Comments for Blue Cereal Education

Comment on Something Of A Rut by Rick

Rick — Sun, 16 Oct 2022 12:42:47 +0000

Ruts
I'd suggest that it is your students who are in the rut. Furthermore, I believe that the type of rut (general apathy and indifference) you are describing is endemic to the majority of high school students. They live in a cyber-world where nano-seconds are the "reward currency" and schools continue to offer them, at best, geologic time-scale rewards (credits). We continue to leave in place a reward (credits) system that presents ZERO sense of urgency, creating a "manana" culture in our classrooms for all but the most self-motivated nerds. And we still have a "path of least resistance" to the graduation stage that allows apathy and indifference to lead to academic success. What secondary schools desperately need to do is to restore a sense of urgency while at the same time making that path of least resistance more challenging. I have developed what I believe is a free, teacher friendly plan that could help move us in that direction.

Comment on Something Of A Rut by Eric Welch

Eric Welch — Fri, 14 Oct 2022 13:12:51 +0000

Great post
Very interesting

Comment on Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye v. City of Hialeah (1993) by Blue Cereal

Blue Cereal — Tue, 09 Aug 2022 19:17:13 +0000

In reply to Eric Welch. The Traditional Post-Game Goat Sacrifice

Ha! That would certainly keep things interesting! I'm tempted to say more about recent cases, but I always end up in a rant, so for now I'll just leave it at that :-)

Comment on Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye v. City of Hialeah (1993) by Eric Welch

Eric Welch — Tue, 09 Aug 2022 12:57:49 +0000

Santeria
Great summary. It would have been interesting to see the decision of the current court had the coach sacrificed a goat on the playing field after the game in praise to the Santerian God.

Comment on Washing Gravel in the Pool by Heidi Yuhanna

Heidi Yuhanna — Sat, 23 Jul 2022 12:27:17 +0000

Washing gravel
I love this! We also live next to wonderful neighbors who are real-life electricians, carpenters and plumbers. They have shown us a lot of grace over the years. “It’s never the wrong time for dignity and grace” — great words. Great writing!

Comment on Carson v. Makin (My Free Exercise Can Beat Up Your Wall of Separation) by Blue Cereal

Blue Cereal — Thu, 07 Jul 2022 12:50:58 +0000

In reply to Eric Welch. Government Religion

Eric - I appreciate your insights and I think you're absolutely right about several key issues. I'm curious to see (assuming the country survives long enough) whether or not this Court now begins finding "constitutional" reasons to fund and defend American Christianity in ways it won't do for other faiths. The most obvious pathway would be to revive some of the arguments about tradition or cultural history rejected by earlier courts, but prevalent in a number of powerful dissents.

I suspect any beliefs creating substantive conflicts (i.e., "I believe God values gay kids just as much as straight kids" or "I believe in the sanctity of the mother's life") will be rapidly dismissed as not qualifying as "religion" in the same way as public prayer at football games. A few symbolic things may be tolerated (Muslim men growing beards in prison), but this Court desperately wants to defer to entrenched right-wing power in the name of - yet again - "states' rights".

Or so it seems to me ;-)

Comment on Carson v. Makin (Analysis & Carrying On, Part Two) by Eric Welch

Eric Welch — Thu, 07 Jul 2022 01:48:07 +0000

Great essay
As I noted in my other comment, there is extraordinary tension between the Free Exercise Clause and the Establishment Clause. Previous courts thought the Establishment Clause to be of more importance; the Gorsuch Court (and I use that appellation advisedly, as Roberts no longer holds sway) thinks the opposite. Clearly, the five who now hold the power: Thomas, Alito (as bitter a man as I have seen recently), Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett, place their own religious values utmost. Even Scalia wouldn't go that far.

Comment on Carson v. Makin (My Free Exercise Can Beat Up Your Wall of Separation) by Eric Welch

Eric Welch — Thu, 07 Jul 2022 01:39:10 +0000

Your essay: Carson v Makin
Great essay. I will have to read many more of them. There has always been tremendous tension between the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clauses of the First Amendment. Scalia, in Employment Division v Smith came down on the side of government having an overriding concern to the detriment of religion and that resulted in RFRA laws all over the place which tipped things the other way. I think the current court is painting itself into a corner with decisions that appear to favor a particular brand of religion. That may come back to haunt them. Marcie Hamilton over at Verdict has already noted that a Jewish group is suing Florida under RFRA for its tightening of abortion restrictions, claiming their religion places a much higher value on the health and safety of the mother than that of the fetus. It will be interesting to see what Alito does with that. The religious schools may find they have grabbed a snake by the tail when they realize that federal and state money often comes with lots of strings. Rockford College (not even a religious College) in my area refused all federal money and grants for decades for just that reason. I think a larger problem is that dismantling secular public education is precisely what these folks want. (FYI, I was the one who commented on your Hamilton's God v Gavel book.) I look forward to reading more of your essays.

Comment on How Would Jesus Teach (HWJT)? by William Browning Spencer

William Browning Spencer — Tue, 05 Jul 2022 04:47:58 +0000

How would Jesus teach
Brilliant! Good advice. It's the 4th of July and alleged patriots are shocking & awing their brethren. Samuel Johnson saw this coming: "Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel."

Comment on Arts In The Apocalypse by Rebecca deCoca

Rebecca deCoca — Fri, 17 Jun 2022 08:53:45 +0000

Awesome post.
Awesome post.