Memo To GOP: Christianity Isn't The Only Religion

More "Unintended Consequences" (4.00 / 2)

for the GOP who can't see past whatever legislation their cronies & corporate interests tell them to pass.

BTW,

How interested would the State of Alabama be in funding a school where the principal said: "Sharia law has just as much right to be taught in the school system as Constitutional law...." How might Senator Cam Ward react to that statement?

How would Shadrack react to that statement & can y'all get it on video? ;)

"If guns kept America safe, then America would surely be the safest country in the whole world." - Rep. Carolyn Maloney

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by: mpmarus @ Mon Jul 09, 2012 at 14:15:16 PM UTC

How do such ignorant people get themselves elected to legislatures? (4.00 / 1)

Rep. Valarie Hodges, R-Watson, says she had no idea that Gov. Bobby Jindal’s overhaul of the state’s educational system might mean taxpayer support of Muslim schools.

Did they really grow to adulthood without realizing that other religions exist?  Of course, I can think of a couple of Alabama legislators (Shadrack McGill, anyone?) who probably have the very same tunnel vison where their religion is concerned.  Alternative views simply don't exist for these people.

Ignorance breeds bad laws.

Work harder and work smarter!

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by: mooncat @ Mon Jul 09, 2012 at 14:34:04 PM UTC

It's not about parent options, but about public funding (4.00 / 2)

Even without public funding, parents have the option of sending their children to a Muslim school, or to a Christian school.  The question is whether those parents should be able to siphon off taxpayer funds (either via vouchers or direct school funding) in order to do so.  If people wish to fund Sunday School for Christians, Jews, Hindus, or Wiccans, that's their choice, but there's no reason state funding needs to be involved, even if they choose to replace regular weekday schooling with Sunday School.

Countrycat, thanks for the pointers to the stories about the Hebrew and Arabic language schools.  There are more details in the story on the Hebrew language school, and I find the protests quite strange.  This school is a non-religious school that teaches Hebrew language, possibly (it wasn't clear) through immersion.  My daughter's friend went to such a school that taught Chinese language, so I'm slightly familiar with how they operate.  Somehow this Hebrew language school is expected to attract Jewish families who would otherwise send their children to a Jewish day school?  There is little to no value the Jewish school provides these families other than Hebrew instruction?  Doesn't say much for religious instruction in the school environment, does it?

The Arabic language school, it wasn't clear, might operate on the same principle: teaching Arabic language, possibly via immersion.  It is of increasing importance that we have Americans skilled in Arabic language and familiar with Arabic cultures, so this seems like a good thing.  This school, too, would have to be a non-religious school if it were to receive public funding; Muslims, like any other religious group, can fund their own and their children's religious education.

Regarding HB 133: Galliher's comments make it painfully obvious that the bill was intended to facilitate teaching of creationism.  Once again the issue isn't really that it is forbidden to teach creationism, as Sunday School teachers can spout whatever nonsense they want.  The issue is that people like Galliher want creationism taught on the public dime, during the public school day, with public school credit, apparently so it can receive some veneer of legitimacy by association with public schooling and public funding.  They need to be reminded that other religions would also take advantage of such breaches in the wall of separation, and so it benefits Christians as well as everybody else to keep that wall intact.

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by: Smedley @ Mon Jul 09, 2012 at 14:59:32 PM UTC

Great points, Smedley! (3.00 / 2)

I'm much more familiar with the Hebrew school kerfluffle because I read about it in the Forward (a Jewish newspaper published in NYC) when the school was trying to open.

The issue that made it controversial among some Jews was that people would send their kids there to learn Hebrew (and learn it well, not just the prayers) because it was seen as an ok - and much cheaper alternative - to the day schools.  Day school tuition can cost $15k/student or more in the Northeast.  So many day schools & their supporters were quite worried that parents would choose the cheaper option and then the kids would NOT get any religious instruction other than a few hours a week at the synagogue.

The Arabic school sounded, to me, like a great idea.  Especially when you consider how much misinformation there is about Islam & the Middle East.  Not to mention how important it is to have Americans in the region who actually speak the language instead of relying on interpreters.

The reason I think there were protests from some Christians about these schools is that far too many of them see absolutely nothing wrong with religious indoctrination in classrooms.  So if a school is going to teach Arabic or Hebrew and many of the kids attending will be Muslim or Jewish, then they automatically assume that religion is being taught - no matter what they schools say.

Basically, they seem to be more projecting their worldview onto others than relying on facts.  We all do that at times, but this seems like an extreme example.

 

"The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness."  - John Kenneth Galbraith

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by: countrycat @ Mon Jul 09, 2012 at 16:04:53 PM UTC

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