This page was last updated on August 9, 2012.
Bound to the truth; Charlotte Hovanec; Beaver County Times; August 9, 2012.
Previous letters from Ms. Hovanec were entitled “Fox misrepresents what its format is” and “End political blathering.”
Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.
“On July 25, Don Villella wrote in response to an opinion on critical thinking that ‘children cannot be taught religion in schools; they can only be taught what the Department of Education says they are allowed to learn, they are not allowed to decide.’”
[RWC] As you read this letter, you’ll find Ms. Hovanec is all wound up about two things Mr. Villella never mentioned in either his subject letter or previous letters back to at least 2010. Ms. Hovanec engaged in what I’d call creative reading.
“I appreciate the fact you embrace the governor’s position on decimating public education in Pennsylvania, but in doing so you are still responsible to the truth. You either have your head in the sand or think everyone is stupid.”
[RWC] Mr. Villella never mentioned Gov. Corbett, “the governor’s position on … public education in Pennsylvania,” or anything close. Perhaps someone writing about being “responsible to the truth” should be more careful about what she writes.
“Between 1962 and 1963 the U.S. Supreme Court issued two bans on public education. One took prayer out of public school and the second said religion could not be taught. Madeline Murray O’Hare, an atheist and spokeswoman for American Atheists Inc., won the argument that any religion in public school violates the U.S. Constitution’s stand on separation of church and state. The public outrage over the decision went on for decades.”
[RWC] OK, but at no point did Mr. Villella write he wanted public schools to teach religion. Indeed, Mr. Villella wrote, “If more parents taught their children the values of God, there would be less hate, less murder, less of all of the problems that haunt our society today.”
“The Department of Education has no voice in this issue. At some point, we are all bound to the truth.”
[RWC] Including Ms. Hovanec.
© 2004-2012 Robert W. Cox, all rights reserved.