After 60 years of no religious values taught in America's government schools, we've hit bottom as a society. Student knowledge of reading, math, science and history are below average, while their knowledge of drugs, sex, abortion and crime are above. The results are corrosive to our country. Children are exposed to freak shows camouflaged as progressive education, which doesn't serve future employment or a productive life. A Nov. 26 letter encourages an end to religious instruction, despite the daily news of the wasteland that's created.
Pause for a moment to consider the past when religious values and good morals were taught alongside reading, writing, math and science. Here in Louisiana, after the Civil War, reportedly before our youth were properly educated, the required curriculum included: algebra, astronomy, bookkeeping, botany, chemistry, commercial calculations, geometry, mathematics, mensuration, navigation, practical and rational arithmetic, surveying, topographical engineering, trigonometry, use of globes, biography, composition, grammar, orthography, plain and ornamental writing, reading, ancient and modern geography, ancient history, mythology, natural and moral philosophy, sacred and profane history, classical and commercial English, French, German, Greek, Latin, Spanish, drawing, painting, needlework, music, good morals and holy writ.
For over a century, this was successfully taught alongside science, and America became the greatest country on Earth. Then it was stopped, for what gain? Reportedly, so our society might become more advanced.
To quote economist Thomas Sowell: "If you want to see the poor remain poor, generation after generation, just keep the standards low in their schools and make excuses for their academic shortcomings and personal misbehavior."
GLENN FALGOUST
Baton Rouge