On Mon, 19 Jan 2004 09:04:47 -0900, "dpr" <why> posted in alt.atheism:

Seems you are the ignorant one, as you cannot refute what the article

"Dana is a

On Mon, 19 Jan 2004, it was written:

"ZenIsWhen" <ZenIsWhen@anywhere.com> wrote in message
news:100o1jq1cfecjc4@corp.supernews.com...

"dpr" <why> wrote in message

Humanism - The Established State Religion
Ben Rast

"Education is the most powerful ally of Humanism,

Oh? Then (obviously .. concluded from your post and that statement),
ignorance is the ally of organized religion.

Seems you are the ignorant one, as you cannot refute what the article

That has already been done:

"dpr" <why> wrote in message news:100o6h89ra25nd6@corp.supernews.com...

Is that all you do .. post fantically insane and biased vrap?

Humanism - The Established State Religion
Ben Rast

"Education is the most powerful ally of Humanism, and every American
public school is a school of Humanism. What can the theistic Sunday
Schools, meeting for an hour once a week, and teaching only a fraction

the children, do to stem the tide of a five-day program of humanistic
teaching?"

Godless political forces in the United States fight tirelessly to rid

public school system of anything that seems remotely Christian.

evolution is now taught to the exclusion of even the scientific support

for

creationism. Displays of the Ten Commandments have been ripped from the
walls, and lawsuit after lawsuit has sought to eliminate prayer, Bible
reading, and evangelism - even when those actions are thought of and
conducted by the students as opposed to the school itself. School
administrators and teachers commonly violate the constitutional rights

Christian students (such as a private prayer, Bible reading, or

Bible clubs) either because they are afraid to be sued by the litigious
unredeemed, or because they personally want to squelch Christian

expression

in schools.
Christianity is kept out of the schools due to a faulty understanding of

the

First Amendment's "Establishment Clause." The separationists claim that

any

religion taught or tolerated within the school (except for historic
instruction) constitutes an intolerable government endorsement of

religion.

They keep teachers from teaching anything about creationism - or even
pointing out the problems with evolution - for the same misguided

no

government endorsement of religion or religious doctrine. As

is

a belief held by Christians, Jews, and other religions, it must not be
allowed to be taught or tolerated within public schools. But there is a
double standard now. By doing what they have done, they have created a
public school system that actually teaches the doctrines of one

to

the exclusion of all others. This indeed is a violation of the First
Amendment. One single religion is preached in public schools, and no

other

religion may compete with it within those walls. I refer to the

of

humanism.
Some of you are saying, "Now wait a minute. Humanism isn't a religion!"
Oh, but it is. Let's look at some evidence that will show that not only
humanists consider humanism a religion, but the government of the United
States also recognizes it as a religion. Then we'll examine how that
religion is being taught in the schools.
There's no doubt that many humanists consider their ideology a religion.
Charles Francis Potter, signer of the Humanist Manifesto and author of
Humanism: A New Religion, wrote, "So Humanism is not simply another
denomination of Protestant Christianity; it is not a creed; nor is it a
cult. It is a new type of religion altogether."1 Potter also directed
attention to the battleground where the humanist religion dominates -

public school system. Potter said, "Education is the most powerful ally

of

Humanism, and every American public school is a school of Humanism.

can the theistic Sunday Schools, meeting for an hour once a week, and
teaching only a fraction of the children, do to stem the tide of a

five-day

program of humanistic teaching?"2 A former president of the American
Humanist Association, Lloyd Morain, stated, "Down through the ages men

have

been seeking a universal religion or way of life.. Humanism.shows

of

becoming a great world faith. Humanists are content with fixing their
attention on this life and on this earth. Theirs is a faith without a

god,

divine revelation, or sacred scriptures. Yet theirs is a faith rich in
feeling and understanding."3 Humanist educator John Dewey, also a signer

of

the Humanist Manifesto, called for a new humanist religion in his work A
Common Faith.
Humanism has also gained external recognition as a religion. Herbert
Wallace Schneider included humanism as a religion in his book, Religion

20th Century America. Another of humanism's monikers, "Ethical

is

listed as a religion in the Census of Religious Bodies published by the
United States Government. Ethical Societies have received religious tax
exemptions. But perhaps the most interesting recognition of humanism as

religion has come from our courts. In the case Torcaso v. Watkins, the

U.S.

Supreme Court stated, "Among religions in this country which do not

what would generally be considered a belief in the existence of God are
Buddhism, Taoism, Ethical Culture, Secular Humanism and others."4 In

Texas Tech Law Review, an article cited several court decisions that

referred to humanism as a religion. For example, "One Federal Court in

Reed

v. Van Hoven has held that 'In light of the decided cases, the public
schools, as between theistic and humanistic religions, must carefully

avoid

any program of indoctrination in ultimate values.'"5
Let us return to why this is all so important. The establishment clause

of

the First Amendment of the United States Constitution prohibits congress
from passing legislation concerning an establishment of religion.
Throughout the years, the courts have held that no government body can

favor

one religion over another. Yet in our public schools, the doctrines and
beliefs of humanism are taught to the exclusion of any other belief.

that we have established, both in the minds of humanists and in our

federal

courts, that humanism IS a religion, we find that the public schools are
violating the establishment clause of the First Amendment by favoring

doctrines of humanism over other religious doctrines. A prime example

in

the presentation of the doctrine of evolution while excluding curriculum
that presents even merely the scientific evidence for divine creation.
Why then, are public schools able to get away with this obvious

of

the constitution? I can think of at least two major reasons. The first
reason has to do with activist federal judges that believe in

reinterpreting

the constitution to suit their own humanist ideologies. Our nation

federal judges that will rightly apply the constitution, as intended by

its

framers, when humanists and atheists illegally force policy in the

education system. Our president nominates federal judges, and our

confirms them. We must elect to office those candidates we feel will

judges on the bench who understand the correct application of the
constitution.
The second reason is that humanists have worked their way into the

positions

of power of our education system. The NEA and the Department of

are populated with humanists. Humanists also dominate state and local
boards of education. This is not simply because of the motivation of
humanists; it also indicates that Christians are not running for

on school boards and other education policy bodies. If every
Bible-believing church body had one or two qualified persons run for

and state education boards, we could soon stem the tide of humanist
domination. During many elections, the school board races are often

little attention. Yet we as Christians must be aware of who we are

electing

to set policy in the education of our children. The stakes are too

If you are still skeptical, let me repeat Charles Francis Potter's

observation, "Education is the most powerful ally of Humanism, and every
American public school is a school of Humanism. What can the theistic
Sunday Schools, meeting for an hour once a week, and teaching only a
fraction of the children, do to stem the tide of a five-day program of
humanistic teaching?"

NOTES:
1. Charles Francis Potter, Humanism: A New Religion (New York:

Simon

and Schuster, 1930), p. 3.
2. Ibid., p. 128.
3. Lloyd Morain and Mary Morain, Humanism as the Next Step

The Beacon Press, 1954), p. 4.
4. TORCASO v. WATKINS, 367 U.S. 488 (1961), Footnote 11.
5. John W. Whitehead and John Conlan, "The Establishment of the
Religion of Secular Humanism and Its First Amendment Implications,"

Tech Law Review 10 (winter 1978): 19.



--
Atheism teaches that there is no God, hence no God-given rights.

Atheism is a belief; it "teaches" nothing.

You can only prove there are god given rights AFTER you prove there is a

(your god)!
Neither you nor anyone who has ever come before you has been able to

That

ideology coupled with a system that believed in the superiority of the

state

at the expense of the individual was murderously synergistic.

Your concept of "rights" is so warped you have no idea what you are

about ... which is not news to anyone.

BTW.. Claiming that atheists "believed in the superiority of the state at
the expense of the individual

"dpr" <why> wrote in message news:100o6h89ra25nd6@corp.supernews.com...
Is that all you do .. post fantically insane and biased vrap?

"dpr" <why> wrote in message news:100o6h89ra25nd6@corp.supernews.com...
Is that all you do .. post fantically insane and biased vrap?

Humanism - The Established State Religion
Ben Rast

Humanism - The Established State Religion
Ben Rast

Another of humanism's monikers, "Ethical Culture", is
listed as a religion in the Census of Religious Bodies published by the
United States Government.

Ethical Societies have received religious tax exemptions.

But perhaps the most interesting recognition of humanism as a
religion has come from our courts. In the case Torcaso v. Watkins, the

Supreme Court stated, "Among religions in this country which do not

what would generally be considered a belief in the existence of God are
Buddhism, Taoism, Ethical Culture, Secular Humanism and others."4