Gary Bowman wrote:
As I checked my mail today, I found my normal Minneapolis Community Education classes catalog for Winter 2003. As I thought some about this, I came up with a few questions. Perhaps one of our School Board Members on the list can address my questions.WM: I wouldn't call these programs extra or superfluous, but many of them are fairly basic. To some degree, they fulfill a stated commitment to lifelong learning, another effort to break down barriers to education.
1) Does the enrollment fee for these classes cover the entire cost of the class, administration of this Minneapolis Public Schools program, and the cost to advertise these classes? I could be wrong, but even with many students contributing their tuition costs, the tuition seems rather low in many classes to cover the full cost of this. If I am correct and the District must subsidize these classes, then I question the wisdom of continuing this program in the light of budget crunches being experienced by the district. Keep in mind, I'm not necessarily questioning the merit of these classes (with the exception of the below question). I'm saying that if we have a district that can't do the basic job of graduating its regular students with the money it has, we need to focus our efforts to the basics instead of extra and superfluous programs.
2) I found it intriguing that Minneapolis Community Education is offering classes such as: Somali Culture and Islam; Yoga: Eastern Exercise & Teachings; and Shamata Meditation- Mini Retreat (retreat being held at the Mpls Buddhist Monastery). What is intriguing is that a government institution is teaching classes that are ostensibly religious in nature. Where are the separation clause activists on this? Although I disagree that the separation clause means we necessarily must completely secularize the public square, one would think that if complete secularization in order to observe the separation clause is your argument, you'd be complaining about these classes.WM: I would hope no one is under the impression that a community education class in Somali Culture and Islam is religious in nature. Somalies are new immigrants, they swim in our culture every day. It is handy to know some of the basics of their culture which is overwhelmingly imbued with Island, as ours is with Christianity and Judaism (though Judaism to a maybe lesser extent). Yoga and Eastern exercise will hardly delineate the belief system of Hatha Yoga or any of the other branches of Yoga, nor will a retreat at a Buddhist Monastery. None of the classes you mention is an exploration of the depths of the culture of each of the religions mentioned. In no way can these 8 week classes impinge of the separation of church and state. At the same time there are so many venues to learn about Christianity that it would be hard to imagine anyone signing up for them when they are available at any church for free.
Whether these classes have meritorious content is not the issue. The issue is that I can imagine if similar classes like "Kingdom of Tonga Culture and Christianity" (Tonga has a government that is heavily Christian and expressly keeps the Sabbath Day holy in its constitution) instead of "Somali Culture and Islam", or "Meditating on the Gospel of Luke" instead of "Shamata Meditation" were offered, people would be all up in arms that were trying state sponsored Christianity. Why the double standard?WM: Actually, from my point of view, learning how Tonga turned to Christianity has a possibility of being interesting.
If the argument is we're only teaching "about" a religion and not "preaching" it (which I'd like to see when were meditating at a Buddhist monastery), then it is fully acceptable for Christian organizations to expect a class similar to "Meditation on the Gospel..." to be offered- on the argument they're only teaching "about" Christianity and not "preaching" it.WM: When we are hip deep in new immigrants, it seems only natural to want to find out about them in the more or less abstract. I hope you're not saying that anyone could actually learn Buddhist meditation to any degree of facility in one class. Nor could a non Christian really absorb meditations on the New Testament to the depth that Christians can conceivably know it. Given the huge preponderance of Christians in the US of A, I don't think there is a fair comparison between the Christians and the Muslims, Buddhists or others--Zen, Tantra Yoga, etc.
However, it would be interesting to hear the perspective of Coptic Christians who are also new immigrants (mostly from Egypt as I understand it). They're the oldest of the Christian sects still extant but their ritual life is, in my estimation, more Jewish than Christian.
WM: Is it really controversial? Or are you trying to build a mountain out of a mole hill?Who would have thought junk mail could have been so controversial?
WizardMarks, Central
Gary Bowman
Audubon Park
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