Date: Fri, 05 Jul 1996 12:16:29 -0600
From: Lisa Rogers <LROGERS-AT-deq.state.ut.us>
Subject:  Ethics


Gary, thanks much for posting your speech to the humanists.  Great
stuff, and a pithy formulation.  I can well imagine that silence
echoing after you finished.

The religious right wing [RR] in US is most vehemently opposed to
anything like "ethics / values education", but overall the argument
seems a little incoherent.  One argument is that "humanism" is a
religion, and teaching "values" such as tolerance of difference would
conflict with some parent's religions - homosexuality is the main
target of their "religious" non-tolerance.  This is sometimes couched
in terms of "separation of church and State".

But a big RR push is also on for "restoring prayer in school",
seriously claiming that all the social ills which have increased
compared to pre-1969 can be blamed on the Supreme Court decision that
banned school prayer.  Since this seems to be a problem for the
constitutional separation, some of these idiots [who have a
disproportionate influence in Congress] are actually trying to put
through a constitutional amendment.

Thanks for the kind regards, too.
Lisa


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