# If we spent more time teaching our kids the word of God... **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 16, 2006, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-spent-more-time-teaching-our-kids-the-word-of-god/344742 "2006-02-16T02:57:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![gooftroopag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gooftroopag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gooftroopag)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2006, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-spent-more-time-teaching-our-kids-the-word-of-god/344742/21 "2006-02-16T21:18:24Z")
> [@Ex\_Chemist](#): > > As quoted in a [column by Patty Fisher](http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/columnists/patty_fisher/13876391.htm) in today’s _San Jose Mercury News_. The column summarizes responses to her column Saturday on the debate over evolution. > > I find Paula Wolf’s comment disturbing on many levels. Feel free to debate. > > Note: I’m not sure how long the link to the Mercury News will be valid. While I likely disagree with her version of the word of God and cutting back on science and technology education, I’m all for religious education related to the historical understanding of where religious books came from, what was going on at the time, the language and difficulty of translating the documents, etc. Once you start indoctrinating, that’s where I draw the line… of course, I think the religion should be taught by people that don’t agree with it, like a rabbi teaching Christianity… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![gooftroopag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gooftroopag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gooftroopag)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2006, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-spent-more-time-teaching-our-kids-the-word-of-god/344742/22 "2006-02-16T21:20:36Z")
> [@gooftroopag](#): > > While I likely disagree … Scratch “likely” ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2006, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-spent-more-time-teaching-our-kids-the-word-of-god/344742/23 "2006-02-16T21:59:20Z")
> [@Ex\_Chemist](#): > > I find Paula Wolf’s comment disturbing on many levels. Feel free to debate. > > . Same here. Have one person pray for a cure for his malaria and have someone else receive chloroquine. See who gets healthy faster. I find this dependence on God really sad. Humanity depended on God for thousands of years. We had very little to show for it in regards to health or happiness. I doubt Wolf wants to eliminate science/technology, she just wants to have more religion in life. That is fine for her but at the end of the day religion can’t accomplish anything science can accomplish. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2006, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-spent-more-time-teaching-our-kids-the-word-of-god/344742/24 "2006-02-16T22:43:48Z")
I think history has shown that religious disagreements have caused more war and death to mankind than scientific disagreements. Science is the search for absolutes and truths about the physical world around us. Religion is the search for one persons beliefs, values, and faiths versus another. Nobody can be proven right or wrong. They can just fight about it. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2006, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-spent-more-time-teaching-our-kids-the-word-of-god/344742/25 "2006-02-17T04:51:47Z")
> [@gooftroopag](#): > > …I’m all for religious education related to the historical understanding of where religious books came from, what was going on at the time, the language and difficulty of translating the documents, etc. Unfortunately, organized religion usually doesn’t like historical context to be used when studying religeous text. It would reveal that mortal humans wrote those books, and mortal politics heavily influenced what became canon. This is especially a problem with the Koran. ---
**Author:** ![Peanut50](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8491ac/32.png) [@Peanut50](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanut50)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2006, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-spent-more-time-teaching-our-kids-the-word-of-god/344742/26 "2006-02-17T07:20:58Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > I think history has shown that religious disagreements have caused more war and death to mankind than scientific disagreements. > > Science is the search for absolutes and truths about the physical world around us. > Religion is the search for one persons beliefs, values, and faiths versus another. > Nobody can be proven right or wrong. They can just fight about it. Indeed. I think the only Thoughts of Mass Destruction that entangle humans in war derive from or arise out of religious belief, and most certainly not science…unless, of course, we’re talking about religion’s invariable attempts to squelch scientific inquiry. Somehow, I just can’t see anyone getting worked up enough over whether we should be embracing Quantum theory versus String theory for us to go to war over it. In research, if you publish bad science, all your Science Buddies a) rush to publish their own refutation to prove you wrong and b) laugh at you, whereupon you slink back into the obscurity you deserve. In religion, if you publish bad hoo-doo nonsense, your followers get into a lather, and anyone who disagrees with you is a blaspheming idolator who should be burned, and refutation is “defeated” with the blithe assertion that one must have “faith.” The difference between so-called “word of god” and “ethics” is that “teaching” the word of god is indoctrination, an attempt to impose/imprint one’s particular beliefs and standards onto ANOTHER person or individual; teaching ETHICS is providing a toolset by which individuals can adjudicate a situation and apply their OWN standards of conduct and morality thereto. Peanut50 ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2006, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-spent-more-time-teaching-our-kids-the-word-of-god/344742/27 "2006-02-17T12:53:06Z")
> [@bup](#): > > We’ll follow the examples of the Taliban-controlled Afghanistan and Iran. If you get enough religion, everybody’s happy and good! Jimmy Carter, in his recent book _Our Endangered Values_, makes an argument that a key issue we are facing is the rise of fundamentalism around the world, including here in America. In that framework, it is easy to see how some American fundamentalists are like those from various religions in other parts of the world. It’s also nice to read something from a person talking about deeply held religious beliefs in a way other than bashing you over the head with them. ---
**Author:** ![gooftroopag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gooftroopag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gooftroopag)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2006, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-spent-more-time-teaching-our-kids-the-word-of-god/344742/28 "2006-02-17T16:25:52Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > Unfortunately, organized religion usually doesn’t like historical context to be used when studying religeous text. It would reveal that mortal humans wrote those books, and mortal politics heavily influenced what became canon. This is especially a problem with the Koran. Exactly - that’s the point. 🙂 Imho, people would be less likely to become fundamentalist if they had a little more historical context. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2006, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-spent-more-time-teaching-our-kids-the-word-of-god/344742/29 "2006-02-17T17:29:44Z")
> [@gooftroopag](#): > > Imho, people would be less likely to become fundamentalist if they had a little more historical context. If they accepted historical context, then by definition they would no longer be fundamentalists. ---
**Author:** ![jali](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecae2f/32.png) [@jali](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jali)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2006, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-spent-more-time-teaching-our-kids-the-word-of-god/344742/30 "2006-02-17T17:40:07Z")
_Which_ word is the word of god? The Koran? King James Version of the Bible? The Book of Mormon? Sheesh! Oh - whatever book Paula Wolf believes in _must_ be the true word. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2006, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-spent-more-time-teaching-our-kids-the-word-of-god/344742/31 "2006-02-17T17:49:45Z")
> [@jali](#): > > _Which_ word is the word of god? > **[Amazon.com: The Book of the SubGenius : The Sacred Teachings of J.R. 'Bob'...](https://www.amazon.com/Book-SubGenius-Sacred-Teachings-Dobbs/dp/0671638106)** > > Amazon.com: The Book of the SubGenius : The Sacred Teachings of J.R. 'Bob' Dobbs: 9780671638108: Dobbs, J.R., The SubGenius Foundation, Rev. Ivan Stang: Books ---
**Author:** ![gooftroopag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gooftroopag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gooftroopag)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2006, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-spent-more-time-teaching-our-kids-the-word-of-god/344742/32 "2006-02-17T20:38:00Z")
> [@Knorf](#): > > If they accepted historical context, then by definition they would no longer be fundamentalists. Certainly there are a few that reject the historical context as incorrect, but I suspect that most do not know the historical context, or at least the ones I know… ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2006, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-spent-more-time-teaching-our-kids-the-word-of-god/344742/33 "2006-02-18T00:29:28Z")
> [@HPL](#): > > I’m all for teaching the Word of Allah. > > What? That’s what she wanted, wasn’t it? Keep making jokes like that and someone’ll put a 75-cent bounty on your head. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2006, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-spent-more-time-teaching-our-kids-the-word-of-god/344742/34 "2006-02-18T02:23:02Z")
If we could be absolutely certain what was going to happen in the future, we could just indoctrinate our kids with exactly the right information to be able to deal with it; they wouldn’t need to think, just look up the answer and act on it; but we don’t know what’s coming, so we need to help them learn how to _think and act for themselves_. ---
**Author:** ![alaricthegoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4bbf92/32.png) [@alaricthegoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alaricthegoth)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2006, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-spent-more-time-teaching-our-kids-the-word-of-god/344742/35 "2006-02-18T13:13:30Z")
> [@rjung](#): > > Are we talking about teaching kids the _entire_ word of God – including hum-dingers like Lot’s incest with his daughters in Deuteronomy, or Mark’s directives for seizing other people’s women (Mark 7:25-27) – or just the sanitized Disneyfied happy-happy-joy-joy version? > Ah, so you finally admit that the religious-right-dominated Republican party is inherently unethical! Bravo! 😃 now hold on-you can quibble with stoning the disobedient child, but I’m all for seizing other peoples’ women–absent that, we’d have no pussy at all… ---
**Author:** ![alaricthegoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4bbf92/32.png) [@alaricthegoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alaricthegoth)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2006, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-spent-more-time-teaching-our-kids-the-word-of-god/344742/36 "2006-02-18T13:15:04Z")
> [@jali](#): > > _Which_ word is the word of god? The Koran? King James Version of the Bible? The Book of Mormon? Sheesh! > > Oh - whatever book Paula Wolf believes in _must_ be the true word. the word of god is “oops” ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2006, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-spent-more-time-teaching-our-kids-the-word-of-god/344742/37 "2006-02-18T17:19:56Z")
> [@Bryan Ekers](#): > > Keep making jokes like that and someone’ll put a 75-cent bounty on your head. I’ve already got one for Jaywalking. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2006, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-spent-more-time-teaching-our-kids-the-word-of-god/344742/38 "2006-02-21T16:09:40Z")
> [@rjung](#): > > Ah, so you finally admit that the religious-right-dominated Republican party is inherently unethical! Bravo! 😃 Nope. Didn’t say anything of the sort. Please don’t put words in my mouth. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-spent-more-time-teaching-our-kids-the-word-of-god/344742.md?page=1)