TX State Board of Education approves Bible course in schools

[joelamosobadiah]

MEH, I guess I better post by general thoughts.

To me parents are held responsible for the training of their children. Now don't get me wrong, I am not saying everybody has to be home schooled or anything, but I do want to be sure that whatever school I send my children to will uphold and support the beliefs that I hold and promote in the home. If that means I have to home school my children, then so be it. If I were to send my children to a public school I would neither expect nor want them to be taught religion. It's bad enough that there are other theories I don't support being taught in the schools, there is no reason to add in religious classes that I don't agree with. I mostly have held back from posting in this thread because if I have children then they won't be attending public schools because of this reason.

Why tell my kids one thing and then send them to an institution for 40 hours a week that tells them opposite. Combine this with the problems with drugs, inappropriate language, etc. and its not the environment I want my kids exposed to for 40 hours a week.

Just my two cents.

[Madison]

I have my particular flavor of Christianity to which I adhere, and while Nfl and Omaha and Azrael and Joelamosobadiah and Madison and DDD and whomever else here (yadda yadda yadda applesauce) is Christian as well, by our umpteen dozen conversations here I know that my flavor of Christianity isn't necessarily their's.

Bah, I had bit my tongue and stayed out of this until now. And it really wasn't this post that drew me in, just the sheer length and discussion of this whole thing.

We're talking about an "elective" class. Meaning no one HAS to attend, anyone that does attend will do so by choice. So all this fuss is a bit silly in my mind. As Knapp said, I'm a Christian (not the best of Christians I'll admit), and in high school if there had been an elective on atheism, I probably wouldn't have chosen that course. Then again, I might have to see what I could learn. Regardless, I wouldn't have been offended in the least if that "elective" class had been offered, and I don't fathom how anyone can be offended by this. If the class was mandatory, then sure, I definitely see the fuss and agree it's a bad decision, but we're talking about an elective course, so this really shouldn't be an issue...

Anyway, I'll grab some popcorn and continue to watch the show. Remember that "elective" classes are classes taken 100% by choice, and I doubt there's really much to bicker about though.

[moonhead]

I have my particular flavor of Christianity to which I adhere, and while Nfl and Omaha and Azrael and Joelamosobadiah and Madison and DDD and whomever else here (yadda yadda yadda applesauce) is Christian as well, by our umpteen dozen conversations here I know that my flavor of Christianity isn't necessarily their's.

Bah, I had bit my tongue and stayed out of this until now. And it really wasn't this post that drew me in, just the sheer length and discussion of this whole thing.

We're talking about an "elective" class. Meaning no one HAS to attend, anyone that does attend will do so by choice. So all this fuss is a bit silly in my mind. As Knapp said, I'm a Christian (not the best of Christians I'll admit), and in high school if there had been an elective on atheism, I probably wouldn't have chosen that course. Then again, I might have to see what I could learn. Regardless, I wouldn't have been offended in the least if that "elective" class had been offered, and I don't fathom how anyone can be offended by this. If the class was mandatory, then sure, I definitely see the fuss and agree it's a bad decision, but we're talking about an elective course, so this really shouldn't be an issue...

Anyway, I'll grab some popcorn and continue to watch the show. Remember that "elective" classes are classes taken 100% by choice, and I doubt there's really much to bicker about though.

except for the fact that i'm a buddhist and there isn't a class offered on my religion. and that upsets me.

[Omaha Red Sox]

except for the fact that i'm a buddhist and there isn't a class offered on my religion. and that upsets me.

As soon as the schools get into the business of trying to make everyone happy, we'll all be screwed. Christianity is the most significant religion in history. There is a reason why this one was chosen. Being defensive because it's the big bad C doesn't help the situation and doesn't improve upon things. Picking battles is a skill. The ACLU used to be great at this. Till they decided to have this mindset. Now very few take them seriously anymore.

[Madison]

I have my particular flavor of Christianity to which I adhere, and while Nfl and Omaha and Azrael and Joelamosobadiah and Madison and DDD and whomever else here (yadda yadda yadda applesauce) is Christian as well, by our umpteen dozen conversations here I know that my flavor of Christianity isn't necessarily their's.

Bah, I had bit my tongue and stayed out of this until now. And it really wasn't this post that drew me in, just the sheer length and discussion of this whole thing.

We're talking about an "elective" class. Meaning no one HAS to attend, anyone that does attend will do so by choice. So all this fuss is a bit silly in my mind. As Knapp said, I'm a Christian (not the best of Christians I'll admit), and in high school if there had been an elective on atheism, I probably wouldn't have chosen that course. Then again, I might have to see what I could learn. Regardless, I wouldn't have been offended in the least if that "elective" class had been offered, and I don't fathom how anyone can be offended by this. If the class was mandatory, then sure, I definitely see the fuss and agree it's a bad decision, but we're talking about an elective course, so this really shouldn't be an issue...

Anyway, I'll grab some popcorn and continue to watch the show. Remember that "elective" classes are classes taken 100% by choice, and I doubt there's really much to bicker about though.

except for the fact that i'm a buddhist and there isn't a class offered on my religion. and that upsets me.

Waaaaa. Cry me a river. Life isn't fair. Kids know this by the time they reach high school.

And if there is enough demand for a particular course on religion, this opens the doors for that to happen.

Same principal but worse - I HAD to take 2 years of a foreign language to graduate with honors. Choices were Spanish and Latin. I didn't "want" to take either one, I'd have rather taken several other languages over those two. However, the rules were the rules and I took Spanish. Life isn't fair and it doesn't do any good to cry, whine, and throw a hissy fit over it.

[moonhead]

except for the fact that i'm a buddhist and there isn't a class offered on my religion. and that upsets me.

As soon as the schools get into the business of trying to make everyone happy, we'll all be screwed. Christianity is the most significant religion in history. There is a reason why this one was chosen. Being defensive because it's the big bad C doesn't help the situation and doesn't improve upon things. Picking battles is a skill. The ACLU used to be great at this. Till they decided to have this mindset. Now very few take them seriously anymore.

that's a bold statement. probably inflammatory. how are you determining significance?

the schools shouldn't even have to address this so it doesn't have to bother with making x% happy while not worrying about pissing of z%.

the reason this was chosen is because texas is full of conservative fundamentalist evangelicals. can you imagine the uproar that would ensue if a state decided to teach a class on islam? there would be riots. but since this is christianity, and the majority of people are christian, it's kinda like "tough titty". well, that's not right.

the best policy is the one that we have had. keep religion out of public schools. it's a far too volatile subject. as much as some people want this to be the 1950s, it ain't. the world is much smaller now, and as much as we hate it, we must adjust. not make everyone adjust to us.

[moonhead]

Waaaaa. Cry me a river. Life isn't fair. Kids know this by the time they reach high school.

And if there is enough demand for a particular course on religion, this opens the doors for that to happen.

Same principal but worse - I HAD to take 2 years of a foreign language to graduate with honors. Choices were Spanish and Latin. I didn't "want" to take either one, I'd have rather taken several other languages over those two. However, the rules were the rules and I took Spanish. Life isn't fair and it doesn't do any good to cry, whine, and throw a hissy fit over it.

you're right. it shouldn't even be an issue. no one should have to complain that they are being discriminated against.

[Madison]

Waaaaa. Cry me a river. Life isn't fair. Kids know this by the time they reach high school.

And if there is enough demand for a particular course on religion, this opens the doors for that to happen.

Same principal but worse - I HAD to take 2 years of a foreign language to graduate with honors. Choices were Spanish and Latin. I didn't "want" to take either one, I'd have rather taken several other languages over those two. However, the rules were the rules and I took Spanish. Life isn't fair and it doesn't do any good to cry, whine, and throw a hissy fit over it.

you're right. it shouldn't even be an issue. no one should have to complain that they are being discriminated against.

Bah, if you think that's discrimination, then you obviously think the rich should give to the poor to make everyone financially equal too then because crying "discrimination" is quite a stretch on an elective course.

If being 100% open to everything, then why don't I hear you complaining about the lack of foreign languages taught in schools? I'm a perfect example, had to choose between Latin and Spanish. Given the same principals as this religious debate, you should be campaigning for all languages to be taught in schools, even more seeing as how those classes are REQUIRED where as the religious class is an elective.

So come on Moon, let's be 100% fair and fix all the schools. Between foreign language and religion, we're up to what, an extra couple hundred teachers per high school? Sounds really reasonable to me.

[Omaha Red Sox]

except for the fact that i'm a buddhist and there isn't a class offered on my religion. and that upsets me.

As soon as the schools get into the business of trying to make everyone happy, we'll all be screwed. Christianity is the most significant religion in history. There is a reason why this one was chosen. Being defensive because it's the big bad C doesn't help the situation and doesn't improve upon things. Picking battles is a skill. The ACLU used to be great at this. Till they decided to have this mindset. Now very few take them seriously anymore.

that's a bold statement. probably inflammatory. how are you determining significance?

the schools shouldn't even have to address this so it doesn't have to bother with making x% happy while not worrying about pissing of z%.

the reason this was chosen is because texas is full of conservative fundamentalist evangelicals. can you imagine the uproar that would ensue if a state decided to teach a class on islam? there would be riots. but since this is christianity, and the majority of people are christian, it's kinda like "tough titty". well, that's not right.

the best policy is the one that we have had. keep religion out of public schools. it's a far too volatile subject. as much as some people want this to be the 1950s, it ain't. the world is much smaller now, and as much as we hate it, we must adjust. not make everyone adjust to us.

It just surprises me the battles we choose. Is this the fight you want to get into? This is that important? An elective class regarding a part of history? Just resembles to me a kid who whines all the time so nobody listens to him anymore. I'm seriously not trying to pick a fight here, just explaining how it looks.

[moonhead]

i've said that foreign languages need to be taught. they need to be mandatory. the thing is, there is a choice. at my school we had a choice between spanish, french, german, italian, to name a few. and this isn't some big city school.

it's this sense of entitlement, and brash arrogance that christians have that turns a guy like me off. the attitude negates the point.

here i am being called names. a whiney little boy?

i am choosing this battle because i don't think it's right. it creates more of a situation of inequality. religion is a very volatile subject. i'm all for education, but this is not the time. it should be handled outside of public schools.