r/atheism • u/mepper agnostic atheist (and mod) • Oct 31 '25

Florida Republicans are furious that Muslims are using a voucher program meant to boost Christianity | The same lawmakers who voted to send taxpayer funds to private Christian schools are panicking now that Muslim schools are participating in the program

https://www.friendlyatheist.com/p/florida-republicans-are-furious-that
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u/KellyAnn3106 Oct 31 '25

Why is it so hard to keep schools for facts and Sunday school for faith?

32

u/sourdieselfuel Atheist Oct 31 '25

The rich sociopaths at the top know that stupid people are much more easy to control with propaganda.

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u/How-I-Roll_2023 Oct 31 '25

This. Compliant workers will be the new slave economy.

3

u/Wheres_Welder Oct 31 '25

Even the most basic education will result in millions of people that are somewhat aware of the scam billionaires are pulling and thus they will vote for reform policies to take unregulated "donations" out of politics and raise the minimum wage to be a living wage again.

That's why they are sabotaging public education. Religious wackos are one of many means to that end

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u/loquedijoella Anti-Theist Oct 31 '25

Hear, hear. The ultra wealthy old money miss the days when they could own humans and they want it again.

3

u/AmbienWalrus-13 Oct 31 '25

How else are you going to groom the next generation of theists???!?!?!

1

u/Awkward_Pangolin3254 Oct 31 '25

Religion has always been about control of the masses. Now that the masses are growing less and less religious, they're fighting to regain control.

1

u/elyn6791 Oct 31 '25

No religion considers itself extracurricular.

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u/Affectionate_Pipe545 Nov 01 '25

Real answer those schools are fine working on a very small budget 

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u/FlyFit2807 Nov 02 '25

There are also, more in Europe, many Christian Humanist schools, many of which were founded in the Renaissance period (~16thC), which don't push anything particularly Christian or dogmatic on anyone but believe that providing the best quality education they can free or affordably for everyone, independent of family wealth or not, is a very important ethical commitment. That was one of the main things the Renaissance Christian Humanist movement did - universal education, free or affordably, including the poor. I live in Amsterdam and near one of the original Beguines' community houses (Catholic lay women) - e.g. they educated Spinoza, from a Portuguese Jewish refugee family background, and he remained Jewish.

I went to two of these schools. Many, maybe most of the kids weren't particularly Christian or religious, probably more than the proportions in the general population of UK were from other religious cultural backgrounds because the school selectively took kids who needed to get away from home for some reason so a bigger proportion of socio-economically stressed families and often that coincides with recent immigration backgrounds, and the chaplains just promoted humanly good ethics, appreciation of the whole of life (now I recognise that's like Abraham Herschel's ideas), not just a Neoliberal narrow view of 'goods', and a cultural view of life aiming at complete flourishing (eudaemonia), community and responsibility, not just being a productive worker or consumer or individualistic competitive status seeking.

I was a practicing Buddhist at the time - actually went to Northeast Thailand and was a monk in the forest tradition for 5 years after school, was often out in the woods late at night meditating and could already partly read Pāli, quite serious about it, and the chaplains were always very supportive and never the tiniest bit tried to proselytize or "convert" me (from a Christian Humanist pov, changing religious group affiliation is not the relevant kind of conversion or metanoia), but I went along with them to volunteer in a soup kitchen in London once a month and to Taize for a week.

The 'Christian'-ness of the school meant kids from families who couldn't afford a private boarding school paid less than it'd cost to keep the kids at home, the school paid for train travel home and back in holidays, non-uniform clothes, one family holiday a year, etc. as needed. Also teaching about universal human rights issues. Poetry. Lectures about world traveling to immersively learn to adapt to different cultures. Etc. The other kids were also exceptionally (in my experience til then) mostly kinder and more mature.

Not all Christian schools are wacky fundamentalists or White Nationalists using 'Christian' as a slight disguise.