On Sun, 19 Oct 2003, dana p raffaniella wrote:

"Carol Lee Smith" <human@csd.uwm.edu> wrote in message

On Sun, 19 Oct 2003, dana p raffaniello, of absolutely no evidence

wrote:

Aren't you getting tired of being asked for proof you cannot seem to
provide?

http://www.christiananswers.net/q-sum/sum-g002.html
Is the religion of Secular Humanism being taught in public school
classrooms?

. . .
One final example is well-known. In 1961 the Supreme Court handed down

Torcaso v. Watkins decision regarding a Maryland notary public who was
disqualified from office because he would not declare a belief in God.

Court ruled in his favor. It argued that theistic religions could not be
favored by the Court over non-theistic religions. In fact, in a footnote
that clarifies what the Court means by non-theistic religions, we read,
"Among religions in this country which do not teach what would generally

considered a belief in the existence of God are Buddhism, Taoism,

Culture, Secular Humanism, and others."[6]
Clearly, American courts understand religion to include non-theistic
religions like Secular Humanism.

http://www.au.org/myths.htm

MYTH: The Supreme Court has declared that Secular Humanism is a religion,
and Secular Humanism is the established religion of the public schools.

In a footnote to the Supreme Court's 1961 Torcaso v. Watkins decision,
Justice Hugo Black wrote, "Among religions in this country which do not
teach what would generally be considered a belief in the existence of God
is Buddhism, Taoism, Ethical Culture, Secular Humanism, and others." The
Torcaso case dealt with religious tests for public office; it had nothing
to do with public schools. The justice's comment is far from a finding
that humanism is being taught in the schools.

The Supreme Court and lower federal courts have ruled repeatedly that
public schools and other government agencies may not establish "a religion
of secularism" any more than they can promote any other religious
viewpoint. The courts have decreed that public schools must be religiously
neutral. Government neutrality toward religion is not the same thing as
government hostility toward religion. They are synonymous only in the view
of Religious Right groups that label as hostility any action by government
that does not favor their beliefs.

Furthermore, the percentage of Americans who call themselves secular
humanists is very small. It is not possible that such a minuscule group
could take control of the entire public school system, which is highly
decentralized and controlled by local school boards chosen by the voters
or their representatives. "Secular humanism" is a bogeyman the Religious
Right uses to attack public education.