Regarding God in our country and other things. - Comments

I completely agree with everything Ben Stein said.

Gah. I believe i'm a fan of his, now.

he's said everything i don't know how to put in words.

Haha. From that uber-famous monotone voice comes some of the best, most raw forms of common sense i've run into in years.

Yes, Ben Stein is arrogant.

Dancing Caveman pretty much said all I was going to say.
*applauds*

Ben Stein is arrogant huh...

America is NOT an atheist nation. It is meant to be SECULAR, which is NOT atheistic. It simply means that we do not cater to ANY RELIGION. If he wants proof that that America is supposed to be Secular, he can go read the Treaty of Tripoli.

Atheists account for 12% of America's population. We are not the ones in charge. Hell, you can't even hold office in 4 states if you're an atheist. I'm so damn sick and tired of the religious majority feeling like they're the victims. We don't allow prayer in schools because it's a waste of academic time and because there are various other religions in the school. We don't beat our children because that is not even civil. Hitting kids isn't even an atheistic principle! Although it's not surprizing to hear from Ben Stein. After all, he's the fucker who says that atheism leads to eugenics which leads to nazism.

Having prayer in school and beating kids are not going to reduce crime in this country. We have a higher rate of crime because there are more people and there are more people in shit conditions. Besides, the majority of crimes aren't even committed by people who are atheists or secularists. 75% of people in jails are CHRISTIAN. Guess how many are atheist? .01%!

Are you laughing yet?
No, Ben Stein, I'm not. I'm completely pissed off by your level of arrogance.

This is completely ridiculous. Ben Stein is an annoying fool.

I wonder how the world would be if every single child was disciplined and put in the right place whenever he or she misbehaved?
Probably much better. My friend screamed something along the lines of "Yeah, because I want to let my kid run around and do whatever he wants so he grows up to be in prison!" at the old lady.

Yes, Corrablel, that makes sense, although technically someone could just be cynical and say 'go to a library', you make plenty of sense.

It seems like people don't want these books in school because they fear that kids will somehow become indoctrinated by them. Schools are places of learning, and no one is going to force these things on you if you don't want it, see my examples about my German school

I'd actually like it if we'd had the Bible in my school, or other religious books as well.
Regardless of one or many types of religious texts, I'd like the opportunity to learn about Christianity or Judaism or islam or Taoism or Hinduism or Buddhism. I don't want to have to Google search God and use Wikipedia as my reference. Sometimes books are just the way to go.

yes me too. I actually don't think I was ever actually spanked. Maybe just once. But i think the fear of being spanked, or worse, kept me in line

Exactly, lost.profound. I'd like to see some proof that disciplining does more harm than good. Discipline is hard to find nowadays, and violence in the world sure does appear to be plentiful. I wonder how the world would be if every single child was disciplined and put in the right place whenever he or she misbehaved?

That is very sad.
And I agree with letterbombx723. I believe myself to be a very respectful person because thats what my parents taught me, discipline included. Kids nowadays rarely have respect, and I think thats why.

He makes some good points. It's a really fragile balance between the lifestyle we know today and one with God infused into it. Sometimes one side's gonna be heavier than the other.

But I'd rather have people being shy with the words "Merry Christmas" than being burned at the stake or tortured for not being religious or sharing the same religion as the majority of a country. [That's an extreme, if you haven't noticed. I'm not trying to offend people here. D: I'm so sorry if I have..]

My mom disciplined me as a kid, and I honestly think I benefited from it. I would backtalk or have an attitude, and trust me, it only took one spanking for me to straighten up. Mom taught me how to behave and how to treat people with respect, and I am thankful the whole "ZOMG, ABUSE" thing wasn't around when I was little.

If a kid mouths off or throws a bloody tantrum, smack him. It's not going to provoke "VIOLENT BEHAVIOR" or whatever they pin on it now. It will, however, provoke good behavior.

yes thank you.

I remember hearing about a kid who sued his dad for spaking him. and won. that is truly sad.

Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they
misbehave because their little personalities would be warped and we might
damage their self-esteem (Dr Spock's son committed suicide). We said an
expert should know what he's talking about. And we said OK.

Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they
don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill
strangers, their classmates, and themselves.

My friend recently got yelled at in a local grocery store for even mentioning she was going to discipline her child by some random old lady. I find it amazing that people can't distinguish between simple discipline and abuse nowadays. I was disciplined as a child and I'm just fine as an adult.

And about the religion. I don't see a problem with an OPTIONAL class either. If someone believes in it that much that they want to study it, or atleast read the Bible in school, I don't see what the big deal is. Its not like they're harming anyone else, they are just exercising their right of freedom of religion

"I do care when someone suggests that maybe we'd be a better country if we had Bibles in our schools and posted the Ten Commandments in our courthouses.
It's not going to help. It's only going to make us narrow-minded bastards."

I don't think it would make for a better country if there were bibles in the school, but it wouldn't hurt the anything if done right.

At my school here in Germany, I am in a religion class. There are Bibles in the classroom.

aaahhrrg. i'm mad my last comment was lost, cause it was good and i'm having a hard time re typing it.

anyways

Now, its seems to me that there are two different religion classes in the school; one for Catholics (mine) and one for protestants.

So naturally, you are only in those classes if you are one of those two religions. Its not as if they are forcing Muslims or Jews into these classes. The students in the classes CHOOSE to be in them. And as long as i've been in the class, we haven't taken out the Bibles. To be honest i don't even know what we do for sure in the class cause i don't understand much.

So in such a contex as an OPTIONAL religion class, i don't see how any harm could come from having a Bible in a classroom. please explain if you see a problem with that.

also, i find it offensive that you seem to imply that anyone who reads the Bible will become a narrow minded bastard. and to be honest, i can't remember the last time i read the Bible. But to make that implication is just ridiculous and offensive

...But I don't care when people say "Merry Christmas" to me.
I do care when someone suggests that maybe we'd be a better country if we had Bibles in our schools and posted the Ten Commandments in our courthouses.
It's not going to help. It's only going to make us narrow-minded bastards.

And by the way, here in my school in Germany, we have religion classes, and there are Bibles in the school. No one cares. No one freaks out.

Yes, it is out of the government. But I find it goes to far when people are afraid to say "Mrerry Christmas" or "Christmas Tree" on TV cause they think they're going to offend someone.

If you are offended if I say "Merry Christmas" to you, you need to rethink yourself. This country is all about freedom of religion, and when you tell people you can't say things like that, you're taking away those rights.

I doubt anyone gets offended by people saying "Merry Christmas" and like I said, if you do, you're probably very stuck up and not accepting of other people

It's called separation of church and state, and it exists for a very good reason: because here in America, we respect EVERYONE'S beliefs, even if they don't believe in God, and we DO NOT force belief in God onto our citizens by implanting ANY kind of religion into our government. If you've got a problem with that, take it up with the Supreme Court. :)