[extropy-chat] Atheists launch inquisition...

[Mike Lorrey]

--- "Fred C. Moulton" <moulton at moulton.com> wrote:

> 
> Before everyone goes too far on this I suggest that everyone remember
> what the article said:
> 
> >Among the materials she has rejected, according to Williams, are
> >excerpts from the Declaration of Independence, George Washington's
> >journal, John Adams' diary, Samuel Adams' "The Rights of the
> Colonists"
> >and William Penn's "The Frame of Government of Pennsylvania."
> 
> News articles sometimes get the story wrong but according to this
> part
> of the news article what was rejected were "excerpts" not the entire
> document.  Unless someone can provide more info lets remember that
> the story is about "excerpts".  If the excerpts were selected and
> presented
> in such a manner as to provide a false impression in the minds of the
> students as to the nature of the documents and the document authors
> then that is an issue of concern.

On the contrary, I don't think it is germaine. Even if the teacher were
specifically teaching these exerpts as part of a module regarding the
religious basis for the colonizing of the US, it was entirely within
her responsibility to teach that REAL history. I saw another article
yesterday in which Maryland public schools are banning teachers from
teaching students that the "Thanksgiving" the pilgrims were giving were
to god. Instead, they are presenting it solely as a giving of thanks to
the local native Americans who they invited to their feast.

This absurd and revisionist view of history is exactly what is wrong
and what I am talking about. Whatever you think about religion of any
kind, it is entirely wrong to rewrite history in order to write
religion out of it.

It is classic atheist agit-prop to write out of history all the good
things done in the name of religion, while emphasizing all the bad
things. This illustrates the inherent irrationality of many/most
atheists.

Another revision is the claim on this list yesterday that many of the
founding fathers were atheist. This is bogus. Jefferson was a religious
man who wrote his own version of the bible to eliminate what he saw as
a cult of personality regarding christ. The least religious people were
unitarians or universalists, which were not the same thing then as they
are now. They were still quite christian in character then. I challenge
Samantha and others to actually name any of the signers of the D of I
or the Constitution who were avowed atheists. At the time, all colonies
had proscriptions against atheists taking office.

=====
Mike Lorrey
Vice-Chair, 2nd District, Libertarian Party of NH
"Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom.
It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves."
                                      -William Pitt (1759-1806) 
Blog: http://www.xanga.com/home.aspx?user=Sadomikeyism


		
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