Lord_Jereth
July 4th, 2007, 09:42 PM
Random Thoughts and Comments for the Religious Right.
By Randy L. Kendrick
No one is stopping you from teaching your kids about Jesus, creationism, or
any other religious view. We just don't want you indoctrinating OUR kids. If
you want organized prayer in school, opt for a religious school. The public
schools belong to, and are paid for, by all of us. Kids CAN pray anytime,
anywhere. Just don't involve a captive audience of others.
No, the phrase "Separation of Church & State" does NOT appear in the U.S.
Constitution. Neither do the phrases "Separation of Powers", “Double
Jeopardy”, or "Checks & Balances". The phrases are all a short way of
describing concepts which ARE part of the Constitution. This is NOT a
"Christian Nation". Never has been. God is not mentioned in the
Constitution. Rather, this is a government with powers given to "We the
people". The United States is not a theocracy. We are a secular republic.
Try to understand that religious neutrality is not equivalent to
anti-Christian. Not giving you free reign to use public institutions to
proselytize is not persecution.
If you don't like a TV show or movie, don't watch it. There are over 200
channels of programming to choose from. Don't try to lower the content of
every medium to the level of a child. Understand that there are things
suitable for adults that are not suitable for children. Take responsibility
for what your child sees and hears without trying to censor what other
adults can read, see or watch. Change the channel, go to a different web
site, or turn the darn thing off.
Harry Potter is not drawing kids into "witchcraft". It is fiction that is
getting kids excited about reading again. It is no more demonic than "The
Wizard of Oz", "Alice in Wonderland", "Mary Poppins" or any other books with
witches or magic loved by children over the years. Some kids seem to be
better at discerning fiction from reality than the adults around them.
Despite the comments of some celebrities and TV evangelists, atheists are
not responsible for the horrors of September 11, 2001. It was people with a
very strong belief in the supernatural and God who carried out the acts of
terror. If God wanted to "bless America", wouldn't early on September 11
have been a good time to start?
Be careful of censoring ideas. It may seem fine when you are in the
majority, but for your rights to be protected, the rights of minorities must
be respected. What happens if your views become a minority view? Would you
want to be censored by the majority?
The national motto, "In God We Trust", was not established by the founding
fathers. It became official during the McCarthy "Red Scare" era of the
1950s. The original motto was "E Pluribus Unum". Likewise for the "Pledge of
Allegiance", and it's 1950's addition of the words "under God". That
mismatched insertion broke up a single thought, that of "one nation,
indivisible". Remember that neither a motto nor a pledge have anything to do
with government policy.
Learn what the word "theory" means in a scientific context before showing
your ignorance by saying "evolution is just a theory". This does not mean an
unproven hypothesis. I hope you don't disbelieve the theory that microbes
can cause disease.
Don't be disingenuous by denigrating science while enjoying its fruits.
Science is self correcting. It discards disproven hypotheses and lets the
facts lead to whatever conclusions are observed; whereas religious "science"
starts with presupposed outcomes and tries to make the facts fit the desired
conclusions.
© 2002, Randy L. Kendrick. All rights reserved.
:icon_cool: LJ
By Randy L. Kendrick
No one is stopping you from teaching your kids about Jesus, creationism, or
any other religious view. We just don't want you indoctrinating OUR kids. If
you want organized prayer in school, opt for a religious school. The public
schools belong to, and are paid for, by all of us. Kids CAN pray anytime,
anywhere. Just don't involve a captive audience of others.
No, the phrase "Separation of Church & State" does NOT appear in the U.S.
Constitution. Neither do the phrases "Separation of Powers", “Double
Jeopardy”, or "Checks & Balances". The phrases are all a short way of
describing concepts which ARE part of the Constitution. This is NOT a
"Christian Nation". Never has been. God is not mentioned in the
Constitution. Rather, this is a government with powers given to "We the
people". The United States is not a theocracy. We are a secular republic.
Try to understand that religious neutrality is not equivalent to
anti-Christian. Not giving you free reign to use public institutions to
proselytize is not persecution.
If you don't like a TV show or movie, don't watch it. There are over 200
channels of programming to choose from. Don't try to lower the content of
every medium to the level of a child. Understand that there are things
suitable for adults that are not suitable for children. Take responsibility
for what your child sees and hears without trying to censor what other
adults can read, see or watch. Change the channel, go to a different web
site, or turn the darn thing off.
Harry Potter is not drawing kids into "witchcraft". It is fiction that is
getting kids excited about reading again. It is no more demonic than "The
Wizard of Oz", "Alice in Wonderland", "Mary Poppins" or any other books with
witches or magic loved by children over the years. Some kids seem to be
better at discerning fiction from reality than the adults around them.
Despite the comments of some celebrities and TV evangelists, atheists are
not responsible for the horrors of September 11, 2001. It was people with a
very strong belief in the supernatural and God who carried out the acts of
terror. If God wanted to "bless America", wouldn't early on September 11
have been a good time to start?
Be careful of censoring ideas. It may seem fine when you are in the
majority, but for your rights to be protected, the rights of minorities must
be respected. What happens if your views become a minority view? Would you
want to be censored by the majority?
The national motto, "In God We Trust", was not established by the founding
fathers. It became official during the McCarthy "Red Scare" era of the
1950s. The original motto was "E Pluribus Unum". Likewise for the "Pledge of
Allegiance", and it's 1950's addition of the words "under God". That
mismatched insertion broke up a single thought, that of "one nation,
indivisible". Remember that neither a motto nor a pledge have anything to do
with government policy.
Learn what the word "theory" means in a scientific context before showing
your ignorance by saying "evolution is just a theory". This does not mean an
unproven hypothesis. I hope you don't disbelieve the theory that microbes
can cause disease.
Don't be disingenuous by denigrating science while enjoying its fruits.
Science is self correcting. It discards disproven hypotheses and lets the
facts lead to whatever conclusions are observed; whereas religious "science"
starts with presupposed outcomes and tries to make the facts fit the desired
conclusions.
© 2002, Randy L. Kendrick. All rights reserved.
:icon_cool: LJ