religions in the classroom

Two recent stories reported in the New York Times about U.S. professors being fired for posting art pieces that students or parents found offensive to their beliefs. One (above) was a painting within a 14th-century Islamic history book supposed to represent G and M. As showed [with much warning] during an art class at Hamline College. The other is the (monumental) Renaissance Michelangelo’s David [exhibited a la Galleria dell’Academia, in Florence]. Whose posting during a Florida sixth-grader class on Renaissance art led to accusations of pornography! These extreme cases of religious beliefs taking over the classroom (and rationality!) remind me of the difference I noticed between teaching in D and W, since in the former institution, classes and tests can take place any day that is not a public holiday, following general secular rules in French public institutions, while in the latter, every possible effort should be made (by the University) to provide an alternative test…

Samuel Paty [in memoriam]

and another step forward for Ireland!

it’s only an eclipse, for heavens sake!

I have been amazed and utterly baffled by the number of commentaries about the solar eclipse of last week that involved metaphysics and religious aspects. An eclipse is a most natural [and beautiful] phenomenon of one astronomical object getting in front of another one in a very predictable way: no reason to invoke deities or spirits in the process!