Feb
23
The Devil Went Down To North Carolina
February 23, 2010 by Brandon 2 Comments
One student in a North Carolina high school is refusing to write an essay on the hypothetical premise of selling your soul to the devil because it “violates her Christian beliefs.” The students in her class were assigned to read “The Devil and Tom Walker,” a classic short story by Washington Irving which explores the same hypothetical idea. Of course, any rational person will tell you that this is a fictional story, and the devil represented within it, too, is fictional.
Still, Tieanna Trough and her parents think it is an inappropriate request. Her mother, who appears in an interview on a video clip on the link above, strikes me as a loudmouth, but I suppose that’s unfair to judge her on that. I will judge her though on her stupid assumption that because we have “removed” God from the classroom, that is, forcing students to pray or creating the appearance that a government funded, public school promotes a specific religion, that we should now remove anything resembling or referencing religion. This is incorrect; as I stated, this is clearly a fictional piece of literature, with fictional characters. One is not meant to believe that the devil portrayed in the story is the literal devil of Christianity, especially when reading it in an academic setting. What now? Should we ban “Paradise Lost”? What about “The Iliad” for its flagrant promotion of the Greek pantheon? Would this student be opposed to an essay which asked the question, “Would you sacrifice your family for fame and fortune?” Or perhaps, “Would you commit murder for a billion dollars?”
These are very valid moral questions which are at the heart of the short story the class was examining, and contrary to popular opinion, morality and religion are not mutually exclusive.
Frankly I think this girl should get pushed back a few grades so she can learn what fiction means, and perhaps what hypothetical means. And to her mommy, if you really think that writing a silly paper like this is going to offend your God so much, then he sounds like a dick.
And you sound fat.
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What is Fractal Wrongness?
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It seems like these cult members are at a real Crossroads with their high school.
I think you mean \"morality and religion are not mutually inclusive\" not exclusive.
The way it\’s currently written you\’re saying that \’contrary to popular opinion, religion and morality are not things that must never overlap\’ when I believe you mean \’contrary to popular opinion, religion and morality are not things that must always overlap\’.
That said, while I happen to be a person of religion, I do agree with your point: I\’ve known a great many \’religious\’ people who are utterly immoral, and a great many atheists and agnostics who are perfectly good people, make good decisions and have a clear sense of right and wrong, a definite moral sense.