ramblin_ag02 said:
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You do understand that LGBTQ people are a population group and not a religion? The government is quite restricted in what it can do around religion. It can't be seen to be promoting one faith at the expense of others.
I disagree on the first point. The LGBTQ phenomenon is most definitely an ideology and worldview, and not just a group of people. There is a whole mythos of persecution and oppression coupled with valiant heroes, stereotypical villains, and a strong moral mandate for change of behavior.
It is not a religion, no matter how much people try to spin it that way. LGBT in general is a sexual orientation. Ok fine, the LGBT "movement" can be described as a political movement (you know, like conservatism, libertarianism, progressivism), but it is by definition not a religion. The two things are not the same.
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Regarding the second point, not promoting the most popular religion in a country seems to be a normal and sensible things to Americans. But it's actually very, very strange. There is not a single other place in the world where the dominant worldview is explicity prevented from operating through the state. Representative government is designed to represent the people, and it can do that only to a certain extent in the US. Imagine Qatar, 65% Muslim as opposed to the US being 65% Christian, banning all governmental displays and promotion of Islam. Or Europeans banning government promotion of secular humanism. Just because we're used to it here doesn't make it normal or wise. It's probably not good for a country when the single most unifying worldview in the country is hamstrung in relation to other worldviews.
Well you're certainly entitled to your opinion, but if you have an issue with not promoting Christianity, take it up with the drafters of the constitution. That was specifically and explicitly forbidden, as you even acknowledge here. And there was a reason they put it in there. They believed the country should not have an established state religion, AND there should be freedom to exercise any religion (or no religion). Those are incredibly precious freedoms, and no matter how much you want to spin your post, you are essentially saying Christians should get special treatment simply by being the majority religion.
Christianity is already widely promoted in government anyway (prayers before legislative session, prayers at inauguration, "In God We Trust" printed on currency). Aside from that, it is still by far the most dominant religion in the USA. Churches are all over the place, even in secular parts of the country. I don't know what your complaint is when you're already getting this much. Apparently it's not enough.
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I also attended public schools until graduate school. I had a biology teacher refuse to teach evolution because it conflicted with her religion, and she was quite explicit about her religious beliefs. I had a pro-Confederate history teacher who had… problematic… statements about Black students. Plenty of other teachers who were conservatives and/or Christians and were happy to talk about it, or promoted capitalism without discussing critiques of it. Teachers are human. I don't think it means schools mindlessly promote left or right wing ideology.
I 100% believe you. I also think that your experience is not typical, especially as one progresses in education.
I think we can all find examples of teachers saying inappropriate things in the classroom, from any point of view. The consistent position to take is that they should not do that and they should TEACH. Not taking the position that "because they do it, we should too." Especially given the fact that in this insanely partisan time, a teacher diving deep into darker topics about US history that aren't always covered in such classes, can be perceived as an attack on our values or teaching kids that America is evil, or something.