"We have trouble in the classrooms, we are putting in new text books. Nothing wrong with new books but we are spending more time on them than the Bible; it is drifting to the back of the classroom. We cannot tolerate this in American education. The Bible's morals are pure, its examples are captivating and noble."
Go here to find out which right-wing ideologue (hehe) said this.
Nice quote, and I see their point. However, Christianity is no longer the only practised religion in America (nor was it ever, really). They would need to include a Quran, Bhagavad Ghita (sp?), Tora, and some alternative ancient texts in the classroom as well. I think for those that want to teach their children in a religious format there should be Vouchers. Separation of church and state needs to stand, especially in our extremely diverse culture.
ReplyDeleteWeird
I'm no religious zealot. I put that quote here *precisely* to show that this "separation of church and state", as we have now defined it, is not what the Founders had intended.
ReplyDeleteWalter, your second sentence is a *classic*.
ReplyDeleteRe:Walter
ReplyDeleteKinda wonder a little about Blogger users who have no blog... although as little as I've posted since I started remodelling this house I feel like the pot calling the kettle black in saying that. And he'll probably wonder why in the world you read what he said instead of what he meant, whatever that was.
Darren, I don't think you are a zealot. A zealot wouldn't allow comments! (LOL) The Founders were mainly Christian and much of the "moral fibre" incorporated in the government is based upon "Christian Morals" (although I am sure Christains didn't invent morals), but quite a few of the Founders were Freethinkers. Men of logic that purposely removed religion from government to prevent the catastrophic failures indemic to a religious state. That is why I am so against any interpretation of "Separation of Church and State". To me it is a statement essential to the health of the country.
ReplyDeleteWeird
heheh. ...separation of schools and education... HAHAHAHAHA!
ReplyDeleteWeird, I disagree with you completely. The Founders removed government from religion, not the other way around. Remember how many people originally came to the colonies to escape persecution because they were not devout Anglicans.
ReplyDeleteI'll agree that they were Freethinkers, which is why we have references to "divine Providence", "nature's God", "Creator", etc. in our prized documents. But let's look at just a few things these men did:
1. Put a chaplain in the House of Representatives.
2. Ever read Washington's Farewell Address?
3. Even before the Constitution, these same Founders were running the show under the Articles of Confederation. While under the Articles they created the Northwest Ordinance, which cleared the way for settlement of what we today call the Midwest. Each town had a plot of land set aside for a church, and money was set aside for missionaries. I'm quite sure they would have been Christian missionaries.
4. Religion is mentioned several times in the Federalist Papers.
These are just a few examples, in addition to the one that is the subject of this post, to show that the Founders had no problem with religion being injected into government. On the contrary, they wanted religion to be free from government interference.
The First Amendment protects religion, not government.