Couple charges school with teaching pantheism

NW Cable News ^ | 07/27/03 | Associated Press

[bedolido]

SANDPOINT, Idaho - Parents of a Sandpoint Charter School student are bringing a lawsuit against the school and the Lake Pend Oreille School District for promoting pantheism and violating state and federal law.

Jeff and Gail Bradley say their son was forced to read the book "Mutant Message Down Under," which they claim promotes the worship of multiple gods.

The Bradleys also claim teachers discriminated against their child and encouraged him to challenge their views.

The school district denies any responsibility or control over the charter school.

The Bradleys and the school refused to comment.

[wideawake]

Wait - is it pantheism or polytheism?

[LiteKeeper]

the worship of multiple gods.

This is polytheism. Hope they know what they are doing, or they are going to look real foolish.

[Question_Assumptions]

Pantheism can be either the worship of God as nature OR the worship of all gods from different faiths collectively.

[Clara Lou]

The school district denies any responsibility or control over the charter school.
What do the parents not comprehend? The whole purpose of a charter school is that it's not controlled by the school district, that it offers a curriculum of its own choosing, that it serves as an alternative to the school district's offerings.

[netmilsmom]

This is a charter school. The parents have a choice not to send their child there. Just as in a private school, the parents have little recourse other than to pull their child.

[Clara Lou]

pan·the·ism, n.

A doctrine identifying the Deity with the universe and its phenomena.
Belief in and worship of all gods.

[bedolido]

I had to look it up.

[village idiot]

---

pantheism n

1. the belief that God and the material world are one and the same thing and that God is present in everything

2. the belief in and worship of all or many deities

[LiteKeeper]

Mutant Message Down Under is the fictional account of the spiritual odyssey of an American woman in Australia. Summoned by a remote tribe of nomadic Aboriginals to accompany them on a walkabout through the Outback, she makes a four-month-long journey with the "Real People," as the tribe calls itself. During this time she learns how they live and thrive in natural harmony with the plants and animals that exist in the rugged geography of the desert region. By traveling with this extraordinary community of individuals, Morgan becomes a witness to their essential way of being in the world based on the ancient wisdom and philosophy of their more than 50,000-year-old culture.

From the first day of her adventure, Morgan is challenged by the physical requirements of the journey. She faces daily tests of her endurance, and these challenges ultimately contribute to a personal transformation. Her Aboriginal companions generously welcome her as one of their own and become her compassionate teachers. She learns from them to celibrate the unique talents and inner spirit of each person, witness powerful methods of natural healing, and comes to understand that their awareness of what it is to be alive is deeply meaningful.

Mutant Message Down Under, an underground bestseller in its self-published edition, recounts a unique, timely, and powerful message for all humankind. It is not too late to save our world from destruction if we realize and honor that all living things -- be they plants, animals, or human beings -- are part of the same universal oneness. All live in a beautiful state of interdependence. If we heed the message, our lives, like the lives of the Real People, can be filled with this great sense of purpose.

http://homepage.mac.com/pauljlucas/personal/books/mutant_message_down_under.html

[wideawake]

The suit is imprecise.

The book either (1) advocates nature worship, or pantheism in its usual acceptation or (2) the worship of the gods of the Australian aborigines.

The latter is more properly termed polytheism - not pantheism.

[bedolido]

good information. Thanks. I think the main point is that a public school is teaching about any God, god, or religion. Sandpoint is a town of about 1,000 in the far north pan-handle of Idaho

[joesnuffy]

once again the so called "wall of separation"
is interpreted as
a "boycott of all things Christian"
and an affirmation of all things pagan
and all other deities, spirits, or beliefs
including Islam

[bedolido]

a town of about 1,000 in the far north pan-handle of Idaho

Sorry... that should've been 6,000

[bedolido]

Sandpoint Idaho

[ClearCase_guy]

This is a charter school. The parents have a choice not to send their child there.

Charter schools are funded by tax dollars. They are public (government) schools, although a special variety.

No Government school could promote Christianity without facing a lawsuit from the ACLU.
No Government school should promote pantheism/polytheism without facing a lawsuit (which won't come from the ACLU).

[netmilsmom]

Here in MI our charter schools are speciality schools. We have one in the works which is Roman Catholic. We have one in Dearborn that is Islamic. I'm not sure how they work in there, but here one can walk the halls and see pictures of Jesus with no problem. The difference is that the parents have a choice to send children or not.

[Modernman]

Seems like the book is typical flaky new age stuff, but it doesn't seem to cross the line in terms of religion. Schools can teach about basic tenets of religion, as long as they don't advocate it.

I remember taking a comparative religions class in high school, which included readings from the Torah, the Bible and the Koran, as well as Buddhist, Hindu and other holy books, as well as a class on western literature which included readings from the Odyssey and Iliad (pretty pagan god-heavy).

[Aquinasfan]

are part of the same universal oneness.

Monism. Pantheism. Whatever.

Good for the parents.

[Mind-numbed Robot]

are part of the same universal oneness.

Monism. Pantheism. Whatever.

Good for the parents.

The primary difference between Pantheism and Christianity is that Christ's personal contact with us, during his lifetime and through the admonition that the way to the Father is through Him, gives Christianity a personal touch and Pantheism is indifferent. Christianity, otherwise, teaches many of the same things as Pantheism. There is no reason not to accommodate both: The world exist because God is in all, and we can communicate with God through Christ. Discounting views that are not ours in every specific deprives us of many rich experiences.