Giving children exposure to religious or political beliefs is not the issue REB. It's giving them only one choice in that exposure or using intimidation to force those beliefs on others.

I would not have any problem with a teacher stating, "There are many different religions in the world. My own personal beliefs happen to be ...... but your choice is your own." However, a statement such as "Mormons suck" or "all people not of the Christian faith are going to hell" might have me calling for the head of that instructor. I conversely would not believe an atheist instructor should be able to disparage the religious choices of his or her students or their parents.

However, teachers are human and I'm not sure I want to never allow their feelings to slip through. I think children need that lesson that everyone has differing opinions and aren't always in control of their words and emotions. As a parent, I've been faced with my atheist teenager coming home and telling me that one of his instructors kept alluding to his faith in his lectures. My first instinct was that of some outrage but once I thought about it, it really didn't feel threatening because I knew my son's beliefs were strong, carefully constructed, and logical. Why should I worry if he gets to see this slice of human life in his classroom.

I also told my son that his instructor opened the door to him to counter his views publicly if he had the balls to do so and that I'd stand behind him should he suffer from it. What Christians in this country forget is that the separation of church and state helps them keep their beliefs away from scrutiny of others and debate in our public institutions. It might be a different world if the majority faith in this country were challenged more often publicly. The tenets of the Christian faith are on pretty shaky ground when put under the microscope of historical and scientific analysis.

My son has also had instructors that have shown their conservative political bias in their lectures and have been outwardly supportive of the Iraq war. He doesn't shae those views but likes the instructor none-the-less and is not threatened by the slant. The instructor, to his credit, welcomes debate on the issue. My own high school history instructor was a retired military colonel so you can imagine his take on things.

I think that the bottom line is that kids are smarter than people are giving them credit for and they have access to multiple inputs on political and religious choices. Good parents will expose their children to differing ideas and help them to sort out what they believe right or wrong. They can also send another message. Should the teacher not see eye to eye with their own tenets, they can teach their children that bullying and intimidation of the teaching profession can give them power.

Art