The Louisiana Public School Cramming Christianity Down Students’ Throats

Let’s start with what your child will see when she enters or departs our school. “Paintings of Jesus Christ, Bible verses, and Christian devotional phrases adorn the walls of many classrooms and hallways, including the main hallway leading out to the bus pick-up area. A lighted, electronic marquee placed just outside the building scrolls Bible verses every day.

“In the main foyer of the school, one display informs students that “ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS.” It includes several posters urging students to “Pray,” “Worship,” and “Believe,” while a poster displayed near the waiting area of the main office announces that “it’s okay to pray.”

The science class is rigorous, you should know. “Roark also routinely requires students to prove written professions of faith on science exams and other tests and assignments… On one occasion, the final question on an exam presented students with the following fill-in-the-blank question: “ISN’T IT AMAZING WHAT THE _______ HAS MADE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.” (The correct answer, of course is “the Lord” but don’t worry if your child is not a Christian or otherwise doesn’t know the answer. The teacher will correct him, in front of the class, even if he writes “Lord Boda” because he is Buddhist and in sixth grade).

If your child still isn’t satisfied with the level of prayer in individual classrooms don’t fret. There is an awful lot more prayer in our school. You should know that “nearly all school assemblies begin with prayer”—at the Drug Abuse Resistance Education assembly, at the school’s annual Class Ring Ceremony, you name it. And on Veterans Day, “including the most recent, school officials invite a local Christian preacher to hold a group prayer at a mandatory faculty/student assembly honoring the Nation’s veterans.”

Source

I could understand if this kind of thing was happening in private schools where parents and children have a choice on whether to attend or not, but in public schools funded by the state and government? How has this been allowed to happen? Have they not heard of separation of church and state?

This is indoctrination at its finest, where children are rewarded for professing Jesus is Lord and punished for thinking any differently. They even have questions on tests where the children are punished if they don't answer with Christian dogma in mind!

What do you guys think about this? Should this be allowed? If so, why? Isn't forcing certain beliefs on people, much less children, a form of oppression and/or indoctrination?

reply to post by 3NL1GHT3N3D1



Wow. That's a humdinger of an article. Although outrageous and totally inappropriate I imagine this thread will soon be hit up with those claiming this is what America needs more of. This school is the opposite side example of why the US ranks nearly last in all education categories.

CJ

public schools funded by the state and government? How has this been allowed to happen? Have they not heard of separation of church and state?

This is indoctrination at its finest

LOL - Go visit Pakistan or Saudi Arabia - THAT's indoctrination at its finest!

I'd be glad just to live in a country where you are offered a choice to go to another school.

This is bad very bad. You can't just shove this crap down our children's throats. The young earth nuts are the worst.

reply to post by Sublimecraft


This is happening in America right now though! This isn't only one school according to the article, it is several within the area. Are you implying that since the middle east does something similar that means it's A-OK to do it here? Pretty weak argument.

I'd say we need to focus on our own country before we start worrying about other countries halfway across the world. This is completely unacceptable in my opinion, it's a PUBLIC school, the Constitution says very clearly that this should not be happening.

3NL1GHT3N3D1
reply to post by Sublimecraft

 

This is happening in America right now though! This isn't only one school according to the article, it is several within the area. Are you implying that since the middle east does something similar that means it's A-OK to do it here? Pretty weak argument.

I'd say we need to focus on our own country before we start worrying about other countries halfway across the world. This is completely unacceptable in my opinion, it's a PUBLIC school, the Constitution says very clearly that this should not be happening.

Well, let me help you there......do you see what is happening in the Ukraine lately?

Until my brothers and sisters in the US wake up and smell the deception, rise up and overthrow ALL current politicians from both sides and start over, you can expect much of the same.

Sad...but true.

reply to post by 3NL1GHT3N3D1


Boy, this school would have been mortified by teenage me.

Needless to say, this is wrong. What if a family moves to the area from another country with an entirely different belief system, say... Hindu.

Would those Hindi children then be forced to absolve their former religion in order to conform the the standards of the school, which, at best, are bordering on fascism?

Kallisti

reply to post by Sublimecraft


While I agree with you here you seem to be ignoring the issue here. The article talks about a boy who is Buddhist who attends this school, and as far as I can tell he is forced to attend this school because it is within his district. The article also talks about a teacher calling Buddhism and the Buddha "stupid".

Just ask the superintendent of schools in the parish, Sara Ebarb, who has said, “[t]his is the Bible Belt” and who asked the parents of a Buddhist student recently if he “has to be raised Buddhist” or if he could “change” his faith and suggested to them that he should transfer to a school where “there are more Asians.” Religious objectors, Ebarb has said, should simply accept the pervasive of official Christianity in Sabine Parish public schools. Easy-peasy, folks, just convert!

For example, “on a handout asking ‘What mountain did Moses supposedly get the Ten Commandments from?’ Roark crossed out the word ‘supposedly’. She also has told students that the Bible is ‘100% true” and that ‘scientists are slowly finding out that everything in the Bible is accurate.’” This is convenient, of course, since, as Roark told her class recently, Buddhism “’is stupid. Speaking about the founder of Buddhism, Siddhartha, she proclaimed that ‘no one could stay alive that long without food and water.”

How would a Christian feel if their school's teachers started calling Jesus stupid and the bible a lie and gave tests with questions clearly biased toward Buddhism and anything other than a Buddhist answer would end with a "wrong" mark

As a Christian, and American,

I find this Abhorrent, this is no better than Muslims wanting to enforce their religious laws on secular societies and governments.

The US was founded on freedom of religion, which means no favored religion period, you can believe what you want freely here, just dont impose it on others.

Christians in america need to remember the country they are in and the beliefs its founded on, the same that allow Christians their freedom allow Hindus, Muslims, and Atheist the same, people of all "beliefs"

IF their cool with this behavior from public schools it needs to be open to all creeds and religions, or none at all, period.

Hmmm, this is what school vouchers are for. Then, schools could be what they are to be, and parents could find the ones that suit them.

Personally, I would rather my son be sent here than to most of the other places out there today, and in fact, my husband and I are scraping our budget to figure out how to send our son to a private, Christian school because there are no public schools that will accommodate faith in any way, thanks to your secular vision.

So our actual education bill will be whatever we wind up spending on a private education + whatever we are forced to pay in property taxes toward schools we will not use because they do not accommodate our beliefs in any way. How is that fair?

This is terrible.

Teaching about morality and ethics!

We need abortion taught, sex education taught, we need to give everyone a trophy and let them pass grades without them learning! We need to spend more time and money on teaching kids about sexuality and making selfies! Where are the classes on Justin Beiber or Lady Gaga?

beezzer
This is terrible.

Teaching about morality and ethics!

We need abortion taught, sex education taught, we need to give everyone a trophy and let them pass grades without them learning! We need to spend more time and money on teaching kids about sexuality and making selfies! Where are the classes on Justin Beiber or Lady Gaga?

In the day and age where many finish school functionally illiterate in america how about we focus on actually educating our kids, Teach them how to think, not what to think.

Give them the tools to reason, and morals will follow.

reply to post by benrl


Yes, but some of those values are universal and held in common by nearly all religions, but we can't teach them anymore because they are being pegged as simply "religious" and that offends atheists. Did you miss the thread about having a simple moment of silence?

Look at the 10 Commandments. They aren't laws. They are "religious," and therefore evil even though pretty everyone agrees that most of them are generally good ideas to live by.

reply to post by ketsuko


So you're defending this? Religion has no place in public schools, that is what church and Sunday school is for. There is no reason for a public school to force their beliefs on children who may not even be believers and punish them for thinking and believing differently than others kids.

reply to post by 3NL1GHT3N3D1


I'm saying it's time for schools to stop being a monopoly, and for my tax money to be freed up so I can use it to fund my child's education as I see fit.

If you want your child to go to a secular school ... fine. Have at. Your tax dollars ought to support that, but why should my tax dollars have to go to support it too? Why do I have to find money over and beyond my tax dollars if I don't want my child to go to a purely secular school?

Why is secular the automatic default? It shouldn't have to be. Parents should have that option and the choice.

reply to post by 3NL1GHT3N3D1


It is not my intention to deflect from the topic of separation of church and state - the ACLU is currently suing the school over this issue - read more here

Given Louisiana is deeply Christian in it's heritage, I would like to ask you a few questions, if I may.

The School has been practising this type of "education" for quite some time, why is this only coming to light now?

Should the accepted situation be changed because of a minority?

Or should the school cease to be funded by the government and become private?

ketsuko
reply to post by benrl

 

Yes, but some of those values are universal and held in common by nearly all religions, but we can't teach them anymore because they are being pegged as simply "religious" and that offends atheists. Did you miss the thread about having a simple moment of silence?

Look at the 10 Commandments. They aren't laws. They are "religious," and therefore evil even though pretty everyone agrees that most of them are generally good ideas to live by.

edit on 26-1-2014 by ketsuko because: (no reason given)

Religion is deep and personal, it is the parents job and right to guide their kids on these paths, NOT the STATE period.

I am a devout Christian, and the idea that some fundamentalist wacko is pushing an agenda through schools is an affront to me as both a Christian, and an American.

Apparently there is a fine line between Tolerance and being a doormat to anyone with an idea.

reply to post by Sublimecraft


Maybe we should all get vouchers, and parents who want this can continue to go there. Parents who don't can go somewhere else.

reply to post by benrl


Secularism is an agenda as much as any religion, and when your teachers gets your kids for 5 days, 8 hours every day. They get a significant amount of influence.

reply to post by beezzer


Because morality and ethics are definitely the issue here, right?

It has nothing to do with the fact that the administrators of this PUBLIC educational facility are using said education as an excuse to indoctrinate the easily molded young minds forced by law to attend the school and thereby propagate their belief system.

No, teaching morality is fine, great even but since when does one need a religious text to develop a strong moral compass?

The answer, of course, is never.

Besides if students need to rely on state employees to aid in the development of said morals then that should be immediately indicative that something is fundamentally broken in our society.

Kallisti