I went to school in a very nice suburb of Chicago. I was still in Cook County, and subject to the laws & school system that covered Chicago. Now, I am 42 years old. For you kids, that means I graduated H.S. in 1979 (Just like the Smashing Pumpkins song).
My elementary school was composed of primarily Jewish students & teachers. Our pledge included the words "Under God". In second grade, we learned about Passover & made draydles. I still know the "Draydle song". Now, I was a Gentile, so when I went home, my folks were like "that's nice, you should know about other people, but we are not Jewish". No problem, no argument. No hassle.
If I asked my Teacher about a "Star of David", in class, she told all the kids what it meant & asked me if I could share a story about a giant star. (The one from the Biblical tale of Jesus's Birth). NO problem.
In 5th grade, 5th grade! My school took us on field trips for ONE solid week. We were being taught the history of religion. We visited a Jewish Temple & listened to a Cantor sing (to this day hearing a Cantor sing raises chills to me, even though I do NOT speak a word of Herbrew).
Then we visited a Buddist Shrine. A robed monk explained about reincarnation ("Many Births") to be like God.We were impressed.
We visited Indian Shrine, and I think the Goddess was Kali, I know it was not Ganish, because Ganish has an elephant head & this was a six-armed Goddess.
We visited a Catholic Church, the Bishop showed us what a confessional looked like, explained the Mary & Joseph statues & what Holy Water was for.
Our final visit was to my own Lutheran Church, and the classmates, who were Jewish were surprised if you were a guy, you could NOT wear a hat inside the sanctuary.:)
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6th grade-along comes Evolution. My teacher Mr. Hanson, who was a JW, said that some believed in creation, some in evolution. We could divide ourselves up & the creationists could go to the library & the evolutionists had to stay in class. I had NO clue what my position was (I loved dinosaurs), but heck, no school work & hanging out in the library? What would you have done.
NOTE: In my homeroom, this kid told the teacher he didn't want to say the pledge anymore because of the "Under God" statement. So, Mr. Kesslersays, "You believe in America, right?". The kid says yeah, so Mr. Kessler says "well then think of America when we say the pledge & just don't say the words "Under God".
*BTW this was during the Nixon '70's and my teacher was a RABID democrat. He also taught us Communism in Social Studies, and had us read from Mao's Little Red Book.* Mr. Kessler always joined us when we said the pledge.
My English class had The Hobbit, Beowolf, Black Boy, and Paradise Lost. We also had CS Lewis's Mere Christianity. Looking back, what a balanced study.
In gym class, I took three years of yoga. 6-8th grade, Part of yoga is learning about the Vedas & Chakras. Indian Mystism. My parents didn't mind. Frankly it helped tone me for horseback riding.
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I believe saying the pledge, being taught with love, respect, and example about the religions around me. Seeing a self-professed Communist say the pledge to the flag, and not giving a freebie" to a 10-year old athiest by having him show respect to COUNTRY, not a God, was a good example to me.
ALL OF THIS HAPPENED TO ME BEFORE I WAS 14 YEARS OLD. What did I learn? People are different. There are different Gods. Nobodies God could beat up anyone elses God. IT WASN'T AN ISSUE. Hey, we debated the Palastinian/Israeli war over the holy land. We debated it in social studies. No one got in trouble if they favored the Arabs.
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My point is this, maybe people, teachers, students, should be EDUCATED about the way OTHERS think and feel.Maybe they should be taught EVERYONE has a valid point of view.
Maybe Adults should live, learn, and leave people to live in peace. You don't believe in abortion? Don't have one! You don't want to say a silent prayer? Mentally plan you next trip to Saks. If a homosexual is teaching in your childs school...........that is his buisness. Maybe you should ask yourself why you are so homophobic.
Am I getting through here?
WHY CAN'T THIS PLAN BE IMPLIMENTED AND WORK?
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