Dunno how well this pertains to the topic, but I feel compelled to say this after reading this entire thread. I was going to pull the first person's quote that I read on this subject, but it seems that many of you have the same opinion. Let me throw this out there to see if I get a bite!
I keep reading what should and shouldn't be taught in school. Now...I am not a parent, but I am a product of a very open minded parent who
physically showed me the many beliefs of the world, instead of having a virtual stranger (teachers) show me their personal interpretation of the many ways that I could be taught!
Reread that ^^^ and absorb my meaning. I'll wait...
*hears the Jeopardy song playing in the background*
Back in my day (oh gawdddddddd...did I say that?) some teachers inflicted their personal beliefs and interpretations into their lessons. It probably still happens today. Recognizing this, my mother gave me (us...all her children) an opportunity that most children don't get from their parents...and I feel as though ALL parents could learn a lesson from my mother. I know some of you had heard me say this before, but I'll say it again here for those who may have not.
We went church hopping when I was a child. And, I don't mean from one Methodist church (I was raised as a Methodist) to another. I mean from one denomination to another...and everything in-between! I've visited Pentecostal "holy rollers" one week and a Rabbi the next. I've been to High Mass and heard scientists speak on evolution all in the same weekend. My mother wouldn't pick and choose what she'd show me...she showed me it all and she told me her views and gave me the respect to decypher all the knowledge I was absorbing and decide for myself. She told me that fear is at the root of a closed minded person. It's more comfortable to "know" one way and one way only. She said interpretation is just that...interpretation. If I read the King James version of the bible and assume I understand it, then that is
my interpretation of the parables written by many a man "for God". If I read the King James version of the Bible and live it word for word...than I did not understand it at all...because the King James version of the Bible is an interpretation/conversion as best it could be related to the English language, and if told from one language to another it will surely change from man to man. BTW...in the Methodist church, the King James version of the Bible is the only Bible I ever knew till I started "church hopping".
All in all...what she was telling me is that I am the only one who can decide what I believe. If I know the choices and understand and respect that everyone else has a rightful claim to their own belief, I will be a good person! If I know good from bad...if I understand that what I do and say will show on my life's record...if I respect others and still take my own stand when a stand needs to be taken, I will be a good person. If I help when help is needed...if I do my best, even if my best isn't THE BEST...if I challenge "it" when I know I have a platform, and admit it when I know I am wrong...if I turn the other cheek when the fire is too hot for reasonable discussion (<---working on that!)...and if I can look back on my day and know I've learned something or made a difference, no matter how big or small...than I know who I am and I can rest assured that no matter how I got here...I AM WORTHY!
She also added..."If the world could do this for their children, the world would be a better place. Not because I said so...just because it is so!"
Don't get me wrong! I have flaws...major flaws...I know that I do! But, I am a better person than I might have been in just trying to interpret what my mother was trying to show me. She showed me the world from our tiny little neighborhood!
Mommy! (all 4 of us...and my brother, till he died...still call her Mommy...23 years after her death.)
THE END!
Carry On!