From: Chuck.Lavazzi@bbs.oit.unc.edu (Chuck Lavazzi)
Newsgroups: talk.religion.misc
Subject: Re: Prayer and Religious Activities in the Public Schools
Keywords: religious activities in the Public Schools
Date: 11 Apr 92 17:52:10 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: Extended Bulletin Board Service

In article <1992Apr8.233357.5933@pegasus.com> tas@pegasus.com (Len Howard) writes:
>My, we do get onto some interesting projections, don't we.  I wrote a
>post suggesting some ideas to be used in a paper on Prayer and
>Religious Activities in the Public School for a young person to use in
>writing an English paper, and all of a sudden I am held to be
>expousing manditory prayer in the Public School.
>
>I will make my stance on the whole matter public, and you can comment
>on the WHOLE person, not just suggestions for a paper for an English
>Class.
>
>1.  I am NOT in favor of any form of mandate in any form of religion.
>Religion is a personal thing, and each of us may decide in what way we
>will worship.  Free Will is extant, and the core of most theology.
>
>2.  I DO think we are going overboard by forbidding ANY form of
>religious expression in the schools, as that gives the student the
>idea that there is something WRONG about religion, and implants an
>anti-religiou bias in our students. 
>
	As a non-Christian (but also non-atheist) type myself, I can't really
disagree with either of those points.  Problem is, IMHO, we Americans have
become so litigation-happy and so entrenched in an "us-against-them" mentality
WRT our ethnic and religious identities that most public insititutions have
decided that the only way to avoid endless rounds of lawsuits is to exclude
*everybody's* religion so that no one group can start whining about
discrimination.
>3.  I think ALL religions should celbrate in schools.  Any commorative
>holiday in any religion that would like to put on some kind of program
>in the school is, IMO, beneficial.  I would LOVE my kids to be exposed
>to religions other than Christianity.  And if there is a Druid, or
>Pagan, or Satanist holiday that people wish to present, then present
>it.  Attendance at ANY of these presentations should be voluntary for
>all.
>
>4.  Christians are in this world but not of it.  Each day we must deal
>with our fellow humans in our job, social events or casual encounters.
>It is silly to think we can go thru life without running into Pagans,
>Satanists, or other forms of religious beliefs.  We should be educated
>about other forms of belief.  Our children are not going to be in some
>way contaminated by hearing about another form of religious
>expression.  After all, we have them at home every day as they grow
>up, and if I cannot indoctrinate my own child in my religious beliefs,
>then I certainly have not paid attention to this.  I don't expect
>children to be taught religion at school.  BUT, I also do not expect
>children to be taught that there is something WRONG with believing in
>God, or practicing your religion either.  And by prohibiting ANY
>expression of religion, that is the bias that is taught.
>
	Again, no argument here, but see my earlier comments.  No to pick on
Christians, but Christian groups are the main force behind the "put prayer
in the schools movement".  Do you seriously think any of these folks would
accept the ideas put forth in your third point?  Can you see Jerry Falwell
waying "yeah, it's OK if we teach kinds about Druid traditions"?  Uh-huh.
	IMHO, it ought to be easy enough to teach *about* various religious
traditions without actually providing instruction *in* those religions per se.
College courses in comparative religions do this all the time.  Problem is,
this won't satisfy the prime movers behind the "put religion in the schools"
movement, although it might make enough rational folks happy to disarm the
extremists... Worth a shot, anyway.

>5.  Religion is a part of our daily life, not just something we do on
>Saturday or Sunday.  Prayer is a 24 hour a day function, not a
>pro-forma ritual that is led in fixed form at a certain time every
>day.  I believe we "pray in the closet" and do NOT make a public
>spectacle when we pray.  But I see nothing amiss with having joyous
>epressions of praise to God, with music and celebration in the public
>school.  My own opinion is that our country would be better off if
>more people paid more attention to their relgion, but it is not
>something that should be mandated.
>
>I hope I have made my stance perfectly clear, as one person so often
>put it a couple of decades ago  \\ * //
>
	Yep, and I couldn't agree more.  The only problem with all of it is
that it assumes that most of the rest of the population will be as reasonable
as you are.  Any bets on how likely that is?

>And the next time I contribute ideas to a young person for an English
>paper or a debate I will CLEARLY LABEL them as "DANGEROUS IDEAS,
>INTENDED TO PROVOKE DISCUSSIONS!!" so they will not be construed as a
>position paper.
>
>Shalom,                                 Len Howard

Chuck
No .sig, no fat, no foolin'

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