If your talking teaching religion in a "historic" sense then I agree but if its in a "gospel" sense...leave it out of the classroom.
I went to a Catholic school until grade 10, and I would describe it as a cross between history, English lit., and even geography (in an ancient sense).
There was a focus on reading stories and religious texts, then analyzing the meaning of them, and writing essays. It was really no different than say reading "To Kill a Mocking Bird" and analyzing the symbolic and hidden meaning. There were rarely ever "right" or "wrong" anwers in this repect and our teachers always allowed for dissenting and alternative view points. We also leaned about ancient political relationships between regions in the ME and anti-Semetism which I think is very valuable knowledge to have. And of course, there was also a focus on the Catholic Rites and what they mean culturally and relgiously to a Catholic.
While today I would describe myself as a non-religious person, I feel that Catholic eduation was very rewarding from an acedemic point of view.
__________________
"A pessimist thinks things can't get any worse. An optimist knows they can."
I was so angry to see that billboard, I understand David Silverman's tactics are to be in the face of people, thus his many appearences on Fox "news" but this one was way over the line.
I had a conversation with David about this just a few days ago, he's being blasted by people all over the globe for it, humanist groups, atheist groups, etc.. But he's a pretty stubborn guy about it, I just don't get what you think your going to achieve doing this.
Thankfully one of my favorites Sikivu Hutchinson wrote a great blog on how out of touch and offensive this billboard was.
The black body has always been an object of deep and abiding obsession in the American imagination. Be it cavorting in “funky” abandon on a dance floor, vaulting off a basketball court in dunk mode, suckling apple-cheeked white babies, trotted out in a police line-up, or greased down, poked, prodded and staged on a slave auction block, the black body occupies that mystical place between corporeality and supernaturalism. Recently, American Atheists, a predominantly white group with a largely white leadership, slapped up a billboard in a Harrisburg, Pennsylvania neighborhood featuring a picture of a shackled naked black slave and a bible quote that said “slaves obey your masters.” The ad was intended to protest Pennsylvania’s boneheaded declaration of 2012 as the so-called “Year of the Bible.” Much to the “astonishment” of AA reps, the billboard was reviled, defaced, and labeled a hate crime by some in the African American community. Apparently offended black folk just weren’t intelligent enough to grasp the sage lesson that American Atheists, prominent champion of anti-racist social justice, was trying to teach them. Instead, some “misconstrued” the message as racist, concluding that, in a country where white nationalists have issued a clarion call to take back the nation from the Negro savage/illegal alien in the White House, “slaves obey your masters” probably still means them.
__________________ Allskonar fyrir Aumingja!!
The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Thor For This Useful Post:
There's plenty of ways to make fun of baseless superstitious nonsense without 'accidentally' disparaging an entire race. (I use the term accidentally loosely, since you'd have to be unbelievably thick to not see how that could be taken as offensive.)
Religion uses its beliefs as a moral compass. Without those beliefs, everyone is lost in Religions eyes.
Watch the Walking Dead and see what happens when the system breaks down! (Hypothetically)
__________________ "In brightest day, in blackest night / No evil shall escape my sight / Let those who worship evil's might / Beware my power, Green Lantern's light!"
I went to a Catholic school until grade 10, and I would describe it as a cross between history, English lit., and even geography (in an ancient sense).
There was a focus on reading stories and religious texts, then analyzing the meaning of them, and writing essays. It was really no different than say reading "To Kill a Mocking Bird" and analyzing the symbolic and hidden meaning. There were rarely ever "right" or "wrong" anwers in this repect and our teachers always allowed for dissenting and alternative view points. We also leaned about ancient political relationships between regions in the ME and anti-Semetism which I think is very valuable knowledge to have. And of course, there was also a focus on the Catholic Rites and what they mean culturally and relgiously to a Catholic.
While today I would describe myself as a non-religious person, I feel that Catholic eduation was very rewarding from an acedemic point of view.
It's funny, I had the same classes and they don't really paint Christianity in a good light at all: The council of Nice (hey guys, lets edit the hell out of the bible) multiple popes, indulgences (raped your sister? burned down a village? Forgiveness can be had, but it won't be cheap), the crusades, the churches silent consent of the slave trade, hundreds of years of oppressing and/or killing pretty much everyone who disagrees with them, the rampant diddling of little boys (there's no mention of cherubs in the bible, yet every ancient church seems to be packed with these naked little boys), etc.
Even my Nana is super-pissed at the church, because they sold off the churches and community center that was built and then donated to the church by her community, which the church turned around and sold off in order to finance the diddling of little boys. Sure the church could have sold off some it's priceless artifacts to cover the costs, but screwing over a poor community would be best for it's image.
I have no idea how you can study christianity objectively and still consider it a divine institution, given how power-mongering has always been the church's primary concern. Big thanks to the catholic school system on that one.
The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to Matata For This Useful Post:
If anything, this little incident only serves to show how badly the Western world needs to be re-educated about the Bible.
In the initial proclamation, the so-called "Year of the Bible" was intended in part "to recognize how the book has shaped the commonwealth." I recognize that the whole concept is undermined by the religiously propagandistic second part of the statement, but in my mind, the Year of the Bible should inspire some sort of enlightened appraisal of this foundational document for all.
As both a Christian and a teacher of the Bible, this needs to be much better understood by anyone living in a nation which grew out of the Protestant Reformation and the Enlightenment. Whether you like it or not, you are beholden to the influence that the Bible has had upon the shaping of your culture and your worldview: Studying the Bible can only help us to better understand ourselves and our world, because it is virtually and irrevocably ingrained in our world. You don't have to like it. You don't have to embrace the Bible, but you should at least gain a clear idea of what it is, why it matters, and how and why it has maintained currency for over 2000 years.
It is a failure within my own guild of Bible scholars and educators that Ernest Perce IV/V is so culturally and contextually ignorant in his reading of the Bible. He was a former pastor, and yet he falls into the same trap as the most naïve and simple-minded readers by virtually culling the text to suit his own agenda. He criticizes biblicists for ignoring the imprecatory and shameful parts of scripture, while simultaneously performing the same disservice to the Bible's more noble and progressive mandates for justice, compassion, and humanity. It's no different than listening to my eight-year-old complaining that "he hit me first!"
Honestly, everyone on both sides of this debate loses when they approach the Bible with as little care and sense as Perce has done. Sadly, the most piercing voices for either camp tend to prefer "reader response"—or "reader react" hermeneutics.
__________________
Dealing with Everything from Dead Sea Scrolls to Red C Trolls
Quote:
Originally Posted by woob
"...harem warfare? like all your wives dressup and go paintballing?"
I took it to be commentary on the absurd nature of organized religion and their approach to violence and peace.
I think I like driveway's interpretation better. It is much more clever than the tired old exaggeration of religiously motivated violence.
Is organized religion any more absurd than organized politics or standardized education? Is it religion that is the problem, or is it the universally human disposition to organize, compartmentalize, and control virtually everything?
__________________
Dealing with Everything from Dead Sea Scrolls to Red C Trolls
Quote:
Originally Posted by woob
"...harem warfare? like all your wives dressup and go paintballing?"
