Comments on: Why My Children Will Never Go To A Religious School… http://atheistblogger.com/2008/04/20/why-my-children-will-never-go-to-a-religious-school/ Fri, 19 Mar 2010 12:37:13 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: A0u http://atheistblogger.com/2008/04/20/why-my-children-will-never-go-to-a-religious-school/comment-page-1/#comment-4336 A0u Mon, 03 Nov 2008 00:58:07 +0000 http://atheistblogger.com/?p=73#comment-4336 @skipkent I must disagree. I'm currently a high school student in California, and I have attended public schools since the third grade. It's easy to confuse teaching with advocacy. Let me assure you that there is no conspiracy and no "activism". Public schools do touch on those subjects, when they apply to the material being taught (multi-culturalism in World History, possibility of global warming in Biology, etc.), but there is no intellectual force-feeding, which on the other hand is rather rampant in the hard-line religious schools. What is occurring is dialogue - students are encouraged to voice their opinions and discuss. I ask, which would you rather have: students being aware of real happenings in this world, or students being exposed to some fantasy concocted by superstitious nomads over 2000 years ago? If education is just a bubble where you hear only what you want, how can you be prepared to what awaits you in the "real world"? The vague positions of public education officials is actually due to the neutrality policy of the establishment. @skipkent
I must disagree. I’m currently a high school student in California, and I have attended public schools since the third grade.

It’s easy to confuse teaching with advocacy.
Let me assure you that there is no conspiracy and no “activism”. Public schools do touch on those subjects, when they apply to the material being taught (multi-culturalism in World History, possibility of global warming in Biology, etc.), but there is no intellectual force-feeding, which on the other hand is rather rampant in the hard-line religious schools. What is occurring is dialogue – students are encouraged to voice their opinions and discuss. I ask, which would you rather have: students being aware of real happenings in this world, or students being exposed to some fantasy concocted by superstitious nomads over 2000 years ago?

If education is just a bubble where you hear only what you want, how can you be prepared to what awaits you in the “real world”?

The vague positions of public education officials is actually due to the neutrality policy of the establishment.

]]> By: Terry http://atheistblogger.com/2008/04/20/why-my-children-will-never-go-to-a-religious-school/comment-page-1/#comment-3991 Terry Wed, 24 Sep 2008 03:33:56 +0000 http://atheistblogger.com/?p=73#comment-3991 I went to Catholic schools for 12+ years in the 1980's in the USA and I never heard of ID or creationism. We were taught in high school biology Darwin, Mendel (a priest) and finally Watts and Crick. Even today that is the policy at my alma mater. ID and creationism are simply not true. These people who put this in public schools should be dismissed out of hand. Luck would have it that these folks are getting voted off school boards, deo gratias. We cannot have these people teaching scientific nonsense and passing it off as true fact. Though there is a creationist museum in KY where the Flintstones are presented as true ancient history. I went to Catholic schools for 12+ years in the 1980’s in the USA and I never heard of ID or creationism. We were taught in high school biology Darwin, Mendel (a priest) and finally Watts and Crick. Even today that is the policy at my alma mater. ID and creationism are simply not true. These people who put this in public schools should be dismissed out of hand. Luck would have it that these folks are getting voted off school boards, deo gratias. We cannot have these people teaching scientific nonsense and passing it off as true fact. Though there is a creationist museum in KY where the Flintstones are presented as true ancient history.

]]> By: skipkent http://atheistblogger.com/2008/04/20/why-my-children-will-never-go-to-a-religious-school/comment-page-1/#comment-3931 skipkent Thu, 18 Sep 2008 18:00:42 +0000 http://atheistblogger.com/?p=73#comment-3931 I am one of those atheist folks considering sending his children to a private Catholic school. I really have no bone to pick with I.D. being taught, as that is what I would expect from a Catholic school. They're a private school, and the whole point with a private school is that they get to emphasize what they feel is important without the constraints of a public school. Public schools nowadays are every bit as 'religious' as any Catholic school when it comes to teaching multi-culturalism, global 'awareness', global warming, homosexuality and so on. Those are things I would much rather impart to my children myself, but many public schools now are so political and downright activist in nature, that they will impart this information to children at a very young age in THEIR own way, and sometimes even without telling the parents. The bottom line for me is this: In a catholic school, I can read the literature and ask the questions and have a relatively complete understanding in 15 minutes of EXACTLY where they stand on any issue I care to raise. It doesn't matter if I agree with their stance on this or that; what matters is that I KNOW. Ask a public school official where they stand on 'this or that' and you will get a lot of waffling and double talk. No thanks. Reading, Writing and Arithmetic. So long as they cover those, I don't mind if there's a slant towards Intelligent Design. My children will learn more debating that against the evidence with their own hearts and minds than they will being fed 'the truth' at a public school, in my opinion. I am one of those atheist folks considering sending his children to a private Catholic school. I really have no bone to pick with I.D. being taught, as that is what I would expect from a Catholic school. They’re a private school, and the whole point with a private school is that they get to emphasize what they feel is important without the constraints of a public school.

Public schools nowadays are every bit as ‘religious’ as any Catholic school when it comes to teaching multi-culturalism, global ‘awareness’, global warming, homosexuality and so on. Those are things I would much rather impart to my children myself, but many public schools now are so political and downright activist in nature, that they will impart this information to children at a very young age in THEIR own way, and sometimes even without telling the parents.

The bottom line for me is this: In a catholic school, I can read the literature and ask the questions and have a relatively complete understanding in 15 minutes of EXACTLY where they stand on any issue I care to raise. It doesn’t matter if I agree with their stance on this or that; what matters is that I KNOW.

Ask a public school official where they stand on ‘this or that’ and you will get a lot of waffling and double talk. No thanks.

Reading, Writing and Arithmetic. So long as they cover those, I don’t mind if there’s a slant towards Intelligent Design. My children will learn more debating that against the evidence with their own hearts and minds than they will being fed ‘the truth’ at a public school, in my opinion.

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