Philo,
You misrepresent what I said, which was about "instruct[ing] a child in a single view of something that has several reasonable societal views. The mix of information is greater than one version of several views of it."

Not - as you re-wrote - "The parent has no right to "instruct" his child, in my view, only to help her to think for herself".
Posted by Philo, Sunday, 14 August 2011 2:54:45 PM

Reference to a "communist agenda" is so left-field the world has moved on from communism, that extreme extension of doctrinal thinking

I did not espouse "A belief that the State is right and absolute". Multi-media is showing that extremist and Statist views are equally open for discussion.

Parents who "educate their children, contrary to the view of [the society those children will live in]" are doing their children a disservice.

McReal Sadly I fear Philo must have been scared and scarred by fundamentalist right wing Christians at an early age :-(

he is exhibiting the typical paranoia that believes anyone who does not believe as he or she does must be a filthy evil godless commie bastard bent on world domination.

If you travel through America you will find many such people infected with this paranoia.

They refuse to even entertain the possibility that some decent people may have different ideas.

Theirs is a narrow world that only accepts their beliefs and fears everything and everyone else.

the only cure for this condition is education, sadly most of the sufferers refuse to have anything to do with this treatment.

McReal,
You sdaid "Parents do not have the right to instruct a child in a single view of something that has several reasonable societal views. The mix of information is greater than one version of several views of it. Posted by McReal, Sunday, 14 August 2011 9:41:37 AM"

The communist USSR murdered children in front of their parents who were taught doctrine contary to State held views

Philo,

What sort of a nebulous statement is that?

It's a common tactic for people with hollow arguments to fall back on hackneyed labels, like communist, Nazi, etc.

Why is a person who doesn't believe in a deity a communist?
And why should a child be instructed as to "what" they should believe? When dealing with faith-based beliefs, surely it's more prudent to introduce the various belief systems and examine them on their historical, cultural and ethical bases...allowing the child to think for themselves resting on a broader learning

Philo,
you are an offensive and tiny-minded bigot.
I object to "instruction" because there is precious little any of us are in a position to "instruct" our children about, and instruction is not synonymous with education, learning, truth, evidence, edification or ethics. I teach my kids about right and wrong via example and critical thinking, and not via some antiquated superstitious dogma.
You ought to consider a new handle, because you are certainly no philosopher!

It appears that incoherent McCarthyistic paranoia has Snagged another.

"The communist USSR murdered children in front of their parents who were taught doctrine contary to State held views"

One could also argue that the christian Inquisition burnt at the stake those who taught doctrine contrary to State held views.

Or in the context of this topic, that a threat exists to murder the children of those who oppose the communist practice of State peddled dogma throughout the school system.

Nebulous indeed.