Are you having reading problems now? Or is it still the comprehension problem?

I'm sure that I make grammatical and syntax errors daily. I always try to improve….and it sounds like you do too…..so, we're cool. Blogs are a bit more freewheeling than newspaper columns or term papers.

I know that your school, Lake, is a fine school. I do. In my blog, there was no criticism of the high school. The issue was separation of church and state. Public schools have no legal right, under the Constitution, to promote religion in any way. Having a mission statement which included belief in god as one of Lake's values, is prohibited by law.

In addition…..I want you to be clear about my position concerning evangelical Christianity. Christian evangelicalism doesn't have anything to offer a modern world. I'm speaking of the religious doctrines, the teachings. Outside of 'love thy neighbor as thyself', and that teaching is not unique to Christianity,…offering stories and doctrines of god-men and invisible beings who did something for somebody, some time long ago,….does not resonate with modern, scientific-age humanity.

My dislike of politically active evangelical Christians finds cause in their attempts to co-opt the government to promote religion, usually their religion. The Agency of Faith Based Initiatives, a direct violation of the establishment clause, is empirical evidence that they are having some success.

Once again…thank you for commenting.

I think people tend to confuse "lots of random corn growing everywhere" with "Amish".

I would just like to say as a 4.0 student, liberal Democrat, and a senior at Lake High School that this missions statement is fine. I have never ever heard any teacher talk about God, their beliefs, or even their church. (I believe my Honors English teacher Freshmen year mentioned she was Jewish but I think that was because she was teaching Holocaust Literature. Pretty valid reason.) Yes, we are a predominately Christian and Republican community. But there has never been any aggressiveness toward atheists as far as I've seen in my 17 years living here.

We are not evangelical. I haven't gone to church since I was three but I have friends who go daily. No one thinks it's a big deal except these groups who know nothing about our school.

And saying that evangelical Christians have nothing to offer is offensive in it's own right. By spreading that type of stereotype and hatred, you reinforce the atheist stereotype. Neither group is without its merits.

My school is fantastic, has been consistently rated among the top high schools in Ohio, and has more than adequately prepared me for college. I feel as if I could go anywhere I want and that no career is out of my reach because I've had the benefit of an excellent education.

By the way, you've been using your ellipses wrong.

Correct:

I love this blog. . .not.

Wrong:

I love this blog…..not.

I learned that in my english class in middle school. You know, between all the preaching and evangelizing.

Please stop trashing my school. Thank you. =)

I've done business in and around Hartville for 35 years and I've witnessed, like alchemist, the transition from the days when horse and buggies regularly parked outside the old auction barn…to today's ultra-conservative, basically Amish-free community where a horse and buggy is rarely seen. I was inside the auction barn when they had real, you know, auctions. First hand experience, understandably for larry, means "I am bigoted."

Recently, Hartvillians turned down a site-specific request for Marc's to sell wine. They have the right…..but that's pretty conservative. Even conservative Tallmadge dropped the hyper-conservatism of Hartville and allowed the heathens to drink locally.

Does that make Hartvillians bad? Absolutely not. Like I said in the post, Hartville residents, not out of personal bigotry but actual, you know, experience, are good people. What it does help to understand, however, is why an ultra-conservative community, like Hartville, would want to theo-conize the public school system.

To King…..it must be some kind of a tic, or something. It isn't WHICH religion is being propagated……it's RELIGION, period, which the 1st amendment prohibits the government from "establishing". To argue that a public school mission statement clearly stating that "we value….belief in god" is not "establishing" religion is the height of disingenuousness.