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#1
10-23-2007, 06:54 PM
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Guess What Happened In Class Today...?
So we are reading this novel in my GT class called Incantation about a young girl(Estrella) in 15th century Spain being raised as a Catholic, but is secretly a Jew. She falls in love with her best friend's(Catalina) cousin, Andres, with whom her best friend is also in love. Thus begins a conflict between the two girls. The historical backdrop is during the Spanish Inquisition during which the Catholic church forced Jews to convert or either drove them out, and/or killed them. Many Jews went under ground and converted, but secretly practiced Judaism which is what Estrella's family did. Her Jewish name is Esther. Well, Estrella/Esther finds out that she is Jewish about the same time that she falls in love with Andres, and her grandfather is arrested, as well as her mother and older brother. Estrella /Esther asked the question in the book today, "How can Andres and I be together, because Jews and Christians can't marry.?"
So I closed the book and I said, "What would be the problem with Jews and Christians marrying?" and the kids (6th grade) said, " Nothing, they should be able to marry if they love each other." So I said, "Well, what are some other groups that have been prevented from marrying in the past and even today?" And they said, "Blacks and whites, and gay people" and that started one of the most lively discussions in my class. One little kid, very intelligent, said, "I am not gay, but I think it is totally unreasonable that gays cannot be married. It is just ridiculous." Another stood up and said, "Why can't they get married?" Another girl said, "Because it is wrong!" So I stepped in and said, "Well, in the book, the Catholic church said Jews were wrong and called them pigs." She said, " Well...I guess...I don't know..." I said, " A lot of people want to use the Bible to justify their own prejudices and fear, and it causes a lot of hurt and harm to a lot of people. 150 years ago, people also said that the Bible said slavery was ok." She said, "Really?" Then a very intelligent girl said, "Wasn't Paul talking more about temple prostitution in Romans than he was homosexuality? How do you feel about that?" I told her I couldn't talk about that in school. But I did say that they shouldn't base whether they treated someone with respect or not simply because of their skin color, or religion or who they loved. Young people today are going to be our voters of tomorrow and they have a lot more on the ball as far as forward thinking. Equal rights are in our future people! It is coming! 
__________________
If everyone cared and nobody cried, if everyone loved and nobody lied, if everyone shared and swallowed their pride, we'd see the day when nobody died. IF EVERYONE CARED/Nickelback 
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#2
10-23-2007, 09:48 PM
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And this was in Texas?
That is good news. 
__________________
*** Never linger too long with the ignorant, throw stones at their talk. Walk only with the lovers, the mirror of the soul gets rusty when dipped in muddy water. -Rumi
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#3
10-23-2007, 10:00 PM
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What an amazing conversation.
There are so many times when I wish I could really just come out and tell my students that I think being gay is perfectly fine. It is tough to be teaching in a Christian school and being restrained by doctrinal statements I disagree with. (I don't have many disagreements, however.) There is always the joy that when ever any homophobic comment comes up (always from one single student of mine) I can bring up the core of our religious instruction that God loves all of us no matter what. And that we are to treat others in love even if we disagree with them. The other students in the class generally put him in his place. I think Dave may be right (first time for everything), the war has been won, but the battle goes on. When even students in a conservative Christian school are generally open-minded and accepting, the future does look brighter.
__________________
For I am convinced that neither life nor death...neither the present nor the future nor anything in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39
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#4
10-24-2007, 08:09 AM
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Yes Zerb, it happened here in the great state of repressive Texas where the grand old governor wishes all of us gay people would just go away. We wish HE would go away! Anyway, I hope I don't get any nasty emails or get fired!
__________________
If everyone cared and nobody cried, if everyone loved and nobody lied, if everyone shared and swallowed their pride, we'd see the day when nobody died. IF EVERYONE CARED/Nickelback
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#5
10-24-2007, 02:06 PM
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Quote:
Got tears in my eyes and chills down my spine! Thanks for the story!
__________________
Love and affirmation,  Forrester Tongpa Nyi (formerly Ash Phoenix, faeries evolve! )  When you come to know that your entitlement to joy is a given, All that remains is the exploration of the many different ways to let it in 
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#7
10-26-2007, 08:06 AM
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Png: Took me awhile to respond, but what a great experience. I am with Scotty, chill, tears, and I have an overwhelming sense of HOPE. Not that they "get it" only, but that they talk about it in such an intelligent, informed, balanced way. Thank you for facilitating that so gently, yet firmly. It seemed to work with your class. Says a lot about how effective of a teacher that you are! Kudos!!!
__________________
[B]THE TRUTH IS ALL THERE IS.[/B
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#8
11-06-2007, 08:02 PM
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Excuse me, but I have a question, what does GT stand for, the name of the class you are teaching?
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