One of the things I noticed while teaching chess in elementary after-school enrichment programs is the beauty of the schools.
Sadly, though, they are fenced, locked, and secured after hours so one can’t just wander the school grounds to look at the beauty.
That’s where I come in!
I wandered and took pictures to share.
These really show just exactly how the students at this elementary school are being indoctrinated.
The following is Bird Rock Elementary School in La Jolla, an enclave of the rich in San Diego, California.
I think it’s interesting that each graduating class, and sometimes other grades as well, present a gift to the school.
My elementary school, Charles H. Flato Elementary in Kingsville, Texas, was no beauty when I was there in 1965-1966, having been built in the 1930s or so, and we certainly didn’t give anything back to the school when we left….
Click on the pictures that are NOT stamps and you can get a bigger version.
They make use of all their space. For example, the following two pictures are of the back of the wall that holds the basketball goal.
No, I did not put these words on the steps using Photoshop…….
In the third picture above, the text reads, “If we are to reach real peace in this world…. we shall have to begin with the children.”—Gandhi
How wonderful it would be if our children were indoctrinated first with things like logic, reasoning, and science before being indoctrinated with religion. That’s my opinion, and at the age of 60, I’m sticking with it.
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Photographic Art by Russel Ray Photos at Fine Art America
Russel Ray Photos 
Beautiful environments for learning. Too bad so many children in the world do not have the same opportunities.
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So true, even here in the United States in some areas. Bird Rock is in a rich school district. I have been to schools in poor districts and they look nothing like this.
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Thanks for sharing this. My daughter’s school also encourages kids to help in painting and decorating open spaces. I thought the steps and basketball walls were a great idea of using objects that one normally doesn’t think about.
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They did all the big street utility boxes, too, but that’s common here in San Diego and outside the school fence so I didn’t take pictures of them. I want to know what kind of fundraisers they use so they can buy the paint and all the beautiful accessories.
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That’s an interesting thought. In India, most schools fund such projects through school fees paid by parents. Perhaps that is why they are never this elaborate.
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Parents balk at paying school fees here but, amazingly, they’ll spend all sorts of money on these kinds of projects. I think it probably has something to do with ego. Their ego, or that of their child, doesn’t get recognized if they just pay fees, but if they “donate” to something like this, there is all sorts of ego recognition available.
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Heheh. Yup, the need to be recognized and to have our names live on for as long as possible are strong motivators.
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Children are the best of the human species and btw I didn’t realise you were 60 (did I?) You seem as young as I am at 56 haha!
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Who told you I was 60?
I’ve been trying to get out of home inspections for about three years but age discrimination is quite pervasive in the marketplace. Finally, a couple of weeks ago, this was the start of my cover letter for one company that I really was interested in:
“Dear people who do the hiring:
I was one of Utah’s greatest juvenile delinquents…. What? You didn’t want my rap sheet? Ah, well, the cat’s out of the bag, but that was 50 years ago. Oops. Another cat out of the bag. I’m old! But 60 is the new 40, right? So I’m in my prime!”
Fifteen minutes after uploading my cover letter and résumé, they called me to set up a phone interview two days later. Phone interview lasted 1½ hours. A week later they called to set up two personal interviews. They lasted two hours. Yesterday evening they called to set up four hours worth of interviews tomorrow, as well as taking me out to lunch.
I think if I don’t let them know tomorrow about my margarita addiction, my mental problems, and such, I’ll have a new job!
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Wow! And I agree!
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I’m a Christian and while i strongly disagree with the way other Christians treat kids (the child abuse picture is a perfect example of how Christians abuse there own religion by abusing children) I do think parents should have the right to teach their kids about God.
And about the school, yeah…not letting kids explore is pretty sad. They should change t that!
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Is there a place where parents don’t have the right to teach their children about God, or anything else for that matter?
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Well “indoctrinate” kinda sounds like its against that cause we’re “brainwashing our kids ibto religion” etc. But yeah, probably could’ve worded that comment better.
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But when children are so young and can’t use logic and reasoning on their own, it is indoctrination. No other way to put it, unless you do want to use the term “brainwashing.”
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Cept if you do teach them about Christianity and how to use logic than they can make their own decitions about their own belief when they’re older. The problem comes when the religion does not allow you to question it. I don’tknow much about religion outside of Christianity but i have questioned others about questionable things on the Bible and they have me good answers. However,i an aware that there are religions that frown upon questioning then. And religions like Islam will possibly kill you of you convert out of that religion.
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True, but all religions, including Christianity, like to kill people. Look at the Crusades and, even more recently, the so-called Christians killing gays, blacks, abortion doctors, etc. Religion is the bane of the world, and as long as we have religion, we won’t have world peace. The two can’t coexist.
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The thing is, Christianity isn’t bad, but there will always be people who twists God’s word for there own agenda. The whole killing gays thing is only said in Leviticus and a lotof cherry-picking Christians use that verse to justify there actions even though Leviticus is no longer credible and that same bin also tells us that if we mix fabrics than we should be killed! And honesty an argument could be made that being gay isn’t a sin anymore to begin with ( long story short, the new testement verses suffer a bit from miss translations and vagueness). And even if homosexuality is still sinful, we shouldn’t kill them and God wouldn’t want us to kill them as the bible says that we are all sinners! So what makes homosexuality specially terrible?
Like i said,i don’t knew much about religion outside of Christianity. But Christianity isn’t the bane of world. But people will anyways twist things for there own agenda. God tells us to love our neighbor as ourselves so if Christians really followed the bible according to what it says than how can it be so terrible?
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I didn’t say that Christianity was the bane of the world. I said “religion.” There is a difference.
The fact that you are cherry-picking “God tells us to love our neighbor as ourselves” leaves out the other 500-pages of the Bible with such things as:
1. Leviticus 25:44 states that you may possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations.
2. Sell your daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7.
3. I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly states one who works on the Sabbath should be put to death.
4. Eating shellfish is an abomination (Lev. 11:10).
5. Lev. 21:20 states that you may not approach the altar of God if you have a defect in my sight.
6. Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev. 19:27.
7. My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev.19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread (cotton/polyester blend). He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them? Lev.24:10-16. Couldn’t we just burn them to death at a private family affair, like we do with people who sleep with their in-laws? (Lev. 20:14)
Nicholas Ferroni, educator and activist, had this to say: “I was born a sinner, too. My sin is mentioned in the Bible 25 times. I tried to change but couldn’t….. Luckily society learned to accept us left-handed people.”
If the person offering you salvation is also the one threatening you with punishment, it’s not really salvation, it’s terrorism and extortion. Often known as negative reinforcement, and I don’t subscribe to negative reinforcement. God himself (herself?) is no saint (pun intended), turning people into pillars of salt, drowning the world, etc. You can convince yourself all you want about why s/he had to do those things, but for someone supposedly all powerful, all knowing, etc., it just doesn’t make sense. It’s not logical and rational, reasoning people who have not been indoctrinated or brainwashed see right through it.
When the digital age arrived, a friend and I took a digital copy of the King James version of the Bible and removed all of the negative stuff, death and destruction, etc. We were left with 37 pages. That pretty much says it all, to me.
The Bible was written at a time when there were only a million people (plus or minus) on Earth, so the tribe with the most people to fight and kill the other tribes is the tribe which won, and got to write history, books, etc. Even in today’s world, the victors are the ones who write history; see the most recent history textbook for the State of Texas as the latest and greatest example of how to rewrite history when you’re the victor.
As the NIV says in Proverbs 27:20: “Death and destruction are never satisfied….”
So as Christians continue to cherry-pick, yes, Christianity can be extremely horrible because of what its Bible says.
Alas, you’re not going to change my mind about fairy tales that are about 2,000 years old, and I’m not going to change yours because you believe. When one believes, rarely does that belief change even in the face of facts and science.
Nonetheless, best to you and yours.
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Here’s an interesting link showing just how many people God has killed, all from the Bible. So, again, yes, if people follow what the Bible says, it can be quite terrible. After all, if it’s good enough for God to do, it must be good enough for man to do…………………..
http://dwindlinginunbelief.blogspot.com/2010/04/drunk-with-blood-gods-killings-in-bible.html
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Alright, all points taken. I guess we all can just agree to disagree. I guess in a way i look at the world and don’t see the possibility of there being no God while you look at the world and see no possibility for there to be a God and neither of us will probably change the other person’s mind. Thanks for the link, I’ll check out more when i have the time!
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Exactly. I’m of the opinion that if there is a God of either the Bible or the Qu’ran, s/he’s going to have to beg for my forgiveness for all the death and destruction throughout history.
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Love the collages! They are a lot like Park Guell in Barcelona, designed by Gaudi. & I have you to thank, Russell, for showing the way in scheduling posts-it has improved my blogging life no end when travelling & internet is hard to come by!
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Scheduling is one of the best things about WordPress that I have discovered during the past year. I now often write posts during the day and schedule them for later.
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How very impressive! Such creative effort and expression in each endeavor. This is the kind of school we need everywhere.
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