God is dead? At a top Brooklyn middle school, He is.
Just when you thought the separation of church and state was more than an option, like paper or plastic, the matter has been settled at MS 51 in Park Slope. And the lesson falls on the side of atheism.
“RELIGION,” a sheet from English class, handed out to eighth-graders, is provocatively titled. The typewritten paper presents some 20 quotes that can be described as anti-God, coming from philosophers from Kierkegaard to Schopenhauer. Even a “Yiddish proverb.”
“Religion is a disease, but a noble disease,” reads the first quote, attributed to Heraclitus.
“Religion is the masterpiece of the art of animal training, for it trains people as to how they will think,” reads one by Schopenhauer.
Another sheet, titled “GOD,” asks kids to ponder whether religion should be treated as poetry — neither true nor false.
Angry parents want to know: What the devil does this have to do with middle-school English?
And, aren’t these kids too young to learn something more appropriate for a grad-school theological course?
“It’s not only above their level, obviously. It’s inappropriate in a public-school setting,” said Ken Whelan, whose daughter brought home the assignment late last year.
“We are fighting for the hearts and minds of our children. Against MTV, ‘American Idol’ and anorexia. We don’t need the public-school system to muddy the waters. To plant seeds of doubt.”
MS 51 is considered an educational oasis, one of the top 10 middle schools to send kids to the city’s specialized high schools. But the fuzzy-headed assignment, given by English teacher Rachel Rear, raised red flags with a Department of Education official, who agreed middle school “is a little young for this.”
“It’s problematic,” he said. The department had no official comment.
Rear did not return calls. But Principal Lenore Berner defended the assignment, part of a philosophy unit within the English course.
“We’re looking at both sides of debates,” Berner said. She added that Whelan had visited the school, along with a nun from his parish, and “we had a really good conversation about it.”
But Whelan said the teacher “dug in. She was challenging me. She wanted to get into a theological debate.”
Berner told me that some of the more objectionable material, she “believed,” would be removed from the course. That should comfort no one.
Once, schools taught kids to read, write and think. Now, educators use personal bias to preach what to think. The list keeps growing.
At Manhattan’s York Prep, a course pushes the beauty of Islam while ignoring other religions. Child School on Roosevelt Island pushes a gay agenda to boys of 10, expecting them to cross-dress in the school play. And all over New York, kids as young as 4 are required by the state to learn heavy lessons about HIV and AIDS.
Enough.
“Men never do evil so fully and so happily as when they do it for conscience’s sake,” wrote Pascal.
I’m not entirely sure of the meaning of that quote, contained on the handout. But at a time when kids need religion, family and strong schools more than ever, this kind of lesson is best left alone.
Gay play not cool at school
The verdict is in: Gay is OK. But leave 10-year-olds alone.
After I reported last week that learning-disabled students at the Child School on Roosevelt Island put on a production of “La Cage Aux Folles” — a musical starring cross-dressing “married” men — the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender community was on me like a cool spring rain. (Who knew the word “transvestite” was a gay no-no?) But a spokeswoman for the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation agreed that boys of 10 are a tad young to wear dresses and kiss.
A Child School teacher e-mailed: “I was extremely offended and disturbed watching the latest play. Being a Catholic conservative, I must always make the choice to either keep silent and endure it, or forsake teaching altogether.”
Common ground!
I don’t care if she never gets back
Quintessential New Yorker Jerry Seinfeld called uber skank Lady Gaga a “jerk” for stinking up his private box at Citi Field by staging a profanity-laced, bird-flipping tirade. Incredibly, Gaga was kicked not to the curb, but to Jerry’s domain.
“You give people the finger and you get upgraded? Is that the world we’re living in now?” he told WFAN radio.
I’ve told Gaga to move her circus act to Yankee Stadium, where her barely clad bod is welcome. Better yet, try the minor leagues.
Taking advant’age’
A girl of 16, too young to get her navel pierced without adult supervision, nearly died trying to sail the globe. A boy, 13, climbed Mount Everest. Now “American Idol” has dropped the minimum age for talent-show competitors to 15 — not too young for a kid to suffer public humiliation and rejection at the hands of judges and an audience stacked with folks over 40.
Anxious producers think that’s the way to bring young viewers back to the show. Desperate stage parents thank them.
Jacko hall of shame
Michael Jackson’s induction into the National Museum of Dance & Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs on Aug. 14 and 15 will be protested by people molested as kids.
“Mr. Jackson repeatedly admitted that he had a longtime practice of allowing boys to whom he was not related sleep in his bed. As we all know from celebrity cases such as O.J. Simpson, most often a not-guilty verdict means a wealthy defendant had enough money to buy a verdict of ‘reasonable doubt,’ ” wrote John Aretakis and the Rev. Robert Hoatson of Road to Recovery Inc.
“We know your Hall of Fame may do good work and is trying to secure state and national notoriety, media coverage, and significant donations. However, to do so on the backs of childhood survivors of sexual abuse by honoring a pedophile is not a good business decision.”
The hall’s Donna Skiff insists, “We’re honoring him for his dance, not for his lifestyle.” Of course not.
He’s ‘Client 9 Lives’
Freaky ex-love gov Eliot Spitzer has a new place to hang his knee socks. CNN — the first cable news channel that pays lovers who pay.