Re: except amongst the religious nutters?

Post #265,919 by a6l6e6x 8/27/06 12:20:04 AM Reply	Re: except amongst the religious nutters? Well, there are also the sleeping sheeple. They have no idea about what the US Constitution says on the subject. Alex When fascism comes to America, it'll be wrapped in a flag and carrying a cross. -- Sinclair Lewis
Post #265,934 by warmachine 8/27/06 7:07:53 AM Reply	What? I thought that was common knowledge. Indeed, I thought it was a Thanksgiving ritual to be grateful that you live in a country where you're free from religious intolerance. I thought separation of church and state was taught in school. Matthew Greet Choose Life. Choose a job. Choose a career. Choose a family. Choose a fucking big television, choose washing machines, cars, compact disc players and electrical tin openers. Choose good health, low cholesterol, and dental insurance. Choose fixed interest mortgage repayments. Choose a starter home. Choose your friends. Choose leisurewear and matching luggage. Choose DIY and wondering who the fuck you are on a Sunday morning. Choose sitting on that couch watching mind-numbing, spirit-crushing game shows, stuffing fucking junk food into your mouth. Choose rotting away at the end of it all, pishing your last in a miserable home, nothing more than an embarrassment to the selfish, fucked up brats you spawned to replace yourself. Choose your future. Choose life... But why would I want to do a thing like that? I chose not to choose life. I chose somethin' else. And the reasons? There are no reasons. Who needs reasons when you've got heroin? - Mark Renton, Trainspotting.
Post #265,937 by Another Scott 8/27/06 9:42:04 AM Reply	Depends on the school. 6 kB img Thanksgiving is more about celebrating the [link\|http://pilgrims.net/plymouth/thanksgiving.htm\|Pilgrim's survival their first year], etc., etc. (But it didn't become a national holiday until 1863. There's also supposed to be an element of being grateful for one's own situation, but in the last 30 years (or more) it's devolved into a family get together to eat too much and watch (American) football on TV. And then go shopping for Christmas the next day. "Religious tolerance" is something that's a nebulous concept for many, I suspect. Many public schools don't usually discuss religion much at all, because history isn't taught much at all. And there's the risk of the school district getting sued if parents don't like what is being taught about religion. Those people who have strong, overt, religious opinions apparently often regard "religious tolerance" as freedom to practice their type of Christianity without interference by the government. Private schools can teach what they like. "Separation of Church and State" is taught, but many don't see the implication. E.g. Some seem to think that as long as the state doesn't collect taxes for a state church, any other sort of religious doctrine being written into the laws or regulations is fair game, because, you see, we're a [link\|http://christianparty.net/christianation.htm\|Christian Nation]. Not that I agree with that, of course. History instruction in the US is generally pretty weak, and with the [link\|http://www.ed.gov/nclb/landing.jhtml?src=pb\|No Child Left Behind] requirements for emphasis on Reading and Math, it's unlikely to get better soon. [link\|http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/ushistory/results/natachieve-g12.asp\|NEAP]. National U.S. history achievement-level results, grade 12 (public and nonpublic schools combined): 1994 and 2001 [image\|http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/images/ushistory/results/fig2_3c.gif\|0\|12th Grade History Proficiency - All Students\|248\|320] HTH a bit. Cheers, Scott.
Post #265,950 by boxley 8/27/06 11:51:37 AM Reply	no, they were taught that the pilgrims had to escape a tyranical religion to practice the one true faith and remake the new world in their image, that was my day. Nowadays they teach that the pilgrims left the old world for mumble reasons and celebrated with the indians by playing football. thanx, bill thanx, bill Any opinions expressed by me are mine alone, posted from my home computer, on my own time as a free american and do not reflect the opinions of any person or company that I have had professional relations with in the past 50 years. meep
Post #266,432 by danreck 8/31/06 11:28:09 AM Reply	I thought separation...was taught in school Matthew, Therein lies the rub. It is. The problem is that very few people pay attention. To wit, you are probably one of them. [link\|http://www.lawandliberty.org/chur_sta.htm\|http://www.lawandlib....org/chur_sta.htm] . To be fair, you are not "American" and didn't have to suffer through American History, but the "separation of church and state" doesn't exist in our Constitution until the US Supreme Court "interpreted" it in in the 1940's. In essence, the "wall of separation" was a construct of Jefferson to keep the Congress and Executive branches of our government from establishing a "state" religion. Until the Fourteenth Amendment, individual states could establish their own religions... This intent was more on the limits of federal power than on the government's stance on religion. What gets lost in these discussions is that the First Ammendment (the ammendments were the only way the states would buy into forming a federal government - by limiting its power), guarantees the "free exercise thereof". The idea that having the Ten Commandments removed from a public building by citing the "separation clause" most probably has Jefferson spinning like a rotisserie chicken in his grave. This country, a former loyal colony of the British Empire, was sickened by feudal Europe and the Anglican church and wanted somoething different when they broke off from mother England. They still did want Jesus and assumed that Judeo-Christian values (the basis for our government and laws - once removed from Aquinas and Locke) were not only influencing political decisions but were a priori to any legislation... Now whether or not this is a "good" practice or not is irrelevant in regards to modern governance, but history is history. To accuse people of being uneducated because they do not understand the (simplistically wrong) "common knowledge" that you allude to is a bit naive (at best). As far as "religious intolerance" is concerned, noone is free from that beast. Just a few thoughts, Danno

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