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From: rlr@pyuxd.UUCP (Rich Rosen)
Newsgroups: net.politics,net.religion
Subject: Re: "Secular Humanism" banned in the US Schools.
Message-ID: <1544@pyuxd.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 18-Aug-85 18:38:17 EDT
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Posted: Sun Aug 18 18:38:17 1985
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> Regarding the statute to ban the teaching of "Secular Humanism"
> in schools which receive federal money:
> 
> I found it quite ironic (but then, I have been
> seeing irony a lot recently).  Didn't the Supreme Court
> recognize Secular Humanism as a religion not too long ago?
> And didn't the same Court find that the Establishment clause
> prohibited federal funded schools from teaching religion
> (or was it just Christianity)?  And wasn't that ruling the result
> of the efforts of the Secular Humanists?
> 
> But if my perceptions are correct, then there is no need to
> pass a new law; the teaching of Secular Humanism should already
> be illegal.
> 
> In either case, it would be quite consistent to forbid Secular
> Humanism in public schools.
> 
> Gary Samuelson

Leave it to Samuelson, the man who joined this newsgroup with an article
about how he thought this country just wasn't Christian enough for him,
saying that Christians were made an example of by not being given special
treatment.  No matter.

The real irony here is who gets to decide what things involve secular humanism.
Of course, the Christians in power.  I doubt that they will simply stop
teaching math and science in general.  Or will they?

Perhaps this is a great boon in disguise.  Let's let everyone teach their
own beliefs.  Christians can teach only religious babble, and so-called
secular humanists can teach science, math, learning, objective investigation,
and logical thinking.  Of course, the opposing belief may not be taught.
I give Christianity no more than three generations to die out completely
once the Christian children have stopped learning some real substantive
learning.

But seriously, I doubt they will excise secular humanism completely.
They will continue to teach the dreaded mathematics and science.
It's just "certain" ideas that the anti-human people don't like that
will suffer.  It's little more than an excuse to ban books, censor,
and teach children to be willingly led zombies.  And Samuelson is reveling
in it.  Need I say more?

The question is:  when faced with equal time for two forms of learning and
thought (1. believe on faith;  2. use objective reasoning), what basis
do you teach the children to use in order to decide which one to go
with?  Objective analysis of the two possibilities?  Or faith that the (1.)
MUST be right.  Dealing with radical religionists like Samuelson on this
issue is like resolving a debate between a reasonable child and a brat
fighting over a cake.  The reasonable child says "We should each get half".
while the brat says "I want it all".  Do you "compromise" by giving the
reasonable child a fourth and the brat the rest?  Or do you accept the
reasonable solution?  Certainly the notion that some people choose to believe
in a god should be taught in schools.  But in addition students should be
taught to use the reasoning tools that will enable them to evaluate and
make a rational decision about such issues.  Maybe that's what the religionists
are really scared of, and the real reasion they want "secular humanism" excised
from school learning:  to teach such "secular humanism", such heinous horrible
methods of reasoning leading to horrible non-religious conclusions, would
effectively wipe out religion by the middle of the next century.
-- 
"Do I just cut 'em up like regular chickens?"    Rich Rosen    ihnp4!pyuxd!rlr