The Arrow Mailbag

Humanist religion taught in public schools

In a recent letter to the Arrow a writer bemoans the influence of Christians in our public schools. Isn’t it interesting that when a Christians view differs from a non-believer it’s called intolerance but if a non-believer disagrees with a Christian they are asserting their rights. Did you sense a lot of tolerance for Christians in that letter? Do you suppose that a non-believer could actually be intolerant of Christians?

If a truly open-minded person would investigate the facts they would easily be able to see that the religion of Humanism is what is actually being taught in the public school system. It is true that our country was founded on Christian principles and that at one time we were a Christian nation, not by government decree but by personal choice. This, however, is no longer the case.

Our founding fathers did not want to see the government dictate what church we went to, thus we have religious freedom. Nowhere in the Constitution is there any mention of a separation of church and state as the liberals would have us believe the First Amendment should be interpreted. Those terms are used by Humanists in their documents, Humanist Manifesto I and II. The concept of this liberal definition of the separation of church and state is primarily supported by Humanist organizations like the ACLU, NEA, People for the American Way, etc…

If our founding fathers really wanted religion elminated from all government functios why did they begin each session of Congress with prayer? Don’t be hoodwinked by all the double talk. One of the Humanist goals is to wipe the influence of Christianity from the face of the earth. Very tolerant, aren’t they? To accomplish this they have created a public school system that promotes all the teachings of Humanism.

Think about this for a minute. The primary author of the Humanist Manifesto I, John Dewey, is also known as the “Father of American Public Education.” The great educational reformer of the ‘30s who promoted Progressive Education was an atheist, a socialist, a Humanist and did much to eliminate the influence of Christianity in America.

Want more proof? Guess which of the two main origins theories is a statement of belief in the Humanist Manifestos — evolution. I could go on and on, but if you really want to seek the truth, check it out yourself. There is a religion being taught in the public schools but it isn’t Christianity.

Karley Fitzgerald, ‘98

Pens and car keys could be weapons, too

I recently had an encounter with an FHS administrator who informed me of a recent change in the dress code made by the school board. He told me that I could not wear my collar for the simple reason that it included inch-long, steel spikes and he mentioned that it could be used a weapon.

Is the school board afraid that the students will take over the school with lethal force, or what? I don’t quite understand his definition of a weapon. In the dictionary, it defines a weapon as any implement used to fight with, which could be any number of objects. A simple pen could most definitely puncture the skin if it were to be used with excessive force. My finger could put an eye out if I wished to do so. I could use my car keys to stab somebody if I wanted to, but why would I do such a thing? The majority of the students here at Flathead are relatively non-violent and usually pleasant people to be around, so I don’t quite understand why the school board thinks that the student body is so savage. Spiked collars wouldn’t even even be a very efficient weapon in the first place. You’d have to ask your opponent to wait a minute while you take it off of your neck.

The simple fact is this: the school board is afraid that some student may get poked in the eye or even get a small wound from one of these spikes, and they try to prevent this by banning these objects from the school. But you know what, anyone could sit around and think of all kinds of incidents that could happen with these and other objects (such as a wallet chain) that the administration prefers to call weapons. They will never be able to take all of the precautions necessary to prevent everybody from getting hurt from these objects. I understand that they are just trying to prevent future lawsuits from psychotic overprotective parents, and I can respect the fact that they are just trying to save themselves. But the simple fact remains that there will always be injuries around the school, whether it be a result of student conflicts, physical education or just plain human error.  So I guess the question to really ask the administration would be if they think that there would be any difference if we (the students) still wore these, so called “weapons?”

To my recollection there has never been any injuries related to spikes, or any other similar decoration object for that matter. The only injuries that have occurred, is that many students’ (no names included) education has been hindered due to the abandoning of this school. This is all because of their belief in that their rights had been violated as American citizens (i.e. freedom of expression, freedom of speech, etc.) by the school board.

If the school board is so worried about students getting injured by using these unclassified weapons, they should erect a metal detector at every entrance of the school and fence in the courtyard, rather than quibble over a students’ simple decorative possessions.

Blake Thompson, ‘99

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