Good Schools, David Dawkins, Darwin and Evolution--Correspondence--John states his views

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CONTENTS:

"...every group that wishes to see conflicting interests resolved reasonably, or is wise about the conditions under which it enjoys its own freedom, must be profoundly concerned with the state of freedom of speech and assembly, freedom of inquiry and teaching, freedom of press and other forms of communication, freedom of cultural opportunity and development. For in large measure intelligent moral choice depends upon them."
--Sidney Hook (1902-1988), disciple of John Dewey, and champion of pragmatism and democracy

First Letter from John, and My Response

I found your page very interesting, though I do have a few questions and
comments.

I go to a public school, which I believe to be very good. My school is
based on a theory that is a product of the sixties; that if children are
given class choices without having to worry about what grades they can get
in a certain class, that they will choose the class and subject they
_want_ to learn about; not the class they know they can get good grades
in. My school has a very liberal teaching structure, I believe. We the
children do the school's budgeting, as we have now for nine years in our
Student Government class. There are also two students who attend the
School Site Council meetings bi-weekly. We are completely involved in the
management of our education. Though I have not, and cannot, take all the
classes offered, I have heard basically _no_ mention of Darwin's theory,
which you seem obsessed with removing from our school system, as fact.
Heck, I haven't even heard much mention of it at all, even in the history
classes. Now, I do see a problem: we are lacking in any explanation
whatsoever of the how and why and whatnot. I believe my school to be a
rather good school.

Now, my question: what do you suppose we replace Darwin's theory with for
an explanation? Creationism? This would conflict heavily with the
beliefs of many children. [I personally am not Christian; I am a
Buddhist, and do not believe in "God."]
I'm also confused by your views .. There was one part of the page where
you called her [Al, whom I know] a 'detractor.' What do you mean by this?
Do you mean non-Christian, as the context would seem to imply, or do you
have some other obscure meaning for this?

You say that Darwin was racist .. What about other forms of discrimination
that are readily present in schools. I am a bisexual, and openly admit it
in school. I get teased and taunted often for this fact, yet we've had
the civil rights act and general acceptance of people of colour for not
much longer than people have been openly homosexual. We have interracial
legal marriages, yet we don't have homosexual legal marriages. This
discrimination often carries over into schools, and thus leading to
something equally evil to racism. What do you propose we do to alleviate
this aspect of discrimination from not only our school system, but our
society in general? I'd be intrigued to hear your answers to these
questions.

- -John

In his note John asked for my response to some of his questions. For that reason, I include here my reply to John:

John--

Thank you for your note. I have published it in the "Comments" section of my page. I will respond here to some of your questions and comments:

1--Your comments about your school:

It sounds like you have an interesting school.   You are obviously a very thoughtful and intelligent person.

2--You write: "...what do you suppose we replace Darwin's theory with for an explanation? Creationism? This would conflict heavily with the beliefs of many children. [I personally am not Christian; I am a Buddhist, and do not believe in "God."]"

John, my whole point is that we must not teach what science knows to be a fallacy, simply because we do not like the alternative. That is the very reason the "flat-earth theory" stuck for so long. I advocate honesty, plain and simple. ...And, I am not worried about whether or not the truth conflicts with the belief system of many children. That is not my concern. I simply want truth to be taught, not politically correct fairy tales.

3--You write: "There was one part of the page where you called her [Al, whom I know] a 'detractor.' What do you mean by this? Do you mean non-Christian, as the context would seem to imply, or do you have some other obscure meaning for this?"

John, I referred to Al as a detractor in the most direct manner possible: Webster's Unabridged defines "detractor" like this: "One who detracts;" and "detract" as "to diminish in importance or value or praiseworthiness." There was nothing obscure or pejorative about my use of the term in describing Al.    I do, however, think it interesting that you attribute religious connotation to something as direct and simple as my choice of terms.

4--You write: "You say that Darwin was racist .. What about other forms of discrimination that are readily present in schools.   I am a bisexual, and openly admit it
in school. I get teased and taunted often for this fact..."

John, as far as the other forms of discrimination that exist in the public arena, I would say this:   Discrimination is a good thing. We all do it, and we all should do it. Daily we discriminate between what we consider the good, the not-so-good, and the downright bad. Discrimination in the purest sense is nothing more than the practice of making "good choices." That's why it is considered good to be called a "discriminating person." It denotes one who knows how to make good and wise choices in life.

As far as the teasing is concerned, John, that has gone on for as long as I can remember.   I was teased when I was in school. I have always detested it, and as a parent, I have done everything I could to stop it when it took place in my presence.    I am convinced that people who tease others do so out of their own insecurities.   My experience in life is that teasing comes most naturally to the bully mentality. Would you not agree?   I am afraid that the only way to make a person stop teasing is to make that person stop being a bully. Now that's a challenge!

I am convinced that teasing is a tricky thing to end, unless love enters the equation. I know that sounds simplistic, but love does work. By love, I mean love in the sense of the Greek word, "agape."   Love in its purest, non-sensual meaning. People who truly care about other people, people who are not self-centered, these people do not tease other people. I know of no other answer, John. ...But I certainly do not think that teasing will ever be legislated out of existence. It is a problem of the heart.

One of the nice things about growing up is that you then have a greater ability to choose the people who surround you, and that will allow you to escape the teasing. Be sure to work very hard, and become very successful, for that will afford you even greater flexibility. Then you can hire some of these bullies, and kill them with kindness. They will not know what hit them!

Again, I want to thank you for writing.
(John wrote a second letter)

Would you like to see related letters and my comments?

--Mike Carrier (MA, NYU--Graduate School of Arts and Science)

This site features a frank presentation of issues facing parents, taxpayers and schools in reforming schools in the twenty-first century. Good Schools promotes good schools, and explains what is necessary to achieve good schools. We are convinced that good schools can be obtained only with sound curriculum, which does not include the teaching of Darwin's theory of origin, or Darwin's theory of evolution. We believe that local school boards need to be empowered, and the influence of teachers' unions ought to be limited to labor-related issues. Teachers' unions should have no say in curriculum.

We are convinced that the teachings of Darwin, particularly Darwin's teachings on evolution, and Darwin's theories on origins, ought not be taught as fact. Darwin and Darwin's theories are not generally accepted by contemporary physicists and cosmologists, and, therefore, Darwin and Darwin's theories ought not be accepted whole-cloth by our schools of education, and ought not be presented as fact in public schools.

Because David Dawkins has set himself up as the number one defender of Darwin and Darwin's theory of evolution, we will go to some length explaining Dawkins' Darwin defenses, and we will do our best to explode Dawkins' Darwin defenses.

We seek to show from Darwin's own hand that Darwin, and Darwin's theory of evolution, are racist at the core. Darwin was a racist, Darwin's theory of evolution is racist, and Darwin's theory of origins is racist.

We further seek to show that Darwin's theory of evolution is not scientific. We show that racism, more than science, was behind Darwin and Darwin's theory of evolution, and Darwin's theory of origins.

Some of the terms commonly used on this site are: Darwin, Dawkins, schools, public schools, education, gun control, teachers, John Dewey, Littleton, racist, racism , school choice, African American, Sidney Hook, evolution, and Mike Carrier.

Bottom line--good schools require work. Good schools do not just happen. We need good schools, if we are to have a good nation.