Anthroposophy religion in WE curriculum
Michael Kopp argues that
the anthroposophical Christology I tried to outline in another
thread is actually taught to children in Waldorf schools.
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From: Michael Kopp
Subject: Anthroposophy religion in WE curriculum (Was RE: Occultism)
Date: Mon, 3 May 1999 10:49:00 +1200
Tarjei
Straume wrote, in a thread originally
titled "Occultism":
[Quoting Steve Premo, I think, at some point
in a conversation with John Morehead and others about occultism,
which is the type of religion that Rudolf Steiner founding in
Anthroposophy:]
In other words, at the apex of the Anthroposophical
pantheon of angels, archangels, and other spiritual beings, is
there one that sits above the rest?
STRAUME:
Huh, heavy. Complicated. Intricate. [snip]
We're talking about the spiritual hierarchies. (I guess that's
what you mean by "pantheon".)
I'll start with a simple answer to your
question before I try to explain some more detail: Anthroposophy
is a Christ-centered cosmology, and from the vantage point of
humanity, the Risen Christ is the closest you can get to a supreme
being. In the Matthew Gospel, after the Sermon on the Mount,
most translations read: "For he taught them as one having
authority, and not as the scribes." (Matt. 7:29)
The word rendered as "authority"
is "Exusiai", which is the Greek name for what the
Hebrews called "Elohim." This signifies a specific
rank of spiritual beings, a hierarchy. According to the Masonic
Temple Legend, there were seven Elohim Spirits who created our
solar systen. One of these Elohim, Yahve or Jehovah, appropriated
the control of the Earth-evolution so to speak, and united himself
with the moon. [snip] In this sense,
the earth itself is the body of Christ, so that every time we
eat and drink, we participate in a holy communion by consuming
the products of Christ's body.
I don't remember the names of all the hierarchies
(it's been many years since I studied this), but the lowest is
the mineral kingdom (the youngest), then the plant kingdom, followed
by the animal kingdom and then the human kingdom [snip].
Michael KOPP says:
Regardless of how fascinting this discussion
is for those who want to delve into the intracacies of Steiner's
made-up religion, Anthroposophy (even perhaps as science fiction,
as Steve Premo suggested in a later post -- hmmmm, Steiner
and L. Ron Hubbard ... brrr) the issue here is whether this
stuff is central to Anthroposophy, and whether Anthroposophy
is taught (overtly or covertly) in the Steiner/ Waldorf/ Anthroposophical
(SWA) schools, private or, more to the point of this list, public.
We have heard incessant protestations from
the SWA defenders of the faith that Anthroposophy is NOT "taught
in the schools". Numerous critics have said that it IS.
When critics offer the evidence of lessons which seem to contain
such religious inculcation, the defenders usually reply that
this must simply be included in the "_study_ of religions"
part of the curriculum, and is therefore allowable as not the
_teaching_ OF religion, but the teaching ABOUT many religions.
While my children began attending an SWA school
here in New Zealand only in class five and class seven, I can
perhaps shed some light on this subject, as I continue to visit
our former school and investigate its curriculum (which was almost
impossible to obtain fully-descriptive information about while
we were in the school, contrary to the law of New Zealand, and
which is even more difficult to obtain now that I have not even
the cover of a contractual arrangement with the school; though
the same official information law still applies, and I am entitled
to the information).
I attended the last public open day at the
school, where lesson books said to be representative of the whole
school were spread in profusion all around a large room, as is
the standard advertising practice of SWA schools, despite their
continued refusal to provide these materials for closer, long-term,
comprehensive inspection.
These works of the children are uniformly
impressive in their craft-beauty, hand-written with an attempt
at good penmanship, profusely illustrated with soft, warm-coloured
drawings, and appearing to be complete little books on each subject.
The fact that most, if not all, of the information is copied
from material written on the chalk-boards during main lesson
lectures by the teachers is not obvious until one compares several
books on the same topic, which is difficult to do because these
are not usually available in multiples.
Prominent among the "lower school"
(class one to class seven or so) display this year at this school
were a number of what appeared to be class-one or class-two main-lesson
books. And among these I found several that contained _exactly_
the "creation of the earth" story found in the material
Tarjei Straume is elucidating to us above and in this thread
on "occultism".
These lesson books contained an apparently-complete
creation story (in terms of the elementary grade level), with
Elohim, Yahweh (or Yahve or Jehovah, as Tarjei says), and the
creation of the various aspects of the Universe and the Earth
as the body of Christ and other spirits.
(My description is from memory, and may not
be exact, but contains the elements mentioned by Tarjei. I was
not able to obtain a copy of this lesson book or others, not
even by photographing them, as I was prevented by the presence
of at least two main Anthroposophist/teacher "monitors"
in the room -- a new development not occasioned by MY presence;
they were there when I got there, and I don't think the pickets
on the outposts saw me coming <G>.)
Now, it could be (and probably will be) argued
by the defenders of the faith that this was not, in fact, a lesson
IN the religion of Anthroposophy, but simply a "story",
or "myth" or "legend" about "history",
common in the SWA curriculum, especially in the lower grades.
It could be (and probably will be) argued
that this was not the _inculcation_ by stealth of the religious
tenets of Anthroposophy (or Theosophy, or any other religious
world-view), but simply a study in "comparative religion".
In other words, the argument could be (and
probably will be) that this is not the teaching OF religion,
but teaching ABOUT religion(s).
In FIRST or SECOND GRADE? In this detail and
faithfulness?
In language that reads more like like Tarjei's
quoting of (or allusion to) direct Anthroposphical "scripture"
from Steiner himself, than a textbook or lecture _explanation
of_ religion?
And how would children this young -- well
below the age at which Steiner says they have developed abstract
reasoning powers -- DO the intellectual task of _comparing_ religions?
Or even understanding them?
There was nothing in this lesson book to indicate
that it was anything other than what it seemed to me: a religious
lesson about the creation of the world, according to the religion
of Anthroposophy (or Theosophy).
This is the foundation of the curriculum in,
and indeed is the sole purpose of, SWA schools, according to
evidence presented on this list over the last three years, much
of it from Steiner's own words, and the dogmatic writing and
teaching of those who promote his theology and pedagogy in schools
today.
-------------
[It should be understood that I cannot say
that all SWA schools have this kind of overt religious teaching,
especially those public or publicly-funded schools in the United
States which have "incorporated" or been "inspired
by" SWA. But it certainly seems that we have heard about
it from other critics who have experienced it in their own schools;
and it is in the SWA pedagogical literature, according to research
presented here by critics. It seems likely that if it is found
in a state-funded, state-integrated, public school here in New
Zealand, it is likely to be found, to one degree or another,
in one guise or another, in most schools where it can be got
away with, and certainly in those private and "orthodox"
SWA schools.
[It also should be understood that this is
-- unfortunately -- LEGAL here in some New Zealand public schools,
because the Private Schools Integration Act was passed specifically
to give financial aid to the private, mostly religious schools
(mostly Catholic and Anglican) of the landed gentry of this country
which have always been the stalwarts of conservative political
parties here (including the born-again, right-wing/Thatcherite/Reaganite/
free-market/monetarist _Labour_ (formerly socialist) Government
that actually passed Integration), and because New Zealand, like
its mother England, has almost a state religion, and no constitutional
separation of church and state. It's a bit complicated here,
eh?
[Although, as I said above, our children entered
our Steiner school after this grade level, and thus did not have
this overt religious teaching, to which I would have objected
strenuously as a breach of our contractual understanding that
there would be no teaching OF religion or Anthroposophy in the
classroom, we did find allusions to both, and the use of mythology
central to Anthroposophy, throughout the teaching of our children
over the five years we were in the school. We objected throughout
this period, and finally left the school, because we had absolutely
no satisfaction or sympathy, before the children finished, and
placed them back in public schools.
[It should also be understood that I have
no problem with this kind of curriculum in a PRIVATE SWA school.
I do, however, think that it should be made clearer to intending
and prospective customers. Instead, it is hidden or glossed-over,
in the experience of the critics, and if the evidence of other
SWA schools -- many of them now on the World Wide Web -- is any
guide.]
Cheers from Godzone,
Michael Kopp
Wellington, New Zealand
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From: "ksutphen"
Subject: Re: Anthroposophy religion in WE curriculum
Date: Mon, 3 May 1999 20:54:49 -0700
Michael Kopp posts:
Prominent among the "lower school"
(class one to class seven or so) display this year at this school
were a number of what appeared to be class-one or class-two main-lesson
books. And among these I found several that contained _exactly_
the "creation of the earth" story found in the material
Tarjei Straume is elucidating to us above and in this thread
on "occultism".
It appears to be standard curriculum to teach
religion in the lower grades, or at least the 2nd grade, in Waldorf
schools . . . at least in my limited experience. Debra Snell
has a number of lesson books her sons completed in this grade
that exclusively contain these religious *stories.* At the public
Oak Ridge School in Sacramento, CA, the 2nd grade lessonbooks
also contained this type of religious indoctrination. The Oak
Ridge School was converted into a Waldorf magnet school and this
curriculum focus in the 2nd grade appeared after the conversion,
in direct violation of state curriculum frameworks and district
guidelines.
The explanation for these *lessons* was that
the children were being taught *about* religion as an academic
course on comparative religions. Yeh right . . . in 2nd grade.
This explanation seems to be the standard Waldorf School reply
when confronted with the *evidence*.
As you so aptly pointed out . . . why would
anyone teach children this young a course in comparative religion?
This, unfortunately, is one more example of the intentional deception
common in the schools PLANS has had contact with. No one in their
right mind, not even Anthroposophists, would teach 2nd graders
a course in comparative religion. And yet . . . the soft, lovely
drawings, beautiful writing, paintings, etc., lull districts,
et al, into accepting these sorts of explanations and, even,
rigorously defending them despite their ludicrous nature.
I support the teaching of any religion in
private school in the US. However, I don't support it in public
schools as it clearly violates the separation of church and state.
Kathy
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From: "Tolz, Robert"
Subject: RE: Anthroposophy religion in WE curriculum
Date: Tue, 4 May 1999 10:04:34 -0400
-----Original Message-----
From: ksutphen
I support the teaching of any religion
in private school in the US. However, I don't support it in public
schools as it clearly violates the separation of church and state.
Kathy
That statement simply is not true.
Bob Tolz
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From: Bruce
Subject: Re: Anthroposophy religion in WE curriculum (Was RE:
Occultism)
Date: Mon, 3 May 1999 08:18:11 EDT
In einer eMail vom 03.05.99 00:57:54 (MEZ)
- Mitteleurop. Sommerzeit schreibt Michael Kopp:
The fact that most, if not all, of the
information is copied from material written on the chalk-boards
during main lesson lectures by the teachers is not obvious until
one compares several books on the same topic, which is difficult
to do because these are not usually available in multiples.
...which is because there is not usually enough
space for *one* of each book, let alone 2 or more.
I have nothing to hide, but I am not sending
copies of books to someone who is deliberately trying to do me
out of a job (albeit maybe very indirectly).. would you?
Bruce
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From: Michael Kopp
Subject: Re: Anthroposophy religion in WE curriculum (Was RE:
Occultism)
Date: Tue, 4 May 1999 11:13:10 +1200
In einer eMail vom 03.05.99 00:57:54 (MEZ)
- Mitteleurop. Sommerzeit schreibt Michael Kopp:
The fact that most, if not all, of the
information is copied from material written on the chalk-boards
during main lesson lectures by the teachers is not obvious until
one compares several books on the same topic, which is difficult
to do because these are not usually available in multiples.
...which is because there is not usually
enough space for *one* of each book, let alone 2 or more.
I have nothing to hide, but I am not sending copies of books
to someone who is deliberately trying to do me out of a job (albeit
maybe very indirectly).. would you?
Bruce
Yes, if I believed I had nothing to hide.
You will always be able to teach in public
schools if you have a standard teaching qualification, or if
you teach in a school system that allows special registration
for good or needed teachers without the standard ones.
You will always be able to teach in private
Steiner/ Waldorf/ Anthroposophical schools, probably no matter
what your qualifications, if you profess Anthroposophy.
Good luck. Try Godzone, the schools here (especially
one of my prior acquaintance) are always needing _good_ teachers.
Cheers from Godzone,
Michael Kopp
Wellington, New Zealand
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From: Bruce
Subject: Re: Anthroposophy religion in WE curriculum (Was RE:
Occultism)
Date: Tue, 4 May 1999 09:06:58 EDT
In einer eMail vom 04.05.99 09:25:55 (MEZ)
- Mitteleurop. Sommerzeit schreibt Michael Kopp:
I have nothing to hide, but I am not sending
copies of books to someone who is deliberately trying to do me
out of a job (albeit maybe very indirectly).. would you?
Bruce
Yes, if I believed I had nothing to hide.
I didn't believe that I would have to wait
10 seconds to get my undisputed deposit (1000 DM) back on my
flat in Mainz, especially since the landlady is a solicitor.
That was 2 years ago (in July). My faith in what seems on the
surface fair has been smashed. I probably need a new lawyer -
the case has been postponed, by my landlady who is representing
herself, twice.
You will always be able to teach in public
schools if you have a standard teaching qualification, or if
you teach in a school system that allows special registration
for good or needed teachers without the standard ones.
I don't want to teach in public schools, thanks!
You will always be able to teach in private Steiner/ Waldorf/
Anthroposophical schools, probably no matter what your qualifications,
if you profess Anthroposophy.
In Germany that isn't enough - I need state
recognition too!
Good luck. Try Godzone, the schools here
(especially one of my prior acquaintance) are always needing
_good_ teachers.
I will let you know when PLANS has blasted
all other waldorf schools off the planet - well maybe I may come
to Godzone anyway, at least I know *one* resident!
Bruce
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