vision2020
Re: columbine and god
A voice of reason in a sea of turmoil. Thank you Melyne for your comment I
have saved it to digest. Your thoughts are well presented here: You know I
just become wiery when I here someone or read someone saying that public
prayer is against the law. Most of the laws were written when we were
living a "Little House on the Prairie" type life. Certainly, these rules
and laws should have been modified long before they were to include all
religions in public schools. It would be nice to know about other
religions. I think that our children should be able to know about other
faiths and the way people worship. It could strengthen their own faith.
Now of course I might bludgeon someone into submission if they don't see
things the way I do. I been told that I committed a misdemeanor act this
morning over my discussion about how I felt about all of this. and oh! I am
a Zealot as well. I stand by my faith and I would not allow my children to
attend a school where that is an issue. What is wrong with public education
today. There is no God in our schools and he has been put on trial by the
evil angel.
With all due respect;
Wolfgang M. Schwartzenweintraub
----- Original Message -----
From: <melyndah@mail.wsu.edu>
To: <vision2020@moscow.com>
Sent: Thursday, February 10, 2000 11:24 AM
Subject: Re: columbine and god
> It seems to be a pretty common misconception that prayer is outlawed in
> public schools. Of course it is not, and couldn't be. Students and
> teachers are free to pray if they wish. What is unconstitutional is the
> performance of public prayers or other rituals of a particular religion as
> school activities. Often, as in this case, discussions of school prayer
are
> actually about whether or not a particular brand of Protestant
Christianity
> can be legislated or mandated in public school classrooms--I have yet to
> hear a proponent of public school prayer suggest that all students ought
to
> bring prayer rugs from home and take part in (or leave the room while
others
> take part in) traditional Islamic prayers, or that Buddhist shrines should
> be set up in all classrooms so that students can practice chanting, or
that
> students learn to pray the rosary. Likewise, the whole question of
> "creationism" v. evolution focuses on teaching one version of the first
book
> of Torah, rather than on the extraordinarily wide-ranging creation stories
> of world religions and cultures.
>
> But the real point of interest to us as a community, I think, is what
makes
> this subject one which inspires such venom. Surely we should be able to
> talk about violence in our schools, and the role religion might play in
that
> violence, without threatening each other. . .
>
> Melynda Huskey
> melyndah@moscow.com
>
>
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