I realize they see it as a step towards prayer in the schools, I just don't believe in letting other people define the terms. I think it's more subversive to give them what they want and define it on one's own terms, than to fight them when defining it on their terms.
Okay, that's fair. But they
are trying to define the terms. This is no different than those who support teaching evolution as "opinion" on the same level as Intelligent Design. It's just spin. Fundamentalists have figured out that liberalism can be defeated by turning its own radical skepticism against itself. Genesis becomes a "competing theory". Prayer becomes "a moment of undefined silence". President Ahmadinejad holds a "scholarly conference" to deny the Holocaust. And so on. It's nothing more than lawyer speak. Giving them what they want is setting yourself up for a rude awakening.
See, when thinking about this issue, an important question is this: if we disallow the moment of silence or Intelligent Design or some of the other Trojan Horse religious encroachments on secular institutions, are the liberals
impairing the ability for Christians to worship as they see fit? No, I don't think that's the case at all.
I see Kuiper couldn't resist posting in this thread, and as he's always fun to talk with, I'd like to know if his faith was ever shaken by listening to some sexually frustrated middle-aged bald guy in blue polyester pants talking about Darwin. My guess is no. Right, Kuiper? Ever stormed out of class in a huff because you weren't given two minutes to get in a few more silent "thank yous" to Jesus? I doubt it. God is bigger than Mr. Krapowski and his twenty year old textbook. God is also bigger than Darwin and Nietzsche and Hitchens/Dawkins/Harris and even-- yes!-- Marilyn Manson.
Secularism works in the U.S. more often than not. It has certainly not harmed Christians. I look around and see a pretty solidly Judeo-Christian nation, not a bunch of pansy liberal commies ruining it for the good folks. Christians have never had it so good. They like to talk as if they're back in the Roman arenas playing hide-and-go-seek with a couple of abused lions, but the truth is they're the ones in the stands. It's their stadium. It's got luxury boxes and jumbo tron screens and over the urinals they've got 103-inch plasma displays broadcasting TBN. There's simply no need to go further and legislate religion into schools.
edit:Worm, I'd never call you unimaginative, by the way, and want to clear that up.
I'm sort of honored that you either think my "airlock" analogy is great or really stupid, but I'll choose to think you're liking it.
No offense taken, Dave. I dig the airlock analogy, although whenever I see the words "Dave" and "airlock" together a certain voice instantly comes to mind. "Open the pod bay doors, Hal!" "
I'm sorry, Dave, I can't do that".
Still, in a spirit similar to my question to Kuiper, above, I would ask the teacher(s) in this thread: is
not having a moment of silence at the beginning of the day disastrous to the teaching atmosphere? Are there no other tricks in your bag besides that one? Are you helpless? Is there no other way to "airlock" your room and get the students in the right frame of mind to learn? Of course there are other ways. Lots of them. Teaching consists of knowing what those methods are and using them. (So I hear.) Just as God is bigger than tenth grade science, I would certainly hope that teachers are crafty enough to get by without a state-mandated "moment of silence".
It's like how "under God" was added to the pledge as a way to fight Communism. Were people so weak-minded that they'd actually slip over to the dark side if those words weren't in the damn pledge? I can just imagine the nightly news.
"The Arkansas National Guard had to kill 328 sixth-graders today in an apparent Communist uprising. Apparently Ben Franklin Elementary School, located in rural Arkansas, hundreds of miles from the nearest big city, did not receive the revised Pledge of Allegiance and for a solid year had not been saying 'under God'. Pastor Bill Wilkins of Little Rock said this morning that he was stunned and saddened by the childrens' fall into godless Marxism. 'This could all have been avoided so easily', he said, fighting tears. 'The dang Xerox machine just didn't arrive in time.'"