| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"Sound of Trumpet" |
| Date: |
05 Jul 2007 10:47:43 PM |
| Object: |
New York Atheist Gives Millions To Catholic Schools |
http://mindfulhack.blogspot.com/2007/06/atheism-new-york-atheist-gives-millions.html
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Atheism: New York atheist gives millions to Catholic schools
Honestly, it makes way more sense than you think for an atheist to
give money for tuition to Catholic schools. Here's retired hedge fund
manager Robert W. Wilson's explanation for why he gave $22.5 million
to the Archdiocese of New York's program for needy students' tuition:
"Let's face it, without the Roman Catholic Church, there would be no
Western civilization," Wilson said. "Shunning religious organizations
would be abhorrent. Keep in mind, I'm helping to pay tuition. The
money isn't going directly to the schools."
"It was a chance for a very modest amount of money to get kids out of
a lousy school system and into a good school system," Wilson said.
It's not hard to see, in the background to this story, an indictment
of the performance of the inner city public education system.
Frankly, I don't think that the problems of secularist inner city
school systems are fixable.
When I was a child in the 1950s here in Canada, the "public" system
was actually the "Protestant" system. Underlying British North
American values, including spiritual values, were taken for granted.
But as the Protestant bedrock moldered away or was legislated away
over the decades, asserting any value whatever against a contrary
value statement became more and more difficult.
Finally, it reached the point where a friend phoned me, bewildered by
a school board document she was reading that pointedly refused to make
any moral judgments about schoolyard bullying. That might hurt the
bully's feelings, after all. He mustn't be encouraged to think that he
is to blame for his behaviour and should just change it.
As policy analyst Robert Novak notes in a recent edition of First
Things (June/July 2007, not on line yet), secularism did not really
replace transcendent commitments with a humanist value system. On the
contrary, secularism is more vulnerable than most habits of mind to
deconstruction by post-modernism. No ethical standards can be
confidently asserted in such an atmosphere (though endless irrational
rules are made, together with strategic exceptions for whiners who
have perfect pitch).
Plaudits to Wilson for providing an escape for thousands of child
refugees.
(Note: What about successful secular private schools, you ask? In my
experience, where they work well, they stay in touch with the broad,
older Western culture where, for example, people are considered
responsible for their conduct and bullying is considered shameful. But
it is important to recognize that even the non-religious aspects of
that culture were and are non-materialist. A wonderful movie
illustrating that culture is The Emperor's Club, whose story revolves
around the character issues created by the Mr. Julius Caesar contest
at a not-especially-religious private boys' school. And what about
religious schools mired in sex scandals? In general, these schools
gave up older, spiritually oriented accounts of the human person for
modernist therapy-centred ones - and reaped the bitter fruit in vast
abundance.)
Labels: atheism, Catholic schools, religious schools, secularism
.
|
|
| User: "Davej" |
|
| Title: Re: New York Atheist Gives Millions To Catholic Schools |
06 Jul 2007 10:54:59 AM |
|
|
On Jul 5, 10:47 pm, Sound of Trumpet <soundoftrum...@mailcan.com>
wrote:
http://mindfulhack.blogspot.com/2007/06/atheism-new-york-atheist-give...
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Atheism: New York atheist gives millions to Catholic schools
Honestly, it makes way more sense than you think for an atheist to
give money for tuition to Catholic schools. Here's retired hedge fund
manager Robert W. Wilson's explanation for why he gave $22.5 million
to the Archdiocese of New York's program for needy students' tuition:
[...]
Don't worry, the Catholic school system has produced plenty of
atheists.
.
|
|
|
| User: "Robibnikoff" |
|
| Title: Re: New York Atheist Gives Millions To Catholic Schools |
06 Jul 2007 11:19:02 AM |
|
|
"Davej" <galt_57@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1183737299.286128.134090@m36g2000hse.googlegroups.com...
On Jul 5, 10:47 pm, Sound of Trumpet <soundoftrum...@mailcan.com>
wrote:
http://mindfulhack.blogspot.com/2007/06/atheism-new-york-atheist-give...
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Atheism: New York atheist gives millions to Catholic schools
Honestly, it makes way more sense than you think for an atheist to
give money for tuition to Catholic schools. Here's retired hedge fund
manager Robert W. Wilson's explanation for why he gave $22.5 million
to the Archdiocese of New York's program for needy students' tuition:
[...]
Don't worry, the Catholic school system has produced plenty of
atheists.
Indeed, I married one of them ;)
--
Robyn
Resident Witchypoo
BAAWA Knight!
#1557
.
|
|
|
|
| User: "Mark K. Bilbo" |
|
| Title: Re: New York Atheist Gives Millions To Catholic Schools |
06 Jul 2007 01:00:20 PM |
|
|
On Fri, 06 Jul 2007 08:54:59 -0700, Davej wrote:
On Jul 5, 10:47 pm, Sound of Trumpet <soundoftrum...@mailcan.com> wrote:
http://mindfulhack.blogspot.com/2007/06/atheism-new-york-atheist-
give...
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Atheism: New York atheist gives millions to Catholic schools
Honestly, it makes way more sense than you think for an atheist to give
money for tuition to Catholic schools. Here's retired hedge fund
manager Robert W. Wilson's explanation for why he gave $22.5 million to
the Archdiocese of New York's program for needy students' tuition:
[...]
Don't worry, the Catholic school system has produced plenty of atheists.
You know, maybe we were wrong in separation of church and state. The
nations that had and have establishment are seeing Christianity withering
away.
Maybe letting them have what they want is the best way to be rid of
them...
--
Mark K. Bilbo a.a. #1423
EAC Department of Linguistic Subversion
------------------------------------------------------------
"Warned you we tried! Listen you did not! Now screwed
we will all be!"
http://www.sequentialpictures.com/moviestarwarsepisode3.html
.
|
|
|
| User: "BAM" |
|
| Title: Re: New York Atheist Gives Millions To Catholic Schools |
07 Jul 2007 07:59:57 AM |
|
|
"Mark K. Bilbo" <gmail@com.mkbilbo> wrote in message
news:dLSdnRxUWYSpHhPbnZ2dnUVZ_rTinZ2d@giganews.com...
On Fri, 06 Jul 2007 08:54:59 -0700, Davej wrote:
On Jul 5, 10:47 pm, Sound of Trumpet <soundoftrum...@mailcan.com> wrote:
http://mindfulhack.blogspot.com/2007/06/atheism-new-york-atheist-
give...
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Atheism: New York atheist gives millions to Catholic schools
Honestly, it makes way more sense than you think for an atheist to give
money for tuition to Catholic schools. Here's retired hedge fund
manager Robert W. Wilson's explanation for why he gave $22.5 million to
the Archdiocese of New York's program for needy students' tuition:
[...]
Don't worry, the Catholic school system has produced plenty of atheists.
You know, maybe we were wrong in separation of church and state. The
nations that had and have establishment are seeing Christianity withering
away.
Maybe letting them have what they want is the best way to be rid of
them...
Boy, all the money involved certainly generated a lot of interest and
responses.....
BAM
.
|
|
|
| User: "Mark K. Bilbo" |
|
| Title: Re: New York Atheist Gives Millions To Catholic Schools |
07 Jul 2007 02:02:52 PM |
|
|
On Sat, 07 Jul 2007 08:59:57 -0400, BAM wrote:
"Mark K. Bilbo" <gmail@com.mkbilbo> wrote in message
news:dLSdnRxUWYSpHhPbnZ2dnUVZ_rTinZ2d@giganews.com...
On Fri, 06 Jul 2007 08:54:59 -0700, Davej wrote:
On Jul 5, 10:47 pm, Sound of Trumpet <soundoftrum...@mailcan.com>
wrote:
http://mindfulhack.blogspot.com/2007/06/atheism-new-york-atheist-
give...
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Atheism: New York atheist gives millions to Catholic schools
Honestly, it makes way more sense than you think for an atheist to
give money for tuition to Catholic schools. Here's retired hedge fund
manager Robert W. Wilson's explanation for why he gave $22.5 million
to the Archdiocese of New York's program for needy students' tuition:
[...]
Don't worry, the Catholic school system has produced plenty of
atheists.
You know, maybe we were wrong in separation of church and state. The
nations that had and have establishment are seeing Christianity
withering away.
Maybe letting them have what they want is the best way to be rid of
them...
Boy, all the money involved certainly generated a lot of interest and
responses.....
About what?
--
Mark K. Bilbo a.a. #1423
EAC Department of Linguistic Subversion
------------------------------------------------------------
"Come to think of it, there are already a million monkeys
on a million typewriters, and the Usenet is NOTHING
like Shakespeare!" - Blair Houghton
.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| User: "Uncle Vic" |
|
| Title: Re: New York Atheist Gives Millions To Catholic Schools |
05 Jul 2007 11:23:01 PM |
|
|
One fine day in alt.atheism, Sound of Trumpet <soundoftrumpet@mailcan.com>
bloodied us up with this:
Honestly, it makes way more sense than you think for an atheist to
give money for tuition to Catholic schools. Here's retired hedge fund
manager Robert W. Wilson's explanation for why he gave $22.5 million
to the Archdiocese of New York's program for needy students' tuition:
"Let's face it, without the Roman Catholic Church, there would be no
Western civilization," Wilson said.
So true. Without the church's ability to control otherwise criminally
minded individuals and groups, we'd be extinct by now.
--
Uncle Vic
aa Atheist #2011
Supervisor, EAC Department of little adhesive-backed "L" shaped
chrome-plastic doo-dads to add feet to Jesus fish department.
Convicted by Earthquack.
.
|
|
|
| User: "Denis Loubet" |
|
| Title: Re: New York Atheist Gives Millions To Catholic Schools |
06 Jul 2007 12:30:21 AM |
|
|
"Uncle Vic" <address@withheld.com> wrote in message
news:Xns9964D98DB99A3vicman@216.196.97.142...
One fine day in alt.atheism, Sound of Trumpet <soundoftrumpet@mailcan.com>
bloodied us up with this:
Honestly, it makes way more sense than you think for an atheist to
give money for tuition to Catholic schools. Here's retired hedge fund
manager Robert W. Wilson's explanation for why he gave $22.5 million
to the Archdiocese of New York's program for needy students' tuition:
"Let's face it, without the Roman Catholic Church, there would be no
Western civilization," Wilson said.
So true. Without the church's ability to control otherwise criminally
minded individuals and groups, we'd be extinct by now.
Apparently that about covers it. Christians are so amoral they require
belief in an omnipotent carrot and stick to keep them in line.
--
Denis Loubet
dloubet@io.com
http://www.io.com/~dloubet
http://www.ashenempires.com
.
|
|
|
| User: "•R L Measures" |
|
| Title: Re: New York Atheist Gives Millions To Catholic Schools |
06 Jul 2007 05:43:06 AM |
|
|
In article <t4WdnVbj2-76ThDbnZ2dnUVZ_sCinZ2d@io.com>, "Denis Loubet"
<dloubet@io.com> wrote:
"Uncle Vic" <address@withheld.com> wrote in message
news:Xns9964D98DB99A3vicman@216.196.97.142...
One fine day in alt.atheism, Sound of Trumpet <soundoftrumpet@mailcan.com>
bloodied us up with this:
Honestly, it makes way more sense than you think for an atheist to
give money for tuition to Catholic schools. Here's retired hedge fund
manager Robert W. Wilson's explanation for why he gave $22.5 million
to the Archdiocese of New York's program for needy students' tuition:
"Let's face it, without the Roman Catholic Church, there would be no
Western civilization," Wilson said.
So true. Without the church's ability to control otherwise criminally
minded individuals and groups, we'd be extinct by now.
Apparently that about covers it. Christians are so amoral they require
belief in an omnipotent carrot and stick to keep them in line.
** The Achilles' heel of post 4th century Christian doctrine is that the
salvic power of Christ's "sacrifice" is unlimited. so it supposedly gives
Christians automatic forgiveness even though they be bashing the brains
out of babies -- such as happened during the St. Bartholemew's Day
Massacre (August 24, 1572). .
.
|
|
|
| User: "duke" |
|
| Title: Re: New York Atheist Gives Millions To Catholic Schools |
06 Jul 2007 07:12:53 AM |
|
|
On Fri, 06 Jul 2007 03:43:06 -0700, (•R L Measures) wrote:
** The Achilles' heel of post 4th century Christian doctrine is that the
salvic power of Christ's "sacrifice" is unlimited. so it supposedly gives
Christians automatic forgiveness even though they be bashing the brains
out of babies -- such as happened during the St. Bartholemew's Day
Massacre (August 24, 1572). .
What auto forgiveness, rl?????
duke, American-American
*****
"The Mass is the most perfect form of Prayer."
Pope Paul VI
*****
.
|
|
|
| User: "Martin" |
|
| Title: Re: New York Atheist Gives Millions To Catholic Schools |
06 Jul 2007 10:34:32 AM |
|
|
"duke" <duckgumbo32@cox.net> wrote in message
news:6dcs83dlkdgit18nkb0p26rlefhuhubkoq@4ax.com...
On Fri, 06 Jul 2007 03:43:06 -0700, (.R L Measures) wrote:
** The Achilles' heel of post 4th century Christian doctrine is that the
salvic power of Christ's "sacrifice" is unlimited. so it supposedly gives
Christians automatic forgiveness even though they be bashing the brains
out of babies -- such as happened during the St. Bartholemew's Day
Massacre (August 24, 1572). .
What auto forgiveness, rl?????
Repentance.
This is one of the novel features that made Christianity so appealing to the
likes of Charlemagne, Wm. the Conqueror and various other psychopathic
despots during the last couple of thousand years.
An entire lifetime of cruelty, sin, murder, selfishness (fill in other sins
here) is all forgiven and forgotten with a few choice Latin sentences and a
hasty blessing from any qualified priest. How could anyone lose?
This nonsense has unfortunately been the cause of untold misery and
injustice for many centuries. The authoritarian 'do as I say, not as i do!'
nature of the church appealed greatly too, to enforcers, despots and
ruthless tyrants - including those in command of the church themselves. See
what happened when the Bible was translated into English, so anyone (who
could read) might see 'The Word of the Lord' for themself, and understand...
oh dear! Burned in a barrel for owning a copy... after torture of course.
Once the cat was out of the bag, people naturally started asking awkward
questions, such as "where did Cain's wife come from?" and "where is Mrs God
in all this?"... and here we find ourselves today, shaking off the last
remnants of all this nonsense hopefully. It will be a while yet even so...
I really hope that mankind is on the point of a spiritual awakening, which
has been underway for a while now, hampered by much reaction from the fading
forces of 'organised religion' and monodeist, monotheist establishments who
war against each other by ancient tradition. Call me a 'Pagan Evangelist' if
you wish, but open your minds, think outside the box and you might see the
light - worth a try?
Cheers
Martin
.
|
|
|
|
| User: "•R L Measures" |
|
| Title: Re: New York Atheist Gives Millions To Catholic Schools |
06 Jul 2007 09:12:35 AM |
|
|
In article <6dcs83dlkdgit18nkb0p26rlefhuhubkoq@4ax.com>, duke
<duckgumbo32@cox.net> wrote:
On Fri, 06 Jul 2007 03:43:06 -0700, (•R L Measures) wrote:
** The Achilles' heel of post 4th century Christian doctrine is that the
salvic power of Christ's "sacrifice" is unlimited. so it supposedly gives
Christians automatic forgiveness even though they be bashing the brains
out of babies -- such as happened during the St. Bartholemew's Day
Massacre (August 24, 1572). .
What auto forgiveness, rl?????
• Can faithful Catholics who sin spend eternity in Hell ?
.
|
|
|
|
| User: "Uncle Vic" |
|
| Title: Re: New York Atheist Gives Millions To Catholic Schools |
06 Jul 2007 12:44:33 PM |
|
|
One fine day in alt.atheism, duke <duckgumbo32@cox.net> bloodied us up with
this:
On Fri, 06 Jul 2007 03:43:06 -0700, (•R L Measures) wrote:
** The Achilles' heel of post 4th century Christian doctrine is that the
salvic power of Christ's "sacrifice" is unlimited. so it supposedly gives
Christians automatic forgiveness even though they be bashing the brains
out of babies -- such as happened during the St. Bartholemew's Day
Massacre (August 24, 1572). .
What auto forgiveness, rl?????
The same forgiveness offered to serial killers on death row, that makes
them feel exonerated. Are you going to be friends with Geoffry Dahmer,
Puke?
--
Uncle Vic
aa Atheist #2011
Supervisor, EAC Department of little adhesive-backed "L" shaped
chrome-plastic doo-dads to add feet to Jesus fish department.
Convicted by Earthquack.
.
|
|
|
|
|
|
| User: "CE" |
|
| Title: Re: New York Atheist Gives Millions To Catholic Schools |
06 Jul 2007 11:27:42 AM |
|
|
On 6 juil, 02:30, "Denis Loubet" <dlou...@io.com> wrote:
Christians are so amoral they require
belief in an omnipotent carrot and stick to keep them in line.
I get a kick out of this.
On the one hand, atheists claim Christians - and especially priests
and pastors - are no better than anyone else and commit all kinds of
terrible crimes. On the other hand, atheists also claim that it is is
only a mistaken and naive belief in fictious god and a reward in
heaven that keeps Christians from committing crimes.
So, which is it, guys? Are Christians are these terrible criminals -
or are they law-abiding, gullible fools? You can't have it both ways.
.
|
|
|
| User: "Denis Loubet" |
|
| Title: Re: New York Atheist Gives Millions To Catholic Schools |
06 Jul 2007 12:06:34 PM |
|
|
"CE" <jlrisdon@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1183739262.285732.178860@q75g2000hsh.googlegroups.com...
On 6 juil, 02:30, "Denis Loubet" <dlou...@io.com> wrote:
Christians are so amoral they require
belief in an omnipotent carrot and stick to keep them in line.
I get a kick out of this.
On the one hand, atheists claim Christians - and especially priests
and pastors - are no better than anyone else and commit all kinds of
terrible crimes.
Which seems to be an objectively true fact. Do you disagree?
On the other hand, atheists also claim that it is is
only a mistaken and naive belief in fictious god and a reward in
heaven that keeps Christians from committing crimes.
Well, on an atheist call in show, there was a Christian caller who asked why
atheists are not out raping and killing. I asked him if that's what he would
rather be doing if not for the strictures of his religion. Rather than
surrender the point, he said yes.
I can only conclude then that Christians would behave much worse if not for
the belief in a supernatural carrot and stick.
So, which is it, guys? Are Christians are these terrible criminals -
or are they law-abiding, gullible fools? You can't have it both ways.
Yes we can, they're terrible criminals barely held in check by being
gullible fools.
--
Denis Loubet
dloubet@io.com
http//www.io.com/~dloubet
.
|
|
|
|
| User: "Cary Kittrell" |
|
| Title: Re: New York Atheist Gives Millions To Catholic Schools |
06 Jul 2007 12:01:08 PM |
|
|
In article <1183739262.285732.178860@q75g2000hsh.googlegroups.com> CE <jlrisdon@gmail.com> writes:
On 6 juil, 02:30, "Denis Loubet" <dlou...@io.com> wrote:
Christians are so amoral they require
belief in an omnipotent carrot and stick to keep them in line.
I get a kick out of this.
On the one hand, atheists claim Christians - and especially priests
and pastors - are no better than anyone else and commit all kinds of
terrible crimes.
Quite plausible. In that's not the case, then the single-digit
percent of atheists in this country have been mighty busy,
keeping the crime stats up where they are, in spite of
the 75-85% of Christians who aren't holding up their end.
On the other hand, atheists also claim that it is is
only a mistaken and naive belief in fictious god and a reward in
heaven that keeps Christians from committing crimes.
Actually, this is said almost solely in response to a believer claiming
that atheists have no morals, having nothing to base morals
on. The obvious response is "I don't rape and murder; are
you telling me it's only your religion that keeps you from
doing the same?"
So, which is it, guys? Are Christians are these terrible criminals -
or are they law-abiding, gullible fools? You can't have it both ways.
And as I have just shown, there is not contradiction, because
the claims are not made the way you present them.
-- cary
.
|
|
|
|
| User: "Mark K. Bilbo" |
|
| Title: Re: New York Atheist Gives Millions To Catholic Schools |
06 Jul 2007 12:59:03 PM |
|
|
On Fri, 06 Jul 2007 16:27:42 +0000, CE wrote:
On 6 juil, 02:30, "Denis Loubet" <dlou...@io.com> wrote:
Christians are so amoral they require
belief in an omnipotent carrot and stick to keep them in line.
I get a kick out of this.
On the one hand, atheists claim Christians - and especially priests and
pastors - are no better than anyone else and commit all kinds of
terrible crimes. On the other hand, atheists also claim that it is is
only a mistaken and naive belief in fictious god and a reward in heaven
that keeps Christians from committing crimes.
So, which is it, guys? Are Christians are these terrible criminals - or
are they law-abiding, gullible fools? You can't have it both ways.
When you're talking about a large group of people, you sure *can "have it
both ways." The priest class acts like a typical human elite. They
believe the rules are for the little people. Many of the followers really
are being (barely) restrained by the retarded moral development of punish/
reward.
Of course, most Christians are nominal ones and go by the rules of
society same as atheists. The religion is actually no more relevant to
their lives than ours.
--
Mark K. Bilbo a.a. #1423
EAC Department of Linguistic Subversion
------------------------------------------------------------
"You know, I'd get it if people were just looking for a
way to fill the holes. But they want the holes. They wanna
live in the holes. And they go nuts when someone else
pours dirt in their holes.
"Climb out of your holes people!"
- Dr. House, on faith
.
|
|
|
|
|
| User: "duke" |
|
| Title: Re: New York Atheist Gives Millions To Catholic Schools |
06 Jul 2007 07:12:08 AM |
|
|
On Thu, 5 Jul 2007 23:30:21 -0600, "Denis Loubet" <dloubet@io.com> wrote:
So true. Without the church's ability to control otherwise criminally
minded individuals and groups, we'd be extinct by now.
Apparently that about covers it. Christians are so amoral they require
belief in an omnipotent carrot and stick to keep them in line.
Amoral - haahaaahaahaahaa.
duke, American-American
*****
"The Mass is the most perfect form of Prayer."
Pope Paul VI
*****
.
|
|
|
| User: "Denis Loubet" |
|
| Title: Re: New York Atheist Gives Millions To Catholic Schools |
06 Jul 2007 11:59:58 AM |
|
|
"duke" <duckgumbo32@cox.net> wrote in message
news:qbcs83t50iu8oupgludl4lggv1vm635ks3@4ax.com...
On Thu, 5 Jul 2007 23:30:21 -0600, "Denis Loubet" <dloubet@io.com> wrote:
So true. Without the church's ability to control otherwise criminally
minded individuals and groups, we'd be extinct by now.
Apparently that about covers it. Christians are so amoral they require
belief in an omnipotent carrot and stick to keep them in line.
Amoral - haahaaahaahaahaa.
Case in point.
--
Denis Loubet
dloubet@io.com
http//www.io.com/~dloubet
.
|
|
|
| User: "Al Klein" |
|
| Title: Re: New York Atheist Gives Millions To Catholic Schools |
06 Jul 2007 10:11:35 PM |
|
|
On Fri, 6 Jul 2007 11:59:58 -0500, "Denis Loubet" <dloubet@io.com>
wrote:
"duke" <duckgumbo32@cox.net> wrote in message
news:qbcs83t50iu8oupgludl4lggv1vm635ks3@4ax.com...
On Thu, 5 Jul 2007 23:30:21 -0600, "Denis Loubet" <dloubet@io.com> wrote:
So true. Without the church's ability to control otherwise criminally
minded individuals and groups, we'd be extinct by now.
Apparently that about covers it. Christians are so amoral they require
belief in an omnipotent carrot and stick to keep them in line.
Amoral - haahaaahaahaahaa.
Case in point.
Earl's not amoral, he's acephalic.
.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| User: "Go Mavz" |
|
| Title: Re: New York Atheist Gives Millions To Catholic Schools |
05 Jul 2007 10:59:32 PM |
|
|
whats this mean? big wippity dooooooo....
"Sound of Trumpet" <soundoftrumpet@mailcan.com> wrote in message
news:1183693663.066271.250060@g4g2000hsf.googlegroups.com...
http://mindfulhack.blogspot.com/2007/06/atheism-new-york-atheist-gives-millions.html
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Atheism: New York atheist gives millions to Catholic schools
Honestly, it makes way more sense than you think for an atheist to
give money for tuition to Catholic schools. Here's retired hedge fund
manager Robert W. Wilson's explanation for why he gave $22.5 million
to the Archdiocese of New York's program for needy students' tuition:
"Let's face it, without the Roman Catholic Church, there would be no
Western civilization," Wilson said. "Shunning religious organizations
would be abhorrent. Keep in mind, I'm helping to pay tuition. The
money isn't going directly to the schools."
"It was a chance for a very modest amount of money to get kids out of
a lousy school system and into a good school system," Wilson said.
It's not hard to see, in the background to this story, an indictment
of the performance of the inner city public education system.
Frankly, I don't think that the problems of secularist inner city
school systems are fixable.
When I was a child in the 1950s here in Canada, the "public" system
was actually the "Protestant" system. Underlying British North
American values, including spiritual values, were taken for granted.
But as the Protestant bedrock moldered away or was legislated away
over the decades, asserting any value whatever against a contrary
value statement became more and more difficult.
Finally, it reached the point where a friend phoned me, bewildered by
a school board document she was reading that pointedly refused to make
any moral judgments about schoolyard bullying. That might hurt the
bully's feelings, after all. He mustn't be encouraged to think that he
is to blame for his behaviour and should just change it.
As policy analyst Robert Novak notes in a recent edition of First
Things (June/July 2007, not on line yet), secularism did not really
replace transcendent commitments with a humanist value system. On the
contrary, secularism is more vulnerable than most habits of mind to
deconstruction by post-modernism. No ethical standards can be
confidently asserted in such an atmosphere (though endless irrational
rules are made, together with strategic exceptions for whiners who
have perfect pitch).
Plaudits to Wilson for providing an escape for thousands of child
refugees.
(Note: What about successful secular private schools, you ask? In my
experience, where they work well, they stay in touch with the broad,
older Western culture where, for example, people are considered
responsible for their conduct and bullying is considered shameful. But
it is important to recognize that even the non-religious aspects of
that culture were and are non-materialist. A wonderful movie
illustrating that culture is The Emperor's Club, whose story revolves
around the character issues created by the Mr. Julius Caesar contest
at a not-especially-religious private boys' school. And what about
religious schools mired in sex scandals? In general, these schools
gave up older, spiritually oriented accounts of the human person for
modernist therapy-centred ones - and reaped the bitter fruit in vast
abundance.)
Labels: atheism, Catholic schools, religious schools, secularism
.
|
|
|
| User: "Hatter" |
|
| Title: Re: New York Atheist Gives Millions To Catholic Schools |
06 Jul 2007 07:17:50 AM |
|
|
On Jul 5, 11:59 pm, "Go Mavz" <GoM...@GoM.com> wrote:
whats this mean? big wippity dooooooo....
And why do theists keep bringing it up?
Hatter
.
|
|
|
| User: "Christopher A.Lee" |
|
| Title: Re: New York Atheist Gives Millions To Catholic Schools |
06 Jul 2007 07:23:08 AM |
|
|
On Fri, 06 Jul 2007 05:17:50 -0700, Hatter <Hatter23@gmail.com> wrote:
On Jul 5, 11:59 pm, "Go Mavz" <GoM...@GoM.com> wrote:
whats this mean? big wippity dooooooo....
And why do theists keep bringing it up?
To rudely rub it in our faces imagining they're making some kind of
point - telling us more about themselves than about us.
Hatter
.
|
|
|
| User: "Hatter" |
|
| Title: Re: New York Atheist Gives Millions To Catholic Schools |
06 Jul 2007 09:53:49 AM |
|
|
On Jul 6, 8:23 am, Christopher A.Lee <c...@optonline.net> wrote:
On Fri, 06 Jul 2007 05:17:50 -0700,Hatter<Hatte...@gmail.com> wrote:
On Jul 5, 11:59 pm, "Go Mavz" <GoM...@GoM.com> wrote:
whats this mean? big wippity dooooooo....
And why do theists keep bringing it up?
To rudely rub it in our faces imagining they're making some kind of
point - telling us more about themselves than about us.
Hatter- Hide quoted text -
- Show quoted text -
But what point? Aparticular Atheist thinks Catholics are worth giving
money to. His money, his choice. I disagree with it, but it is his
money.
But what is the point of constantly bringing it up? It is some vaugue
illogical "rub your face" thing..but why do it when your are rubbing
my face in something I didn't do, doesn't prove anything, make no
logical "points,' and dosen't smell bad?
Hatter
.
|
|
|
| User: "Mark K. Bilbo" |
|
| Title: Re: New York Atheist Gives Millions To Catholic Schools |
06 Jul 2007 12:55:08 PM |
|
|
On Fri, 06 Jul 2007 07:53:49 -0700, Hatter wrote:
On Jul 6, 8:23 am, Christopher A.Lee <c...@optonline.net> wrote:
On Fri, 06 Jul 2007 05:17:50 -0700,Hatter<Hatte...@gmail.com> wrote:
On Jul 5, 11:59 pm, "Go Mavz" <GoM...@GoM.com> wrote:
whats this mean? big wippity dooooooo....
And why do theists keep bringing it up?
To rudely rub it in our faces imagining they're making some kind of
point - telling us more about themselves than about us.
Hatter- Hide quoted text -
- Show quoted text -
But what point? Aparticular Atheist thinks Catholics are worth giving
money to. His money, his choice. I disagree with it, but it is his
money.
But what is the point of constantly bringing it up? It is some vaugue
illogical "rub your face" thing..but why do it when your are rubbing my
face in something I didn't do, doesn't prove anything, make no logical
"points,' and dosen't smell bad?
Well, remember the religious often can't think in any terms but there
being a "priest class" so they assume atheists have one. So prominent
individuals who are atheists are shoved at us as our "leaders".
They really can't imagine there being a large group of people who came to
their positions independently and only tend to "congregate" because they
found out other individuals got to the same general place also on their
own.
Squawking Turd is probably convinced that we're spoon fed our "beliefs"
the same as he is. So the comments and actions of an "atheist leader" are
supposed to convince us of something.
The loon isn't just barking up the wrong tree, he's not even in the right
forest...
--
Mark K. Bilbo a.a. #1423
EAC Department of Linguistic Subversion
------------------------------------------------------------
"Warned you we tried! Listen you did not! Now screwed
we will all be!"
http://www.sequentialpictures.com/moviestarwarsepisode3.html
.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Related Articles |
|
|
