Christianity question?

Question

okay, let me start by saying that I respect everyone's right to choose their own religion (except Satanism, I don't agree with that). I personally am a Christian and Im very devoted to my religion.

today at school in one of my classes, a teacher was making a refrence to a book he was reading (which was the bible). when he held it up he covered the word "bible" on it with his hand and said "Im not supposed to show you this." he said it was wrong he even brought it to school.

my question is...why is the school system and everyone else so worried about offending non-Christians that they actually offend Christians in the process?

I know other people are offended by this as well...its not just me.

so why IS the school system and everyone so worried about offending people not in the Christian religion?

Okay, so first...I was not offended by the fact that he covered up the word "bible". I was offended because he said he wasn't allowed to talk about Christianity in school.

Second, I do know what Satanism is. I would never said I didn't support something without knowing what it was. I'm not ignorant or arrogant.

You have the right to whatever religion you want and I'm sorry if anyone interpreted it the wrong way.

Thanks for the serious answers actually ANSWERING the question, I appriciate it.

Oh, and if muslims were teaching islam to my kids, I would be happy they were getting insight to a new religion. I wouldn't go crazy because it wasn't Christianity. I would want my kids to know about other religions and not have a bias against anyone. As long as they weren't trying to force their religion on them, I wouldn't care. However, this teacher wasn't saying "I want you all to be Christians!" if he did then that would be totally wrong. The same goes with any other religion.

Answer 1

Without the complete context of what your teacher was saying, it sounds like your teacher is a fool, because he was behaving foolishly.

I'd also bet there are Bibles in your school library.

I'm a Christian, and a student-pastor in seminary, and I don't understand how the LACK of something is offensive.

If Christianity isn't taught, how is that offensive to people who want it taught? There are a lot of things that aren't taught in school, and should never be taught, and Christianity is one of them.

I don't want any religion respected or followed formally by the government. One reason, I don't want to have chicken sacrifices in the classrooms -- and if you let in one religion, why not all of them?

Second, I don't want religion taught in school, because it should be taught in church, and I don't want to have to teach science or math on Sunday mornings.

If all the people who want Christianity in schools would actually attend church every week, then they really wouldn't need it to be in the schools, would they?

Finally, religion is a personal issue, a relationship between you and the creator . . . how is that improved by bringing it under government control in the public schools?

Godspeed you on your journey of discovery.

Answer 2

More than anything, they're trying not to offend ANYONE, Christians and non-Christians alike. Just try to flip this scenario and imagine that the book he brought to school had been a book about Wicca. That sort of book is totally appropriate and even representative of the religion I practice, but I can guarantee that if he let everyone know what it was, there would probably be a huge stink made about it by people of other religions (especially Christians). Does it make sense to you now why your teacher was careful where it came to revealing the Bible in class. If Christians have the right to protest books representing Wicca or Islam or any other religion being presented to their children in school, then all those other religions have the right to protest Christian books being presented to their children in the school. It is only fair for there to be an even give and take here and not special privileges given to Christianity, whether it is the majority religion or not.

By the way, it wasn't the school system who was offending people in your class, it was your teacher. It WAS wrong for him to bring the Bible to class, and the way he handled it was not only offensive to you, but as a Pagan, I would have found it offensive also. There are always two sides of the coin. If he had followed the rules, none of this would have come up.

Answer 3

First of all, why did your teacher do that? It sounds like he was trying to show off or stir up trouble.

Second, he was wrong. He can have a Bible in school. That has been held up time and again by the Supreme Court of the United States.

Third, he can teach the Bible in school if it is presented in the context of history or literature. He can't teach religion in a school that is taxpayer supported, but he can teach anything else from the Bible or any other Holy Book ( do you want the government teaching your kids what to believe?)

Sometimes, people think they are standing up for a cause when they are simply exhibiting their ignorance.

I am a fundamentalist Christian and I believe in the separation of church and state.

Answer 4

There seems to be a false sense of equalism floating around in the U.S. You and I as Christians, are suppose to suppress our thoughts and beliefs because we may offend someone who doesn't believe as we do. The school system is worried that if you present the Bible as truth and teach it as such, that you will also have to teach any other book that another religion holds as their truth. The real truth is,,,it will always be an issue. Everyone is in search of something and some will choose the Christian way of life, and others will choose another way. Hopefully, we can live in harmony and get along with one another.

Answer 5

The simple answer is this, we as Christians know that the end is near. We know that our Lord Jesus said that in the end, they (the world) will hate us, just as they hated him. Christianity shines the light on others lives, and reviles what they don't want to see. All other "religions" are nothing but feel good exercises in life. ONLY Christianity, makes the claim that we will be held accountable to a just God, for our lives, the world can not stand that. So why is it OK to offend us? Cause we sit and take it, the back bone of the church is broken, because we DID set and take it. The church should have stood up in 1963 and told the atheist O'Hara, no you will not remove God form our children's schools, and if they had done so, the world would be a vastly different place.

Answer 6

I think people of faith should be allowed to practice their faith, but a teacher shouldn't be straying from the curriculum in any way that involves sharing only from their own faith's text. That said, I think the question is much larger than people realize.

A local elementary school here was allowing Christian parents of students to meet on the premises for one hour every weekend to pray for the school and its students, that they would be safe and so on. The ACLU found out and filed suit not only tryingt o stop this practice but also preventing ANY student from praying to a God of any kind because doing so even in silence in theior own head would interfere with the liberties of other students.

This justification is incorrect on almost any grounds, whether it be intent, precedent, strict construction, etc and ultimately they spent the lion's share of their budget to try and silence and punish a group of parents who wanted to do all they could to make sure all the students in the school were safe and productive.

It's not really offensive to me as a Christian, but it offends my sense of ordered liberty and of Western ethics. You see, the rights upon which the ACLU filed the suit are recognized as self-evident and natural. That is itself an article of faith. Banning the practice of such expressions undermines the very underpnnings of the liberal system upon which we rely to maintain order in a pluralistic society. Once our Aristotelian and Thomist roots are removed out of spite the ACLU would have no basis for claims about rights and the majority would just rule the day by force.

Many Christians, such as myself, do not want such a place.

Answer 7

You want my take on this, as a fellow Christian--it's because Satan knows that Christianity is true and he is working very hard to keep people from finding this out. He has twisted our American freedoms into this ridiculous church/state wall & political correctness gone wild so that he can trick as many people as he can into following him into Hell.

He doesn't care if anybody follows any other religion because he knows they are false--only Christianity has any power over him, and he knows it. I feel sorry for everyone who has been fooled by him and refuses to see the truth. If there was really nothing to it, then it wouldn't offend anyone--it's because it IS true than non-believers find it so offensive.

In these "politically correct" days, it only seems to be ok to make fun of or offend those who are Christian, blonde, and/or from the South. Since I fit all three of those categories, I guess I should be used to it by now, but you are so right. The free speech and open-mindedness that those "politically correct" folks are advocating doesn't seem to extend to everyone equally, does it?

Answer 8

I'm a Christian too and have a different view of this. If the school system makes it easy for us to practice our religion in school (wouldn't that be wonderful), the problem is they would have to allow all religions to practice their faith. Including Satanism which is a recognized religion and even retains a tax exempt status. I can practice my faith anywhere, you can pray in school all you want, you can read your Bible all you want. No one can stop you as a student from these things, but the if the school supports one faith, it must equally support all faiths. Given that reality, it doesn't bother me.

Answer 9

Me personally I would not want my children to be taught other Religions. Not that I am biased about them. Children are very susceptible to teachings as they are growing. After they mature I would welcome them learning about other Religions. As for the Bible in school- separation of State and Church. Not that I agree with it, but I would rather have that then them allowing ALL Religions into the school. Peace

Answer 10

I completely agree with you. I believe that if someone wants to bring a bible to school and read it, they have every right to do so. However it should not be mixed in with what the real reason of school is...which is to learn. But no one should be offended by someone expressing their freedom of religion.