"All writing slants the way a writer leans, and no man is born perpendicular, although many are born upright." - E. B. White.
I don't give half a hump if you're innocent or not. So where does that put you?
Book ,'Objects In Space'
Natter 67: Overriding Vetoes
Off-topic discussion. Wanna talk about corsets, nail polish, duct tape, or physics? This is the place. Detailed discussion of any current-season TV must be whitefonted.
Ginger - Jan 12, 2011 11:07:36 am PST #16528 of 30001
"It didn't taste good. It tasted soooo horrible. It tasted like....a vodka martini." - Matilda
Burrell - Jan 12, 2011 11:09:27 am PST #16529 of 30001
Why did Darth Vader cross the road? To get to the Dark Side!
Thanks everyone for the engaging conversation and great links. I'm particularly struck by the comparisons to the rhetoric during the Civil Rights Movement.
WRT teaching one's beliefs: I would describe the view that racism is wrong as an ideological position. And yeah, I share it.
tommyrot - Jan 12, 2011 11:11:37 am PST #16530 of 30001
Sir, it's not an offence to let your cat eat your bacon. Okay? And we don't arrest cats, I'm very sorry.
An Ohio science teacher accused of burning the image of a cross on students' arms said Tuesday that he's disappointed school officials voted to fire him.
He did a lot more than that - he was teaching Creationism.
Strix - Jan 12, 2011 11:12:02 am PST #16531 of 30001
A dress should be tight enough to show you're a woman but loose enough to flee from zombies. — Ginger
Hrm. If I were going to burn anything on student's arms, it would be grammar and punctuation rules. Who could be upset with me?!
Daisy Jane - Jan 12, 2011 11:18:36 am PST #16532 of 30001
"This bar smells like kerosene and stripper tears."
"How could you tell her that she was wrong!?!"
Fred Pete - Jan 12, 2011 11:19:25 am PST #16533 of 30001
Ann, that's a ferret.
I agree with those who've said that pure objectivity is impossible, at least beyond a certain basic level. I mean, the 2+2=4 and "c-a-t spells cat" level. However, the commenter chose a bad example -- though a teacher could arguably subjectively teach TKAM to emphasize certain themes and not others, or even choose not to teach TKAM.
At the same time, the teacher's actions in the story DJ linked as giving rise to the discussion isn't really an issue of the teacher's objectivity or subjectivity. It's an issue of exposing the school system to liability for religious discrimination and battery.
Daisy Jane - Jan 12, 2011 11:21:53 am PST #16534 of 30001
"This bar smells like kerosene and stripper tears."
And I think through subsequent comments by him and others the disconnect is that I don't equate morality with religion. He was saying he's not able to teach religion so he has do dance around the morality...which ok?
It all reads as not very thinky to me, but whatever.
tommyrot - Jan 12, 2011 11:23:07 am PST #16535 of 30001
Sir, it's not an offence to let your cat eat your bacon. Okay? And we don't arrest cats, I'm very sorry.
He was saying he's not able to teach religion so he has do dance around the morality...which ok?
Huh? He was teaching biology.
Daisy Jane - Jan 12, 2011 11:26:44 am PST #16536 of 30001
"This bar smells like kerosene and stripper tears."
No, I mean the guy who was saying teaching on the theme of "racism is bad, mmkay!" in TKAM was teaching a belief, was saying that skirts close to teaching religion.
I was arguing that saying "racism is bad" is no more teaching a belief than teaching, "stomping on the throats of other people because you can is bad."
Jessica - Jan 12, 2011 11:30:18 am PST #16537 of 30001
And then Ortus came and said "It's Ortin' time" and they all Orted off into the sunset
He did a lot more than that - he was teaching Creationism.
You know, I'm as against teaching Creationism in public schools as the next person, but I'm going to take a radical stance and say that burning images into students' arms is the worse offense here. One is ideologically inappropriate, the other is assault.