There are basically two reasons I object, actually.
One is the taxation reason pretty much; I don't like the idea of being taxed to promote anyone's religion. Turning the situation on it's head, it wouldn't be fair to tax Christian families so that my kids could learn Hebrew and study Torah. But it is fair to tax all of us alike for schools that teach the kids the basics of English literature, or French, or whatever is of utility to them as citizens of X country rather than of Y religious group.
The second thing is more personal. If you have kids in a religious program sponsored through the public school system, isn't that basically tax-sponsored isolation of the kids who don't belong to Y religious group? Kids and teachers alike can be pretty cruel, sometimes, and I just don't think it's very humane for the system to inadvertantly isolate kids and make them into targets for bullying and ridicule.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2006-08-17 11:03 pm (UTC)One is the taxation reason pretty much; I don't like the idea of being taxed to promote anyone's religion. Turning the situation on it's head, it wouldn't be fair to tax Christian families so that my kids could learn Hebrew and study Torah. But it is fair to tax all of us alike for schools that teach the kids the basics of English literature, or French, or whatever is of utility to them as citizens of X country rather than of Y religious group.
The second thing is more personal. If you have kids in a religious program sponsored through the public school system, isn't that basically tax-sponsored isolation of the kids who don't belong to Y religious group? Kids and teachers alike can be pretty cruel, sometimes, and I just don't think it's very humane for the system to inadvertantly isolate kids and make them into targets for bullying and ridicule.