04/13/2004: "Ignorant or dishonest? You be the judge"

Based on this story from the Charlotte Observer, I can see why you'd want to send your child to a school run by this guy...

A controversial Cabarrus County charter school that plans to teach Transcendental Meditation and Natural Law Curriculum when it opens this fall must remove all religion from its curriculum or lose its charter.

That was the message Thursday from the N.C. Charter School Advisory Board to the leaders of the Carolina International School.

The school has been challenged in recent months by local residents who believe its so-called Natural Law Curriculum and emphasis on meditation are rooted in Hinduism, and therefore don't belong in a public school. Carolina International would be the first charter school in Cabarrus County.

At a meeting Thursday in Raleigh, the 15-member charter school advisory board asked the new school to work with the board to remove religion from its plans.

Leaders of the Carolina International, however, say the school has nothing to do with religion.

"We never would have undertaken a charter-school application process if we felt in any way that these programs were religious in content," said Richard Beall, the school's director.

TM and Natural Law Curriculum are part of Consciousness-Based Education, or CBE, founded by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, known to many from his friendship with the Beatles.

...if, that is, your ambition is to have your child grow up to be dumber than a sack of hammers.

Replies: 4 Comments

on Tuesday, April 13th, Phillipa said

"Dumber than a sack of hammers" is even better than my old favorite "dumber that a box of hair."
Seriously folks, more Christians need to use the regulations people impose to curtail or excise Christianity from public life against the regulators and their ilk. This will not mean that Christianity will be re-instated into schools, etc., but it can at least keep out the pretenders.

on Tuesday, April 13th, Tom Lowe said

I see your point to a certain extent. On one hand, Christianity cannot be within 500 yards of a public school, but other religions/philosophies can. However, TM is not totally incompatible with Christian contemplative prayer discipline. TM is not a religion (although some ignoramuses have positioned it as such). I practice Christian (Catholic) contemplative prayer and have received evil looks and comments for doing that. Folks! Get educated as to what is important and realize that it doesn't matter how you reach communion with God, but rather that you indeed do!

on Wednesday, April 14th, Athanasius said

TM may not be a religion, but it is based on religious principles, and the Natural Law curriculum definitely is religious in nature, hence my original point about the moron claiming his school had nothing to do with religion.

As for your last comment, Tom, I would agree and disagree. There are many ways to reach communion with God, including the marvelous one of contemplative prayer. That communion is always going to be deceptive and false, however, if it is not through Christ. This is not the same issue as whether one can be saved without conscious faith in Christ--I think one can as a sovereign act of God, but it will still be because of the merits of Christ. But union with God without Christ isn't possible, because if Christ is not part of the equation, then one has glommed onto a false deity.

on Wednesday, April 14th, Phillipa said

I may be an un educated ignoramus (ask my 11-year old), but prayer is not just contemplating, it is communicating. Prayer is not repeating a mantra, be it religion or philosophy based, until you feel close to God. Prayer is thanks, praise, conversation and meditation.
--Thanks for His love and His sacrifice for us and His gift of eternal life.
--Praise for Him, His Son, His plan for your life. And who is more worthy of your thanks and praise than Jesus, who died so that we might live and to restore our communion with God.
--Conversation in order to tell God how you feel, what you think, what you want and need. This includes confession (with a small C)and then listening to Him. In order to maintain a relationship with a person, one has to have conversations. If we want to have a relationship with God, then we have to communicate with him. this means talking AND listening.
--Meditation to get to a quiet place in your heart with God so you can hear Him even better.
Paul says we are to pray without ceasing, and that means anywhere, in traffic, at work, in church, shopping, at home. Not just when you're alone in a quiet room with no interruptions. If that were the only place one could pray, then I and many others would get very little praying done.
Prayer is a state of mind and it becomes easier and more of a habit the longer and more often you do it.
Prayer produces results. Sometimes they are not what we prayed for, but the answer to our prayer is unquestionably evident. Jesus said that we can pray for anything "in my name" and He will grant the request. "In my name" also means "in my will." Unceasing prayer is critical if you want to hear His voice loud and clear. Prayer is peace, knowing you have relinquished all your problems to Him, put everything in God's hands and are trusting in Him.
The bottom line is this: In order to experience all these gifts, prayer has to be Christ-centered. Why? Because Jesus is "the Way, the Truth and the Life. No man comes to the Father, except through Me."