tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20993778.post114800874587936116..comments2024-03-28T01:33:17.573-04:00Comments on History Is Elementary: Mythbusting 'So Help Me God'EHThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17964668210604436937noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20993778.post-72365553493277176102006-12-24T10:04:00.000-05:002006-12-24T10:04:00.000-05:00Glad to hear that a believer can understand the vi...Glad to hear that a believer can understand the views of non-believers. I thought the article was very well written.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20993778.post-1164780227496713872006-11-29T01:03:00.000-05:002006-11-29T01:03:00.000-05:00"can be seen seen here with an additional one here..."can be seen seen here with an additional one here." The second 'here' moved. It is now http://www.nonbeliever.org/commentary/inaugural_shmg.htmlAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20993778.post-1148361130803277362006-05-23T01:12:00.000-04:002006-05-23T01:12:00.000-04:00Funny that Newdow sez he's not an atheist activist...Funny that Newdow sez he's not an atheist activist. I'd be hard-pressed to define atheist activist in a way that didn't describe him pretty closely.<BR/><BR/>People get hung up on the "Congress shall make no law regarding an establishment of religion" part and ignore the "nor prohibiting the free exercise thereof" part. You can't tell someone taking his oath of office that now that he is President, he can't mention God. He could yesterday, but he can't today. You can't tell a schoolteacher or a student that they have to be an atheist when they're inside a public school, either.<BR/><BR/>Our daughter was in a parochial school for K-6, then public school the rest of the way. During her senior year the high school culture went through some scary changes, especially during the last six weeks. If she hadn't been about to graduate, we would have gone back to parochial school just for her personal safety. You're right, if the well-behaved kids bail the school will be worse off. It's a problem. Don't know what the solution is, unless it's to make education past 8th grade a privilege not a right, like it used to be. Is that better? Hm.Laura(southernxyl)https://www.blogger.com/profile/02880277733341078157noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20993778.post-1148133982515418592006-05-20T10:06:00.000-04:002006-05-20T10:06:00.000-04:00As I said earlier, EHS, I am new at this, so I am ...As I said earlier, EHS, I am new at this, so I am still learning. I WILL learn how to use hyperlink and things like that, but right now I'm pretty clueless, so I hope you'll bear with me. Here is the website for the article I posted about: http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=50013<BR/><BR/>Throughout my career, I have frequently had one or two really disruptive kids in one or another of my classes. There is no question that they detract from the education of the other students. On rare occasions, I've had more than one or two in the same class, and it is a nightmare. If you are facing that situation regularly, I don't know how you do it!<BR/><BR/>The book that I wrote created some controversy in Minnesota because I argue that public school teachers need the power to remove disruptive and apathetic kids from our classes. I think this is a no-brainer, and most teachers seem to agree, but there are some who strongly disagree. I had read that some Southern states had given teachers this power, and it's discouraging to hear from you that they've made that power meaningless. <BR/><BR/>Philip K. Howard, a lawyer, wrote "The Death of Common Sense" in 1994. He said that the courts declaring that education is a property right that can't be taken away without due process of law has done more damage to public education than anything else. I completely agree, and it sounds like you do, too. I really think teachers need to fight to change this.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20993778.post-1148130242291128562006-05-20T09:04:00.000-04:002006-05-20T09:04:00.000-04:00I want to be sensitive to my "clients" as well, ho...I want to be sensitive to my "clients" as well, however, I teach deep in Bible belt so the majority of my students are Christians or profess to be. I have an occaisional Buddist, Hindu, or Muslim. Yes, it does seem that more and more of our brightest kids are opting for private education (usually Christian based. I don't really blame them. These days the minority seems to have all the rights. By that I mean the disruptive students----the incorrigible ones. Most of the parents I know who homeschool or who have placed their child in private school aren't necessarily doing it for religious purposes. They are doing it to get away from disruptive students and their influence.EHThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17964668210604436937noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20993778.post-1148123349556696442006-05-20T07:09:00.000-04:002006-05-20T07:09:00.000-04:00I think I have a pretty good handle on the "separa...I think I have a pretty good handle on the "separation of church and state" argument, but I wish public schools didn't have to be the focal point of it. Public education is under attack for so many things, and this just adds fuel for those on the right side of the political spectrum. When Anne Graham was asked why God would allow the attacks of 9/11 to happen, she began her answer by saying, "We no longer allow God in our public schools." (paraphrase) If you want to know what I think of people who say things like that, check out my latest post. But the problem is that the parents who listen to people like Anne Graham often have pretty nice kids to have in the classroom; and many of them are leaving our public schools. Our school has a significant number of Laotian kids, and most of them are Bhuddists, so I want to be sensitive to their feelings. But we also have a significant number of good kids from fundamentalist Christian families. I don't want them to feel like they are being slapped in the face just so someone like Michael Newdow can make a point.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com