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Originally Posted by sam";p="
Never said acknowledging the existence of gay people is hedonistic, but I think it’s safe to say that the gay lifestyle is the very definition of hedonism.
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The "gay lifestyle"? What does that mean? Do you see any meaning in the phrase "straight lifestyle?"
I've got a cousin-in-law and a couple of friends who are gay. One of them was rowdy when he was younger (who wasn't?) but now is a homebody in a committed relationship whose favorite activity is gardening.
The other two are also in committed relationships, doing the same sort of normal, boring things all couples do -- including, in one case, adopting a child.
Is this the "gay lifestyle" to which you refer?
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Even the most tame gay show (try saying that 3 times fast) on TV, Will and Grace, is a testament to this (e.g., pill addicted Karen - I know she’s not gay all the time, promiscuous Jack, etc.).
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Are you seriously using *TV shows* as your example of everyday gay life? Was "Married with Children" an example of everyday heterosexual life? Is "Sex and the City" typical of straight people? How about "Desperate Housewives?" Or "The Bachelor?" Or....
Lordy.
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Did you ever study the Ten Commandments and their implications for the betterment of society? Or was that subject matter deemed too objectionable?
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I think there's a line between teaching *about* a religion and teaching the religion. Study the tenets of Christianity, including the Ten Commandments? Fine. Teach their "implications for the betterment of society?" That begins to sound like indoctrination. Though it would depend on the context. "How religion and civil life interact" would be an interesting topic.
As a personal aside, I think such an assignment would be intellectually shallow, since most major religions have a similar set of tenets, and the Ten Commandments are remarkably lightweight. The first four have nothing to do with society, dealing instead with how to properly worship God. The last six lay out ideas that nearly every society somehow managed to come up with on its own: don't kill, don't steal, don't commit adultery, don't lie, obey your elders. "Do not covet" is the only Commandment I find interesting.
Writing down the obvious doesn't make the Ten Commandments profound. It's like the people who try to patent the wheel.
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Originally Posted by raytri";p="
After all, would *you* bring up sex when your kid asks why their classmate has two moms?
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No and it wouldn't bother me addressing the subject under my supervision in my home.
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Fine. My point was, why do you assume that any school-based discussion about homosexuality would be sexualized?
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I’d be interested in one example of a publicly funded school, K-12, that provides any course whatsoever on the fundamental values espoused by the world’s three top religions.
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Well, the fact that a sight like studyreligion claims such teaching is taking place strikes me as reasonably good evidence that it is. But I'll see what I can find.
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If there is one, the ACLU certainly hasn’t found out about it yet.
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Do you read your own link? The ACLU does not oppose religion -- it opposes special treatment for religion, and has fought to defend religious groups when their rights were infringed. From an ACLU bulletin on your link:
"[The Supreme Court has found] that academic study of religion, or religious texts, is not forbidden in the public schools so long as religious topics are "presented objectively as part of a secular program of education." Abington Township, 374 U.S. at 225; accord Stone, 449 U.S. at 41 (noting that the Bible may constitutionally be used as part of the secular study of history or comparative religion)."