(paraphrasing):
"Teaching one religion to children is called indoctrination. Teaching all religions to children is call inoculation." --Matt Dillahunty
Here's what bugs me about the religiousness of a certain brand of TheoPolitics in USAmerica Inc right now:
Kids go off to school and they learn about Evolution, which eventually and necessarily requires them to question their religious training, especially if it's been all about Gardens and talking snakes and Jesus walking his pet velociraptor in the park etc. Well, sometimes that leads to trouble because their parents have been so busy trying to make sure those kids are securely bubble-wrapped in dogma, they're gonna make sure the next school board meeting turns into Night Of The Living Dead.
And yes, you have the right to know what's going on in the classroom, and yes, you have the right to be heard when the curriculum decisions are made. But let's not get off into the weeds, cuz here's the point:
Let's say I've taught my kid that the world is a flat disc under a crystal dome, and it's being carried thru the ether on the back of giant turtle. Then one day the kid comes home from school and he tells me his teacher has come up with this thing called "math" and he says the numbers lead him to believe the world is a sphere. As a living thinking human possessed of a living thinking brain, do I conclude there must be something wrong with that stupid teacher and you can bet that stupid school's gonna hear from my lawyers? Or am I honor-bound to consider that maybe there're things I don't know about - things I may find useful - and need to learn?
Science starts with a hypothesis, tests it against what's already been reasonably proven to be true, and then draws a conclusion as to what's now most likely to be true given this new information at this point in time.
Religion starts with an arbitrary conclusion, and then has to manufacture evidence (ie: make shit up) to support it. The kicker: You don't really think it was simple coincidence that GW Bush made way too many of his disastrous policy decisions based on that model of "thinking" didya?
Openly Secular
"Teaching one religion to children is called indoctrination. Teaching all religions to children is call inoculation." --Matt Dillahunty
Here's what bugs me about the religiousness of a certain brand of TheoPolitics in USAmerica Inc right now:
Kids go off to school and they learn about Evolution, which eventually and necessarily requires them to question their religious training, especially if it's been all about Gardens and talking snakes and Jesus walking his pet velociraptor in the park etc. Well, sometimes that leads to trouble because their parents have been so busy trying to make sure those kids are securely bubble-wrapped in dogma, they're gonna make sure the next school board meeting turns into Night Of The Living Dead.
And yes, you have the right to know what's going on in the classroom, and yes, you have the right to be heard when the curriculum decisions are made. But let's not get off into the weeds, cuz here's the point:
Let's say I've taught my kid that the world is a flat disc under a crystal dome, and it's being carried thru the ether on the back of giant turtle. Then one day the kid comes home from school and he tells me his teacher has come up with this thing called "math" and he says the numbers lead him to believe the world is a sphere. As a living thinking human possessed of a living thinking brain, do I conclude there must be something wrong with that stupid teacher and you can bet that stupid school's gonna hear from my lawyers? Or am I honor-bound to consider that maybe there're things I don't know about - things I may find useful - and need to learn?
Science starts with a hypothesis, tests it against what's already been reasonably proven to be true, and then draws a conclusion as to what's now most likely to be true given this new information at this point in time.
Religion starts with an arbitrary conclusion, and then has to manufacture evidence (ie: make shit up) to support it. The kicker: You don't really think it was simple coincidence that GW Bush made way too many of his disastrous policy decisions based on that model of "thinking" didya?
Ya'll knew all that already - but it bears repeating.
Openly Secular
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