CO Republican wants to make religion an excuse to skip parts of school

[BurtWorm]

under the guise of protecting the First Amendment rights of the religious in Colorado. State Sen. Dave Schulteis's bill, called "The Public School Religious Bill of Rights", has the following provisions:

Teachers may:

(VII) NOT BE REQUIRED TO TEACH A TOPIC THAT VIOLATES HIS OR HER RELIGIOUS BELIEFS AND NOT BE DISCIPLINED FOR REFUSING TO TEACH THE TOPIC;

School boards must set up policies that allow:

(a) A HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT TO OPT OUT OF ANY CLASS OR THE USE OF SPECIFIC COURSE MATERIAL THAT IS INCONSISTENT WITH HIS OR HER RELIGIOUS BELIEFS; OR

(b) A PARENT OR GUARDIAN OF AN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, MIDDLE SCHOOL, OR JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT TO EXCUSE HIS OR HER CHILD FROM ANY CLASS OR THE USE OF SPECIFIC COURSE MATERIAL THAT IS INCONSISTENT WITH HIS OR HER RELIGIOUS BELIEFS.

How does this sound to you? Reasonable?

<link courtesy of Pharyngula>

[ThomCat]

1. That is just amazing idiocy.

So teachers would be able to arbitrarily change the curriculum based on their religious beliefs by excluding anything they don't like?

And students would have an excuse to skip class if anything in the curriculum violates their religious beliefs?

That would be a nightmare for public education. School districts would probably dumb down the curriculum to avoid problems. And where would all of these students go when they walk out of class? Would there have to be a designated alternative classroom where they could go to read their bibles instead?
x(

[cspanlovr]

2. I've always doubted that one plus one equaling two business....

This is a great idea!:sarcasm:

[Jackpine Radical]

10. Are you one of us Trinitarians

who hold that 1+1=3, or are you some kinda deviant heretic?

[zbdent]

3. Will be funny to see how "well" these kids do in their future

and suddenly "flipping burgers" will be a "noble career" (well, it's already a "manufacturing" job, according to Bush's administration) ...

[yellowcanine]

4. So a Creationist Biology Teacher would not have to teach Evolution?

Or a Flat Earther wouldn't have to teach that the Earth is a sphere? etc.... This is bullshit.

[cynatnite]

5. My teen daughter would say that algebra is against her religion...

she despises that class.

This is completely stupid!

[BurtWorm]

6. Ha ha!

Come to think of it, paying bills is against my religion...

:think:

[Sweet Freedom]

7. I think VII could open a big can of worms

What happens when a school hires teachers who only believe in creationism and then they stop teaching what offends them. Will they just eliminate science?

I would have a problem with the other two provisions because the way they are worded. It looks like parents could perhaps have the course material eliminated. It other words, it looks like that provision could mean that no one in class could use the material versus one child being taken out of the class.

[BOSSHOG]

8. Nothing but fucking insanity

A person's religious belief's is irrelevant in a public school in the land of the free. This is just another ploy by constitution hating religious zealots designed to be used to show how "christians" are being persecuted in America when this totally anti-American proposal gets properly shitcanned. Please would "christians" who want to be really persecuted move to Iran. Now.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

9. Biology class is gonna get real short.

No teaching sex or evolution in biology class.

No dissecting fetal pigs for Muslim students or teachers?

Why do we have idiot non-lawyers that think they can legislate anything into existence??

[kestrel91316]

15. New textbook for biology class:

The Bible.

If it ain't in the bible, they don't need to know it.
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Jesus god, I am ashamed anymore to be an American.

[Clark2008]

26. My lab partner in college biology was Muslim

and HE dissected our pig with me.

:)

[The2ndWheel]

11. Well it does sound like a personal choice

If work in the future didn't make us free, I'd say go for it. But obviously we all have to be productive and efficient, and have our lives planned out as soon as possible, so I'm sure this won't work.

[originalpckelly]

28. Well, my friend, does 2 + 2 = 5, because high holy Bob, my God...

tells me it is.

Why shouldn't I be able to have my children stop taking math?

[Iris]

12. I'd feel sorry for the kid who wants to learn but whose parents

decide he can't. What a nightmare childhood that would be.

[SanCristobal]

13. I support this.

Because I don't want my children to learn about dinosaurs. Those are the 5000 year old bones of biblical giants!

[RaleighNCDUer]

14. Insane.

If you can't teach the curriculum, get a different job.

As for the student, no one says you have to BELIEVE what you are taught - that's entirely up to you. But it behooves you to know and understand the material so you know what the rest of the world believes. Ignorance is not a virtue.

I (attempted to) read Mein Kampf, and did not become a Nazi. (really unreadable book)
I (really tried to) read Das Kapital, and did not become a communist. (really, really unreadable book)
I muddled through the Bible, and am not a christian.

But I know the basics of what each says. And I'm only moderately brain damaged because of them.

[sakabatou]

16. When I was in highschool we got 1 day off for Yom Kippur

[Zenlitened]

17. I really need to re-think my atheism. First pharmacists, now teachers...

When this "get-out-of-work-free-because-my-religion-sez-so" thing reaches my profession, I want to be ready to take advantage of it!

:patriot:

[sinkingfeeling]

18. My kid would say all courses and materials are against his religion and

skip school completely!

[cynatnite]

22. Both of our kids might say school was against their religion

:)

[originalpckelly]

27. Smart kids...

I'd do the same thing and argue it as high as I could go, just for the purpose of overturning this law.

[More Than A Feeling]

19. It's the "Fragility of Fundamentalist Faith Act"

aka the "Dear God, please don't let our children find out we've been stuffing their heads with nonsensical anti-science Act".

[originalpckelly]

20. I believe that 2 + 2 = 5, Bob, my God tells me that.

I guess if I have kids I can tell the school not to teach my children math.

[originalpckelly]

21. By the way, I plan on fighting this with my every breath. I live in CO...

and I will not have our children learning only what their ignorant parents think they know.

[The2ndWheel]

23. Interesting use of "our" and "their"

Not sure what to say about it, but it's interesting.

[originalpckelly]

25. Isn't there a social responsibility to children?

One doesn't exactly have to believe that public schools are the best method of education, but I feel very deeply that there is a social responsibility to the children of Colorado and to the nation as a whole. In fact, it is not just an opinion, it's a fact.

It is only just to give all children, even the children of fervently religious families an equal opportunity to receive a quality education, and quite frankly saying that the world was only created 6,000 ago, in direct contraction of scientific evidence.

This is much bigger problem too, because if someone has learned the ability to ignore fact which directly contradicts what they're being told by a position of authority, it makes it easier to do that in other areas. This includes government.

[TZ]

24. all those imaginary creatures

Thank God they won't have to learn about all those mythical creatures like "dinosaurs"...:sarcasm: