Alabama legislator proposes destroying, banning gay books

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by SpencerH
Exactly. Parents have every right to determine what their children read and see in schools and lawmakers have every right to put forward bills that determine how public funds are used.

How would you feel if they demanded students be taught that Jews and Blacks were mud people?

[Velociryx]

Actually, they should be more concerned that their children are taught TRUTH, even when that truth is uncomfortable.

School is not the place to push ideology or agenda, and parents and legislators ought not make it so.

-=Vel=-

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by Velociryx
School is not the place to push ideology or agenda, and parents and legislators ought not make it so.

-=Vel=-

You mean like forcing integration?

[SpencerH]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara

How would you feel if they demanded students be taught that Jews and Blacks were mud people?

I would try to change the school board opinion. Failing that, I would move to another school district (if possible). I already live in a community with vastly different beliefs on some issues than my own. I counter that effect by teaching my children what I believe and allow them to make up their own minds.

[Asher]

Originally posted by Last Conformist
@Asher: I don't see how the existence of Bibles in the school library makes the education religious-influenced. My highschool had some pieces by Stalin in the library* - does that make my education stalinist-influenced? The Bible should be available as a reference for any student writing a paper on religion, and Western philosophy or literature two, altho those probably won't be much touched in elementary school.

* Incl a piece on sociolinguistics, of all things.

First, we're talking elementary schools, not high-schools.

Second, the parents who choose a secular school do not want any religion involved in their education, which includes bibles (some argue they are religious books ).

[SpencerH]

Originally posted by Velociryx
Actually, they should be more concerned that their children are taught TRUTH, even when that truth is uncomfortable.

School is not the place to push ideology or agenda, and parents and legislators ought not make it so.

-=Vel=-

TRUTH! What the hell is that? I'm not sure what is true in hard scientific disciplines never mind non-scientific ones.

All education involves opinion. We may believe that homosexuality is not a 'choice' and be uncaring of its 'influence' on our children. Others disagree. According to SCOTUS, they have the right to educate their children in a manner consistent with their values.

[Harovan]

Originally posted by Pekka
To turn everyone gay? Why would a straight man turn to gay? How can he start lusting after men instead of previously women?

Beware, hanging out too much in a sauna, with everyone having his sausage exposed, can do this to you.

[SpencerH]

Originally posted by Sir Ralph


Beware, hanging out too much in a sauna, with everyone having his sausage exposed, can do this to you.

Are you speaking from personal experience ?

[Velociryx]

Education means exposure.

Yes, it's hard to know precisely what is and is not "true" sometimes.

That's part of what education enables. The process of teaching people to draw their own conclusions.

This is rather difficult to do with blinders on.

Education, it is not.

Look folks, the world's out there, and just because your kiddies don't learn about it in school doesn't mean they'll not get exposed.

Far better that it happen in a controlled and nurturing environment than in the bathroom stall or behind the school yard.

Preparedness.

-=Vel=-

[Harovan]

Originally posted by SpencerH
Are you speaking from personal experience ?

No, I can't stand saunas. But I know somebody who recently posted a thread about how he was upset, because some people wouldn't expose their sausages to him in the sauna.

[SpencerH]

I can assume that most of us are opposed to NAMBLA. If a school had a book that supported such behaviour, we would be hippocrits if we did not oppose the presence of that book. By the same token, the baptists (amongst others) are simply doing the same thing. The fact that their opposition is based on religious beliefs and ours is not is immaterial. They have every right (as a community) to oppose what they view as the promotion of immoral behaviour in school and we have a right to teach our children our 'truth' at home.

[SpencerH]

Originally posted by Sir Ralph


No, I can't stand saunas. But I know somebody who recently posted a thread about how he was upset, because some people wouldn't expose their sausages to him in the sauna.

Sausages? Bratwurst or prinskorv?

I love saunas, its just a little silly having one down here.

[Velociryx]

Oh I don't disagree that a community should be given wide lattitude with regards to education, however, at present, in the country, homosexuality is not outlawed.

Because it is not outlawed, banning/burning books that make mention of the topic stretches the desires of the community a bit far.

Contrast that to the example you gave a moment ago. NAMBLA is an outlawed organization. We have laws prohibiting adults from having sexual relations with children, so yes, materials circulating in schools on this same topic would obviously be disallowed (and without much debate, I would imagine).

The point remains that one cannot "educate" if one selectively ignores the realities out there in the world, and irreparable damage can be caused in the name of "protecting our children" when we turn them loose in the world unprepared for the realities.

One tangible effect? We wind up with the next crop of bigots and racists.

-=Vel=-

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by SpencerH
I love saunas, its just a little silly having one down here.

For us, it's called summer.

[Solomwi]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara


It's one person from Alabama.

Bingo, and the reaction I've heard, even here in Alabama, has been ridicule of Allen and his idea pretty much across the board. Why we keep sending these assclowns to Montgomery would be beyond me, if I didn't know from long, painful experience that most all our elections are assclown v. assclown.