Quote:
Originally Posted by SanDiegoSteve
Because I don't subscribe to Keynesian economic theory doesn't mean I don't understand its workings. My Masters of Business Administration certifies that I do indeed understand the basic fundamentals of John Maynard Keynes' brand of macroeconomics, but I consider myself more of a fan of Adam Smith, and ergo Milton Friedman's, monetarist economic teachings. In my limited exposure to what I'm sure you are expert in, I found myself relating better to Friedman than to Keynes.
As far as the Bible in the classroom goes, compulsory reading of the Bible on a daily basis was removed, effectively removing God from the classroom. Spin it any way you want. I have also seen the statistics from that time period and going forward, and there is more than enough evidence to support my claims of a correlation, if not to juvenile crime specifically, to crime and other undesirable results:
The educational standard of measure has been the SAT scores. SAT scores had been steady for many years before 1963. From 1963 they rapidly declined for 18 consecutive years, even though the same test had been used since 1941.
In 1974-75 the rate of decline of the SAT scores decreased, even though they continued to decline. That was when there was an explosion of private religious schools. There were only 1000 Christian schools in 1965. Between 1974 to 1984 they increased to 32,000.
- Before 1963 divorce rates had been declining for 15 years. After 1963 divorces increased 300% each year for the next 15 years.
- Since 1963 unmarried people living together is up 353%
- Since 1963 single parent families are up 140%.
- Since 1963 single parent families with children are up 160%.
- Since 1963 violent crime has increased 544%.
You just can't make this sh*t up. |
You may not be able to make that stuff up, but you are making up some fantasy that compulsory Bible reading being taken out of a classroom had anything to do with those things. Not to mention the fact that the practice is blatantly unconstitutional to begin with.
No-fault divorce laws had more to do with divorce increasing during the 70s and 80s. Divorce rates have been declining since the 90s and are at their lowest since the 70s as of a few years ago.
Oh no! Unmarried people living together! A conservative's worst nightmare! Who cares? People are also waiting longer to get married now and have kids later now.
Violent crime has actually been declining since the 80s, so I don't know how taking away prayer in schools in 1963 affects violent crime in 2012.
I can't believe there are people out there that really think prayer in schools will cure all of society's ills. The funny thing is that they're the same people prattling on about the Constitution all the time, like they really care if we follow it. They want THEIR beliefs adhered to, whether they're constitutional or not.
And Steve, if we're going to reinstate prayer in public schools, I assume it's okay if we include all religions? Hand out prayer mats and face Mecca in the morning...is that okay?