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Pastimes : The Boxing Ring Revived -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Neocon who wrote (2683)	2/21/2002 1:19:16 PM
From: Lane3	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 7720

Why that is a charade, when the objectionable aspect should be neutralized by the inclusiveness of documents, beats me. I'm going to trust that you're asking this question because you really want to know and consider the answer so I'm going to try to answer it. It may take a while so bear with me. More than four paragraphs ahead. I dislike hypocrisy more than anything. I'm not fond of "othering" people, either. I've yapped about both of those enough to be on record. I find both offenses in the notion that folks want to hang the Commandments, etc. to "support[ing] decent, constructive, and considerate behavior." I can understand that, for evangelical Christians, their religion permeates their whole lives and they want it to be part of their children's education, and that the Commandments would be a natural part of that education scenario. I can both understand and respect that although I have objections to it in public schools. I can also understand those who say that this is a Christian country. Although I disagree with it and I don't like it, I recognize that a case can be made for it. I also recognize that the Commandments are a venerable document that has great meaning for many/most people and it is deserving of respect. I respect the Ten Commandments as a useful message on how to live. So, if people say that they want the Ten Commandments hung in schools to provide a traditional moral context for their school kids, I can understand and respect that even as I argue against it. Where the charade comes in is the notion that hanging the Commandments as part of a collage of traditional wisdom is anything more than a ruse to get around the problem that what they really want to do is illegal. I can dislike and object to what they really want to do and still respect it. What frosts me is people saying with a straight face that they just want to improve the decorum in the schools. Gimme a break. The same thing happened with this SCHIP program. I got sick of watching the talking heads saying, one after another, that they're just trying to improve pre-natal care and had no ulterior motive. They should be very proud of themselves coming up with the SCHIP idea. I was certainly impressed with the cleverness of it. I was so impressed with it that I might be willing to concede the issue if it weren't for the hypocrisy. It's bad enough when we heathens lie like a rug. I really don't have any problem with hanging a bunch of traditional wisdom in schools or even teaching a class on it. I have a problem with the hypocrisy. I have never heard of any basis for thinking that the Commandments would have any effect on Johnny's reading, school decorum, or anything else but supporting the religion of the majority of kids. So I can only conclude that it is a charade and I dislike the charade much more than the underlying intent, which I can, at least, respect. To me, the hypocrisy is in pretending that we are especially diverse, that there are substantial minorities of Buddhists, Hindus, Jain, Sikhs, Muslims, Confucians, atheists, and so forth, in most school districts. I take your point. I live in an area that is truly diverse. I realize that it's different in Kansas. But we are getting more diverse. I recently saw a segment on TV about the refugees in Burlington, Vermont and I've been following the story about the introduction of "lost boys" in Tucson. Kansas will be diverse sooner or later. Just ask Buchanan. I can understand your position that the minority needs to accommodate the majority but I don't agree with it, especially when it comes to kids. I don't care if there aren't substantial minorities. If there's one Sikh or whatever, then there is diversity. It only takes one disenfranchised or disaffected kid to kill himself or to blow up a school. I don't see how "othering" that one kid is "decent, constructive, and considerate." I can respect taking a majority-rules approach. What I can't respect is the hypocrisy of claiming that it is intended to be decent, constructive, and considerate. In conclusion, I really don't have a problem with hanging your collage. I just don't like the smell that surrounds it. Karen