Originally posted by ExistenceUnknown
But i think as far as the part about kids being more delinquent because prayer has been removed from schools is a bit of a stretch.
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A. Young People
1. For 15 years before 1963 pregnancies in girls ages 15 through 19 years had been no more than 15 per thousand After 1963 pregnancies increased 187% in the next 15 years.
2. For younger girls, ages 10 to 14 years, pregnancies since 1963 are up 553%.
3. Before 1963 sexually transmitted diseases among students were 400 per 100,000. Since 1963, they were up 226% in the next 12 years.
B. The Family
1. Before 1963 divorce rates had been declining for 15 years. After 1963 divorces increased 300% each year for the next 15 years.
2. Since 1963 unmarried people living together is up 353%
3. Since 1963 single parent families are up 140%.
4. Since 1963 single parent families with children are up 160%.
C. Education
1. The educational standard of measure has been the SAT scores. SAT scores had been steady for many years before 1963. From 1963 they rapidly declined for 18 consecutive years, even though the same test has been used since 1941.
2. In 1974-75 the rate of decline of the SAT scores decreased, even though they continued to decline. That was when there was an explosion of private religious schools. There were only 1000 Christian schools in 1965. Between 1974 to 1984 they increased to 32,000.
a. That could have an impact if the private schools had higher SAT scores. In checking with the SAT Board it was found that indeed the SAT scores for private schools were nearly 100 points higher than public schools.
b. In fact the scores were at the point where the public schools had been before their decline started in 1963 when prayer and Bible reading/ instruction was removed from the schools.
c. The scores in the public schools were still declining.
3. Of the nation's top academic scholars, three times as many come from private religious schools, which operate on one-third the funds as do the public schools.
D. The Nation
1. Since 1963 violent crime has increased 544%.
3. Illegal drugs have become an enormous & uncontrollable problem.
2. The nation has been deprived of an estimated 30 million citizens through legal abortions just since 1973.
excerpt from www.inplainsite.org...
An alternative to school prayer:
One Web site, the Natural Prayer Project (NPP), recommends that schools follow a suggestion made by Colin Powell. He recommends a simple moment of silence at the start of each school day. Students could use this interval to pray, meditate, contemplate or study. 2 A book "An Outrageous Idea: Natural Prayer" written by Patty Jo Cornish and illustrated by James Hubbell promotes this concept. 3 She writes:
"We have forgotten that we are all in this together. And, we keep separating ourselves from ourselves, by color, by football teams, by clothes, by money, by creed, by greed, by boundaries, by age, and so on and on. We need something to pull us all together. Natural Prayer could be that miracle. It includes everyone, even the non-believers."
A moment of silence would allow students with religious beliefs as diverse as Atheism, Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Neopaganism, etc. to participate together; some would pray; others would reflect on the upcoming day; others would meditate. There would be provision for all. A moment of silence could contribute to acceptance of diversity within the student body, and eventually lead to less violence on campus.
Originally posted by OldThinker
1) With the current "anything goes" these days, would a 30 second moment of silence hurt?
I see nothing wrong with having a time for silence (the longer the better), perhaps better " A time for contemplation and reflection". This is something that is missing in adulthood, we've simply lost the habit and (if any) benefit of doing it.
To instill in our young the habit of taking time out of life (something that comes naturally to them in the early years) for contemplation and reflection,introspection etc. We greatly improve our chances of getting along with each other on this planet, something that every religion has failed to achieve as that was not their goal.
Those that would or do rule us, cannot have this as it allows individuals to start thinking deeply for themselves, and not according to mythological dogmatic controlling doctrines
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2) Did you ever have prayer in your public school? You'll be showing your age
At school we were "forced" to pray to the yahwehjesus god out of fear of punishment (often corporal punishment) a fine display xtian goodwill and compassion.
To my horror, I have recently learned that children are still being forced to worship the yahwehjesus god, through fear and manipulation of positions of authority.
Yet another reason why I find xtianity totally repugnant and redundant.
The same old excuse will be made by xtians EG " Ah, you see, real christians don't do that sort of thing, they've clearly got it wrong.
3) Are you against any prayer in schools and why?
Firstly there is no evidence that prayer works (we've ll heard) the anecdotes but these are just hearsay stories, no evidence.
Secondly which of the thousands of gods available would be prayed to and who decides? perhaps the ones with undisputed testable evidence that prayer works ?
By coincidence OT I have in the last couple of days taken issue with the school of one of my children in relation to this subject and I'm once again extremely pissed off with xtianity over it.
You may recall my previous thread - www.abovetopsecret.com... will give you a background to why I'm so pissed off with xtianity.
A. Young People 1. For 15 years before 1963 pregnancies in girls ages 15 through 19 years had been no more than 15 per thousand After 1963 pregnancies increased 187% in the next 15 years. 2. For younger girls, ages 10 to 14 years, pregnancies since 1963 are up 553%. 3. Before 1963 sexually transmitted diseases among students were 400 per 100,000. Since 1963, they were up 226% in the next 12 years.
B. The Family
3 shekels
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