{"id":377,"date":"2012-06-08T18:10:00","date_gmt":"2012-06-08T18:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2012\/06\/the-bad-news-bears.html"},"modified":"2012-06-08T18:10:00","modified_gmt":"2012-06-08T18:10:00","slug":"the-bad-news-bears","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2012\/06\/the-bad-news-bears.html","title":{"rendered":"The Bad News Bears"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Exactly ten years ago the U.S. Supreme Court allowed legal after-hours access to elementary schools by religious groups (Good News Club v. Milford Central School<\/a>).\u00a0 This was a long standing practice in most upper schools, but many elementary schools felt that children would have a difficult time making the necessary separation between the authority of their school and the religious activities taking place there.\u00a0 Such a perception could amount to a violation of the Establishment Clause.<\/p>\n

The Supremes decided (6-3) that free speech trumped this concern.\u00a0 The plaintiffs, The Good News Club, went on to establish chapters in elementary schools all over the nation.\u00a0 There are now 3,200 of them.\u00a0 And what kind of \u201cGood News\u201d are they spreading?\u00a0 Katherine Stewart has just released a book exposing this group<\/a>.\u00a0 As she writes in the Guardian<\/a>, the news ain\u2019t all that good:<\/p>\n

The\u2026curriculum makes clear\u2026that if God gives instructions to kill a group of people, you must kill every last one:<\/p>\n

\u201cYou are to go and completely destroy the Amalekites\u2026 \u2013 people, animals, every living thing. Nothing shall be left.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cThat was pretty clear, wasn\u2019t it?\u201d the manual tells the teachers to say to the kids.<\/p>\n

Even more important, the Good News Club wants the children to know, the Amalakites were targeted for destruction on account of their religion<\/a>, or lack of it. The instruction manual reads:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Amalekites had heard about Israel\u2019s true and living God many years before, but they refused to believe in him. The Amalekites refused to believe in God and God had promised punishment.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The instruction manual goes on to champion obedience in all things. In fact, pretty much every lesson that the Good News Club gives involves reminding children that they must, at all costs, obey. If God tells you to kill nonbelievers, he really wants you to kill them all. No questions asked, no exceptions allowed.<\/p>\n

Isn\u2019t that good and lovely?<\/p>\n

Jews remember Amalek, too.\u00a0 The Rabbis identified that nation as a wellspring of evil and connected it to Haman, the villain of Purim (in turn, some modern rabbis have associated Amalek with Hitler).\u00a0 The Shabbat preceding Purim is known as \u201cShabbat Zachor\u201d entreating the Jews to remember what Amalek did to them.<\/p>\n

Today we often hear about Orthodox rabbis pointing fingers at\u00a0 modern Amalekites, including Jews with whom they disagree.\u00a0 But Jewish tradition also bears many examples of attempts to soften this verse through creative midrash.\u00a0 Some made Amalek a metaphor for evil rather than a living nation.\u00a0 Others said God\u2019s commandment to kill Amalek was intended only for some future messianic king and not to any actual living Jews.\u00a0 Still others declared that Amalekites have ceased to exist. (See David Golinkin\u2019s excellent survey.<\/a>)<\/p>\n

The Good News Club is in no need of any such interpretations.\u00a0 After all, they have the truth and it\u2019s whatever they say it is.\u00a0 Putting aside any later moderating interpretations, it\u2019s likely that they are actually pretty close to the original intent of the verse.\u00a0 It\u2019s a primitive, barbaric notion for a group with a primitive, barbaric ideology. \u00a0Who knows where they\u2019ll find these latter-day Amalekites? \u00a0I\u2019m pretty sure that they would count me as one.<\/p>\n

We are unlikely to see any change in the Court\u2019s ruling.\u00a0 But by shining some light on this group\u2019s doctrines, maybe we can keep a few kids away from their fantastically bad news.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Exactly ten years ago the U.S. Supreme Court allowed legal after-hours access to elementary schools by religious groups (Good News Club v. Milford Central School).\u00a0 This was a long standing practice in most upper schools, but many elementary schools felt that children would have a difficult time making the necessary separation between the authority of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2281,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[10,12],"class_list":["post-377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blogentries","tag-church-and-state","tag-fundamentalist-christianity"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Bad News Bears<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Exactly ten years ago the U.S. Supreme Court allowed legal after-hours access to elementary schools by religious groups (Good News Club v. 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