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Quote by Junot Díaz

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The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

This novel is a rich tapestry of cultural and historical elements, weaving together the story of Oscar Wao, a young man living in New Jersey, with the epic history of his family and the Dominican Republic. more

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Junot Díaz

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“Listening to the debates about public schools on the Christian Right, one hears plenty of opposing opinions and a great deal of confusion. Some want to change the schools, others want to leave them. But the smart money seems to know what it is doing. It provides support for programs like the Good News Club, which slowly erode the support for public education in the country at large and in their own constituency in particular. And then it lays the groundwork for dismantling public education in favor of a private system of religious education funded by the state.”

SchoolReligionEducationChristianityPublic EducationChristian Right
Book:The Good News Club: The Christian Right's Stealth Assault on America’s Children
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“I am a cuddly atheist... I am against creationism being taught in schools because there is empirical evidence that it is a silly notion... I am passionately concerned about the rise in pseudo-science; in beliefs in alternative medicine; in creationism. The idea that somehow it is based on logic, on rational arguments, but it's not. It doesn't stand up to empirical evidence. In the same way in medicine, alternative medicines like homeopathy or new age therapies – reiki healing – a lot of people buy into it and it grates against my rationalist view of the world. There is no evidence for it. It is deceitful. It is insidious. I feel passionately about living in a society with a rationalist view of the world. I will be vocal on issues where religion impacts on people's lives in a way that I don't agree with – if, for instance, in faith schools some of the teaching of religion suggests the children might have homophobic views or views that are intolerant towards other belief systems... I am totally against, for example, bishops in the House of Lords. Why should someone of a particular religious faith have some preferential treatment over anyone else? This notion that the Church of England is the official religion of the country is utterly outmoded now.”

ReasonSchoolAtheismEvidenceArgumentLogicEnglandMedicineDeceitBeliefsBishopsPseudoscienceCreationismHomophobicAlternative MedicineHomeopathyReikiChurch Of EnglandHouse Of LordsReiki HealingEmpiricalFaith Schools
Author:Jim Al-Khalili
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“In brief, the teaching process, as commonly observed, has nothing to do with the investigation and establishment of facts, assuming that actual facts may ever be determined. Its sole purpose is to cram the pupils, as rapidly and as painlessly as possible, with the largest conceivable outfit of current axioms, in all departments of human thought—to make the pupil a good citizen, which is to say, a citizen differing as little as possible, in positive knowledge and habits of mind, from all other citizens. In other words, it is the mission of the pedagogue, not to make his pupils think, but to make them think right, and the more nearly his own mind pulsates with the great ebbs and flows of popular delusion and emotion, the more admirably he performs his function. He may be an ass, but this is surely no demerit in a man paid to make asses of his customers.”

SchoolEducationTeachingPublic SchoolTeachersEducation SystemEducational SystemBrainwashingPublic Schools
Book:A Mencken Chrestomathy
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