Posted on 08/10/2011 7:47:55 PM PDT by TheDingoAteMyBaby
Pacific Justice Institute has filed its opening brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, located in San Francisco, in a case that challenges the constitutionality of taxpayer-funded charter schools that are based on occult teachings.
"This case is truly stranger than fiction," noted Brad Dacus, president of Pacific Justice Institute. "It is incredible that we as taxpayers are still supporting schools founded on a belief system that incorporates elements of Hinduism, European occultism, and a heretical form of Christianity. We cannot have a constitutional double standard where mainstream Judeo-Christian beliefs are excluded from public schools while unorthodox beliefs have access to funding."
PJI represents People for Legal and Nonsectarian Schools (Plans, Inc.), which has been battling public funding of Waldorf-method schools in the Sacramento area for more than a dozen years. Waldorf schools are located throughout the United States. Some Waldorf schools are private, but many are operated by local school districts, including Sacramento City Unified, the lead defendant in the suit.
Waldorf education is rooted in Anthroposophy, which was founded in the early 20th Century by an Austrian, Rudolf Steiner. His lectures and writings, including a book called How to Know Higher Worlds, cobble together a range of beliefs from Hindu reincarnation to Norse mythology. Steiner's writings also reflect the racial superiority that gave rise to the Nazi regime. In spite of Steiner's blatantly racist views, teachers in Waldorf schools-including public schools - must attend training at Anthroposophical institutions such as Rudolf Steiner College in Sacramento.
At trial, U.S. District Judge Frank Damrell ruled that Anthroposophy was not a distinct religion, and therefore Waldorf schools cannot violate separation of church and state. Judge Damrell reached this conclusion after excluding most of the evidence presented by Plans, Inc. from Steiner's teachings. The Ninth Circuit has already ruled three times in favor of Plans, Inc. on procedural issues, reversing the District Court each time. In other cases originating on the East Coast, Anthroposophists have claimed to be religious in order to obtain religious worker visas.
For a behind-the-scenes look at Anthroposophy and Waldorf education, visit www.waldorfcritics.org.
Great that these neo-Nazi, neo-Paganists are being forced to court.
Just apropos of nothing in particular, who’s funding that huge, fancy school which Harry Potter attends?
Can’t ban the madrassas can we now...
It’s funded through a trust fund at Gringotts Wizarding Bank...
Are all Christians who believe in Holy Communion occultists that need to be dragged into court (hey, I am a Roman Catholic, you want me)? I realize that teaching religion backed by public funds is an issue, but labeling Waldorf schools as dens of evil is just stupid. Also, Orthodox Judaism teaches transmigration of the soul (including the chief Rabbi of Israel). Are all Jews evil cultists too? How about a billion plus Hindus. Are they all evil crackpots who want to sacrifice babies to the evil Goddess Kali? These jackasses ought to get a life. How about starting by donating more to charity instead of making boobs of themselves.
http://www.myspace.com/video/a-p/a-lad-an-39-a-lamp/58916448
(A Lad An' a Lamp)
Well, at least it’s privately funded.
Like magic...
Could not a new majority in American politics be it the GOP or say a third party going by the name of the Tea Party, holding all three branches of gubmint in say 454 days...
Redistrict all the courts...because they can?
Any neophyte studying the Constitution would recognize that the Founding Fathers intended the courts to be weaker than they are today.
And lesser than the executive or legislative.
But come up with a Christian flavor of anthroposophy and the liberals will be screaming to high Valhalla.
There is only one solution to these fights over government schools - get government out of education completely. Government schools are a colossal failure, as are all government programs.
Waldorf does have a *Christian flavor*. It includes a Gnostic world view: “The Christ”, who did not die on the cross, the “lost gospels”, et al.
We have one here. It is a drawing card for leftists and cultural elitists to the area. It also practices small-c communism: anyone can attend and the ones who cannot afford the tuition are given scholarships. Those who cannot subsidize others or who are themselves subsidized, do the scut work. Anthroposophy is not taught, per se. It is, however, the underlying guiding principle of the curriculum. Only in the very few, private Waldorf High Schools is Steiner begun to be presented.
Waldorf produces well-spoken children with a great personal presentation who have never had to write a report, finish an assignment or do more than parrot a lesson. In fact, the elementary curriculum is all rote reiteration of what the teacher writes on the board. Despite this, through alumna connections, many of the graduates end up in small private colleges several of which are ostensibly Christian. This is also often on full or partial scholarship.
It is an all-things-to-all-people sort of mish-mash that is difficult to pin down. They emphasize the arts, visual, musical and dramatic. Goethean *science* (please look it up) is taught.
PLANS has been fighting this for well over 15 years. They are a originally a group of parents dismayed over what their kids were being taught. Those who have experienced it negatively allege that there is an undercurrent of bullying in the schools. The underlying belief in karma accepts that some children will dominate others and no one is supposed to counter predestination. While anyone may attend, non-white parents have alleged that there is a covert racism to the fundamental belief system.
Basically, it produces anarchists with a will-to-power.
Wow, this is something I never would have guessed. I wonder if the courts have ruled yet?
The main Homeschool Ping List handles the homeschool-specific articles. I hold both the Homeschool Ping List and the Another Reason to Homeschool Ping list. Please freepmail me to let me know if you would like to be added to or removed from either list, or both.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.