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Religion in the classroom...

hfd

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Atheism is the position that gods do not exist. Are atheists religious?

"Among religions in this country which do not teach what would generally be considered a belief in the existence of God are Buddhism, Taoism, Ethical Culture, Secular Humanism and others."

U.S. Supreme Court Reports, Vol 6, L. Ed. 2nd ed. p. 987

"Humanists are content with fixing their attention on this life...Theirs is a religion without God..."

Morain, Lloyd & Mary - HUMANISM AS THE NEXT STEP, (Boston: Beacon Press, 1954) p. 4



Is there an attempt to promote atheism in public schools?

"Education is thus a most powerful ally of Humanism, and every American public school is a school of Humanism. What can a theistic Sunday school's meeting, for an hour once a week, and teaching only a fraction of the children, do to stem the tide of the five-day program of humanistic teaching?"

Potter, Charles Francis - Humanism: A New Religion (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1930), p. 128

"If we humanists have a primary mission, it should be to reconstruct education-to train teachers."

Kurtz, Paul - IN DEFENSE OF SECULAR HUMANISM, (Buffalo: Prometheus Press, 1983) p. 207

"I am convinced that the battle for humankind's future must be waged and won in the public school classroom by teachers who correctly perceive their role as the proselytizers of the new faith...These teachers must imbody the same selfless dedication as the most rabid fundamentalist preachers, for they will be ministers of another sort, utilizing a classroom instead of a pulpit to convey humanist values in whatever subjects they teach, regardless of the educational level-preschool day care or large state university. The classroom must and will become an arena of conflict between the old and the new-the rotting corpse of Christianity...and the new faith of humanism."

Dunphy, John `A Religion For A New Age' in, THE HUMANIST, Jan/Feb, 1983, p. 26

Your turn...
 
Atheism is not religion, and anti-theism has very little place in schools.
 
Your turn...

Well, one of my very favorite people in the world once said this

"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.
But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.
 
Schooling is a secular activity, and religion should be limited to comparative classes.
 
Schooling is a secular activity, and religion should be limited to comparative classes.

I understand that. Evidently some Secular Humanists don't. And, it seems some of those who rant about separation don't have a problem with the Humanists' position about education.
 
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When I was in grade school (Catholic) I heard a great story. Back in biblical times (Jerusalem) there were two people in the temple praying. A rich man and a poor begger woman. The rich man was prostrating himself and speaking loudly in his prayers. The old woman was huddled in the opposite corner silently praying with hands clasp and head bowed. Suddenly a great light come into the temple and fell on the old woman and putting the rich man into darkness.

Guess which example I follow.
 
Only in rightwingchristian bizarro world would an intellectual position that reasons God doesn't exist be labeled a religion.

More evidence of the total fraudulent nature of the religious right and how the mischaracterize both Christianity and rationality.

Add to that the paranoid style of the religious right (Atheism is being promoted in the classroom!), and you get liftoff -- the religious right is just an arm of the conservative movement's attack on reason and science, because reason and science militate against conservative ideological fixations.
 
Only in rightwingchristian bizarro world would an intellectual position that reasons God doesn't exist be labeled a religion.

More evidence of the total fraudulent nature of the religious right and how the mischaracterize both Christianity and rationality.

Add to that the paranoid style of the religious right (Atheism is being promoted in the classroom!), and you get liftoff -- the religious right is just an arm of the conservative movement's attack on reason and science, because reason and science militate against conservative ideological fixations.

Please note it is the Humanists I quoted who call themselves a 'religion without God' Not the 'religious right'. Also please note it is Humanists I quoted who want to teach Humanists values in the classroom. Perhaps you missed that part.
 
Please note it is the Humanists I quoted who call themselves a 'religion without God' Not the 'religious right'. Also please note it is Humanists I quoted who want to teach Humanists values in the classroom. Perhaps you missed that part.

Yeah, let's pretend that a turn of phrase used by somebody metaphorically in a rhetorical situation should be the basis of public policy. Let's pretend.

No informed analysis of humanism would define it as a relligion. That's just a rightwing christian meme taking texts out of context. As usual. The religious right does the same with the bible. They can't make an honest argument ever.

Bottomline: the application of reason and empiricism to determine whether divine beings exist or don't exist is not only not a religion, it is the opposite of a religion.
 
"No informed analysis of humanism would define it as a relligion. That's just a rightwing christian meme taking texts out of context. As usual. The religious right does the same with the bible. They can't make an honest argument ever."

ok

"Among religions in this country which do not teach what would generally be considered a belief in the existence of God are Buddhism, Taoism, Ethical Culture, Secular Humanism and others."

U.S. Supreme Court Reports, Vol 6, L. Ed. 2nd ed. p. 987
 
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