>Fine, but that's kind of not the issue. If the kids and teacher want to sing songs that have religious origins what is the big deal? IOW, I think this all boils down to two things.
>
>1) The Supreme Court's findings
>2) This business with hyper-sensitivity and it being the rationale for forcing societal change.

The big deal is that when the teacher leads the class in singing religious songs, there is a message to the children that this (the content of the song) is what we, as a group, believe. That's not an appropriate message in school since, in fact, it's what some of us believe and may directly contradict what others of us believe. More to the point, parents do not send their children to public schools for religious education, and the American public should not be funding religious education.

>As far as 'attempting to convert everyone' I'll certainly agree that I would like everyone to know God and His love. That's God's business actually. I may speak His words but the rest is up to Him. Still, I can understand why someone might confuse my enthusiasm with some other motive. I always like to talk about those I love and to those I love.
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>I really try hard to only respond when someone else makes an remark that needs clearing up or in response to a 'challenge' as Alex has done on a couple of occassions. If you're personally uncomfortable with this then don't engage me in these kinds of discussions. I'm sorry if you are uncomfortable but I'm not going to stop for that reason. That's just another example of this touchy-feely approach to life IMO. It's a big part of my life and I understand that it's not that way with others.

Again, you're missing the point. Your attempts to bring others to your beliefs in a discussion like this is just fine. But if you were teaching in a public school, it would be totally inappropriate since it's not your job there to convert other people's children.

Tamar