Lutherans and Socialism

[Brian Stoffregen]

If one doesn't like paying taxes, stop earning so much money. Move to a state that doesn't have sales tax.

And there we go.  If we were not so productive, the government would not take our money.  That's twisted.

One can be productive without earning a salary: volunteering at a food back, for example. There were a number of people, back in my day, who reduced their income so that they wouldn't be paying federal taxes in support of the Vietnam war.

[Charles Austin]

And one of the best religion news writers I ever knew back in the day, a freelancer he, never worried about taxes. He never made enough to pay very much.

[Robert Johnson]

And that old "food pyramid" was partly fabricated by those selling certain food products. And at a time when we barely knew body chemistry and how nutrition truly works.

Yeah, so that makes the feds who propagated that nonsense as innocents.

[DeHall1]

Schools are not a necessary function of government.

I know we have discussed and debated the idea of the public school system before.  In principle I am not against it.  My three children when to a public high school. A lot of good people teach at these schools, and a lot of good people send their children there.

But I am fearing that the public school system, as well as the public university system, is becoming more and more an extension of the government with regard to indoctrination of social mores and accepted social constructs. And I'm not referring to the usual mores and constructs that required civil behavior that did not engage in physical harm or verbal abuse.  We are clearly a divided country on a long list of issues, and the government more and more seems intent in closing that gap of division by enacting laws of social conformity and through an educational system of indoctrination.

And this is already having an impact on the educational choices families are making. Many families are looking to alternatives such a home schooling and church-based schools. There is an annual homeschooling growth rate of 2%-8%. By the end of last year as many as 9 million children were being homeschooled. For more statistics, etc. see: https://admissionsly.com/homeschooling-statistics/

If the government is considered ultimately responsible for the pre-college education of our youth, this has implications, as well, on how they are going to treat these alternative forms of education.  For if the U.S. Department of Education considers it their duty to not only set academic standards, but also social standards, then it's only a matter of time before greater control in that area will extend to home schooling and religious schools.  I'm not sure how they would do it in the former case, other than demanding documentation that certain instruction takes place with submitted reports/tests, etc.

So, I would obviously prefer less, not more control of the government in the area of education.

a liberal arts education will naturally tilt towards liberalism.

You do know that "liberal" in "liberal arts" is not a reference to any political philosophy, right?  Math is considered a liberal art", as is any of the physical sciences.

[Charles Austin]

Really? I never took a single math course in college.

[Donald_Kirchner]

Really? I never took a single math course in college.

Your point is...? I never took a botany course in college, but I graduated with a BA from the U of Minnesota College of Liberal Arts. And y'all have figured out that I ain't no lib! But granted, that was a couple of generations ago. 

[J. Thomas Shelley]

Really? I never took a single math course in college.

I truly feel sorry for you in having received a deficient undergraduate education.

I received a Minor in Mathematics...debating "fuzzy subsets" was good preparation for sparring with fuzzy theology.

[Charles Austin]

I believe one is allowed to be ignorant about two, maybe three fields. Mine are mathematics and Chinese art.

[James S. Rustad]

If one doesn't like paying taxes, stop earning so much money. Move to a state that doesn't have sales tax.

And there we go.  If we were not so productive, the government would not take our money.  That's twisted.

One can be productive without earning a salary: volunteering at a food back, for example. There were a number of people, back in my day, who reduced their income so that they wouldn't be paying federal taxes in support of the Vietnam war.

I see you are playing word games again like Humpty Dumpty.

"When I use a word,' Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, 'it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.'"

[Brian Stoffregen]

If one doesn't like paying taxes, stop earning so much money. Move to a state that doesn't have sales tax.

And there we go.  If we were not so productive, the government would not take our money.  That's twisted.

One can be productive without earning a salary: volunteering at a food back, for example. There were a number of people, back in my day, who reduced their income so that they wouldn't be paying federal taxes in support of the Vietnam war.

I see you are playing word games again like Humpty Dumpty.

"When I use a word,' Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, 'it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.'"

Nope. I knew farmers and ranchers who produced a lot of crops and meat; but because the way the market goes; they didn't earn any money. The price they received for their production was less than it cost to produce it. Being productive isn't the same thing as earning money.

[Richard Johnson]

I believe one is allowed to be ignorant about two, maybe three fields. Mine are mathematics and Chinese art.

I went to a state college, and was ignorant about many fields, including my major (philosophy). In seminary at Yale, I used to propose a tavern game. I told my fellow students that I had graduated summa cum laude with a degree in philosophy. The game was to try to name a philosopher I had actually read. You get one point for each correct answer, and if you get to five, you win. Nobody ever won. 

[Steven W Bohler]

I believe one is allowed to be ignorant about two, maybe three fields. Mine are mathematics and Chinese art.

I went to a state college, and was ignorant about many fields, including my major (philosophy). In seminary at Yale, I used to propose a tavern game. I told my fellow students that I had graduated summa cum laude with a degree in philosophy. The game was to try to name a philosopher I had actually read. You get one point for each correct answer, and if you get to five, you win. Nobody ever won. 

That does not speak well of the school you attended.  I too went to a state university (Univ. of Wisconsin -- Stevens Point).  My major (which I do not believe exists there anymore; I was the first -- and I think only -- person who pursued that major) was Philosophy With a Concentration in Religious Studies.  But we read philosophers (and theologians, from Eastern and Western religions).  I still have a lot of those books on my shelf in the office.  However, I can't tell you much anymore about most of them.  But then, I can't tell you much about MANY of the things I read/studied in those years for other classes either.

[Dave Benke]

I believe one is allowed to be ignorant about two, maybe three fields. Mine are mathematics and Chinese art.

I went to a state college, and was ignorant about many fields, including my major (philosophy). In seminary at Yale, I used to propose a tavern game. I told my fellow students that I had graduated summa cum laude with a degree in philosophy. The game was to try to name a philosopher I had actually read. You get one point for each correct answer, and if you get to five, you win. Nobody ever won. 

That does not speak well of the school you attended.  I too went to a state university (Univ. of Wisconsin -- Stevens Point).  My major (which I do not believe exists there anymore; I was the first -- and I think only -- person who pursued that major) was Philosophy With a Concentration in Religious Studies.  But we read philosophers (and theologians, from Eastern and Western religions).  I still have a lot of those books on my shelf in the office.  However, I can't tell you much anymore about most of them.  But then, I can't tell you much about MANY of the things I read/studied in those years for other classes either.

I was a philosophy "concentrator" in the system used at Concordia Senior College, Ft. Wayne.  I could easily list five philosophers I read, but some to many were existentialist and therefore in the end all was deemed vanity, vanity.  Which means they were channeling Ecclesiastes.  I, too, with periodic protests from my wife, still have those volumes packed away somewhere with lots of notations.  More vanity.

Dave Benke

[Charles Austin]

In the old LCA days, students considering seminary were expected to take a couple of extra Bible or religion courses and Greek in college. But my college, Midland, in Fremont, Nebraska, did not offer religion as a major. So all of us took other academic majors, and I'm glad we did. I took a minor in journalism, and I'm very glad I did that. On graduation, what I learned and valued in literature courses, did not serve me in a "practical" way. But the journalism courses got me a job which helped pay my way through seminary.

[Richard Johnson]

That does not speak well of the school you attended.  I too went to a state university (Univ. of Wisconsin -- Stevens Point).  My major (which I do not believe exists there anymore; I was the first -- and I think only -- person who pursued that major) was Philosophy With a Concentration in Religious Studies. 

Ya think?

Actually, your major sounds similar to mine--"Philosophy and Religion," which was really just a concentration within the Philosophy department. There were two or three profs who mostly taught the religion courses. The most "famous" was Jacob Needleman, who I didn't find especially interesting. The best was Nancy Tilden, who was only part-time, as I recall (she was nearing retirement), but was one of the best teachers I've ever had. I took a course in Plato from her, and also one called "Religion in American Literature" which was fabulous--but the only actual "philosopher" we read in that course was Jonathan Edwards. Otherwise, we were really reading literature.