Atheism or Anti-Theism Taught In The Classroom?
We seem to hear a lot about “separation of church and state” and about how we need to keep religion and Christianity to ourselves or in the privacy of our own homes, but interestingly Scholastic would like to introduce the concept of The Golden Compass: Language Arts Lessons & Activities to our children through their teachers.
Check out the advertisement:
[http://content.scholastic.com/browse/unitplan.jsp?id=284]
Check out the advertisement:
[http://content.scholastic.com/browse/unitplan.jsp?id=284]
Welcome Teachers! We hope you enjoy this language arts program featuring The Golden Compass, the soon-to-be-released film based on the multi-award-winning novel by Philip Pullman. You’ll find turnkey, skill-building materials on symbolism and characterization that help students understand the relevance of literary themes in their lives. The lessons and activities, while connected to the book and film, can be taught independently to supplement any language arts curriculum.
Here are some SparkNotes concerning the book:
[http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/hisdarkmaterials/summary.html]
Now, let’s recount what the author said himself about these books:
"My books are about killing God"
So, let me ask…
We should not allow the teaching of how great God is in school, but the reading and teaching of the “symbolism and characterization” of killing God should be allowed?
Is this because the Scriptures are a work of fact, and His Dark Materials are a work of fiction?
3 comments:
Tim
The Golden Compass is a novel, and as literature there is no reason why it should not be introduced into classrooms.
As a matter of fact, I wouldn't mind if schools teach the bible, if only from a historical analysis on how inaccurate bibles are, and how those uneducated baffoons who write these holey scribes tend to be ignorant of almost everything they write.
As for "killing God", the author talks about this hypothetical murder in a metaphorical manner, and in any case, since God does not exist, it is impossible to murder this deity in question.
As for the bible being "factual", historical evidence speaks volumes of the incredible inaccuracies of the Holy Babble.
Beast
& one more thing: About not teaching children that god is great, I think that should be the way.
If God exists, he is either incompetent and downright cruel. Both traits are not becoming of a omnipotent and omniscient and omnipotent being.
Beast
I am against censorship on principle. Both Narnia and His Dark Materials should be available to all.
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