tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32924329.post116350812124491488..comments2023-10-31T03:58:32.056-07:00Comments on Empathic Rationalist: Daniel Spirohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09656412977046134771noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32924329.post-1163554642650024312006-11-14T17:37:00.000-08:002006-11-14T17:37:00.000-08:00Benedict --If the teachers handle the minute of co...Benedict --<BR/><BR/>If the teachers handle the minute of compelled silence sensitively, it need not come across as punishment. Today, we have the "pledge of allegiance" -- which includes an arguably unconstitutional statement about this nation being "under God." That pledge probably takes 20 seconds. Kids probably don't view it as punishment. They may view it as stupid, but not as punishment. If the kids think taking a minute to be with their own thoughts (or dreams, prayers, etc.) is stupid, who would they be indicting but themselves?Daniel Spirohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09656412977046134771noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32924329.post-1163554303079811102006-11-14T17:31:00.000-08:002006-11-14T17:31:00.000-08:00Comparative religion, if taught in school, could e...Comparative religion, if taught in school, could emerge as a skill set for children to master. But it needn't. It would help if the schools didn't develop an "AP Test" for religion, and allowed teachers not simply to teach to a test.<BR/><BR/>In any event, we can talk all we want about the problems with introducing religion into the public domain -- and those problems are obvious -- but the status quo is a spiritual wasteland. The essence of liberalism is the courage to risk making things worse based on the hope of making things better. I'm willing to take some chances in order to see if we can make more and more people respect the value of spirituality as a domain that they might want to wrestle with, if not embrace.Daniel Spirohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09656412977046134771noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32924329.post-1163523072330354732006-11-14T08:51:00.000-08:002006-11-14T08:51:00.000-08:00All this sounds as if religion were just another s...All this sounds as if religion were just another skill set for children to master among their already content-driven school subjects. Marietta Johnson, America's great visionary educator of the 20th Century, felt that while perhaps important in a child's life, <A HREF="http://findingafairhope.blogspot.com/2006/07/god-and-mrs-johnson.html" REL="nofollow">religion in school </A> should be interpreted as a spiritual approach to learning and the general betterment of life during and after school hours.<BR/><BR/>As to the moment of silence and its possible cause for stress and interpretation as punishment, how about this quote from Mrs. Johnson: "The little child should have much time for play, and even for dreaming. If one may not dream in childhood, when will time be found for this accomplishment?"Mary Loishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01515655542270431289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32924329.post-1163521714490055722006-11-14T08:28:00.000-08:002006-11-14T08:28:00.000-08:00"What if, for kids who are in middle school and hi..."What if, for kids who are in middle school and high school, the first and last class periods of every school day began with one solid minute of compelled silence?" In three weeks or less the kids would begin to treat the minutes as a form of punishment.Benedict S.https://www.blogger.com/profile/18319073770437347659noreply@blogger.com