Oh look, an election quiz

**Ranger10** · 09-11-12, 02:18 PM

Originally Posted by WickedTribe

Creationism isn't a theory.

Depends on who you ask.

**SmokenScion** · 09-11-12, 02:23 PM

Originally Posted by Ranger10

Depends on who you ask.

I know a 5 year old that will tell you the sky is green too.

**AetheLove** · 09-11-12, 02:27 PM

Originally Posted by deathgodusmc

Since when did they have a religion class in public school?

Depends on what you mean by "religion class."

In my public elementary school, every Friday (or every other, I can't remember) afternoon was reserved for religion - it was called [Something] Religious Instruction. We called it "Religion", as in; "This afternoon we have Religion."

... again, I can't remember what the [Something] was.

After lunch, the kids would load up on buses and go to Religion. The Catholic kids went to the big, local, Catholic church. The Jewish kids went to Temple. The Lutheran kids went to the Lutheran place, etc.

I can't remember much about what it was called because I didn't go. There were a few kids in every class who (for whatever reason) didn't go off to [Something] Religious Instruction. For me, "Religion" meant that me and the seven other kids from five classrooms got to do pretty much whatever the hell we wanted for the rest of the day.

I got plenty of religion as a kid: I went to church on Sunday, including Sunday School; I went through a Confirmation thing; blah blah blah. I'm as WASPy as they come. But when they asked my mother where she'd be sending me for [Something] Religious Instruction, she said, "What? You're taking him out of school for church? No. No no no. He's staying in school. Teach him something."

So, when almost everyone else was off at Religion, me and the seven other kids would get to do something awesome.

That all stopped in 7th grade. At that point, religion became part of Social Studies. World History included sections on religion. I learned about Muhammed, Buddha, Zen, Vishnu and Rama, and Quetzalcoatl. When I was a Jr. and Sr. I'm pretty sure there was a World Religions elective available, but I didn't take it (I took college chemistry and Shakespeare). Our school district was solidly secular, but that doesn't mean they tried to ignore religion.

For years, my experience meant it was hard for me to understand what the big deal was. Whenever there'd be some big prayer-in-school kerfuffle in the news, I couldn't understand what the problem was. My public schooling didn't encourage religion, but it didn't discourage it either. If someone wanted to pray over their lunch, then they just went ahead and did it. It's completely possible to accommodate religion without promoting it.

It was after I got a chance to be in the messy Real World for a while that I decided that most religious people are fine, but that many religious leaders are assholes. My experience is that the majority of church/state or church/school conflicts are caused by Christian leaders who have forsaken the teachings of Christ. They want political power, and they want authority over their followers, and they know that a secular education threatens that.

Cheers,

AetheLove

**deathgodusmc** · 09-11-12, 02:33 PM

Originally Posted by AetheLove

Depends on what you mean by "religion class."

In my public elementary school, every Friday (or every other, I can't remember) afternoon was reserved for religion - it was called [Something] Religious Instruction. We called it "Religion", as in; "This afternoon we have Religion."

... again, I can't remember what the [Something] was.

After lunch, the kids would load up on buses and go to Religion. The Catholic kids went the big, local, Catholic church. The Jewish kids went to Temple. The Lutheran kids went to the Lutheran place, etc.

I can't remember much about what it was called because I didn't go. There were a few kids in every class who (for whatever reason) didn't go off to [Something] Religious Instruction. For me, "Religion" meant that me and the seven other kids from five classrooms got to do pretty much whatever the hell we wanted for the rest of the day.

I got plenty of religion as a kid: I went to church on Sunday, including Sunday School; I went through a Confirmation thing; blah blah blah. I'm as WASPy as they come. But when they asked my mother where she'd be sending me for [Something] Religious Instruction, she said, "What? You're taking him out of school for church? No. No no no. He's staying in school. Teach him something."

So, when almost everyone else was off at Religion, me and the seven other kids would get to do something awesome.

That all stopped in 7th grade. At that point, religion became part of Social Studies. World History included sections on religion. I learned about Muhammed, Buddha, Zen, Vishnu and Rama, and Quetzalcoatl. When I was a Jr. and Sr. I'm pretty sure there was a World Religions elective available, but I didn't take it (I took college chemistry and Shakespeare). Our school district was solidly secular, but that doesn't mean they tried to ignore religion.

For years, my experience meant it was hard for me to understand what the big deal was. Whenever there'd be some big prayer-in-school kerfuffle in the news, I couldn't understand what the problem was. My public schooling didn't encourage religion, but it didn't discourage it either. If someone wanted to pray over their lunch, then they just went ahead and did it. It's completely possible to accommodate religion without promoting it.

It was after I got a chance to be in the messy Real World for a while that I decided that most religious people are fine, but that many religious leaders are assholes. My experience is that the majority of church/state or church/school conflicts are caused by Christian leaders who have forsaken the teachings of Christ. They want political power, and they want authority over their followers, and they know that a secular education threatens that.

Cheers,

AetheLove

The bulk of my schooling was in the northeast. We didn't have religion classes. I wouldn't put it past these schools in the south to throw one in there.

**WickedTribe** · 09-11-12, 02:38 PM

Originally Posted by Ranger10

Depends on who you ask.

No it doesn't.

**deathgodusmc** · 09-11-12, 02:42 PM

Originally Posted by WickedTribe

No it doesn't.

Yes it does.

**Ranger10** · 09-11-12, 02:47 PM

Originally Posted by WickedTribe

No it doesn't.

Then make a better argument for why, and we'll discuss it.

**Ranger10** · 09-11-12, 02:49 PM

Originally Posted by SmokenScion

I know a 5 year old that will tell you the sky is green too.

And yet, when there is hail in a storm, the sky IS green. So the 5 year old is right sometimes.

**WickedTribe** · 09-11-12, 02:56 PM

Originally Posted by Ranger10

Then make a better argument for why, and we'll discuss it.

A scientific theory is a very specific, well defined thing. Creationism doesn't fit the criteria. Hell, and it doesn't even fit the criteria for a hypothesis.