Religion is a Mental Illness

Republicans Support Indoctrination in Public Schools After All

Republicans are hypocritically supporting the mandatory display of the Ten Commandments in public schools.

realityslaststand.com

When the 3rd grade reading level is only 49 percent, I don’t see why the state wants to spend money on lawyers for a probably unconstitutional law making the Ten Commandments mandatory just to virtue signal a side in a culture war. Actually use conservative reforms to fix the schools instead of putting up posters half the 3rd grade cannot even read.

Brad Polumbo (@Brad_Polumbo) is an independent journalist, YouTuber, and co-founder of BASEDPolitics.

... Secularism means that no particular ideology is being forwarded and getting special treatment. Go have your belief. Believe what you want. Privately. You don’t get special treatment because you believe this with tons of conviction. Secularism means that your belief in your faith covers none of the distance to proving that it’s true. Conviction is not evidence of much of anything. Except conviction. -- James Lindsay

“If you want to respect the rule of law, you’ve got to start from the original lawgiver, which was Moses.”

Your male and female slaves are to come from the nations around you; from them you may buy slaves. You may also buy some of the temporary residents living among you and members of their clans born in your country, and they will become your property. You can bequeath them to your children as inherited property and can make them slaves for life, but you must not rule over your fellow Israelites ruthlessly.

In a mandatory course on "structural racism" for first-year medical students at the University of California Los Angeles, a guest speaker who has praised Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel led students in chants of "Free, Free Palestine" and demanded that they bow down to "mama earth," according to students in the class and audio obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.

Lisa "Tiny" Gray-Garcia, who has referred to the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks as "justice," began the March 27 class by leading students in what she described as a "non-secular prayer" to "the ancestors," instructing everyone to get on their knees and touch the floor—"mama earth," as she described it—with their fists.

At least half of the assembled students complied, two students said. Gray-Garcia, a local activist who had been invited to speak about "Housing (In)Justice," proceeded to thank native tribes for preserving "what the settlers call L.A.," according to audio obtained by the Free Beacon, and to remind students of the city’s "herstory."

The prayer also included a benediction for "black," "brown," and "houseless people" who die because of the "crapatalist lie" of "private property."

"Mama earth," Gray-Garcia told the kneeling students, "was never meant to be bought, sold, pimped, or played."

So began a long and looney lecture that shocked some students at the elite medical school and has led to calls for an investigation. Wearing a keffiyeh that covered her entire face, Gray-Garcia, a self-described "poverty scholar," led the class in chants of "Free, Free Palestine" as faculty and staff looked on in silence, according to people in the course and contemporaneous text messages reviewed by the Free Beacon.

One of the onlookers was Lindsay Wells, a pediatrician at UCLA and the director of the mandatory first-year course, "Structural Racism and Health Equity," who did not respond to a request for comment.

Gray-Garcia later referred to modern medicine as "white science" and inveighed against the "occupation" of "Turtle Island"—that is, the United States—before asking students to stand for a second prayer. This time, nearly everyone rose.

When one student remained seated, according to students in the class, a UCLA administrator, whom the Free Beacon could not identify, inquired about the student’s identity, implying that discipline could be on the table.

"The net effect was that UCLA staff intimidated first-year medical students into participating in a religious service in derogation of their own personal beliefs," UCLA’s Jewish Faculty Resilience Group wrote to university chancellor Gene Block on Sunday.  "There needs to be an urgent and thorough external review and investigation of the [medical school’s] curriculum and systemic antisemitism."

UCLA and Gray-Garcia did not respond to requests for comment.

The surreal spectacle is the latest controversy to envelop the "Structural Racism and Health Equity" class, launched in the wake of George Floyd’s death as a part of the medical school’s "anti-racism roadmap."

The course became the subject of a civil rights complaint in January after it separated students into race-based discussion groups—one for white students, another for African Americans, and a third for "Non-Black People of Color." UCLA cancelled the exercise after a Wall Street Journal editorial highlighted the complaint.

More unwanted attention came in March when the Daily Wire published portions of the course’s syllabus, which includes units on "settler colonialism" and recommends a podcast about "Indigenous womxn’s health." Students are also urged to read an essay, "Decolonization is not a metaphor," that describes the "epistemic, ontological, cosmological violence" of "the settler."

Gray-Garcia’s talk offers a window into the way these concepts are shaping the classroom experience at one of the top medical schools in the country—and raises serious questions about how that school vetted a speaker with a long history of anti-Israel and anti-Semitic posts.

"When u resist after decades of relentless poLicing [sic], killing & terrorizing," Gray-Garcia tweeted on Nov. 1, "that’s not ‘terrorism’ that’s justice."

Israel, she declared in 2018, is "amerikkklan."

News of Gray-Garcia’s lecture comes as the Department of Education is investigating UCLA over a string of anti-Semitic episodes on campus, including an incident in which students bludgeoned a piñata with a picture of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s face. "Beat that f—ing Jew," one student allegedly shouted. In a separate incident, UCLA moved an event with former Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni online due to threats of protests.

Beyond her anti-Israel posts, Gray-Garcia’s writings include a book called How to Not Call the Po’Lice Ever and a poem, "Dear KKKolumbus," dedicated to black people killed by law enforcement.

"Pop - Pop/Our babies have been shot," the first stanza reads. "By these occupying armies called KKKops."

I wrote: my father's wishes to be martyred. I wish my brother who is not born yet to be martyred when he grows up.

Sweet you.

Every year visit Karbala.

Your brother isn't born yet and you wish him to be martyred?

No, when he grows up.

When he grows up.

No, I was just kidding. Great job raising her, because it isn't easy.

Thank you.

So you want your father to be martyred?

Yes.

Father and brother to be martyred?

Yeah.

You also wish to be martyred?

Yes.

Great job, truly.

Opinion | From Which River to Which Sea?

College students don’t know, yet they agree with the slogan.

WSJ

When college students who sympathize with Palestinians chant “From the river to the sea,” do they know what they’re talking about? I hired a survey firm to poll 250 students from a variety of backgrounds across the U.S. Most said they supported the chant, some enthusiastically so (32.8%) and others to a lesser extent (53.2%).

But only 47% of the students who embrace the slogan were able to name the river and the sea. Some of the alternative answers were the Nile and the Euphrates, the Caribbean, the Dead Sea (which is a lake) and the Atlantic. Less than a quarter of these students knew who Yasser Arafat was (12 of them, or more than 10%, thought he was the first prime minister of Israel). Asked in what decade Israelis and Palestinians had signed the Oslo Accords, more than a quarter of the chant’s supporters claimed that no such peace agreements had ever been signed. There’s no shame in being ignorant, unless one is screaming for the extermination of millions.

Would learning basic political facts about the conflict moderate students’ opinions? A Latino engineering student from a southern university reported “definitely” supporting “from the river to the sea” because “Palestinians and Israelis should live in two separate countries, side by side.” Shown on a map of the region that a Palestinian state would stretch from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, leaving no room for Israel, he downgraded his enthusiasm for the mantra to “probably not.” Of the 80 students who saw the map, 75% similarly changed their view.

An art student from a liberal arts college in New England “probably” supported the slogan because “Palestinians and Israelis should live together in one state.” But when informed of recent polls in which most Palestinians and Israelis rejected the one-state solution, this student lost his enthusiasm. So did 41% of students in that group.

A third group of students claimed the chant called for a Palestine to replace Israel. Sixty percent of those students reduced their support for the slogan when they learned it would entail the subjugation, expulsion or annihilation of seven million Jewish and two million Arab Israelis. Yet another 14% of students reconsidered their stance when they read that many American Jews considered the chant to be threatening, even racist. (This argument had a weaker effect on students who self-identified as progressive, despite their alleged sensitivity to offensive speech.)

In all, after learning a handful of basic facts about the Middle East, 67.8% of students went from supporting “from the river to sea” to rejecting the mantra. These students had never seen a map of the Mideast and knew little about the region’s geography, history or demography. Those who hope to encourage extremism depend on the political ignorance of their audiences. It is time for good teachers to join the fray and combat bias with education.

Mr. Hassner is a professor of political science at the University of California, Berkeley.

"People most often follow a religion not because of personal revelation or transcendent truths, but because the religion is culturally familiar, taught at an early age, and linked to where and by whom one is raised." -- David G. McAfee

"The lifeblood of religion is not God, not theology, not salvation, not even money. It is indoctrinating children. Take that away and your religion will die within a generation." -- Bill Flavell

Ofsted finds faith school teaching Bible as fact in history and science

An independent school has failed an inspection after it was found teaching the Bible "as fact" in subjects including science and history. Re

National Secular Society

An independent school has failed an inspection after it was found teaching the Bible "as fact" in subjects including science and history.

Bournemouth Christian School was judged "inadequate" by Ofsted after inspectors found multiple failings at the school during an inspection in April.

In a report published this month, Ofsted said the school's leaders have established a curriculum that presents "flawed and inaccurate information in all subjects", with pupils learning through an "unmoderated Christian worldview".

This includes presenting a Christian perspective as "more important than scientific fact", and failing to provide a "balanced, factually accurate curriculum". Ofsted said that this impedes pupils' understanding, and that they consequently do not gain the knowledge necessary for their futures.

Pupils "do not learn much about the world around them", including "citizenship in modern Britain", Ofsted said. It added that the curriculum's "focus on America" does not help pupils "prepare for life in modern Britain" or beyond school. This includes a focus on "the American literary tradition", which means pupils "do not learn about the literary traditions that have shaped the United Kingdom".

The school also fails to provide an effective personal, social and health education programme for students, including appropriate relationships and sex education.

The school, which teaches pupils between ages 3 and 18, uses the online curriculum of SwitchedOn Education. SwitchedOn Education describes itself as providing a "Christian digital education curriculum" for both "schools and home schools" in the UK and internationally.

Ofsted found teachers "do not have the subject knowledge to support pupils effectively" and are unaware of what pupils do or do not know, with pupils interacting "mainly with computers".

Ofsted said the school has also failed to "create an effective culture of safeguarding", with pupils at a "serious risk of harm". Leaders do not address concerns about pupils or ensure that pupils were safe in school. The school site was found to be insecure, with pupils easily able to leave.

NSS: school "more interested in indoctrinating its pupils than educating them"

National Secular Society campaigns officer Jack Rivington said: "This damning report from Ofsted reveals an organisation more interested in indoctrinating its pupils than educating them.

"The presentation of religious dogma as more valid and more important than scientific fact is unacceptable, and deprives children of their full right to an education.

"The appalling quality of Bournemouth Christian School's curriculum, teaching methods, and safeguarding processes revealed in this report is highly concerning. This school should now receive further scrutiny to ensure children and young people's rights are protected."

"There is no such thing as a Catholic child. There's only a child of Catholic parents.

There's no such thing as a Protestant child, only a child of Protestant parents.

There's no such thing as a Muslim child, only a child of Muslim parents."

-- Richard Dawkins

Let me try a little experiment on you. At Christmastime one year, my newspaper in Britain, The Independent, was looking for a seasonal picture. And they found a heartwarmingly ecumenical one at a school nativity play.

The three wise men were played by Shadbreet, a Sikh, Musharaff, a Muslim, and Adele, a Christian, all aged four.

And my guess is that you probably think that picture's rather sweet. How nice that four year olds, who belong to different religions, should come together in a nativity play.

Now suppose the caption said this.

Shadbreet, a socialist, Musharaff, a conservative, and Adele, a liberal, all aged four.

Shadbreet, an atheist, Musharaff, an agnostic, and Adele, a secular humanist, all aged four.

I'm trying to raise consciousness. I hope that that series of three slides has raised your consciousness. I hope that every time from now on you hear anybody talking about say, a Catholic child, or a Protestant child, or a Muslim child, you will protest. You will say, you wouldn't talk about a postmodernist child, or a Keynesian child, or a Hayekian monetarist child.

There is no such thing as a Catholic child, there's only a child of Catholic parents. There's no such thing as a Protestant child, only a child of Protestant parents. There's no such thing as a Muslim child, only a child of Muslim parents.

I repeat these slogans over and over again, probably too often. Too often? It can't be too often when you're in the business of consciousness-raising.

Please join me in protesting every time you hear anyone ever referring to a Catholic child, a Christian child, a Muslim child, etc.

-- Richard Dawkins

“We are all born atheists, until someone starts telling us lies.”

“Religion is always in the control business and that's something people don't really understand. It's in the guilt-producing control business.

The church doesn't like for people to grow up, because you can't control grown-ups.

That's why we talk about being "born again." When you're born again, you're still a child.

People don't need to be born again, they need to grow up, they need to accept their responsibility for themselves in the world.”

-- John Shelby Spong

“If you actually believe that your religion is true and science supports it, then let your children grow to be old enough to think for themselves before you give them a bible. Let's see what conclusion they come to on their own. Otherwise, you're doing their thinking for them and admitting it's all bullshit.”

“There is no absurdity so palpable but that it may be firmly planted in the human head if you only begin to inculcate it before the age of five.”

-- Arthur Schopenhauer

“Our society, including the non-religious sector, has accepted the preposterous idea that it is normal and right to indoctrinate tiny children in the religion of their parents, and to slap religious labels on them - 'Catholic child', 'Protestant child', 'Jewish child', 'Muslim child', etc. - although no other comparable labels: no conservative children, no liberal children, no Republican children, no Democrat children...

A child is not a Christian child, not a Muslim child, but a child of Christian parents or a child of Muslim parents... A child who is told she is a 'child of Muslim parents' will immediately realize that religion is something for her to choose - or reject - when she becomes old enough to do so.”

-- Richard Dawkins

“I hope that every time, from now on, you hear anybody talking about, say, a Catholic child, or a Protestant child, or a Muslim child, you will protest. You will say: “You wouldn't talk about a 'postmodernist child', or a 'Keynesian child', or a 'Hayekian Monetarist child'".

There's no such thing as a Catholic child, there's only a child of Catholic parents. There's no such thing as a Protestant child, only a child of Protestant parents. There's no such thing as a Muslim child, only a child of Muslim parents.”

-- Richard Dawkins

On 15 September 2012, a protest against the anti-Islamic film Innocence of Muslims was held in Sydney, New South Wales.

[..]

Protesters chanted "Down, down USA" and carried Sunni Islamist flags and signs saying, "Behead all those who insult the prophet", "Our dead are in paradise, your dead are in hell", "Shariah will dominate the world", and "Obama Obama, we love Osama" and threw bottles and objects retrieved from construction sites at police officers.

“Abu Afak and Asma bint Marwan were both Jewish proselytes from the Arab tribe of Umayya b. Zayd[1] in Medina. Afak wrote a poem against Muhammad to show his disapproval of Muhammad’s murder of al-Harith b. Suwayd b. Samit. Muhammad responded to this poem by asking, “Who will deal with this rascal for me?” Salim b. Umayr, a follower of Muhammad from Afak’s same tribe, volunteered and killed Abu Afak who apparently was a very old man.[2] Similarly, Marwan displayed her displeasure with Muhammad and his followers for the murder of Afak by writing a poem criticizing them. Muhammad responded in a similar way as he did with Afak by again asking, “Who will rid me of Marwan’s daughter?” Umayr b. Adiy al-Khatmi, a Muslim from the same tribe of Marwan, volunteered his services and went that very night and killed her while she was sleeping. Muhammad’s response to this assassination was, “You have helped God and His apostle, O Umayr!”[3]”

1: Michael Lecker, Muslims, Jews and Pagans, Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1995, pp. 38, 52 2: Ibn Ishaq, p. 675 3: Ibn Ishaq, p. 675-6

-- “Muhammad and the People of the Book”, Sahaja Carimokam

“Then (occurred) the sariyyah [raid] of Umayr ibn adi Ibn Kharashah al-Khatmi against Asma Bint Marwan, of Banu Umayyah Ibn Zayd, when five nights had remained from the month of Ramadan, in the beginning of the nineteenth month from the hijrah of the apostle of Allah. Asma was the wife of Yazid Ibn Zayd Ibn Hisn al-Khatmi. She used to revile Islam, offend the prophet and instigate the (people) against him. She composed verses. Umayr Ibn Adi came to her in the night and entered her house. Her children were sleeping around her. There was one whom she was suckling. He searched her with his hand because he was blind, and separated the child from her. He thrust his sword in her chest till it pierced up to her back. Then he offered the morning prayers with the prophet at al-Medina. The apostle of Allah said to him: "Have you slain the daughter of Marwan?" He said: "Yes. Is there something more for me to do?" He [Muhammad] said: "No. Two goats will butt together about her. This was the word that was first heard from the apostle of Allah. The apostle of Allah called him Umayr, "basir" (the seeing).”

Sources: Ibn Sa'd, Kitab al-Tabagat al Kabir, trans. S. M. Haq (New Delhi: Kitab Bhavan, 1972), vol. 2, p. 31; see also al-Waqidi, Muhammed in Medina, trans. J. Wellhausen (Berlin, 1882), pp. 90 f.

“When the apostle arrived (at Medina) after his departure from aI-Ta'if Bujayr b. Zuhayr b. Abu Sulma wrote to his brother Ka'b telling him 'that the apostle had killed some of the men in Mecca who had satirized and insulted him and that the Quraysh poets who were left-Ibn aI-Ziba'ra and Hubayra b. Abu Wahb--had fled in all directions. 'If you have any use for your life then come quickly to the apostle, for he does not kill anyone who comes to him in repentance. If you do not do that, then get to some safe place.'”

-- ”The Life of Muhammad: A Translation of Sirat Rasul Allah by Ibn Ishaq”, A. Guillaume