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General Buddhism => General Buddhism => Topic started by: bambi on February 02, 2014, 11:27:02 AM
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Now even schools and the teachers are giving bad examples. The teachers are supposed to be non bias and care for all despite their beliefs. How can one judge someone because of the religion? Its not like Buddhism is teaching followers to be bad or cruel. Such sensitive issues should not be publicized like this, instead the teachers and head should have just told the parents and let them move the children to another school.
The parents of a Buddhist student are joining forces with the American Civil Liberties Union to sue a public school board in north Louisiana, alleging their son was called "stupid" and given low marks for not adhering to Christian doctrine taught in his 6th grade science class.
Sharon and Scott Lane are the parents of three children enrolled in the Sabine Parish School System in rural northwest Louisiana. In a complaint filed Wednesday (Jan. 22) in U.S. District Court, the Lanes argue their son "C.C" became the "target of proselytization and harassment by faculty and administration" at Negreet High School when it became apparent he was not a Christian.
"All students, regardless of faith, should feel safe and welcome in our public schools," the court documents said. "But that is not the case in the Sabine Parish School District in Sabine Parish, Louisiana, where school officials actively inculcate Christianity and discriminate against minority-faith students."
The court case has already made national headlines, where pundits and legal scholars are noting the uniqueness of the case as it pertains to the question of a public school student's First Amendment rights.
"The school system recognizes the rights of all students to exercise the religion of their choice and will defend this lawsuit vigorously." -- Ebarb
Marjorie Esman, executive director of the ACLU of Louisiana, said suits brought against religious discrimination in public schools aren't unusual. But she thinks this case showcases a particularly extreme instance of religious harassment.
"This was not an instance where someone can say it was a well intentioned, but perhaps misguided, teacher, or a principal, that wanted to make sure kids 'got saved,'" Esman said Wednesday (Jan. 29). "(In this case) the teacher, principal and superintendent are all complicit in religious indoctrination to the point that they engaged in public humiliation of a student of a different faith."
C.C., who is of Thai descent, and his legal parent Sharon are both Buddhists. Named as defendants on the suit are the Sabine Parish School Board, Superintendent Sara Ebarb, Negreet High School Principal Gene Wright and Rita Roark, C.C.'s 6th grade science teacher.
During less than a month at the school in August and September of last year, the lawsuit claims C.C. was told those who didn't believe in God were "stupid" and was given low marks on tests when he didn't answer questions pertaining to religious doctrine.
One particular question was a fill-in-the-blank statement: “ISN’T IT AMAZING WHAT THE _____________ HAS MADE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
When C.C. left the blank empty, Roark wrote in "LORD" in large red letters and marked the answer wrong. The Lanes said students in Roark's class, in which their daughter "S.L." is also a member, get extra points for citing Scripture at the bottom of tests. They allege Roark also skipped over the chapters in the textbook that discuss evolution.
When the Lanes wrote a complaint letter to Principal Wright, they said he read it out loud over the school loudspeaker. Superintendent Ebarb, before reminding the Lanes they were "in the Bible Belt," suggested they transfer C.C. to another school that has "more Asians," the court documents said.
This is what the Lanes did, taking C.C. out of Negreet and enrolling him at Many High School. Their other two children remain at Negreet, where Christian paraphernalia can be found in the entryway, hallways and classrooms, and where the Lanes said students are required to attend compulsory assemblies that feature official school prayers.
The school's motto, once "We believe that God exists," has now been removed from the website and replaced with a statement that says, "Our students are more than just a number...they are family."
The Lanes are asking for a declaratory judgement that declares the actions of the defendants unconstitutional, a preliminary injunction ordering them to cease teaching Christian doctrine and harassing non-Christian students in the school, as well as monetary damages.
In response, Ebarb issued a statement saying the school board had only recently become aware of the suit.
"A lawsuit only represents one side's allegations, and the Board is disappointed that the ACLU chose to file suit without even contacting it regarding the facts. The school system recognizes the rights of all students to exercise the religion of their choice and will defend this lawsuit vigorously."
Walter Lee, who was recently indicted on federal theft charges, represents the state school board for the area. He said he hopes the parties can handle the issue outside of court.
"I just regret that it's a question or a concern, and would hope that the school officials and the parents can resolve it in a way that's acceptable to both sides," Lee said Wednesday. "It would be better if they can resolve it outside the court system so that the legal system does not have to get involved."
The ACLU has also asked the U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the school, a request Dena Iverson of the DOJ's civil rights division said is being reviewed.
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Schools set up by Christian missionaries which uses Christian teachings and phrases as their school motto is very common. I have spent 12 years of my life in 3 of such schools, ie junior school, high school and college of Catholic base. They have taught me well both academically as well as the principles of life. But never once have they discriminated me for having a different faith. It was never a problem for me to be a Buddhist in all of these schools. How strange that such "backward and discriminatory" thinking still exists. I am sure the school do not have a choice but to apologize to CC and his family and change their attitude and school system to accomodate students of all faiths .
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School is where the young one get their education from, is where the children get expose to the world of education, friends, sports and many more....
Discrimination should not exists as if the school were to have religious emphasis then it should show more care, compassion and love to all students from different background.
Make it fair here if the school were to just accept the same religious students then set it as a entry requirement so no confusion and difficuties found for both parties and everyone can benefited from all aspect.
Personally to me religious should be harmony and not discrimination. Religous is to teach to love, to care and to be compassion to all and not to just look for differential and criticise them. Education for children is very important as what you educate them from young is what they will be when they become adult. Is a huge responsibility to make them to be a good person to be able to benefit others or society so why create more issue between religious because we are not living alone in this world. Our fingers will have long different length why not people with different believe but we can work together to move forward and benefit each other.
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Probably a Mormon school lol...
Well... the LORD must be really proud of them for bullying an innocent young boy that have no choice over his religious belief anyways. I always believe, if you want to win someone over to your belief (which I don't see a need to...) then be compassionate and show them the right way to live life virtuously. They don't seem to do that... probably belong to some kind of cult or extremist group... We've all heard of Rev Jim Jones from the People's Temple right, maybe the teachers belong to something like that.
I'm not surprised when they reported that the teacher intentionally skipped the chapter or evolution. I read somewhere (can't remember) where they did a survey and quite a huge percentage of Americans believed humans are the decedents of Adam and Eve... LOL! No wonder half of America's fortune is held by 400 of America's most successful people. (I bet those 400 agrees with evolution)
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I believe in the freedom of religion,not just the freedom to practice my own religion and to try and coerce children forcibly into following my own beliefs.This is really a sad lesson.
When we stand by silently and allow this to happen to other children, can we be upset or surprised when it happens to our own?
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I believe in religious freedom and it works both ways. For believers of different faiths to live together in harmony, there must firstly be honest sharing, understanding and acceptance. Or else what we have is "I say, he says, I am correct and you are wrong, my God is better than your God." Buddhist or not, we must be vigilant and respectful first of what others practise. It always starts with you. ;D
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Religion teaches us to respect and be tolerant of other's practice, and not to criticize others for being different, whether we are black, white, yellow or otherwise. Ignorance in our minds made us view things differently from others but that does not make anyone bad or unequal. These obscuration clouds our perception and hence discrimination arises, thinking what we say and do is right.
There is really no right or wrong. There is only differences of opinion and we need to learn that and not discriminate.
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I am sorry but I am not surprise with this as Christians are traditionally aggressive and aggression in the name of God is condone and holy wars are part of such archaic religious history and doctrine. Its incredible how Christianity is often used as a means to suppress others. It would come to a point one day that those believing in such a backward faith in God would become an impediment in society towards achieving real harmony, peace and social progress. Perhaps, I would dare say that such archaic fear-inducing God would be rendered obsolete as new religions would arise that would be closer to Buddhism or towards greater understanding of the mind and the true nature of reality.
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I went to a catholic school from young till I graduated yet nothing of this was 'forced' onto us. Its just sad to see that religion is abused this way and very unprofessional. No religious freedom to practice what we believe in.
Its just the same as the ban! Just because that 'someone' said Dorje Shugden is a demon and we should not practice Him... Really?
What happened to reading and finding information instead of blind faith? Just because 'someone' said so. :(
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Most of the older generation went to Catholic schools those days but that doesn't means we have to be a Christian to be able to enrol in that particular school.
If we can have freedom of religion back then why the discrimination now? People have the right to choose their own faith and religion. All religion teaches us to be compassion so why is it being a Buddhist is any different?
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I am sorry but I am not surprise with this as Christians are traditionally aggressive and aggression in the name of God is condone and holy wars are part of such archaic religious history and doctrine.
So true. A recent example of Christian intolerance and fanaticism was the brutal destruction by Christian mobsters of a statue of the ancestral god of the Slavic people, Dazbog, in Hola Prystan, Ukraine, just a few days after its erection, in 2001.
Dazbog is the Slavic god of fertility and sunlight, and its very name means ”the giver of good fortune” (dati + bhaga). Therefore, he is akin to the Buddhist Marici (although the god himself is male, the sun is also female for Slavic people, as it is for Buddhists).
At the time, more than 100 Christian priests signed a document demanding the destruction of the statue ”to establish the rejection of religious cult idols of pagan times and forbid people to worship them”.
Intolerance of other faiths and gods is the very nature, root, and essence of the Abrahamic (Jewish, Christian and Muslim) ideologies. Veneration of any god apart from the cruel, envious, bloodthirsty Jewish ”god” is seen as ”blasphemous”, and strictly forbidden by such ideologies, as commanded by the very first of both the so-called 7 Noahide laws and 10 Mosaic commandments, with words such as ”thou shall have no other gods before me”.
Now, within Tibetan culture a similar phenomenon takes place, as gruesome genocidal politicians (such as the evil 5th, 13th, and 14th dalais) claiming to be ”Chenrezig” (a novelty started with the 5th evil dalai) furiously want to destroy the deity they see as a rival (Dorje Shugden), his symbols, and his followers.
http://telegraf.by/2011/07/v-hersonskoi-oblasti-posle-protesta-svyaschennikov-demontirovali-skulpturu-yazicheskogo-boga (http://telegraf.by/2011/07/v-hersonskoi-oblasti-posle-protesta-svyaschennikov-demontirovali-skulpturu-yazicheskogo-boga)
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As a complement to the previous post, here follows a picture of a statue of the god Perun, destroyed by ”unknown” (obviously Christian) mobsters on Kiev, Ukraine, in 2012.
Perun, the Slavic god of the sky, is arguably akin to (and similar-sounding with) the Greek Uranus (god of the sky), and the Vedic Varuna (god of the celestial ocean). He holds implements familiar to many Hindu and Buddhist deities, such as the axe, the hammer, the arrow, and so forth.
And so what? This is to show how delusional is the idea that Christian culture became ”less intolerant” now than what it ever was in the past. It simply has less power, thanks to the separation of church and state.
And the same must happen within Buddhist culture, stripping greedy politicians such as the evil dalai from any spiritual power, and stripping pseudo-spiritual theocrats such as the evil dalai from any temporal power.
In other words, criminals such as the evil dalai have no place either as political or spiritual leaders. They do have a place, however, in the garbage bin of history.
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I am proud to be a Buddhist.I have Muslims, HIndus & Christians friends because I studied in a Catholic school where there is no discrimination on racial or religious issue. We are all allowed to practice our own religion freely.i learned to respect others and their religion.Every religion if you practice correctly will not discriminate or criticise others.Children are sent to school to learn from the elders and following their good examples and not by forcing them into accepting something unwillingly.
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Every religion if you practice correctly will not discriminate or criticise others.
Unfortunately not true. Abrahamic ideologies (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) enjoin discriminating and even fully destroying religions together with their followers, which do not accept and venerate their cruel, envious, bloodthirsty, monomaniac ”god”.
These are the only so-called ”religions” which set commandments not only for their own followers, but for others as well. Jews in particular, seeing themselves as the ”elected people”, discriminate against non-Jews, which their Talmud equates to animals.
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It is sad that in this day and time, there is still religious discrimination in schools in the US.
In this particular case , there appears to be an underlying racial/cultural discrimination, as well. The young Buddhist student was told by his teacher that if he still insisted on remaining a Buddhist, he should switch to a school with "Asians", who practice Buddhism.
Yes, peace begins with harmony. Harmony comes from zero discrimination along whatever lines. HH Dalai Lama has said before (as head of Tibetan Buddhism) that his religion is "kindness". The hallmark of any faith is kindness and love. So discrimination and religious intolerance is the exact opposite of the spirit and nature of any faith or religion.
Any religion's purpose should be to present a path of practice that will bring an individual practitioner to greater inner and outer peace and harmony with self and others and their environment. So a true practitioner, regardless of faith, will manifest this quality of peace and harmony and an essential kindness to all beings.
Hopefully, there will be a peaceful and amicable settlement of this issue out of court.
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I think this situation is pretty tricky.. since Christian setup the school, their intention of spreading Christian is very clear. Of course I don't agree with the discrimination, and there should not be discrimination, but we are all not perfect and we make mistakes, and under such environment, I think people will be bias.
At the same time, since the parents know the school is operate under banner of Christian, may be the parents should consider sending the kid to schools which are more religion neutral.. just a thought...
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Yes, peace begins with harmony. Harmony comes from zero discrimination along whatever lines. HH Dalai Lama has said before (as head of Tibetan Buddhism) that his religion is "kindness".
Since the evil dalai himself shamelessly engages in relentless religious discrimination and persecution, and shows brutal unkindness against followers of Dorje Shugden, it follows the he is both a criminal and a liar.
Therefore, sanctioning and sanctifying the criminal and liar with honorifics such as ”HH”, ”His Holiness”, etc., becomes an act of accomplicity with his crimes and lies, and ultimately shows a wish to be part of them.
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I think this situation is pretty tricky.. since Christian setup the school, their intention of spreading Christian is very clear.
If their intention is spreading Christianity, they should set up a church, not a school. If they set up a school, their intention should be to teach schooling topics, not to to violate the conscience of anyone, let alone of vulnerable children, with their maniac proselytizing.
but we are all not perfect and we make mistakes, and under such environment, I think people will be bias.
That's why there is a Constitution, and laws, and courts, and fines, and even prisons, that is, to educate fanaticized people who think that their bias allow themselves to violate the conscience of others.
At the same time, since the parents know the school is operate under banner of Christian, may be the parents should consider sending the kid to schools which are more religion neutral..
So wrong and inhumane. What a lack of compassion! Not always other options are available, and under whatever banner the school operates, it is not supposed to violate the conscience of children, who were sent there to learn schooling topics, not to be harassed by maniac proselytizers.
Hopefully, there will be a peaceful and amicable settlement of this issue out of court.
The children and their Thai parents are the weak and vulnerable part, and therefore might be forced into an unfavorable settlement by the arrogant violators. The very best would be a judicial decision, heavily fining the violating school and punishing to the full extent of law the violators, in order to establish a healthy example and precedent.
Anyway, the whole episode shows that Christianity shares the same nature of Islam, both characterized by their fanatical ways of violating people's conscience with their aggressive proselytizing methods, a violence which traces its roots to their common source, Judaism, with its envious, violent, monomaniac ”god” Jeohovah.
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This is such a distressing case. Why can't schools be capable of accepting harmony? Well, it is because there are religious prejudices implanted in their mindstreams since youths. So, I believe that children shouldn't be forced into a religion but rather taught the beneficial things in a religion. Instead of making religious fanatics, they could make good moralistic people using principles from various religions.
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It is sad that school children are treated in this way. They are sent to school to get an education but are subject to religious bullying.
The education system must not impose religion onto children. It's acceptable if they introduced religious study.
It's good to send children to school where they can mix with friends of other religious faiths, so that they grow up to understand other religions and respect their friends' religion.
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Latest news regarding the harassment. Because of the harassment, the boy has to go to another school. How inconvenient because some people want it their way. :-\
Settlement in Suit Involving La. Buddhist Student
Officials in a western Louisiana school system and the American Civil Liberties union have settled a lawsuit sparked by the treatment of a Buddhist sixth-grader whose parents say he was harassed at a school where officials routinely pushed Christian beliefs.
The January lawsuit alleged, among other things, that a teacher at Negreet High School in Sabine Parish declared that Buddhism was stupid. It also said the school regularly incorporated Christian prayer into classes and school events and scrolled Bible verses on an electronic marquee in front of the school.
The agreement filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Shreveport contains a long list of prohibited practices. For instance, it says school officials won't discourage or encourage religious activities; they won't assign readings from religious texts, absent a non-religious educational purpose; and they won't express their personal religious beliefs in class or at school events.
"No child should feel that a teacher is trying to impose religious beliefs, and this agreement ensures that this will no longer be the case at Sabine Parish schools," said Marjorie Esman, executive director of the ACLU of Louisiana. "We're glad the school board worked with us to bring this matter to a quick and amicable resolution."
The lawsuit was filed against the Sabine Parish School Board on behalf of Scott and Sharon Lane and their three children. According to the complaint from the ACLU and its Louisiana chapter, the Lanes' son — a lifelong Buddhist of Thai descent — quickly became the target of harassment at Negreet.
Among the defendants in the suit, aside from the school board, was science teacher Rita Roark, who taught students that "the earth was created by God 6,000 years ago, that evolution is 'impossible' and that the Bible is '100 percent true.'"
A test she gave included religious references that included this fill-in-the-blank entry: "Isn't it amazing what the —————— has made!!!!"
When the Lanes' son "did not write in Roark's expected answer (LORD), she belittled him in front of the rest of the class," the lawsuit said.
The January lawsuit said Negreet officials refused to stop the practices when the Lanes complained, but allowed the boy to attend another school in Many, La.
The agreement filed Friday, known legally as a consent decree, includes an award of $4,000 to Sharon Lane to cover her past costs of transporting the boy to Many. The board also will provide him with bus transportation as he continues to attend school in Many.
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Buddhism is widely known and increasingly more people of the other faiths will come to know more about what Buddhism is all about and how it can help in their lives. Its unsurprised that there are still discriminations coming from all directions especially where there is already a deep rooted religious faith (happened to be part of the culture of a particular race), because these faiths are facing challenges and they might be losing followers. But for religious educator, they should conduct good teachings of religious freedom to their followers instead of working against that.
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A school supposed to be a place where all students are given equal opportunities and freedom to enhance their knowledge. How could a Christian based school allowed discrimination, whereas as per one of the verse in the old testament , “Love your neighbour as yourself”! Why must an educationist implant discrimination in religion and also create confusions amongst those young and innocent children ?Where has all the cultivation of harmony and peace passion drifted to ? Due to this incident, I believe it really bring shame to all teachers and educationist .
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How could a Christian based school allowed discrimination, whereas as per one of the verse in the old testament , “Love your neighbour as yourself”!
The verse of the old testament refers only to Jewish neighbours. Non-Jewish neighbours are considered only worth being enslaved or murdered, as vastly shown by the old testament carnages of non-Jews.
Besides, the Christian view is that those who do not follow Jesus should be thrown into the fire and burned: "If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned." (John 15:16).
Make no mistake: Christianity, now matter how much it tries to disguise itself, is just a genocidal ideology, not better than either Judaism or Islam.
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It is sad that school children are treated in this way. They are sent to school to get an education but are subject to religious bullying.
The education system must not impose religion onto children. It's acceptable if they introduced religious study.
It's good to send children to school where they can mix with friends of other religious faiths, so that they grow up to understand other religions and respect their friends' religion.
Bullying is quite common and more so when there is discrimination in the school be they religious or non-religious. It is bad for the perpetrators and the victims. When the school becomes a breeding ground for cultivating discrimination and intolerance of each others it becomes our own suffering when we bring these learnt behaviors to adulthood.
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Religious freedom is a fundamental human right that is guaranteed by the First Amendment's Free Exercise and Establishment clauses. It encompasses not only the right to believe (or not to believe), but also the right to express and to manifest religious beliefs. The Constitution does not endorse any religious creed, and it does not recognize any power of government to decide theological questions. Beliefs about the nature of God is a proper subject for individuals, families, religious communities, and theologians, but not for government bodies such as the U.S. Congress or a local school board.
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http://www.stephen-knapp.com/christian_persecution_in_india.htm
(http://www.stephen-knapp.com/christian_persecution_in_india.htm)
This is an article on Christian Persecution in India: The Real Story. A very interesting read. This post on C.C. being harrassed in Louisiana made me just google other kinds of religious persecution. I was not targetting Christians because I have respect for all religion but not necessarily all the practitioners.
In this link I have posted you can see that religion is so very abused by HUMAN ill intentions. Using religion as a threat for God-fearing souls.
This kind of conduct needless to say is the same as some people out there who are so abusive towards centres which practise Dorje Shugden. Naming them as "cults" and exposing other Lamas without any basis except their wrong deluded views. Sad and shameful. I like to tell these clowns if you do not like it then just move on. Go peacefully and quietly to whatever you wish to have faith in.
Why is there a need to be Right? Is the issue really Dorje Shugden or your personal grievances stemming from your personal character flaws?