January 13, 2005
Anti-Christian Bias at Work in Public Schools
This textbook contains material on evolution. Evolution is a theory, not a fact, regarding the origin of living things. This material should be approached with an open mind, studied carefully and critically considered.
This was the information placed on a sticker inside public school textbooks in Cobb County, Georgia (not far from me). A judge ruled today that the stickers were an unconstitutional endorsement of religion and had to be removed.
Wow. That is an interesting opinion, isn’t it? I think what galls me the most about this is the lack of intelligent discussion on evolution. All evolution, macro and micro is dumped in the same bucket, as if it were the same. Micro-evolution is very real and factual. I don’t know of any reliable scientist who would argue that micro-evolution is false. However, micro-evolution has nothing to do with this discussion. This discussion is on macro-evolution.
Macro-evolution is an exaggerated theory without a lot of scientific proof. Many, many scientists do not hold to the theory of macro-evolution and there are scientific studies which show it is not feasible. For example, several studies have shown that once an animal is pushed in one direction too far (through breeding for certain genetic characteristics), the offspring will suddenly and inevitably revert back to the original state. It’s an odd reality, but it strongly suggests that macro-evolution is downright false. In addition, the theory of macro-evolution cannot be used to argue people came from apes; by definition it requires the old species (with the “weaker” characteristics) to die out. However, we still have apes among us. If apes had evolved into humans, would they still exist?
The judge in this case seems to be a bit ignorant of (a) the reality of macro-evolution and (b) what exactly constitutes religious endorsement by government. In fact, the sticker says nothing of religion and does not endorse any religious position. It merely states a simple fact: evolution is a theory, not a fact. Unfortunately the judge prefers ideology over reality, so he allowed truth to die in order that ideology may flourish. Perhaps he was also taught the “truth” of evolution in government schools?
This is just another reason children can no longer attend public schools without being harmed. If you can’t homeschool, find a private school to send your kids to – there are many scholarship programs available. But do whatever it takes to keep them out of the hands of public schools and their anti-Christian bent.
God bless,
Jay
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I respectfully disagree with your statement that children can't attend public schools without being harmed.
Whether a child attends public or private school, the responsibility both for their academic achievement and their religious education falls squarely on the shoulders of the parents. The presence or absence of a sticker in a textbook isn't going to make a hill of beans of difference to tha faith of those children that use the book, that learning happens at home.
I have heard pro-creation Christians argue that dinosaurs aren't real, that scientists are just making a huge leap of faith when they piece together the skeleton of an ancient creature from a handful of bones. This sort of argument is equally reprehensible.
A good parent will read over that book and discuss it with their child and how it may fit or not fit into their belief system. This will benefit the child far more than leaving it up to the teacher, whether that teacher come from a public or a parochial school.
The best gift a parent can give a child is to be involved in their lives and their friends. The real harm that is done to many children is when well-intentioned parents decide that they both need to work full time so that they can afford a Hummer instead of a minivan, and that providing extra financial benefits for the family is more important than having a parent available to home-school the child or to be there to help them with their homework when they get home from school.
Then there's the issue of special education services, which we all pay for with our public school taxes, whether or not we use those services or not. In our area of San Diego, Catholic schools run $10K or more per child per year, and they simply do not have the resources to provide the same level of special education services that are available in the public school.
I know families who have gone from a one ncome household to a two income household in order to afford private schools. There are a large segment of families in southern California that really can't afford private school tuition and who own homes whose value would preclude them from receiving financial aid, that is the category that we fall into.
I believe that the benefit from having one parent at home full time exceeds the benefit of that parent going to work to afford parochial school.
My son is 10 and in fourth grade, and was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor last year. The effects of his treatment have necessitated extra supports in school.
After being with him all the time for a year during his treatments, I (and he) believe very firmly that what he needed was to return to a school environment where he was around other kids, people besides his mom. I volunteer at the school two days a week, I know his teacher very well, and his class is filled with great kids from a variety of cultural backgrounds with involved parents.
The level of services he receives at this school far exceed what we would in a private school, if he were to go to Catholic school we would have to come up with additional funds above and beyond the tuition to fund necessary services.
Instead of making the statement that children can't attend public schools without being harmed, it might be better to say that children in school may be harmed if parents aren't involved and aware of what's going on in the classroom. And families where both parents are working full-time not out of financial necessity but so they can buy fancier stuff are doing their kids the most harm of all, regardless of what sort of school their kids go to.
It's far, far more about the parents than the school.
For more about some of our issues in this area, see:
http://stevenbell.blogspot.com/2004/10/further-and-further-apart-mothers.html
http://stevenbell.blogspot.com/2004/10/hes-in-good-hands-update.html
Sorry for ranting, but this one struck a chord this morning...
Posted by: Kathy, mom to Steven and Sean at January 18, 2005 12:02 PM
