Pluralism and Coercion

["Doug Jones" <credenda@moscow.com>]

> Daniel Kronemann wrote:
> 
> > I am all for freedom of thought and doing things as you see fit and
not
> > being forced to do something.  This is why I feel a need to keep any
one
> > belief system from dominating in education.  
> 

I've always been perplexed about mixing these sorts of assertions about
pluralism and tolerance in with discussions about public schools. We
can't really pretend anymore that these things mix. A levy, for example,
now involves coercing people who don't share your ideology to fund it.
Genuine pluralists -- people sincerely concerned about tolerance --
wouldn't dream of forcing opponents to pay for a worldview they don't
share. 

Imagine if local secularists were forced by levy to fund the private
religious schools. Moscow would immediately show up in national
headlines, the ACLU would descend, and news stories would drip with
words like "intolerance," "crusade," and "inquisition." 

But within the public school paradigm, if you say the word "pluralist"
you don't really have to be one. How is this not just plain hypocrisy?
How is it that we are not teaching "the kids" that pluralism =
intolerance. Why is it that pluralists don't have the courage of their
convictions?

Doug Jones