101. E-Petition: Abolish Faith Schools

Comment #7322 by Martha on November 18, 2006 at 8:16 am

John Bolch claims to be for "promoting tolerance, reason and free expression." But by definition, tolerance means allowing others to live, think, and learn in ways different from your own. Free expression means allowing other people to express and study ideas that other people consider incorrect, without fear of force or retribution. And reasoning is an exercise that derives conclusions from premises that are always, at some level, suppositional.

John's position, stated plainly, is "I will allow tolerance and free expression for people who think, learn, and reason in a manner meeting with my own approval. All other people shall be imprisoned, deprived of parental custody, fined, and/or otherwise sanctioned by police force if they refuse to comply with John's metaphysical view of the world."

Reason is a gradual, incremental, patient exercise in persuasion, not a campaign of brute force. This kind of militant atheism merely reinforces the militant religionist's image of the atheist boogyman.

102. E-Petition: Abolish Faith Schools

Comment #7219 by Martha on November 17, 2006 at 6:18 pm

Billy Sands and the other dumb asses on this string think that religious "schools also lead to segregation and intolerance." Apparently the irony is lost on them as they attempt to abolish free expression and force everyone to think and study like they do.

The truth is that normal people in this world are trapped between religous fanatics on one hand and atheist fanatics on the other. Both groups are on a jihad to cram their righteous views down the throats of other people by force of law. What all of them, religious and atheist alike, need to do is go home, study the value of the First Amendment to the US Constitution, read something like www.quaqua.org/history.htm that talks about the evils of compulsory education for all of society, and then buggar off the rest of us so we can run our own lives and educations as we see fit.

103. Home-schooling special: Preach your children well

Comment #6264 by Martha on November 13, 2006 at 12:37 pm

It is unfair to tar all home educators with the HSLDA and Patrick Henry brush. These HSLDA/PHC people are only a very small part of a much larger home education community, in much the same way that Wahabi Muslims in Saudi Arabia are only one very small group within Islam.

This skewed characterization of home education culture and history is therefore off the mark. Many home educators are atheists, Ivy League graduates, scientists, etc. I suggest that those who want to obtain an accurate overview, who want to investigate both sides of the question in the objective tradition they claim to espouse, should check out www.quaqua.org/list.htm, www.quaqua.org/history.htm. and www.quaqua.org/protegerec.htm.