Comments on: Onion Attack And Literal Interpretation of Myth http://geekblog.oakcircle.com/2007/10/03/onion-attack-and-literal-interpretation-of-myth/ Miscellaneous ramblings on miscellaneous topics Mon, 06 Feb 2012 22:18:11 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Head Geek http://geekblog.oakcircle.com/2007/10/03/onion-attack-and-literal-interpretation-of-myth/comment-page-1/#comment-511 Head Geek Wed, 03 Oct 2007 20:56:30 +0000 http://geekblog.oakcircle.com/2007/10/03/onion-attack-and-literal-interpretation-of-myth/#comment-511 <p>According to the article, he was teaching a course in western civilization. It's rather difficult to do a good job of that without mentioning the single most influential batch of documents that shaped it's history. And he was well within his mandate to suggest thinking critically about it -- that's what higher education is all about, teaching critical thinking skills.</p> <p>You can't separate religion from all education, especially historical education. Attempting to do so would require leaving the explanation of the Spanish Inquisition primarily to the same religious authority that perpetrated it in the first place... and giving them that kind of authority is exactly what allowed that particular abomination to happen to begin with.</p> According to the article, he was teaching a course in western civilization. It’s rather difficult to do a good job of that without mentioning the single most influential batch of documents that shaped it’s history. And he was well within his mandate to suggest thinking critically about it — that’s what higher education is all about, teaching critical thinking skills.

You can’t separate religion from all education, especially historical education. Attempting to do so would require leaving the explanation of the Spanish Inquisition primarily to the same religious authority that perpetrated it in the first place… and giving them that kind of authority is exactly what allowed that particular abomination to happen to begin with.

]]> By: Joshua Lee http://geekblog.oakcircle.com/2007/10/03/onion-attack-and-literal-interpretation-of-myth/comment-page-1/#comment-509 Joshua Lee Wed, 03 Oct 2007 20:10:17 +0000 http://geekblog.oakcircle.com/2007/10/03/onion-attack-and-literal-interpretation-of-myth/#comment-509 <p>The article is incorrect, it's not 4,000 years ago, it's 5768. :-)</p> <p>Seriously though, I think religion should stay out of public education. For that matter, I think people should stay out of public education. ;-) So I am both upset that they'd go after a professor for not teaching religion, and that a professor would be teaching religion (or the lack thereof). </p> <p>I think religion ideally shouldn't be on the table in an institution that receives public money, though of course if the professor gets in his head that his role is to beat religion out of his students heads, and many seem to, I'm all in favor of academic freedom and think he shouldn't be persecuted or told what to teach, much less sued by students or whatever they are intending to do with the legal system.</p> The article is incorrect, it’s not 4,000 years ago, it’s 5768. :-)

Seriously though, I think religion should stay out of public education. For that matter, I think people should stay out of public education. ;-) So I am both upset that they’d go after a professor for not teaching religion, and that a professor would be teaching religion (or the lack thereof).

I think religion ideally shouldn’t be on the table in an institution that receives public money, though of course if the professor gets in his head that his role is to beat religion out of his students heads, and many seem to, I’m all in favor of academic freedom and think he shouldn’t be persecuted or told what to teach, much less sued by students or whatever they are intending to do with the legal system.

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