberal than we are believe this is attributable to? Or heaven (no pun intended) forbid, do you think it is okay?

Agreed, I notice lack of respect for authority. But religion and discipline are not mutually exclusive.

 

[scooterbug44]

I don't find that there is a correlation between kids who behave and kids who come from religious families.

I DO find there is a MAJOR correlation between kids who behave and parents who are involved in their children's lives, schools, and focus on being parents instead of "friends".

 

[GoodWitch58]

I think the key is mutual respect.

Many of the kids who lack any respect for authority have never been shown any respect by the authority.

 

[30A Skunkape]

As well it should. It's better to be a bit scared now than after you take your final breath, when it is too late to do anything about it.

Moving along, there is one disturbing trend that is apparent in our schools and in our young adults for some time now (not all young people, or even the majority, but enough to know something has changed) - a total and complete lack of respect for authority. Lack of respect for parents, lack of respect for the administrators of the schools, and the one that personally raises our hackles, lack of respect for law enforcement and the judicial system. Many of the young'uns who walk through the doors of our workplaces have no clue that it is unacceptable to behave certain ways in a civilized society. It should be pretty obvious what my spouse and I and most of Walton County attribute this to, at least in part. (There is also the issue of arse whoopin', but one controversial subject at a time, please.) What do you guys who are more liberal than we are believe this is attributable to? Or heaven (no pun intended) forbid, do you think it is okay?

That sounds like something the Pharisees might have been caught uttering about a certain pesky little Jew from Nazareth cica 0015 AD.;-)

 

[Lynnie]

I went to a private Catholic school w/ a crucifix in every classroom, a nun or priest running every dorm, 2 semesters of theology as a graduation requirement (one was basically reading 85% of the Bible), a church on campus, and mass as part of the graduation ceremony, and had far less religion crammed down my throat on a daily basis than the Walton County kids who go to A PUBLIC SCHOOL FUNDED WITH OUR TAX DOLLARS.

News flash - you can critically discuss your religion's tenets and policies, you can study science (the real stuff like evolution, not hooey like creationism), be involved in ground breaking research, actually teach kids something useful about birth control, treat everyone (including homosexuals) with respect and dignity, you can enjoy your religion and live according to its tenets without forced your beliefs and ideas on everyone else, and you can STILL BE A CHRISTIAN.

Banning plays, public prayers, religious groups at school, school board election issues about yoga and religion..............if another religion pushed THEIR beliefs onto your children this way, you would raise holy hell. All these close minded policies do is make your children less suited for life in the real world - where everyone isn't white and Christian.

Schools are about giving our children a basic education, not about shaping their religious ideas - that's why the teacher has a desk instead of a pulpit!

I went to parochial Catholic HS and was discriminated against because I am not Catholic. Had to pay a much higher tuition and not allowed to celebrate their mass! Talk about being singled-out. Didn't harm me a bit. Religion class, which was a minor subject, but mandatory and not an elective, taught us world religions - ahem, as it relates to Catholicism. Being a minor class, it was only every other day, to boot. But, it was one funn, wild education and placed me well ahead of others!

I see great comments on each side here. It's public school and shouldn't be interrupted with religious activities. And, there is our First Amendment, which is so important in our freedoms. Both principles of which are most likely very near and dear to all Americans' hearts - even some who aren't American like the freedoms they are granted just by stepping on our soil.

My only comment is maintaining the Pledge of Allegiance, which does state ' one nation under God, with liberty and justice for all'......this pledge should never be removed from public schools, IMHO.

Cheers~~

 

[Geo]

I went to parochial Catholic HS and was discriminated against because I am not Catholic. Had to pay a much higher tuition and not allowed to celebrate their mass! Talk about being singled-out. Didn't harm me a bit. Religion class, which was a minor subject, but mandatory and not an elective, taught us world religions - ahem, as it relates to Catholicism. Being a minor class, it was only every other day, to boot. But, it was one funn, wild education and placed me well ahead of others!

I see great comments on each side here. It's public school and shouldn't be interrupted with religious activities. And, there is our First Amendment, which is so important in our freedoms. Both principles of which are most likely very near and dear to all Americans' hearts - even some who aren't American like the freedoms they are granted just by stepping on our soil.

My only comment is maintaining the Pledge of Allegiance, which does state ' one nation under God, with liberty and justice for all'......this pledge should never be removed from public schools, IMHO.

Cheers~~

For the record, the words "under god" were not in the original version. This was added in 1954 thanks to the lobbying efforts of the Knights of Columbus and the Presbyterian church.