Schoolyard Preaching

R.C. How can these kids distinguish between myth and reality when two adults preach to them of prayer, hell-fire damnation, and salvation, in a school setting? --

The same way kids who ridicule classmates for not wearing a T-shirt depicting the coming of the next messiah after our last election, I suppose? (True event btw) My understanding is that public schools are to be bereft of politics and religion, but that apparently only applies to what some people disagree with.

Yes, there are extreme points of view out there. And yes, the law allows for these views to be presented after-hours at school. The ultimate responsibility lays with the parents, as was decided upon by the courts. The fact that you disagree with the law is of no consequence except where it pertains to your own children.

Why not just teach them the old rhyme ... "sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me"? If you teach children how to reason, they will be much happier than if you just teach them to stamp out opposing points of view.

I agree completely with this letter and it really scares me that in this day and age, we can have this sort of thing going on.

There is such a thing as religious schools. I suggest these parents use them. What is it about these people that makes them so disrespectful towards other people's beliefs, personal space and RIGHTS?

I'm in total agreement with Mr. Cousineau! This is appalling to me too!

I support freedom of speech. Let the Christians and Mr, Cousineau vent their view and let the chips fall where they may.

Would it be cruel to tell a six year old kid the horrible realities of playing with matches ?

Some people feel threatened by Christianity because it teaches that we have to be accountable for our behavior so they find reasons to justify passing laws against it.

If a schooteacher were to say "I don't believe in God and I think religion is silly" and another were to say "Jesus is the truth and the way" which one would be on the hot seat?

As long as the government does not sponsor a certain demonination (Bush's faith-based initiatives would cross that line in my opinion) then let all views be aired.

I meant to say "vent their views".

I respectfully disagree. I do not feel that teaching the fundamentals of Christianity to our children (I did say "our children", not "your children") is divisive dogma but rather the building of a foundation of Christian faith.

What the boy said to his schoolmate was a child's interpretation of a very clear and undeniable Christian doctrine. John 14:6: "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."

What you call myth is our reality. Jesus lived and died for our sins on the cross. Your reality may be Mohammed, Abraham, Rama, or none of the above. But please do not insult those who feel differently by categorizing their God as you would Santa Clause and the Easter Bunny.

And in regard to "persuading" others, Evangelists reach out to friends and community not out of an evil desire to disrupt your lives and turn you into robotic Christian clones but out of love and the desire to invite you to the kingdom of Heaven with the only ticket that can gain you entrance. I'm not looking for agreement here, but letting you know what inspires us to say "Do you know Jesus?". We love you because He loves you.

From the very beginning, God gave us choice. You may choose to listen, or you may choose to respectfully say "hey, this is not for me."

That said, I do share the belief that religious clubs should not use public schools for their meetings. There does need to be a separation of church and state as much to protect the church from state intervention as the state from church influence. We have been seeing a whole lot of this crossover in the last three elections, and I am concerned about the clarity of the lines drawn between the two becoming blurred.

I look at it this way: religious freedom is like a bowl of fruit. You like apples, I like oranges. If you say oranges are disgusting I may disagree with you, but essentially opinion is every persons right. You don't like my oranges, don't eat them. You don't want your kids going to a Christian club, don't send them. But lets not cut down all of the orange trees because you are afraid your child might like them. There is room for all of us on this fine, green planet of ours. Fruit salad anyone?

In the context of this letter, I am against anyone who cries out against the law because their interpretation is different. The court said they could do it. It's called freedom of speech. It's after-hours, so if your kid is there and you don't want them "exposed," what in the world is your kid doing there in the first place? The kind of reasoning expressed by the author is what has led to after-hours school clubs being prohibited all over the country. Why don't we just grow up?

Who's forcing kids to attend religious training? No one. Teachers aren't conducting those meetings... or are they?

Spoken opinions outside of class are not the State's business. For example, if a Jewish kid wants to tell a non-Jewish kid on the playground that he's a lesser being created by G-d to serve Jews, then he should'nt be punished for saying so. Any kid who was spoken to by any other kid in that general type of scenario is not a martyr, dental-drill whining aside.

In my comment above I was referring to the original letter of complaint, not to Richard Cousineau's follow-up letter. Should've specified. And I support Madame Complainer's right to complain, of course, though not the content of her complaint.

Mr Cousineau comes off as a humanist in the best sense of the word. I'm sorry for conflating his views with the original complainer's. Mr C's is a moral appeal, not a call for interference with religion or abridging the freedom of speech.

Coryell, here's my problem. You can call it "your reality" and "our myth." But at the end of the day, what's the urge to pummel it into the brains of non-believers?

Why not be happy in your faith and leave the rest of the world alone? Enjoy your faith and all the peace and happiness it supposedly provides you. I'm ALL for that.

I'm not for hurtful and belief-insulting statements towards anyone. In this case, it happens to be non-Christian children on a playground.

I wouldn't make a Bad News Club for the purpose of spreading my own beliefs. They are enough for me without me having to try and convert or rectify someone else's thoughts out of some kind of misguided sense of religious freedom.

I really hate it when people try to speak for me.

Discussion with Katherine Stewart and her husband Matthew Stewart will be hosted by the Humanist Society of Santa Barbara, 2:30pm Saturday, July 18th, in the Patio Room at Vista del Monte, 3775 Modoc Road, SB. For event details phone 805-259-6432 or click on web page http://www.independent.com/events/2009/j...