RELIGION RULES KANAWHA COUNTY SCHOOLS

By Karl Priest June 1, 2009 (revised 2-11-2020)

The following article was written in 1999 and is a scan so there may be some slight errors and/or associations. Nevertheless, it makes it quite clear that religion is fine in public schools as long as it is New Age or related religion like Yogism. See my April 2008 articles “Yoga Should be left out of Schools”, and “Religion Established in Public Schools” http://insectman.us/exodus-mandate-wv/my-articles-2008.htm.) Also, be sure to see the "The Common Thread Addendum”.

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As part of a local effort to fight evolutionism I reviewed a book from a summer workshop (graduate credit was available) which all public school teachers in Kanawha County were encouraged to take. As far as I know the majority of teachers took that course (based on a then contemporary education buzz word: "Multiple Intelligences”*. It is my understanding that all teachers in the state are to receive similar training. Some parts of the book are quite revealing as to the direction of the state imposed religion.

SEVEN WAYS OF KNOWING by David Lazear (2nd ed) IRI/Skylight Training and Publishing, Inc. Palatine, IL. 1991)
Forward by Howard Gardner.

(xiv) "Intrapersonal intelligence allows us to be conscious of our consciousness; that is, to step back and watch ourselves as an outside observer does. Our self-identity and the ability to transcend the self are part of the functioning of intrapersonal intelligence. It likewise involves our capacity to experience wholeness and unity, to discern patterns of our consciousness, to experience the lure of the future, and to dream of and actualize the possible."

(xiv) "Practice watching your thoughts, feelings, and moods as if you were a detached, outside observer."

(xvii) "Likewise, the roots of intelligence are traceable to our earlier evolution as a species."

(xviii) "Lie down on the floor or sit comfortably so that you can completely relax. Close your eyes and breathe deeply from your abdomen. With your mind, carefully watch your breath, following it all the way into your body and all the way back out ... .imagine you are able to step into a time machine and journey hundreds of years into the future ... With each step into the future you gain the wisdom of the ages, seeing and knowing things beyond a limited, time-bound perspective; you gain insights deeper and more vast than anything you dreamed possible...In doing this, you are, in effect, developing more of your potential as a human being; and thus, you will be operating on more channels of your being....'You'll find immense changes occurring In your perception and understanding of life…”And, you just may discover that the fullness and adventure of being human has been given back to you!”

(xxvi) "SENSING INNER REALITIES...Some suggestions that others have tried include: sniffing out new realities and new patterns of being emerging in your life; developing deep vision that goes beyond appearances to the very essence of things; and tasting the many different flavors of the life force present in your being."

(1) "There may be no more formative event in our species' long journey to human development than the emergence of language. With the acquisition of language, for the first time in evolution, comes the dawn of self-reflective consciousness and the possibility of complex communication with others."

(18) "The power of verbal images in the mind for shaping the reality of our lives has fascinated humankind for many centuries. These images include beliefs, values, and attitudes we have about ourselves, others, and the world. Since the dawn of self-reflective consciousness, people have known that the content of their lives and the world around them."

(23) The chapter begins with a list of problems as an introduction to Logica/Mathematical Intelligence. They are merely listed with no specific discussion. They are:

"How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?"
"Is the world really flat?"

"Which came first, the chicken or the egg?"

"What are the origins of the universe?"

Is there intelligent life beyond the earth?"

(75) "One of the most important findings of contemporary brain research is the discovery of the deep connection between the body and the mind. In fact, some researchers no longer talk simply about the body, but of the body-mind. "With subtly developed body awareness, it is possible for the individual to become the conscious orchestrator of health."

"Modem biofeedback research and training is teaching thousands of people how to consciously control what were once thought to be "automatic” physiological process by learning to shift attention to this process."

(76) "We can learn how to consciously alter or modulate the electrical frequencies (brain wave patterns) of our own brains, thus creating optimal states of mind for various situations we must deal with daily."

(82) "Our religious traditions have taught us that the body is a vile thing that must be brought under subjection of the spiritual, and thus we do not trust our bodies and at the greatest extremes are filled with disgust for "things that are merely physical."

"Until these metaphors are replaced and our attitudes about the body change, the fullness of this way of knowing will not be available to us." (91) "The imagery of the exercise is taken from various Native American Medicine Wheel traditions. It uses the four cardinal directions and the four basic elements."

(111-112) “Begin by playing meditative music you have selected. Sit in a quiet place where you will not be disturbed and where you can completely relax. Breathe deeply from your abdomen several times and allow yourself to become centered and calm.

"When you feel relaxed and focused, begin repeating aloud the phrase or thought you worked out earlier. Repeat it over and over and over again, keeping your eyes closed. Concentrate your entire being on repeating the phrase. Don't engage in intellectual thoughts about the phrase, simply concentrate on its sound and rhythm."

"Throughout history people have used sound in various meditation practices, often in the form of chanting. The practice above is a secular form of an ancient spiritual practice of repeating a mantra. A mantra is a phrase, often taken from sacred texts, which has the power to shift one's consciousness to realms of spiritual insight and inspiration."

(121) "Cutting-edge research into some of the possibilities of this capacity (empathy & sympathy) is being conducted by people exploring parapsychology. These investigations include such phenomena as ESP ... and telepathy...

(133) "Humanity stands at the threshold of the greatest age in history. We have the capacity to overcome the ancient problems of hunger, disease, and violence. We can now realize new possibilities which will make us a universal species, beyond planet boundedness..."

(141) Part of quote to open the chapter "KNOW THYSELF ... TlHY COGNITION AND THY CONSCIOUSNESS" "... We are not made up of fragments of the universe, we are that universe. Larry Dossey, "Space time and Medicine""

(149-150) "In many cultures outside the Western world, the existence of a wide variety of states of consciousness is commonly accepted ...the stages on the journey to enlightenment in the Orient, the steps for full union with higher consciousness in India, and the guidelines/practices for receiving divine guidance in the West and Middle East."

"Advanced levels of the mental/analytical stage involve higher-level cognitive processes such as non-linear thinking, forecasting, the capacity for panoramic vision of history, society, the planet, and evolution, and the emergence of the ‘non-verbal intelligences’."

"Transpersonal Awareness (‘I am a citizen of the universe!’)…We see our life connected to and part of the larger patterns of other people, nature, and the universe."

"Spiritual Awareness (‘I am one with all that is!') ... what some theologians call ‘god-consciousness’."

(152) "Try it for 10 to 15 minutes a day for about two weeks and see if it makes a difference in your ability to cope with everyday problem!”

(159) "With the emergence of self-reflective consciousness, the platform of evolution moved up from life to consciousness. Consciousness became the spearhead for evolution. For the first time on earth evolution became internalized. Thus, the urge that many people feel to grow and develop inwardly may well be the force of evolution manifesting within our own consciousness. It is the universe evolving through us."

"This inner evolution is not an aside to the overall process of evolution. Conscious inner evolution is the particular phase of evolution that we, in our comer of the universe, are currently passing through."

(161) "All time lives within us; we live and have lived in all time. When we experience this, the questions of the past and the future are a matter of remembering, a matter of re-uniting ourselves with an unbounded sense of time and all of history.”

(187-188) The appendix opens with a quote from M. Ferguson in "The Aquarian Conspiracy". "Our discoveries about the startling nature of reality are a major force for change, undermining common sense ideas and old institutional philosophies ... The agenda of the coming decade is to act on this new scientific knowledge--discoveries that revise the very data base on which we have built our assumptions, our institutions, our lives."

"Wilbur suggests that we attain knowledge through the eye of the flesh, the eye of reason, and the eye of contemplation."

"When examining any research, it is important to remember these 'three eyes' and to know that within their own domains, they are king."

*Like many fads in education, Multiple Intelligences has some serious scientific issues.

Teaching methods that are claimed to be based on how the brain works are being extensively used in schools, but most of them are based on a misunderstanding or misrepresentation of neuroscience. They’re based on neuromyths, promoting “alarming amounts of misinformation.”

Perhaps the most persistent neuromyth is that of Multiple Intelligences – that people have separate and specific intelligences such as musical, visual-spatial, logical-mathematical and naturalistic intelligence. Teaching materials and school websites continue to promote this theory first proposed in a 1983 book by Howard Gardner – even though neuroscientists and education experts have thoroughly discredited it as a model of how we learn. Here is Professor John Geake on Multiple Intelligences: “Neuroimaging studies do not support multiple intelligences; in fact, the opposite is true.” He describes how intelligence is a general property that stems from a part of the brain called the frontal cortices, and that we apply this intelligence to different tasks such as music, language and logic – our brain does not have specific multiple intelligences.

http://www.senseaboutscience.org/blog.php/77/neuromyths-and-why-they-persist-in-the-classroom

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Also, be sure to see Readin’, ‘Ritin’, ‘Rithmetic, and Religion (March 13), A Common Thread (especially #20 "Stealth Tactics"), The Books, and THE "COURAGEOUS CORPS OF '74.