Far-Right Religious Extremists in Tennessee Attacking Public Education

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Oh . . . wait a minute. No, I’m sorry — that’s what the headline would be if Think Progress wrote this story. Let me try again:

Teacher Tells Ten-Year-Old Memphis Girl
She Can’t Write About God for Assignment

Memphis mother Erica Shead said she was angry after her 10-year-old daughter Erin, told her Wednesday, she wasn’t allowed to write about God for a school assignment.
“It was so cute and innocent. She talked about how God created the earth and how she’s doing the best she can,” said Shead.
Erin is a student at Lucy Elementary.
Shead said Erin was told she can’t use God as an idol for the assignment.

It’s Shelby County, Tennessee, so maybe you’re thinking Erica Shead and her daughter Erin are just typical hillbilly Bible-thumpers.

Doesn’t quite fit the Think Progress narrative. I mean, First Amendment freedom of religion — not like that’s a civil right or anything, eh?

After 10-year-old Erin’s writing about God was rejected, she tried again with Michael Jackson. That was OK. Jeff Dunetz blows a gasket:

Just to summarize for a moment; the teacher said that the creator of the universe, Lord, God himself could not be used as an idol but an accused pedophile who died of a drug overdose was a good choice? Please someone tell me what I am missing?

It’s about attitudes, Jeff. Public school is no longer about teaching facts. It’s not about teaching skills. It’s about teaching attitudes.

Hostility toward religion — rejection of the Bible and of divine authority — is essential to the project of modern public education.

Lesson One: There is no God.

Lesson Two: Your parents are stupid.

Lesson Three: Being gay is awesome.

Whatever comes after that is optional, but it’s important that these fundamental principles be taught in elementary school, or otherwise children might grow up to vote Republican.

And that would be a tragedy . . .

 


94 comments

  3. Based on my biased opinion, Buddhism is acceptable and preferred by the Left since it is essentially Hinduism without any God! Imagine that a religion without a God. Tailored made. I don’t mean to offend any Buddhist, but Gautama was in fact a Hindu prince before he rejected his religion and became the Buddha.

  5. Right, and (correct me if I’m wrong) Gautama said sometime to the effect of, “Hey, look, I’m just a guy looking for answers to the same problems you have. Don’t look to ME as if I am the answer, ‘kay? Cuz I’m not.” Yet what showed up not long after he croaked? Statues of Buddha to which reverence is paid and to which prayers are directed.

    When man ignores the God Who Is, he becomes some form of idolator every single time.

  7. Mediocrities in the educational apparat being pre-emptively deferential to a combine of the mediocre and the malicious in the legal profession. That is education in our time.

  9. ‘Xactly. In every case that I’ve known of, it’s been an attempt to get the student to write about things that they know, or learned, from real people, in the real world.

    And is thus challengable/defendable. (If the religious side were so easily done, we wouldn’t have but one and one sect, now would we?)

  11. Great ‘toon, Jeanette; here’s a pic along the same lines, revealing the disturbing Obummer agenda:

    I’m a newbie here, alerted by my dear friend @ZillaoftheResistance:disqus
    She told me of the many awesome patriots here!
    ????? ??? ?????

  12. “Public school is no longer about teaching facts. ”

    The Bible names pain, death, suffering, etc as the results of man’s sin. Problem? The geological record makes very clear that there was pain and death before any trace of man was here on earth (fossils of creatures eating each other, freezing/burning to death, crushed, broken, etc).

    Doesn’t matter if the Earth is billions of years old or just several thousand years old. This point doesn’t rely on carbon dating (or similar dating of other materials) to verify, because I’m talking about a sequence of events, not a particular date or age. Layers of the geological record far and wide report the same finding, everywhere on earth: creatures were being eaten, broken, dying and suffering long, long before anything even slightly resembling human feet walked the land.

    …Yet the Bible names all that as a result of the fall of man. That can’t be, because we know those things were happening on earth before humans were ever here. That much is incontrovertible, because the layers of the geologic record provide a very clear sequence of events.

    So, that sums up a galaxy-sized hole in your faith, after less than two minutes worth of examination. One of many such holes, but when you lay claim to infallibility, it only takes one false to tear the whole thing down. It’s kind of an impossible standard to hold up.

    So, what kind of so-called facts do *you* want taught in school? Your faith is pie in the sky, on the one hand supposing that existence must have a beginning, but in the very other hand readily accepting a creator who himself had no beginning.

    If I must accept that something is infinite, I may as well ascribe that notion to existence. Since we’re here, there’s a pretty good case for existence, well, existing. And while the jury’s still out on this “God” fellow, most faith is based solely on the Bible and I’ve already pointed out one way (of many, albeit a particular favorite of mine) we can concretely show that it is in fact a fallible book.

  14. You’re right, Rosalie, the mother should fight it.

    But what if it goes beyond crummy teachers? Here’s a grim ‘toon showing an Evil Grandma:

  15. The problem you have is that what you cite depends on the assumptions of your frame of interpretation. Geological age is particularly sensitive to this, and you have no way around it.

    Muslims would be shocked that you think “most faith” based solely on the bible. I’m shocked and I’m not Muslim. Those with the largest component of faith in their lives are Atheists and Evolutionists. You have just demonstrated this assertion as well.

  16. Then you stand foursquare against the Constitution, and one day it will come back and bite you on the posterior rather hard. You would be fighting for something that teacher has no right to as well. But, you atheists couldn’t careless about anyone else’s rights, just your “right” to be constant source of trouble to everyone else.

  20. Thanks very much, Bob; your kind words are appreciated 🙂

    Seems like you’re a legend here at Stacy’s blog. I just finished a quick look at your fascinating blog.

    I took a one day break from Disqus, and now am playing catch-up:

    Could we please send some prayers for Zilla? I recently learned from her fiery Twitter feed:
    ********
    ?Tried to drive to hospital. Got pulled over. Cop called ambulance. In ER now. Had some IV in ambulance.

    Home again, just now. Long night
    I got back home just after 3?
    ***********
    Twitter pic from her visit to the hospital is here:

    Feel better soon, Zilla!
    {{{{ Hugs! }}}}

  21. Well said, Rosalie; you’ve now inspired a pic I recently posted at NewsBusters, but it fits nicely here:

  23. “The Bible names pain, death, suffering, etc as the results of man’s sin. Problem? The geological record makes very clear that there was pain and death before any trace of man was here on earth (fossils of creatures eating each other, freezing/burning to death, crushed, broken, etc).”

    You’re confusing categories — plants and animals vs. humanity.

    You’re also confusing the physical with the spiritual.

    Man, I’m an agnostic and I get that.

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