Quote
wakatta1
Education of children is quite a quandry isn't it? - I recall all the time I was in primary school and those teachers just kept on shoving things at me *they* felt I needed to know. Writing, civics, geography, mathematics, etc. It was horrible! All I wanted to do was just to play and they *forced* me to sit for 8 hours a day in school. Looking back now, a lot of the things I was taught did come in handy, and admittedly, I'm a better person for it and such. But who the heck were they to try and *force* their ideas on me, just a little kid! All these ideas about education and such. People should just be allowed to run wild and nobody has the right to *force* them to be educated and civilized. Oops! Guess I went a little overboard here begging the case, but the bottom line is, no matter what the belief system (SGI, Buddhist, Muslim, Christian, Zorasterism, The church of Bob, whatever) children will need to be "trained" and the teachers have only certain tools to do it. Were it like in the Matrix where a behavior could be downloaded... [hops off soapbox].
Compulsory education for children is absolutely necessary, but not compulsory religious/cult education. The latter has no place in the school system just as alchemy, astrology, flat earth or stork theory don't. Education is not the problem, it's the kind of education and how it is done.
Quote
wakatta1
Hmmm, pretty strong stuff there, and I would probably agree with you except for two things.
1) I was a leader and I think I wasn't too big of a Jerk :)
2) Since the leadership role is also a cross section of the membership, given the statistical bell curve, there had to be a couple more good leaders in there too.
I'll admit, I can be harsh, but I don't want to be misunderstood, though.
Re:
1) But you're not still in it. Nor are you an ex-leader that I actually met (at least I don't think so).
2) I honestly don't remember a single one and I tried pretty hard to think of even a single exception. Can't come up with one. Sure, some had their hearts in the right place, but that doesn't always make it right.
Quote
wakatta1
I daresay that many of the people reading this group also at one level or another were participants in the leadership, and of course, it is what it is. Many (like me) stayed with it until the handwriting was on the wall and threw in the towel. In all forms of leadership, you do the best with what you have and try to keep a pure heart throughout. For the most part, the other leaders I worked with *tried* to do what they believed was right however when the system is being twisted, you end up getting twisted with it.
Again, "were" participants in the leadership is the key distinction for me. As I mentioned before, I was thrust into a youth leadership position. Looking back, I felt like I was an idiot too for standing up in front of other youth and BS'ing them. In fact, because I felt like an idiot doing it, I immediately stopped. A lot of the people who yelled at the youth had a pure heart, too, and believed it to be right, no doubt. One of the key factors that pushed me out of the religion was the behavior of some of the "leaders" (all divisions, but the youth div. was by far the worst).
Quote
wakatta1
Lots of time spent chanting for members in need and lots of hours invested for what was believed to be "the right thing". Of course, when the end result is less than satisfactory, a true leader takes the blame as well (which is why I admit I wasn't too big of a Jerk, but I had my moments :) ) But let's not throw the baby away with the washwater...
Organized religion and superstition is one dead baby (for me) that I don't think is healthy, nor something to be kept around. Is there really even a "baby" to throw out? Not for me.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/12/2012 09:55AM by Hitch.