Re: Theological Attack On Public Schools

[Greg Brown <gregb@alaskapacific.edu>]

Dale Courtney wrote:

> Greg Burton wrote:
>
> >   Folks, now public schools are not only government, but pagan, too?
>
> Well, yes.  Webster's definition of pagan: "one who has little or no
> religion". Since religion has been banned from government schools,
> doesn't the term "pagan" seem technically correct?

    No.  First, you chose the second and less common definition
of "pagan."  The most common definition by your chosen
dictionary is "a follower of a polytheistic religion
(as in ancient Rome)".  Paganism, in the most common
usage, is an active (and in your eyes, presumably wrong)
religious belief system, not the lack of a belief system.

    Definition aside, you are attributing a religious
belief system to an inaminimate object, i.e., a
school or school system or institution.  If you
want to be technically correct, use the term
"secular".

--
Greg Brown (gregb@alaskapacific.edu)
Associate Professor and Chair
Environmental Science Dept.
Alaska Pacific University
Anchorage, AK  99508
(907) 564-8267  FAX: (907) 562-4276