By way of Matthew DiCarlo, we find these very interesting data about who should and should not be a teacher:
In a country that constantly ‘honors its troops’ (even as it too often doesn’t really support them), approves of torture, and has turned every sporting event into a Leni Riefenstahl-esque affair, to see that over forty percent of Americans think a teacher who is a ‘militarist’ shouldn’t teach gives me some hope. Maybe we’re not all willing to accept our marching orders just quite yet…
Kind of alarming, though, that over 50% of people think it’s okay to have their kids taught by a racist, and that nearly 20% more people would rather have their kids taught by a racist than by an atheist. I suppose they think the racists are less likely to want to barbecue the kids for Satanic masses, or something . . .
I wish I agreed that 40% of Americans don’t want their children taught by militarists…
Ask some Americans to name a militarist country- I’ll bet the majority say North Korea, the USSR, or Nazi Germany, and don’t name the country that spends more money on the military, has more weapons than any other country, and whose militarism is cloaked in soft velvet and American exceptionalism. Americans don’t think of the USA as being militarist, and when the question is asked about teachers being militarists, respondents probably don’t see that almost all teachers- and yes, even the democrats and the ones who define themselves as progressive- still believe deeply in the sanctity of the troops and the military. That makes them militarists. Check out high school history books in public schools- the ones I’ve seen still assume the righteousness of bombing Iraq. And many teachers and parents are scared (their admission) to join in efforts to control rampant military recruiting in public schools, for fears of appearing “unpatriotic.”
Kathy’s right; a lot of this is the terms used. I’ll bet, for instance, that of the people who say that “militarists” shouldn’t teach would not identify someone like John McCain as one.
Similarly, the term “anti-religionist”. Given what we see in polls, maybe the term “atheist” or “agonostic” would get the same results, but it’d be interesting to see, given that those terms don’t necessarily mean “anti-religionist” and that “anti-religionist” conjures up a quite different feel than atheist. I’d especially like to see if there was a difference when using “atheist” versus “agnostic”. Even though they are essentially the same thing, I’d wager there would be a sizable difference.