Secular Humanists: Do They Walk the Halls?
by Kathy Brown on May 24th, 2009 | 0 comments
Perhaps the Secular Humanists named in the previous article didn't seem to connect to public government schools. Or did they?
How does Planned Parenthood (Sanger, Guttmacher, Wattleton, Fleishman, Calderone) have anything to do with school? The message, model and materials for sex education in public schools comes from Planned Parenthood. Among their directives are: (1)there is no right or wrong, only what's right for you (2)parents do not have authority over you; their ideas can be very old-fashioned (3)modesty is not a virtue; it is an obstacle to be overcome by more enlightened thinking (4)abstain until you are "ready" and then use birth control, if that fails abort. It is worth thinking about the outcome these ideas produce in an adolescent or teenager.
John Dewey, "Father of American Education" has had obvious influence on public schools.
Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow used "values-clarification" as the basis for determining right and wrong is school. If there is a problem in classrooms across America with bad behavior, and there is no room for truth, then the self-determination of morality is the only option remaining. When each child learns they determine for themselves what is right and wrong, eventually this is lived out in adulthood. Ultimately, a society's morality is defined by "the guy with the biggest gun" (or those with the most power.)
Lawrence Kohlberg influenced educators to rely on autonomous reason for ethics. Education majors in colleges are taught his "dilemma approach." This is a small lesson in situational ethics with a huge message for children. One common problem-solving exercise involves a bomb shelter exercise. There are four people trying to get into a bomb shelter. One is a sick old man. One is a handicapped woman. One is a two year old child. One is a robust thirty year old man. There is only food enough for one person. Who should be let in?
B.F. Skinner is a behavioral psychologist who inspired Outcome Based Education. This movement has resulted in less objective instruction and a heavy dose of striving for particular "outcomes". These have been especially related to "attitude adjustment" not factual information.
Lester Kirkendall, Lawrence Lader and Betty Friedan (listed in the notable 20th century Secular Humanists) have each contributed to the secular college educational curricula's emphasis on feminism and sexuality.
More to come: who are the seven men who still rule from the grave (and walk the school halls of our children)? Can you guess who they are?
Next entry: Who are the Seven Men Who Rule the World from the Grave?
Previous entry: Notable 20th Century Secular Humanists
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