
Originally Posted by
Duck on Wheels
As to the points in the "obituary", I would agree with most, but I beg to differ with some. For instance, the Ten Commandments are not "contraband". You can even teach them, as factual knowledge about culture, in class. You just can't teach them in a public school class as "God's truth". This is because the Founding Fathers, in all their commonsensical wisdom, decided that religion is one thing and science another, and that public schools should focus on science and refrain from taking sides in religious issues, since this then-new country was supposed to be a haven for religious freedom of choice. So yes, in terms of teaching world cultures and religions as a set of observations about what folks believe in, you may go ahead and teach the Ten Commandments. But please don't proselatize about them. That still, to my mind, makes common sense.