http://www.care2.com/greenliving/meatballs-for-secular-humanists.html
Meatballs for Secular Humanists
I had a photography teacher in high school who was a devout Christian, who quietly and gently liked to preach the word of God amidst the red light glow of the dark room, while his students carefully printed photographs. Considering the fact that this was a public school, these conversations were highly inappropriate, and could have been grounds for a quick firing, had any of us students decided to turn him in for violating the division between church and state.
But I liked him, and even though I was a secular humanist by nature, I took a great interest in his musings about the absolute existence of God. His religious conviction provoked many lively, but warmly respectful, arguments that significantly cut into my lunch hour, and cost me lots of spent photo paper, as I always lost track of what I was doing in the heat of the dispute.
I was reminded of this time in my life, when I recently heard a story on NPR about a children’s camp in upstate New York. Instead of the glut of bible camps that populate rural America, this was a camp, whose focus was a non-theistic/secular approach to life and science. Camp Inquiry, as it is called, is an alternative, of sorts, to both the religious, as well as the purely recreational camps, in that it provides a much-needed forum for children to experience nature and openly talk about ideas surrounding life, ethics, science, morality, etc, without the fear of offending, or being labeled an outcast or weirdo.
This struck me as such a winning idea, on the grounds that the church and state divide has created such a vacuum and a resulting taboo when it comes to children openly talking about existence, religion, and belief. We, as adults, often forget that issues of faith and existence are some of the larger stumbling blocks that children quietly contend with, and that the opportunity to voice concerns, doubts, and developing beliefs may help foster a deeper understanding of their peers, as well as themselves.
Eric Steinman is a freelance writer based in Rhinebeck, N.Y. He regularly writes about food, music, art, architecture and culture and is a regular contributor to Bon Appétit among other publications.
related stories
-
(17 comments)
-
-
(80 comments)
Robyn
Melissa
Deepak
Eric
Dave
Dr. Brent
Isha
Susan
Delia
Michelle
Wendy
Megan
Hilary
Ann
Judi
Ronnie
Kelly
Lily
Terri
Betsy
Cait
Andrew
Jana
Annie B.
Veronica
5 comments
add your comment »Prayer has no place in school. The school has no business pushing any religion on students in any way shape or form. Your teacher was wrong to do what he did and I guarantee he knew he was violating school policies but did it anyway. Why? Because he was hoping to convert you, not teach you. And like you said, you wasted a whole lot of paper while he was busy preaching and not teaching. I went to all religious schools and we never had any prayers during class time. Religion class was comparative religions. Add comparative religion classes to public and private schools and just watch the rate of non-believers soar. The founding fathers did, in fact, want a complete separation of church and state and, no, the government can not and should not nurture religion. The government should be about governing. Religion is full of immoral and unethical teachings that are completely opposite to the rights that are guaranteed in the Constitution - such as equality, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The US was not founded by the religious radicals who came to the colonies, those radicals stayed to themselves. It was the men of the enlightenment - Jefferson etc., self-described deist, businessmen/property owners, who established the United States. These men were well aware of the violence perpetuated by the religious radicals - their raids and massacres of other denominations and factions within their own sects. They were also aware that monarchs claimed authority over others from a god.
send green star | flag as inappropriate
why is this inappropriate?
Thanks for bringing up a topic that is so rarely discussed but so important. This really got me thinking about how to address this issue with my son.
send green star | flag as inappropriate
why is this inappropriate?
i like the idea that such things can be an open forum...and i'm glad he was confident enough to speak to you and allow for discussion, repsectfully. we need a lot more of that in this world, as opposed to the alienating debates that usually occur.
send green star | flag as inappropriate
why is this inappropriate?
This in passing mentions the division between church and state. I wish all Americans understood that there should be a division between the government and any one church organization, but that there was never the intention among the majority of the Founders to have a division between government and religion or government and God. That is, the government can foster religion and morality in general as long as it doesn't favor any denomination.
I also had teachers who discussed their religion and it never bothered me. I had a music teacher who had us learn some Baptist songs and I consider that cultural awareness even though I may have disagreed with the specifics in the song. Why take offense and be intolerant when it wasn't making this 3rd grader change his mind on any issue of importance? We also had school prayers (at our public school) which since they are relatively short didn't really hurt me. If American children in school occasionally heard a Muslim prayer or a Buddhist chant would that help or hurt them in understanding world events like happenings in Tibet and Saudi Arabia or Japan and Sudan. Can one really know history without understanding religion. Moderation in restrictions is as important is protecting the rights of a small minority in these cases of non-physical, non-violent, non-hate SPEECH. Perhaps the recent treatment of Mitt Romney's faith shows how far America still has to go in religious tolerance.
-Amateur Scientist and high school minority
send green star | flag as inappropriate
why is this inappropriate?
I am glad that he had the gumption to brings things up to you. Teachers have so much to fear, they can barely breathe much less teach. And I am also glad that you as students gave him the respect to listen to other peoples ideas and to discuss them. Kudos to you and your fellow students. Plus this camp sounds like a great idea.
send green star | flag as inappropriate
why is this inappropriate?
Facebook account: