Page 2/The Battalion/Tuesday, October 28, 1986
Opinion
Schools torn between religious favoritism, sterility
The Pilgrims came to
America because they were
bored with Europe and
wanted to get away from the
hustle and bustle of 15th-
century life. Religion,
according to textbooks cur
rently being opposed by fun
damentalists in Alabama,
had nothing to do with it. In
the effort to purge the class
room of religious favoritism,
education has suffered from
total theological abstinence.
equally concerned with religious sterility in educa
tion.
Loren Steffy
The battle over religion and education is rooted
in fear. For one group, the fear is that different
theological ideas will lead to damnation. For the
other, the fear is that the slightest mention of reli
gion, even in a historical context, will bring the
temple of religious separation crashing down on
our heads. Both fear the mention of different reli
gions in classroom for different reasons. Both take
their fears to an extreme.
Such groups as the People for the American
Way claim that making texts that cater to various
religious beliefs violates separation of church and
state. The PAW even has admitted that the texts
are bad, but it defends inadequate books because it
fears religious encroachment into schools.
On the heels of the Alabama case comes another
ruling granting fundamentalists in Tennessee the
right to have their children sheltered from reading
books they say conflict with their religious convic
tions. For them, religion and education must be
united.
The fundamentalists, of course, put their argu
ments in religious terms — the texts are saturated
with “secular humanism.” In Tennessee, the court
ruled in favor of parents, slamming shut the door
to knowledge for the children. The parents are re
lieved; the children are deprived.
Among the books labeled unfit were “The Diary
of Anne Frank” and L. Frank Baum’s “The Wizard
of Oz.” Frank was a Jew and Baum a populist —
neither were secular humanists.
Both are wrong, and both are right — to some
degree.
We should worry about one or even several reli
gions dominating the classroom. But we should be
The fundamentalists found that Frank’s diary
was objectionable because it tolerates all religions.
If the fundamentalists are going to deem this
material “unacceptable,” they also must find it dif
ficult to read the teachings of another famous Jew
who tolerated other religions — this one from Na
zareth.
“The Wizard of Oz,” they say, teaches children
that such traits as courage, compassion and intelli
gence are developed personally rather than
granted by God, and it depicts witches as good.
Baum wrote the story for his daughter, Doro
thy, and in the introduction claims the story is pure
fantasy. The group in Tennessee, however,
doesn’t believe children should exercise their
imagination. Vicki Frost, one of the parents lead
ing the fight, was quoted as saying that children’s
imagination needs to be bounded.
Given this outlook, the attack of Baum’s work is
understandable, but it shows a lack of examination
of the work in question. As is frequently the case
with blacklisted books, the protesters didn’t bother
to scratch below the surface. The lion, scarecrow
and tin woodsman didn’t “develop” their courage,
intelligence and compassion on their own. They
had these “God-given” traits all along and just
didn’t realize it.
By demanding their children be allowed to
abstain from such reading, the fundamentalists
have exercised their right to religious freedom.
But they also are turning their children’s educa
tion into an academic closet where the light of
knowledge is so heavily filtered almost none gets
through.
Part of education is uncovering different ideas
and deciding which ones to believe. Often such
knowledge makes existing beliefs stronger. Some
times it doesn’t. But if these ideas are never known
the learning process becomes one-dimensional.
Education lapses into indoctrination.
But if these fundamentalists are threatening^
educational balance by trying to bring Christiaicj
to the head of the class, groups such as the Pill
are doing equal damage to educational integriiisf
trying to make the instruction oblivious to tilt is
of religion in history and contemporary socb \ .
Students are getting the events, but nottheunfePs^/
lying beliefs and philosophies that caused them I
To ignore these roles is to lock a child in the;.p g
demic closet as tightly as the fundamentalists I
want only one view to get through.
We love our religious freedom, but, intheiiftpj [n()W t p
of fairness, we also want to keep it separatefifT|9e har
out public schools. We shouldn’t be afraidtoiteelongs to
tion religion in the classroom — it plays an e ault
tant role in our history. What we need tobev-l ^ r< *'‘ e *
of is advocating one religious viewpoint AftenjBr" a1 , 1 ’
that’s why the Pilgrims came here in the first piil®
... Jitation
Not explaining the role of religion in the.MAri hie, a
chusetts colony makes it superficial and m tade. fast-f
rate. Secular humanism and separation ofck 0 rtnm * 1 ip
and state don’t enter into it. It’s just incotnt Fi an< ^ ’
. . • mrants.
An!m' h
I he Pilgrims were deeply religious Christiilonever q
fleeing persecution. They worked hard, and ranch fran
prayed hard. Through determination thevonjilehelie t
out a foothold from which grew the UnitedfeH°^ e 8 e
That's hisloiA. pine and simple. That wm.i 1115 !nou
OSS
bad, now was it? p e nath
Loren Steffy is a
Opinion Page editor for The Battalion.
senior journalism major J T exas "
Wm in 19f
“When 1
^ AAAR6DUIES
hoMSfj F«r
Fighting the wave
of a silent invasion
Hne
;nt me to
idn’t mind
tewarm wt
After ser
D .station
|rce Base
elationship
leworkecf;
'aco Bell c
las one of 1
Our roach
problem is really
getting out of
hand. I found out
late last night.
Jeff L Brady
Moving on to middle-age-crazy
About midnight I went downstairs —
barefooted, defenseless — one last time
for a drink just before bed.
I went into the kitchen. I should have
known better. Kitchens were designed
for cockroaches.
The lights had been off for more
than an hour downstairs. A creepy stil
lness hung in the air. I knew they had
invaded. Someone left a stale bag of
Cheetos open near the toaster —- like
bloody tuna in shark-infested waters. I
heard the familiar rustlings of hard,
slick, spiney legs scuttling across for
mica. Flipping the lights on, I caught
four of them hoisting a bowl of chicken
salad over the counter’s edge and be
hind our oven.
I’m 40. It hap
pened sometime
in the wee hours
of the night. Age
should come at
night, the sneak
ing rat.
So what is the
first thing a per
son should do
when he or she
reaches the mile
stone of 40?
Lewis
Grizzard
Take stock, I suppose. Forty begins
life’s stretch run, and it is a good oppor
tunity to look around and see where you
stand.
I still have my hair while a number of
my friends are bald or are balding.
There are a few gray strands atop my
head, but not that many for a man who
has lived through three marriages, two
heart surgeries and one trip to Russia.
Speaking of marriage, I often wonder
if I ever will do it again. There are times
I want to, but I’ve been advised against
it.
“Don’t get married again,” somebody
warned me. “Just go out every three
years and find a woman you don’t like
and give her a house. It’s simpler that
way.”
I have a good dog and he loves me.
He sleeps on the floor beside my bed, he
growls at strangers and he doesn’t go to
the bathroom in my house. What more
can you ask of a dog?
Mail Call
Living Aggie Spirit
EDITOR:
I was walking with four friends from Skaggs Alpha-Beta to our residence
halls, in the rain, with arms loaded. If anyone has ever made this perilous
journey, they know of the complications involved. A kind-hearted lady pulled
to the curb and offered us a ride. She didn’t know who we were or where we
were going and she didn’t mind that we were wet. She simply wanted to help.
Ruth Bostic didn’t have to stop and help us. We would have made it
without her. But the fact remains, she did. She displayed the Twelfth Man
spirit — the willingness to help. So if you know her, give her a hug and tell
her how proud you are of her. If you don’t know her, try and meet her. She’s
a true lady — a humanitarian living out the spirit of Aggieland.
Rusty Fox ’90
Accompanied by four signatures
Hurting the home team
EDITOR:
Why do we die-hard Aggie football fans insist on hurting our team? Why
do we insist on doing yells while our offensive team is on the field? Why must
the band play while the offense is trying to hear Kevin Murray? I think we
should save our Aggie enthusiasm and voice it while the other team has the
ball. There are plenty of opportunities to express our zeal for our
outstanding offense, but let’s wait and use it to our advantage.
Kelly Mooney ’90
Letters to the editor should not exceed 300 words in length. The editorial staff reserves the right
to edit letters for style and length, but will make every effort to maintain the author’s intent.
Each letter must be signed and must include the classification, address and telephone number of
the writer.
I have good friends. They don’t seem
that impressed when I appear on the
Carson show. You need friends like
that. They keep you from taking your
self so seriously.
My health, I suppose, is only so-so.
I’ve had two heart surgeries, as result of
the fact that 40 years ago I was born,
through no fault of my own, with a
leaky aortic valve.
Modern medicine can now repair
leaky valves, but just how long that re
pair will last is questionable. A pig’s
valve was implanted in me, and how
many 35-year-old pigs do you know?
If I live long enough, I likely will have
to undergo a third heart surgery. I sup
pose I could take it, but this whole affair
really has been tough on the pig popula
tion.
I like my job. I always wanted to be a
writer and now I am one, although I still
dangle a participle every now and then.
But I never was much of one for detail.
I’ve had some great moments. There
was the day I saw my first book in the
window of a bookstore. There was a
time I heard Willie Nelson live and in
person in the backyard of the White
House.
And I was there when Georgia beat
Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl for the
National Championship in 1980, and
once I saw my name on the marquee of
the only motel in Guymon, Okla.
The bad times include the day my
daddy died, getting left by a bus in a
Chicago snowstorm, a case of salmonella
food poisoning, missing a number of
good women, having my stepfather
make me eat my English peas and four-
putting No. 13 at Augusta National af
ter getting on the green in regulation.
But I’ve seen California, New York
City, Paris, Rome and the Kentucky
Derby. I have shaken hands with two
presidents, sung on stage with the Gat
lin Brothers, drank bourbon with Bear
Bryant, and once I kissed a sorority girl
from an unnamed Southeastern Con
ference school when I was much too old
to be doing such a thing.
Yeah, I did all that, and I’ve still got
middle-age-crazy to look forward to.
Wahoo.
“Ah-ha!” I roared.
They froze — antennae waving up
and down, testing the air — startled by
the light. And made their dash. They
shot for the kitch
en’s four corners,
one in each direc
tion. The salad
bowl skidded
across the counter
and into the Mr.
Coffee.
I reacted quickly, slamming a bag of
Oreos into the nearest corner of the
counter. I squished one of them into
oblivion and nailed a second against the
refrigerator with a well-aimed banana.
Ker splat.
The other two slipped into cracks and
were gone — into the bowels of inner-
earth to eat, breed and plot future raids
on the warm-blooded world above
them.
My heart pounding like a jackham
mer, I stood there panting and came to
the conclusion that ours is no ordinary
roach problem. For ours are no ordi
nary roaches.
The Encyclopedia Britannica tells us
there are more than 3,500 species in
festing God’s green earth. Only a few,
however, have become pests — nibbling
Fig Newtons, lurking behind bath tow
els, scuttling from shelf to shelf in dark
ened pantries. The encyclopedia contin
ues that the insect damages more than
twice as much material than it consumes
and emits a foul, disagreeable odol\
I’ll say. Apartment maintenance per
sonnel have fumigated twice and our
roaches are thriving. They LIVE for
foul odors.
1 have a correction fortheenad
dia, however. 'There are 3,561 spt
( )urs is a new breed.
Coc kroaches are among thr
primitive of living, winged hup-
tually unchanged for more tta
years.
Why change? Why tamper wife
fection? The cockroach is the k
pest.
They’re numerous. We havete
found six frozen solid inourketn
week. They check in andouto!
Roach Motel like conventioneers j
College Station Hilton.
They’re quick. Flvswattersarek
strategically throughout the apart:
for easy access and we still slapeiw
hie tops more than the roaches.
They’re effective. Allabugk'i
is whisk ac ross a loaf of breadoi.
nished sandwich to render ilinni
Yeeesh. Who wants to down aid
with roach tracks all over it ; Ns
Bucko.
But now the problem hasjom
of hand. Consider:
• Anpi
to enter the il
late atnighitf
a sledgehan:
electric co»f
and butane®
lefifit in A
“I Itsed to
)the resta
5 miles aw
bout a year
n Ben \V1
loser to the
After he
971, he b
74,[he be<
nd had a h;
lacoBells.
In 1975, 1
>buy into t
• Have'
abandoned Tupperware and ft
cast-iron containers for yourlfh
odi
• Do you find tiny poker dip
empty liquor bottles outside Road
tels after the insects have partd
rowdy nights?
• Are you missing any pets red
Ones that might have made tad
night snacks? That is, hamsters,irtj
fish, kittens, german shepherds-
Gertrud is cattle....
• Do your roommateskeepP
finishing off half-empty boxesoij
ute Rice, Sugar Flakes and Vaoi>]
ers?
Then, my friend, you, too,art|
victimized.
I say it’s time to take act# J
arms, take cover and takeilto®|
Drastic situations call for draSi
swers. Enough is enough.
Tonight I’m creeping do*-
about 2 a.m. — barefooted,^ 1
the dark — shotgun in hand.
Jeff L. Brady is a seniorjt
j° r
The Battalion
(USPS 045 360)
Member of
Texas Press Association
Southwest Journalism Conference
The Battalion Editorial Board
Cathie Anderson, Editor
Kirsten Dietz, Managing Editor
Loren Steffy, Opinion Page Editor
Frank Smith, City Editor
Sue Krenek, News Editor
Ken Sury, Sports Editor
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Copyright 1986, Cowles Syndicate