{"product_id":"9781453584170","title":"THE DISASTER OF THE ABSENCE OF MORAL AND RELIGIOUS EDUCATION IN THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOLS: Controversies and Possible Solutions","description":"Thomas Aquinas, in his philosophy of religion, said that man is a  \u003cbr\u003ereligious being (homo religiosus). By this he meant that man is a  \u003cbr\u003ebeing that naturally stretches to the beyond, to the unknown outside  \u003cbr\u003eof himself. He yearns and reaches out for an infinite peace, joy, and  \u003cbr\u003ehappiness. He does all within his power to grasp an endless happiness,  \u003cbr\u003ea joy that knows no end. This has been his instinctive, conscious,  \u003cbr\u003eand unconscious aspiration. He tends to pursue and grab that which  \u003cbr\u003ecaptures his attention and wins his admiration. Many a time, he ends  \u003cbr\u003eup grabbing a shadow, an illusion of real happiness, an illusion of the  \u003cbr\u003esource of true and lasting happiness. When he grabs that shadow, he  \u003cbr\u003esettles to worship it as the ultimate source of an infinite happiness. It  \u003cbr\u003ewill not be long before he discovers that it is all a mirage.  \u003cbr\u003eThis ultimate joy and happiness is not found within man's immediate  \u003cbr\u003eenvironment, because whatever he clings to seems to fail in providing  \u003cbr\u003esuch ultimate joy, peace, and happiness, which men, by nature, tend to  \u003cbr\u003eyearn and long for. Man has always interpreted peace, joy, happiness,  \u003cbr\u003eand their sources differently. Thus, his beliefs and objects of worship,  \u003cbr\u003edevotion, and dedication vary one from another-hence the reason for  \u003cbr\u003edifferent world religions and creeds today (Christianity, Judaism, Islam,  \u003cbr\u003eBuddhism, atheism, etc.).  \u003cbr\u003eTo say that man is a religious being implies that naturally man  \u003cbr\u003ealways believes in and worships something. Hence, there can never  \u003cbr\u003ebe an atheist in the real sense of it. Not to believe is to believe. For  \u003cbr\u003eexample, not to believe in the existence of God is to believe that  \u003cbr\u003eGod does not exist. Even though some people do not believe in the  \u003cbr\u003eexistence of a personal God or god, they still believe in something,  \u003cbr\u003ewhich could be anything-money, freedom, wealth, riches, power,beauty, achievement, talent, name it. Just as our ancient fathers  \u003cbr\u003ebelieved in carved idols as gods and worshipped them, so do people  \u003cbr\u003ein the modern time hold on tenaciously to all kinds of idols in the form  \u003cbr\u003eof money, beauty, wealth, riches, power, achievement, talent, etc., and  \u003cbr\u003eworship them as gods and hope that someday these might give them  \u003cbr\u003ean endless peace and happiness, which have been the ultimate end of  \u003cbr\u003eman's endeavor or pursuit on earth.  \u003cbr\u003eThis false hope of man's longing to achieve endless peace and  \u003cbr\u003ehappiness from material possessions or natural endowment explains  \u003cbr\u003eitself in some ancient cultures whereby the dead are buried along with  \u003cbr\u003esome of their possessions, including gold, money, slaves, etc. The fact  \u003cbr\u003ethat people of outstanding talents, riches, and wealth have committed  \u003cbr\u003esuicide has put a big question mark to this erroneous ideology that  \u003cbr\u003ehappiness could be achieved through material possession. What  \u003cbr\u003ewas wrong in the lives of those affluent and talented people who  \u003cbr\u003ekilled themselves contrary to all instincts of self-preservation? What  \u003cbr\u003ewas missing in their lives that none of their material acquisitions or  \u003cbr\u003eachievements could satiate or afford?  \u003cbr\u003eMan longs for lasting happiness. He has the capacity to conceive and  \u003cbr\u003eyearn for infinite happiness. Hence, he does not want to be happy today  \u003cbr\u003eand sad tomorrow. But how would he achieve that joy or happiness that has  \u003cbr\u003eno end, which has always remained man's unrealized dream? No branch of  \u003cbr\u003ediscipline or knowledge has been able to provide an answer and a remedy  \u003cbr\u003eto man's natural longing for endless joy, lasting peace, and happiness, but  \u003cbr\u003ereligion. Religion has an answer, a remedy, and a hope.  \u003cbr\u003eIn this book, I will demonstrate how religion provides an answer, a  \u003cbr\u003eremedy, and a hope for man's ultimate search and yearning for lasting  \u003cbr\u003epeace and happiness in his life and in the society in which he lives. I  \u003cbr\u003ewill explore the idea that man is a spiritual as well as a religious being. I  \u003cbr\u003ewill also delve into how his natural endowment with freedom, intellect,  \u003cbr\u003eand will enables him to express his religiosity.  \u003cbr\u003eI will further demonstrate how the misinterpretation and  \u003cbr\u003emisapplication of the idea of the separation of state and church, or  \u003cbr\u003ereligion, has impacted adversely man's free expression of his religiosity  \u003cbr\u003eand spirituality in the United States of America, and most importantly  \u003cbr\u003ehow it has adversely affected moral and religious education of our  \u003cbr\u003echildren and youth in the public elementary and high schools. I will  \u003cbr\u003eexplore different controversies and debates that are related to theabolition or establishment of religious and moral education in the public  \u003cbr\u003eschools. The past opinions of those who have debated on the issues  \u003cbr\u003eof abolition or establishment of religion in the public schools shall be  \u003cbr\u003ereviewed, and the strengths and weaknesses of their arguments will be  \u003cbr\u003eweighed and evaluated.  \u003cbr\u003eThis book will further expose and deliberate on the devastating effects  \u003cbr\u003eof lack of religious and moral education among our children and the youth  \u003cbr\u003ein the public elementary and high schools. These devastating effects of  \u003cbr\u003elack of religious and moral education of our children in the public schools  \u003cbr\u003ereach their climax in the colleges and universities, which finally blossom  \u003cbr\u003ein society as the students graduate out into the community.  \u003cbr\u003eI will discuss the exigency and importance of religion in the  \u003cbr\u003eAmerican public schools in relation to the education of the young who  \u003cbr\u003econstitute the foundation and the hope of the future of society. The  \u003cbr\u003eAmerican government has abolished religion in all its forms in the  \u003cbr\u003eAmerican public schools. This makes it possible for children to pass from  \u003cbr\u003eelementary through high school to college without having anything to  \u003cbr\u003edo with religion in their formal education. The government did this  \u003cbr\u003eeither because they have discovered that it is useless, irrelevant, and  \u003cbr\u003eof no purpose, and that children can always do well in their education  \u003cbr\u003eand in their lives without religious education, or that they cannot  \u003cbr\u003eafford its funding or put up with the differences that could arise from  \u003cbr\u003edifferent religions, which could lure the government into an excessive  \u003cbr\u003eentanglement with religion. How true and cogent is any of the above  \u003cbr\u003elisted fears and anxieties of the government as a reason for the abolition  \u003cbr\u003eof religion in the public schools?  \u003cbr\u003eMost importantly, I will explore new ideas and possibilities on how  \u003cbr\u003ereligious and moral education of our growing children and youth could  \u003cbr\u003ebe restored back to public schools without the government having  \u003cbr\u003eto fund religion or involve itself in an excessive entanglement with  \u003cbr\u003ereligion; without infringing on the freedom of others who might not  \u003cbr\u003elike to involve themselves in the affairs of religion or in the affairs of a  \u003cbr\u003eparticular religion other than their own; without the practice of public  \u003cbr\u003eprayer, the observance of a moment of silence, etc., in an assembly of  \u003cbr\u003emixed students of diverse religious orientations; without the coercion  \u003cbr\u003eof a student, a teacher, an administrator, or others into the practice of  \u003cbr\u003ereligion against their will; and without the school having to formulate  \u003cbr\u003eprayer for students of mixed faith traditions.","brand":"Xlibris Corporation","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47140656316656,"sku":"9781453584170","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781453584170_p0.jpg?v=1763848550","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781453584170","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}