I'm so angry and emotional right now I needed to write to you guys.

A comment was said in my (highschool) senior-level english class today that made me fume. We were discussing a quote about something when the topic of religion was brought up. One girl said that she found it "funny" that people in prison were encouraged to read the bible, when schools didnt encourage kids to read the bible. She also suggested that if it was encouraged, there would be less people in prison.

I was shocked but I'm kind of quiet and I didnt know what to respond. Most everyone in the class chuckled with agreement and the teacher nodded and said he found it "interesting."
Which, okay, isnt exactly "agreeing" but he's a bishop and I just know he was picturing everyone reading the BOM instead of the bible.

?!?! I think I'm more angry that I didnt say anything. I am kicking myself for staying quiet. This makes me SICK. What morals, exactly, did that girl think the bible would teach kids? Has she even read the bible herself? Morals arent exclusive to one religion! How many people have read the bible, claim to be christian, and still do terrible things? People don't need the threat of Hell to want to be good people.

I havent posted in months but I needed to hear from some sane people about this. I can't stop thinking about it, I plan to say something if it's brought up again tomorrow. Any suggestions? Im not very good at phrasing my words when I'm stressed out.

thanks guys <3

Just so you don't kick youself too hard, most people think of exactly the right thing to say in a situation abouit three hours after the situation has passed.

Somewhere there's a statistic (I'm lazy today) about how the percentage of nonreligous people in prisons is much lower than the percentage of nonreligous people in general. Therefore, religous people are more prone to commit crimes. So it follows that you shouldn't encourage bible reading at all.

Mnn--- some cons know that getting religion can be a good beginning for a con-job. Dincha nodat?

And some really nutty people get religion thinking that it will cure them from psychological disorders.

On the other hand the structure of a healthy religion can guide people to better ethics. Just depends on what the person's core values are. The individual can read the Bible with positive core values and derive further wisdom from that. Or, for that matter, we can even learn some lessons on the abuse of religion from the BoM.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/15/2013 04:49PM by me.

It is a fallacy.

One has nothing to do with the other...

Only 1 percent of people in prisons are Atheists.

Shouldn't that ratio be higher ?

You could say,"There's nothing wrong with encouraging students to read the Bible as long as it's presented as what it is--fiction."

I will say that reading the bible as a high schooler is what eventually made me loose all faith. Instead of skipping around to the highlights I decided to plow through it after my class read the Book of Ruth. I started with Genesis as a TBM and had last all belief by Leviticus.

Reading the BoM never threatened my belief foundation as I was often bored to death from reading the thing, but the bible kept my interest for long enough for me to question. It was because of reading the bible in high school that I eventually saw the light and found my way out of Mormonism.

You could try a few quotes of your own if that is the way to propose discussion in your classroom. Make sure to stand up for what you believe and not be bullied by this teacher. He sounds like he has an agenda.

Human decency is not derived from religion. It precedes it.

Most religions have merely canonized a few products of ancient ignorance and derangement and passed them down to us as though they were primordial truths. This leaves billions of us believing what no sane person could believe on their own. (Sam Harris)

I am against religion because it teaches us to be satisfied with not understanding the world. (Richard Dawkins)

And to read the Bible without horror, we must undo everything that is tender sympathizing and benevolent in the heart of man. (Thomas Paine)

I believe that our obligation is to make life better because it's our obligation to each other as human beings, not in relation to eternal rewards and infernal punishments. (Susan Jacoby)

Controlled study. Group A reads Bible, Group B reads Bhagavad Gita. See which group does better on a math test.
:)

Seriously. Especially if you are female. I'm glad I never read it when I was younger; I was already terribly down on myself!


Of course, the Mo-church doesn't want anyone to feel good about themselves, do they?