ulysses
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Fri Dec-03-04 08:37 PM
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here's a challenging thought. |
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I'm an agnostic who teaches in a public middle school in a very poor, African-American neighborhood in Atlanta. I believe, as strongly as anybody here, in the separation of church and state, yet I work in a neighborhood in which the few threads to any kind of hope run through the church. More than a few of my colleagues are ministers, and very open on campus about their faith.
Yes, I'm waiting for the first Muslim child to enroll, but for the nonce, I don't see any other avenues of real hope offered by the secular community in the neighborhood I serve. I want to be bothered by my colleagues' regular references to the deity in a public school setting, but in our current situation, such a bothersomeness is well beyond the point, even stupid.
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fshrink
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Fri Dec-03-04 09:50 PM
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1. I also work with children |
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although on the psychological/psychiatric level in a community where nearly everybody is religious, including of course the kids who don't have much choice. What I do and what you do have also one other thing in common: the more they learn and know, the less they are conditioned to believe. Among all the kids we deal with, you can safely bet that at least a few will later evolve from the knowledge we impart as critical thinkers. So we put up with it and do our job as non-believers.
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politicat
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Sat Dec-04-04 01:30 AM
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what he said.
Critical thinking is the key - teach that and don't worry about the faith system.
Pcat
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Fri Apr 19th 2024, 08:56 PM
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