What Would Mary Say? (This... IMHO)

It's not that I want to talk about religion. In the old days it was frowned upon.

But what I do want to talk about, is the ginormous dust-up over religion and the affairs of our state. Religion in the schools, specifically.

I'm going to guess that the notion began, to teach God's word in every school system in America, to ensure that we became a nation of people properly prepared, for what we wanted for our American way of life.

Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, is a concept based on Americans all living together in complete harmony.

And that should be enough said, to make the point.

After all, we absolutely still want that, for our selves and our nation…do we not?

Somewhere, somehow, as a society, we've decided to separate the religious-based information we all need, from the rest of the fundamental information that we bestow upon humans in our school systems today.

I'd like to suggest to you, that the separation of church and state, as it reflects upon the education of humans, has led us to the disappointing lives that we live today in America.

So my thought is, let's separate the fundamental knowledge necessary to a successful civilization, OUT of religion and get back to teaching young people the difference between right and wrong.

After all, common among religions worldwide, are a few basic tenets that rise above the customs of cultural and procedural differences, commonly referred to as the religious beliefs which we now scrupulously avoid teaching people.

No matter which deity you speak of. No matter which book you read it from. No matter which history you follow. No matter your pilgrimage.

Of the twelve major religions of the world, you will find one stated common thread.

And it is this thread that we are missing today as a society, that is causing us to fray apart.

Here is the way the Golden Rule is stated by the most common religions...

· Blessed is he who prefers his brother before himself. - Baha'i

· Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful. - Buddhism

· Do unto other as you would have them do unto you. - Christianity

· What you do not wish for yourself, do not do to others. - Confucianism

· Treat others as you treat yourself. - Hinduism

· That which you want for yourself, seek for mankind. - Islam

· Treat all creatures the way you want to be treated. - Jainism

· Love your neighbor as yourself. - Judaism

· The heart of the person before you is a mirror. See there your own form. - Shinto

· Treat others like precious jewels and do not hurt them. - Sikhism

· Regard your neighbor's gain and losses as your own. - Taoism (Daoism)

· Do not do unto others whatever is injurious to yourself. - Zoroastrianism

So we don't want our children to be exposed to unfamiliar religious dogma. A short-sighted need imposed on children by short-sighted, over protective parents. Fine.

But there is stuff in there that we DO need. And we are suffering by it's omission.

Instead of teaching religion in our schools, let's teach the tenets of all spiritual existence. As part of a full education.

We certainly cannot and should not teach that one religion is better than another. And that was the fear early on.

We certainly can and should, however, teach the benefits of having humanity on the same page when it comes to the beauty of a giving heart.

Let's teach human respect and kindness. Let's teach civility, consideration, solidarity, compassion.…

Let's teach all the things that decent human beings need to know - the things we all need and agree upon - and let's just stop calling it religion.

Let's call it Civilized Living 101. Or whatever you'd like it to be called.

Let's just agree that the basis of all religion is the same. Instead of pointing out the differences like the customs and the general beliefs.

The bottom line is - caring about one another.

It’s not religion, it’s survival…!

We wanted religion in schools for a reason. It creates a better human. But not because of the customs or the religion or the cultural influences.

We wanted to teach religion because common beliefs homogenize humanity towards co-existence.

We now need a better, more comprehensive education system for our nation. One that recognizes what’s important, and why, and utilizes simple, global truth to raise our children.

Let us embrace the basic values that are common to all religions and teach them to ALL our children.

Let us stop using ‘the separation of church and state’, as an excuse to neglect the proper education of the citizenry of our nation.

*some of these words are not my own.