We have removed God from our ... wait, WTF?

[2naSalit]

40. Yeah some folks didn't

get the kind of schooling some of us did. And I agree with you about what parts of what religions should be taught in school. On the other hand, the essence of many religions are the same and if those concepts were taught without the religious labels, I would be okay with that.

I spent most of my childhood in many schools in New England before, during and after the civil rights movement. There was prayer in schools for the first few grades and it then became a moment of silence, which I was okay with because I didn't want to pray in school. But beyond that, religion was pretty much not a topic for discussion nor was it a subject for study unless you went to the catholic school across the street (in most towns I lived in). The "separation" concept was honored and the basic concepts that might have been traced back to any religion were presented as citizenship instead. The word "god" only appeared in the pledge of allegiance in the morning and that was that.

It was family who bludgeoned you with their issues on religion and members of the church you were supposed to belong to but it wasn't something you were exposed to in public school. And I learned my reading and writing skills then which made life less difficult for me when I entered college in my thirties with only a ninth grade education prior. And it is that grade school experience that I compare later education systems to... It wasn't perfect and I was not a model student and had been bullied quite a bit but what i took away from all that, education-wise, is far more valuable than my educators may have imagined.

So I can see teaching the concepts of respect and "the golden rule" as we were taught without religious affiliations and associated with those that went along with civic responsibility and tolerance. It's what should still be a part of the curricula in every school but, sadly, it isn't anymore. Not sure when that part faded away but it needs to be dug up, dusted off and put to good use so we can be a nation of responsible citizens rather than insult hurling toads looking for some cheap, instant gratification that reinforces bad behavior toward others that festers into really bad stuff as time goes on.