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Originally Posted by py3ak  Quote:
Originally Posted by KMK Quote:
Originally Posted by py3ak I don't think the magistrate could mandate that unless they accepted the Confession, and that brings you right back around to Establishmentarianism, doesn't it? On what basis would a secular government require reading? | I think the basic premise behind cumpulsory education in America (right or wrong) was based on the principle that an 'educated' public would protect democracy from turning into tyranny. | You know, I can see that, and it does make a certain degree of sense to me. But what education promotes freedom? And what if parents don't agree that education promotes freedom? I think parents who don't teach their children to read the Bible, who don't equip them to function positively within the world, are in grave dereliction of duty and should be admonished by the church. But I think the government criminalizing that sin necessarily involves them in tyranny (with the possible exception of a government that has established Christianity) --which counters that civil reason for education in any case. |
What if... the church refused to do its duty, or there was no church presence to speak of?
I am not trying to be obtuse, but just thinking these things through myself...