On Fri, 16 Dec 2005 "Steve S." wrote:
>I agree that Athiesm is a belief. I was an athiest until my late teens,
when
>I began exploring the esoteric side of the great world religions and went
on
>from there.
>
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Good for you. Smart choice. It pays to investigate from
a conscientious and independently-minded point of view.
>However, there's a problem,
Yes. I agree that some people aren't going to like the
inevitable transition into genuine freedom of religion
being made federal law--seeing that 85% of Americans
generally identify themselves as Christians. Therefore,
some immature, quasi- pseudo- non- anti-Christians are
bound to have, as you say, a "problem" with that. Oh
well. That's life in the big city. Get used to it.
>I think, with the idea of allowing expression of
>all faiths equally in the schools.
>
Yeah, sure, what an "unfair" system that would be for
everyone concerned--EQUAL freedom for all responsible
students to openly express their humble opinions. LOL!
>All faiths are not equal, first of all.
Says WHO? The Torah teaches that the Gods of Creation
created man in our own image and likeness. Again, you
don't present any viable or compelling argument against
ANY human being not being equal before God--who is no
respecter or persons, by the way. God loves *EVERYONE*.
Besides, Americans behold these truths to be self-evident. :-D
>I wouldn't want my child exposed to some of the belief systems you've
listed
>below, as part of the school curriculum--mentioned or explained at a
certain
>grade level, perhaps, but not incor****ated into the assumptive base of
the
>curriculum as a whole (as Athiesm is now).
Diversity of opinions expressed and constructive questions
asked about the respected opinions of others is perfectly
welcome in our Constitutional Republic for which our great
nation's flag stands tall & proud at home and in harm's way.
Again, let the Atheists continue to present their point of
view, too. All religious beliefs, barring violation of any
school rules or breaking any laws--particularly those fine
legal decisions (soon-to-be) handed down from our beloved
moderate-to-conservative-biased Supreme Court come January
once Alito gets rubber-stamped to the lofty bench thereof,
freedom of speech is coming soon to a non-violent theatre
of intellectual combat near you and yours; near ALL of us.
>
>Secondly, no matter how liberal one tries to be when one engineers a
>curriculum in the school, there is still an assumptive base behind it.
>Haven't you see do***entaries on television about religion produced by
>athiests? Aren't they subtley but fundamentally skewed, no matter how
>open-minded they are trying to be?
Fine. And all things--including time on the floor--being
equal, the 85% Christian majority shall therefore occupy
85% of the time allotted in class to speak out on their
doubtless diverse and sundry opinions and insights into
what is collectively and loosely defined as Christianity.
Constructive argument is *HEALTHY* for burgeoning minds...
Likewise, the 15% minority will get their fair share of
time to voice their opinions about their various beliefs
and doctrines about "life, the universe, and everything".
That's called Democracy in the 21st century and beyond...
>
>Therefore it is impossible, in my opinion, to create a curriculum policy
>that is unbiased.
>
Again, since 85% of the input will be mildly "Christian",
then it will be up to us Christians to respect the views
and opinions of the minority, too. And *THAT* is going to
become federal law, thus equality and freedom of religion
and freedom to openly and peaceably express those views
(remember, federal law will prohibit egregious political
hate-speech, e.g. neo-NAZIs, KKK, radical left-wingers,
ad nauseam from engaging in disruptive and intolerant
hate-speech against anyone) will be available to *all*
responsible students bar none. Freedom & Responsibility
walk hand-in-hand, and our children are going to learn
to memorize that ancient maxim and practice it to the
letter of the law. Brotherly love will reign supreme.
>The best we can do, if we choose to, is to go back to the
>assumptive base of the founding fathers of the country.
No. The best we can do is what God Almighty endowed us
each to achieve into the ages of the ages, in body, mind
and spirit. It is therefore up to each *individual* to
maximize his or her achievements, all eventually doubtless
vastly surpassing the achievements of mere mortals decades,
centuries and long centuries dead. The past is dead & gone.
Welcome *all* to the 21st century anno Domini. :-D
>And those people
>were, by and large, not athiests--but neither were they fundamentalists.
>They were mystics and interested in metaphysics, mostly, of one flavor or
>another.
>
They fared well-indeed to have founded the *very* nation that
would become the dominant world power who reigns in the grand
(fifth) empire of the post-diluvium Earth. Kudos to them all!
>Have you see the do***entary about Benjamin Franklin? Did you notice that
>the writer of that program put words in Franklin's mouth, inferring that
he
>disbelieved in reincarnation, when actually the real Franklin believed in
>reincarnation?
>
I've no doubt that's true, seeing that he, albeit to his
severely-limited ability or understanding of the subject,
also fancied Astrology, as his extant almanachs attested.
>If we incor****ate all faiths into the basic substratum of the school
>curriculum, it's going to get impossibly confusing.
For every 100 pages of textbook curriculum, we'll end up
seeing about 85% of those pages incor****ating a "generic"
sense of the Universal God of Creation, the heavenly font
of all existence in all His glorious dimensions BEING the
"intelligent designer" of everything and everyone whom we
observe and investigate, befriend and love. It'll be GREAT!
>If we continue to allow
>athiesm to be the philosophical base, claiming it to be the basis for
>objectivity and non-religious, we're fooling ourselves.
>
Fortunately for all Americans, the Supreme Court shall decide
"who's who and what's what" concerning freedom of religion in
our public schools, courtrooms, and every public place across
all 50 States of the Union. Better get used to it. Otherwise,
the future is going to leave those who don't like it behind...
>If we go back to the
>assumptive base of the founding fathers, there are problems there, as
well,
>because they didn't have a 100% accurate metaphysics either. I think we
will
>have to think out of the box on this one. There will have to be religious
>freedom, along with an acknowledgement that there is such a thing as
Truth
>(capital T)--and it is not found in doctrines or belief systems, which
ever
>only approximate it.
But of course, Jesus Christ is the Truth, the Way & the Life.
And 85% of American students are going to be free to *OPENLY*
discuss their own views and opinions in a civilized setting.
American students are going to learn to listen to and respect
the beliefs and opinions of others, whether they disagree with
others' religious and personal points of view or not. America
is going to rapidly become in practice an all-INCLUSIVE society.
Again, those who don't like freedom of speech and freedom of
religion becoming Supreme Court federally mandated law, then
they're merely obsolete and are surely headed for extinction.
If it's of any comfort to you, realize that not all Christians
are uneducated fundamentalists. Most modern-day Christians are
more open-minded about life, death and the afterlife than were
their grandfathers. And some Christians are 180+ I.Q. geniuses. :-D
Enjoy!
Daniel Joseph Min
http://pgp.mit.edu:11371/pks/lookup?op=get&search=0x2B1CCFE7
*Download Min's Banned (Freeware) Books:
http://www.2hot2cool.com/11/danieljosephmin/
*Min's Google-Archived Home Page On The WWW:
http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=XJBDEJF138262.9022453704@[EMAIL
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