Santorum on indoctrination...

[R.F.]

Rick Santorum: Left uses college for "indoctrination" - Political Hotsheet - CBS News

"If they taught Judeo-Christian principles in those colleges and universities, they would be stripped of every dollar. If they teach radical secular ideology, they get all the government support that they can possibly give them. Because you know 62 percent of children who enter college with a faith conviction leave without it." -Rick Santorum

What are your opinions on secular teaching, it's funding and do you think that it's harming the country as he later states?

[Apeman81]

I think, in light of the quote you chose, the proper question would be: "What is your opinion on teaching secularism?"

[R.F.]

Well if you would like to read the full story I provided the link. It only get's worse I assure you.

I think if secular teaching has done anything, it has made this country great. It produced flight, space travel, communication, and modern medicine [among many other awesome things].

[Apeman81]

Well if you would like to read the full story I provided the link. It only get's worse I assure you.

I think if secular teaching has done anything, it has made this country great. It produced flight, space travel, communication, and modern medicine [among many other awesome things].

What does this have to do with Santorum's comments on teaching?

[crimethinker]

Aside from calling secularism "radical", the quoted statement is basically honest. Apart from being an interesting and relevant historical, political, and sociological phenomenon, Christianity has no basis in reality. And in a world historical view, it's but one of a few equally important traditions.

Education, particularly science education, grants a sense of the scale and depth of the reality we occupy. What Rick seems to be saying is that, in its light, it's difficult to maintain religious belief without substantial personal or systemic bias. I agree with this.

As for funding of "radical secular universities", or whether it harms the country, one need only look at Western Europe.

[notthecheatr]

Makes perfect sense considering that America is primarily Christian, and American government is primarily run by Christians. Perhaps most of them are intelligent enough, despite being Christian, to realize that secular education is better? Or perhaps they simply love the freedom of the second amendment too much to give it up in favor of a particular religious doctrine's teachings.

Rick Santorum seems to be suffering from the delusion that reality supports theism, and therefore one needs to be "indoctrinated" in order to become an atheist. Perhaps he doesn't realize the possibility that reality in fact supports atheism, and that universities do nothing more than teach reality?

[barts]

Is anyone preventing students going to Bible colleges. As for the teaching the Judeo-Christian principles, why not Muslim, Hindu, or Jewish principles?

If what Santorum says is true that "62 percent of children who enter college with a faith conviction leave without it" then faith conviction must be a very weak and indefensible thing, indeed. Very weak thing, indeed, if it requires indoctrination to be maintained.

[Trojan_Ripper]

If what Santorum says is true that "62 percent of children who enter college with a _____ conviction leave without it" then _______ conviction must be a very weak and indefensible thing, indeed.

Very weak thing, indeed, if it requires indoctrination to be maintained.

I think you can fill in the line with numerous subjects taught, while most subjects also require constant indoctrination.

[R.F.]

What does this have to do with Santorum's comments on teaching?

Well he claims that secularism is harmful to America. This is borderline delusional. He's the type that belives America was founded on christian values, and this is simply not the case.

More importantly, I'm asking your opinion.

[minorwork]

Well he claims that secularism is harmful to America. This is borderline delusional. He's the type that believes America was founded on Christian values, and this is simply not the case.

More importantly, I'm asking your opinion.

If secularism is putting out social hedonists who are not self-reliant and complain of not being cared for by some other entity such as the state, then if Santorum sees that happening, doesn't like the whining, attaches that whining to secularism instead of Christian values, yes I can understand him. But I understand him better as a politician, a species known for its symbiotic relationship with scapegoats, strawmen and a tendency to pander for votes.

[Apeman81]

R.F.;856701]Well he claims that secularism is harmful to America. This is borderline delusional.

Explain how this claim is delusional?

He's the type that belives America was founded on christian values, and this is simply not the case.

The men who wrote the Declaration of Independence and formed the Constitution wrote of rights endowed by the creator among other statements made throughout their lives that lead some to conclude that the Judeo-Christian beliefs they held was a major factor in how they chose to address the formation of a new government.

We are free to disagree upon our conclusions of their impetus

Santorum addresses the concerns of a significant number of people who have every right to employ their belief system when choosing their political leaders.

Don't they?

[Yarn]

"If they taught Judeo-Christian principles in those colleges and universities, they would be stripped of every dollar. If they teach radical secular ideology, they get all the government support that they can possibly give them. Because you know 62 percent of children who enter college with a faith conviction leave without it." -Rick Santorum

There are plenty of religious organizations on my state school campus and plenty of churches as well. One of them is within a 5 minute walk from the center of campus. I've even seen club banners in public buildings promoting Christianity. And this is in liberal New England.

No doubt the fact that college classes teach science but not religion has some impact. But really, a lot of the loss of faith is fair gains. There is religious infrastructure and solidarity groups here (one of them meets in my dormitory), no one is cut off.

Rather, faith in youth is unreliable because it hasn't passed the trial of experience, and it frequently relies on parental influences that usually become crippled upon leaving home. Faith is a committment, and therefore is in part a burden. It rarely has sure practical benefits. Furthermore, perspectives against faith in the modern world are common. It is for instance associated with increasingly stigmatized fringe morality that has been stigmatized because it hurts people (e.g. gay bashing). If for these reasons individuals turn against it, that is their right, and to mostly blame the government is absurd and will cripple any effort to address the truely predominant forces at play.

Once upon a time, the government killed the non-religious. The fact it has stopped doing so is by far the most relevant thing it has done in the past several centuries to promote secularism.