School Prayer Banishment was a Good Thing

[pelathais]

Originally Posted by OP_Carl

The banishment of prayer in public schools in 1962 was a good thing for America.

It sounded the alert that folks ought to look in to what goes on in public schools.

And if folks become inquisitive enough, they'll discover exactly what the government schools are intended to do. Which goal, oddly enough, is not the intellectual training of children.

Our school structure and methods are modeled after the 17th century Prussian system, which was designed with the express purpose of producing loyal, patriotic, industrious, compliant, peer-oriented workers and soldiers that are incapable of questioning orders.

Our regimented school systems are NOT intended to impart sufficient critical thinking skills and knowledge to produce free-thinking individuals capable of logic and reason.

Our schools supplant logic and reason with emotion and animal instinct.

Wouldn't you say that most of the "agenda" that troubles most of us is really driven by the Teacher's Union and not necessarily "the government?"

The "Prussian model" that you've attempted to ascribe here is a bit inaccurate. Friedrich Wilhelm August Froebel, who created the "modern" school system and coined the term "kindergarten" (children's garden" - hardly a militaristic ideal) was indeed German, but not Prussian. The Prussian militarism that you appear to dread was a product of the Teutonic Knights and the 1,000 year long German/Prussian expansion into Eastern Europe.

Froebel was a Thuringian (central Germany today, the "West" of his time) - in a completely different country from Prussia in the 1840's with a different outlook, generally speaking. Thuringia was a "hotbed" of Lutheran Evangelicalism. Essentially, they were the "Christian Fundamentalists" of their time in Europe.