As a fair deal, would it be worth it to allow Creationism in schools, prayer in schools, to even allow the 10 commandments printed on every building on the planet....
....just to trade it for getting that freakin' Pascal's wager out of Sunday school?
2007-06-02 07:41:58 · 41 answers · asked by ? 6 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Nope. Sorry, kiddo. Barraging them with useless info and teaching them to hate truth is worse than the gamble of the Wager itself. What we could do is take Christianity out of Sunday school and replace it with... eh, how 'bout a CHILDHOOD of Sundays. For goodness' sake, people, kids are in school 5 days a week and reaching puberty at 11! Let them enjoy being children!
Hmmm. *Drinks* Yummy. Cosmo.
Marry me, Markyyy? Please?
EDIT: Oh, DO check out Michael V's link. I took the Love Test there but was given no results! They must know I am atheist! That, or I am so full of love it was beyond the capacity of the answer itself. Best is the "Songs of the Lukewarm Church". Pretty funny for a fundie!
2007-06-02 07:47:53 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 5⤊ 2⤋
Wow, you have asked questions I've thought about a lot. As far as allowing/not allowing Creationism in schools, of course; I think people should have open discussions about things that are important to them. You can't block off ideas or you don't make progress.
The problem with Pascal's Wager is that you profess to know what you have no evidence for... in effect, you are gambling with your soul, or at least your integrity, on something you really don't believe. Well, you're promised great blessings if you are right and presume no punishment if you're wrong...
Hmmm, well, does a teacher need to tell the students that they will be punished if they copy all the wrong answers on a test? No, it's just there. No matter how kind the teacher, he will not be able to save you if you put your faith in something you accepted dishonestly.
As for creationism, I think it is misguided, even if you accept the Bible as the inerrant word of God, a careful reading has several examples of evolution--the change from a diet of fruit to an omnivorous diet (Gen 1:30, Gen 3:17-19; interpretations may differ) , the sudden onset of woman's pain in childbirth (Gen 3:16), the disappearance of the legs of the snake (Gen 3:14).
The "curses" of God accompanying the onset of knowledge enumerated in Genesis 3 are completely compatible with the idea of evolution of a new species, considering that other primates really don't seem to have that much trouble with childbirth, stepping on thorns, digesting a wide variety of plants, etc, nor do they seem particularly aware or interested in the concept of good and evil.
Another example of evolution in the Bible is Genesis 6:4 where other species appeared to be present for some time who were definitely not human, but must have been much closer to human than any other primates.
One more case for evolution in the Bible is the slow generational decrease in the maximum length of human life from 900 to 120 years. (Genesis 6:3, and Genesis 11:10-32)
This evolution/creation issue is really a red herring, because the creation theory is disputed very handily by the book it supposedly comes from.
Even the idea that the heaven's and earth were created in 7 days is using a different definition for "day" since the sun was not created in the Bible until day 4! (Gen 1: 14-19)
I think if we open things up to discussion instead of trying to censor them, these things come to light. If we censor it, try to take away Pascal's Wager, or talk of creation it's bad. I think the greatest difficulty is that no matter what we force the teachers to teach, they will resent it if we make them teach something they don't believe. They really can't do that anyway, because it's like forcing somebody to teach something they don't know.
2007-06-02 08:58:02 · answer #2 · answered by Jon 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
No. Creationism can be taught in a class on comparative religion, but it has no business in a science class. Creationism fails as science because it has no testable hypothesis. Science relies on observations, not feelings. Even when a theory is "felt" to be true, there is a way to test it.
Prayer is allowed in schools. You just can't have a school-sponsored prayer. Nothing stops people from dropping to their knees and praying in classrooms, as long as it does not interfere with other students' studies.
The 10 commandments should not be allowed to be displayed on any government buildings. This is government-sponsored religion. That is not what the Founding Fathers had in mind when they purposefully set up a separation of church and state.
Pascal's Wager can apply to any religion. What if the Hindus are right? Better join them just in case. Anyone with half a brain will eventually see this.
2007-06-02 07:52:15 · answer #3 · answered by seattlefan74 5 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Ack! No.
Religion of any kind shouldn't be taught in public schools. People are free to teach their own children anything they want to about any god or gods they believe in. But they should not ever have the right to teach it to other people's children. Seriously, if you had children would you want them going to school and learning that religious beliefs are facts?
Besides, anyone with half a brain should see through Pascal's wager right away. Let them keep repeating it. It actually proves how silly the whole thing is, don't you think?
2007-06-02 08:15:19 · answer #4 · answered by Sun: supporting gay rights 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Why not? Everyone deserves the opportunity to make a choice. If creationism is presented, it will illustrate the ludicrousness of their belief, and give
those among us a way of comparison.
However, it is against the law to have the 10 commandants openly in view in the public schools, or any other school that receives government subsidy.
I also believe the phrase "under god" in our pledge of allegiance should be eliminated. Christians are so cavalier. They act as if their belief structure is the only philosophy that is valid. Poor things.
2007-06-02 08:12:23 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Naw - I say if they want to teach creation in grade school, math and history should be taught in church. I figure since they want to take time out of the day the kids are learning something useful to teach them a fairy tale, they need to make that time up somewhere else.
Religious instruction is for the home and the church. Kids go to school to learn things that will make them productive, successful earners. And don't even get me started on the 10 Commandments thing... grrrr....
2007-06-02 08:11:01 · answer #6 · answered by ReeRee 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Oh bollocks!
In certain cities, high school textbooks ACTUALLY have a disclaimer within the cover of their science books stating that evolution is just a theory and that you should believe what you want and use your own discretion, and whatnot. Well, dur!
I think religion in school is a bad idea, unless it is an elective course. I say, let the students decide. Put a class about world religions in schools, but let the kids decide if they wanna take it or not.
2007-06-02 07:52:29 · answer #7 · answered by Abby C 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
As a Believer in a Creative Force, I cannot accept that trade-off.
In a sense I am atheist in that I am against or without the concept of "Father God" which I find very limiting.
I don't know about your Sunday school, but in our catechism we did not have Pascal's wager. We got that in the general philosophy course at our freshman year of college.
2007-06-02 07:46:46 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 1⤋
I'm not atheist, but I'm about ready to take it.
Even if every Sunday School teacher said, "Everyone's already heard Pascal's Wager..."!
2007-06-02 08:23:33 · answer #9 · answered by GreenEyedLilo 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
No.
I don't want that stuff taught to children as anything even remotely resembling fact. Pascal's wager is simple enough to prove as nonsense.
2007-06-02 08:05:38 · answer #10 · answered by RU SRS? 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋