FL Pastor Claims Church-State Separation Prevents Children Learning Morality

[Panich52]

Americans United
Marginalizing Morality?: Fla. Pastor Claims Church-State Separation Prevents Children From Learning Not To Steal

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As far as the Rev. Garry Wiggins of Evangel Temple Assembly of God in Jacksonville is concerned, school-age children are being prevented from learning basic morals – including that theft is wrong – because of the pesky constitutional principle of church-state separation.

“When you take moral codes, spiritual codes, Ten Commandments out of children's lives and they aren’t taught ‘Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not kill,’ they eventually raise up a generation where those principles don’t mean anything to them,” Wiggins told News 4 JAX recently.

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School-age children are not prevented from learning morality in the classroom simply because of the existence of the First Amendment. After all, moral codes against stealing and other wrong doing pre-date the Bible and are hardly unique to Judaism and Christianity. There are plenty of ways to teach children that stealing is wrong without framing the discussion with religion. Public schools manage to impart secular morality lessons all the time.

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Sadly, Wiggins’ words are pretty typical of fundamentalists who look upon the ills of the United States and prescribe religion as the ideal treatment for a variety of societal ailments. From theft to mass murder to declining church attendance, the Religious Right and its allies frequently say church-state separation is to blame.

Of course the reality is there was never a time when America was problem free. And pastors have been complaining about declining morals among Americans since the foundation of the United States. Sermons from plenty of late-18th and early-19th century clergy claimed this country was wicked and beyond redemption.

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https://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/marginalizing-morality-fla-pastor-claims-church-state-separation-prevents

[SheilaT]

1. The problem with connecting all morality to religion

is that then you're telling people that the only reason they should behave well and morally is because if they don't, they might get punished. Then they notice other people behaving badly and not being punished, and thinking they can get away with it also.

Most disturbing to me is that good behavior does not become internalized. It only exists because of an outside force.

[elleng]

2. Right, as if parents have no responsibility to teach children about

GOOD and BAD.

[Panich52]

6. An argument I've hd w/ many religionists - their false idea that one has to believe in a god to be

moral. And espcially the idea that the decalogue is the ultimate 'source.' I much prefer --trust -- those who are 'moral' because it's the right thing to be instead of because they fear punishment as you said.

[SheilaT]

7. Not to mention, if being religious was so good for behaving morally,

then why do we have all the horrors done by supposedly religious people?

[Ilsa]

3. There are school rules which mirror criminal laws

that children learn in school, including not to steal or cheat or hurt another student. I think school is a great place to learn and practice rules and laws "based on morality".

That FL pastor hasn't had a complete thought about his supposition. Or, he's just lying.

[Major Nikon]

4. They aren't learning the correct way to sell their daughters into slavery either

[HeiressofBickworth]

5. Um, isn't that what homes and churches are for?

In school, kids should be taught what's expected of them UNDER THE LAW, not according to someone's version of morality.

"Under the law" would include every prohibited action from assault to theft and property damage.

"Morality" means sex practices, from sex outside marriage to homosexual sex and self-sex, abortion, and, well, anything relating to sex. The morality police are mostly concerned with someone's sex life and they want the public schools as a platform to preach their anti-sex messages. By "declining morals" they mean that somewhere out there, someone is having sex and enjoying it -- and must be stopped.