Sunday, November 25, 2007

A report from the University of Dallas

The 21st century offers us the iPhone, 24-hour Super Wal-Marts and a completely warped view of the world. Standards have been upended, and our word choice proves it. Peacefully arguing for your beliefs has been redefined as "fear tactics." Any insult is "hate speech." Supporting the law is demeaning and derogatory. And this only applies selectively, of course. Modern society has thrown out reasonable, universal standards to protect many of those who least deserve it.

At many of the large Catholic universities in this country pro-abortion groups have been holding the blatantly anti-Catholic play "The Vagina Monologues." Various individuals and conservative groups have lobbied to remove the pornographic play from Catholic universities. They have peacefully voiced their disapproval with letters and petitions, raising concerns that holding such an event would betray their schools' Catholic identities. These efforts have been deemed "fear tactics" by abortion advocates.

When Saddam Hussein abuses the family of a national team athlete who plays poorly it is no longer called fear tactics.

Nor is Iran's enforcement policy of its no-dating rule: beating a teen boy in public for being near a girl. There was no mention of fear tactics when protesters at a speech at Michigan State screamed in the faces of the conservative students putting on the event and had to be restrained by police. This pro-border enforcement speech was overrun by protesters who yelled and banged on the walls, inside the event, during the prayer and pledge of allegiance. They then rushed the stage and the event had to be canceled with the protesters in handcuffs. Fear tactics? No, asking friends to have pizza in a patriotically decorated room is much more coercive.

Hate speech usually accompanies fear tactics, in a sentence on a blog or in an article describing conservative events. Insulting Ms. Sheehan as "scum" is unnecessary and unhelpful, but is it hate? Sheehan wrote in her book Peace Mom, "I fantasize about killing Bush when he was a baby." Society considers Sheehan's words an expression of her free speech rights, while any insult of a minority viewpoint is called "hate speech."

Sensitivity has become skewed, and emotional rhetoric has become a societal norm. Denying the poor of the world the opportunity to come to America whenever they like feels unfair. But not all who come under the radar are the innocent poor. Illegal aliens in America kill 12 people per day. Those pushing for immigration enforcement are not racist, and their arguments are not demeaning. The families of the victims do not care about the race of the killer, just that the untraceable perpetrator will elude justice.

In defending the future of our society, we must reexamine our diction. The deliberate use or omission of the terms "fear tactics," "hate speech" and "racist" frame the debates in a certain light. None of these, as they actually occur, can be cured until they are again properly defined.

Source






Class project's use of prayer irks parent

A class craft project with the Lord's Prayer attached to it has riled a parent in Shoreline whose 9-year-old son made the cardboard item in his classroom this week. But the Shoreline School District is standing behind the project, saying it is a traditional hornbook intended to teach students about life as a Pilgrim.

Glenn Creech, of Shoreline, said he was shocked when his son, Derek, brought home the project he made at Ridgecrest Elementary Tuesday with a preprinted copy of the Lord's Prayer stapled onto it. The item had a string attached to it, and his son was wearing it around his neck as he came off the bus. "I thought that it was against the law for public schools to preach a specific religion," said Glenn Creech. "This is just outrageous."

Shoreline School District spokesman Craig Degginger said the craft was part of a larger learning project on the Pilgrims. Third-graders from two classes went around various stations manned by parent volunteers, tasting food of the period, churning butter, writing with a quill, dressing in period costumes and making a period toy. Another station was for making a hornbook — a tool once used to teach Pilgrim children how to read. It traditionally consists of a page printed with the alphabet and the Lord's Prayer protected by a layer of transparent horn.

Derek Creech's teacher, who has worked in the district for more than 20 years, has done a similar activity since she started at Ridgecrest in 1999, Degginger said. "It was a certainly legitimate lesson, well taught by a group of veteran teachers. ... This is the first time there has been a complaint, according to the principal," he said.

Schools are required by law to remain free of sectarian control or influence, according to the state constitution. The Shoreline School District policy states that subjects taught in school "may have a religious dimension" and that the study of these disciplines "shall give neither preferential nor disparaging treatment to any single religion or to religion in general and must not be introduced or utilized for devotional purposes." Degginger said the Pilgrim project, as well as the hornbook, "is in keeping with our policy."

Creech, who said his family is "not strongly religious," disagrees. "Giving someone a copy of a prayer, that could be implied that the prayer should be utilized for devotional purposes," he said. Creech said the principal of Ridgecrest has scheduled a meeting with him next week to review the activity and craft.

Source

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