the Tommy|Zor era

Let me get right to the point.

I like religion. At its core, I think it’s a good thing.
I believe politics to be a never ending game of take what you can get before it’s gone.
Mixing politics with religion has procured horrendous results. It has also merited some good.

**Please, before you jump into the comment section with the whole “More people have died in the name of Religion than anything else…” – just stop. I’ve heard and watched that George Carlin stand up many a times. This article is going down a different tangent.**

I have studied religion and religious history for many years now (it was my major during school). It has been a subject that has interested me deeply, but I also spent time studying other subjects (including science and math). I love anything that has to do with understanding our universe. However, if you want to study an array of disciplines all dealing with one topic, you really do need to keep an open mind. Understandably, I have a bias (like all of us), but I do my best to set it aside.

Yet, it bothers me when people tell me that religion was just used to brainwash people and humanity was too stupid to know any better. Wow – that’s an unfair assessment against your ancestors. Yes, religious leaders do try to get people to view reality in a certain way. Mix it with politics and that view is skewed even further. That’s not a secret, nor should it be a shock. So why the agitation?

For all the claims I hear that we’re better off now and we can think for ourselves, there’s a separation of church and state (leave politics out of it), all I ask is what about our schools? Our schools should be teaching students to think for themselves… but does that really happen?

An honest teacher/instructor/professor will reward and appreciate good quality work from a student, regardless of their viewpoint. If it’s well researched, argued and put together, that student should be rewarded accordingly. This, however, happens sparingly. In order for students to do well in their courses, their viewpoint must align with their instructor’s worldview. In academic vernacular, this is known as ‘playing the teacher’s game.’ It’s a game you cannot win, only manipulate.

It doesn’t just confine itself to the classroom, but extends to the entire school. The culture of schools tends to align itself with a political ideology. Just walk on to your local university campus and pay attention to the campus events that are happening. That should give you a clear picture of what types of people do well in that school.

I do like to give the benefit of the doubt. Yes, young people are impressionable, but are they being directly influenced to think a certain way? I look at some of the examples of people I have met over the years:

- One guy dropped out of high school because he felt his school to be too left wing
-  My science fiction professor spent part of class time canvassing her involvement in the Green Party (she was a member of the party running for election)
- A friend of mine failed an assignment and did poorly in a course because her views on abortion conflicted with her teacher (the teacher was a pro-life advocate)
- Another friend of mine, who is gay, pursuing a doctorate in queer theory and is entrenched in feminist theologies and ideologies dropped a feminist course he was in because he was sick of the ‘political bullshit’ in the class
- A professor of mine refused to mark one of my papers because of the views I expressed against certain forms of birth control

At the time of writing, I polled a few people on MSN whether they have had a similar experience and everybody responded with at least one story. All this really does is piss people off and force them to either a) backlash against everything that is being taught or b) get in line and grit your teeth until it’s over. Not a fun way to explore the world and ‘think for yourself.’ Doesn’t sound like we’re keeping politics out of the schools either.

It really doesn’t matter what your opinion was in the class or on a paper. Opinions change and the important part was being able to explore and discover. In reality, we really haven’t moved beyond the ‘brainwashing’ machine – it has merely changed its venue.