Thanks for adding this, Mike!

Lori, thanks so much for sharing. This sounds like a great project. Please feel free to post about Project Linus in the announcements sections of any of the Patch sites (click the "News" tab, then "Announcements." You can upload photos here, too.) If you're holding collection events, please post on our event calendars as well.

I once had a shirt that said the following:

Dear God,
Why do you allow such violence in our schools ?
(signed)student

Dear student,
I am not allowed in your school.
(signed)God

so true Dawn

Mohsen, Like my above comment All the protestor's in the USA have marched on our schools to remove PRAYER out of our schools. They have done it just because a selected few have complained that their right have been violated. What about the majority that wants PRAYER and observe Merry Christmas and the Ten Commandments and Nativity Scenes in public parks etc. These are being removed from all Schools and Government building because a few feel we are stepping on their rights. What about the majority that want to have God preserved and christian faith. There is to much hatred and the USA is being divided....You may want to blame it all on guns, however if people want to do harm they can do it in many other ways.

As said above, small select groups have had prayer and God and even our Pledge of Allegience, which defines us as Americans. Its not A guns fault, but A select few will use that to furthur their agenda. Some will not agree but that is part of what made America, when our forefathers took up arms to fight for their freedom and evict A foreign country from our shores so they, we, can be here to discuss this now.

Finally some sanity! Thank you Harold!

Harold, what is your belief system? What is the foundation for that belief system? In other words, what shapes your worldview, and your eternal destiny?

Just wondering...

Harold,
Since you know nothing about our God your comments are moot. God is in control 24/7/365 and this happened for a reason. I don't know what that reason is but God will use this tragedy for good. He always does.

Calling on Harold for answers ....

Roger - please stop with your obsession of asking people their belief system on the freakin Patch. Not everyone is so interested in putting their core beliefs out there like you are. You can continue to whine about how everyone should believe in the same ancient stories as you do, but it just isn't reality. Though, apparently, you're not that interested in reality to begin with.

And before you ask me - "Well, I believe in the soul, the ****, the *****, the small of a woman's back, the hanging curve ball, high fiber, good scotch, that the novels of Susan Sontag are self-indulgent, overrated crap. I believe Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. I believe there ought to be a constitutional amendment outlawing Astroturf and the designated hitter. I believe in the sweet spot, soft-core pornography, opening your presents Christmas morning rather than Christmas Eve and I believe in long, slow, deep, soft, wet kisses that last three days"

There - you happy now?

Thank you for sharing, Crash Davis. :-)

@ Harold - Thank you for the slap of reality that so many need. I find it amazing how many people have boiled this down to "Removing God from schools." Yeah, that whole "No 20 second prayer in home room" or "No team prayer before a basketball game" thing is really pushing society over the edge.

Unfortunately, we will continue to hear responses like what has already been posted below, such as, "Everything is in God's control!" and "He will use this for good, I just know it!" When no amount of evidence (or lack of) will change a person's mind and their only basis is myths and legends, that person must be removed from the conversation so that adults centered in reality can discuss real solutions.

Harold. Superficial, angry, insulting. Thank God you are being rational. How do you talk to others when you really want to make a point?

JS, apparently I continue to touch a nerve with you about what you believe. You suggest that you aren't willing to speak about it. It this be the case, then you would not be posting on Patch. With every post, you reveal just a bit more about your belief system. If you wish to keep it under wraps, then hang up your keyboard.

Reality? Yes, reality is important. Yes, it is woven through the fabric of my life, your life, and everybody's life. The events of the past week bring harshness to some parts of reality.

Deep beliefs deal directly with reality of good and evil, and eternity. We seen the impact of these every day, sometimes more stark than others. The reality of life is that all of us will fold our earthly tent, yes, me, you, and everybody else. One of the most important parts of reality is what follows that folding. The time here is a brief speck on the axis of time.

The reality is that the folding will come, and will I, you, and everybody else, be prepared at that time. Shuffling off the question, denying the question, or otherwise trying to deflect the question does not change the reality. I am telling you that dealing with this question is the most important issue in reality. Saying I don't deal with reality is one way of saying that you choose not to deal with the reality yourself. I only continue with the issue because (reason clause here) the question of eternal destiny is the most important question of anybody's life.

Well, I'd agree that the ones who hang out in malls are not the best and brightest of our young people. And they may not have parents who bothered to teach them manners. Sorry they didn't help you get the door.
But there are many wonderful young people, who are not hanging in the mall, they might be working there, earning money for college, or other expenses, helping their families. More likely they are doing some service activity, playing sports, visiting at friends' homes. "Everything" is not ACCEPTABLE to these good kids. And I've been blessed to meet and know many of them.
And, no, they don't all sit home reading the Bible, many of the good kids don't go to church, many are of different faiths. Some might not look like you and me either.
Now, back to the topic, one young adult brutally murdered children (and other adults) at that school, after killing his own mother who had cared for him, homeschooled him due to his Aspbergers.
Please lets not let this horrible murder against so many children cause us to post here badmouthing MORE of our children.

Didn't say their wasn't a lot of good kids out their NE12Ukid and I didn't say only the good ones go to church I said they are more likely in a home that is teaching respect and morals similar to the teaching of the bible. As we watch all the scenes unfold in this community we are all watching the majority turn to their faith to get them thru this terrible crime. It doesn't matter if you believe in God or not let hope their faith gets them thru this troubling times. I for one am praying for these families and nothing you can say can change that and God Bless those little angels.

Who said anything about changing what you pray about?
I said: Please lets not let this horrible murder against so many children cause us to post here badmouthing MORE of our children.

That was beautiful and very well said Kittypepper.

It really amazes me that in this day and age we still have such brainwashed people like Kittypepper. Yes...let's waste time talking to some imaginary entity and put all of our trust in that entity to protect us. Let's ignore the fact that this is reality and we need to use logic and reasoning to develop a solution to this problem. Nah...let's pretend like we are still in ancient times and pray to a GOD to help us out.

The God of rain is really showing his mercy on us today. Surprisingly the god of thunder hasn't made much noise yet, but I'm sure the god of the seas doesn't mind a little bit of wet weather. But it's all okay because the god of the Christians is going to protect us all from anything bad ever happening again, just like he's been doing for the past 2000 years *rolls eyes*

And also, who are you to impose your religion on everyone else in that school? As someone else said, this is a multicultural society. Not everyone believes in your myth, sorry. Granted, some even believe in their own myths, but none of these myths belong in a school. Schools are for education and to teach kids how to be problem solvers and to examine the facts. Very few verifiable facts in the Bible or any other religious book for that matter.

How about if parents teach their children to be respectful and steer their development toward a healthy, educated, and responsible adulthood. My future children will never step foot inside a church. Too many people who proclaim to be "good Christians" but really are the most judgmental of the bunch. "If you don't believe what I believe, you're a POS" is basically the attitude. You go to church every Sunday, and then spend the week gossiping and overindulging and prancing about with a holier-than-thou attitude without actually doing Christian deeds. No thanks, I'd rather teach my kids to be good people and not pretend like going to church or believing in a lie makes you any better than anyone else. Religion is the opiate of the masses, and is no more than a fancy story about the battle between good and evil. I'll teach my kids about the real world, and bring them up to be GOOD PEOPLE who would never denigrate the rights of others. Kittypepper can keep going to church and pretending like it makes a difference.

Dblock, you have railed against one segment of our society. That is OK, certainly your right to do so.

You have told us what NOT to do. Please tell us what belief system should be used in the schools, and what worldview the teachers should hold. Maybe you have position on this that we should hear about, and want to embrace. Thanks.

Dblock writes, "... "Roger, The teachers may hold whatever worldview they so desire, as this is their right. However, when you start talking about which belief system/worldview to impose on impressionable children, you're walking a slippery slope. ...."

Oh my!!! "... whatever worldview they so desire..." Really??? This statement is in total contradiction to what you wrote earlier about "not imposing religion" in the schools. On one hand, you suggest that a worldview other than yours was wrong. Then, you say it does not matter. Which is it?

The second statement of the quote is very naive. It implies that the present system is not imposing anything in the education process. You are suggesting neutrality. Do you really believe this? Apparently, you have missed the complaints of many parents about what is being taught in public schools, why, and how. Why do you think there has been a upsurge in homeschooling in recent years? Yes, the slippery slope has already captured many students, and they have slid to the bottom, or near the bottom.

Of course, the college scene is further down the slope than the public schools. One only needs to look at the profile of staff at many colleges to learn that the worldview being imposed at that level has had significant impact upon the students.

Dblock, it is time to take notice about what has happened in the past 10-20 years. It helps explain many things.

"... their right ..." Or, "... they're right ..."

Roger – You know what I would be in favor of? Leave religion out of both the home and the school entirely until kids turn 16 or 18. Teach verifiable FACTS, like math, science, history (which I admit will almost inevitably have bias creep into it), religious history (which opened my eyes to so much), physics, chemistry, political science, sociology. What we don't know, say "We don't know yet" and not "God did it!"

Then, when they reach 16, say to them, “We haven't told you this before, but there is actually an Omnipotent God who chooses not to use his power to simply forgive humankind, but instead implemented a solution where he impregnated a teen girl in order to give birth to himself so he can have himself killed to save humans from Hell and the Devil, both of which he created but apparently cannot or will not undo to remove eternal suffering from the equation. He decided to communicate this whole plan by telling a handful of people 2,000+ years ago through their minds, which was passed down through conflicting accounts written decades later by anonymous authors, handed down over centuries and changed regularly. Disregard all the suffering around the world, and when someone dies horribly (as part of his plan), it’s never his fault, it’s our fault for not believing in what I just mentioned or to teach us a lesson. Remember: He LOVES you.”

Let's see how many followers are left after you try to teach this at 16 years, not indoctrination at 16 days old.

"One only needs to look at the profile of staff at many colleges to learn that the worldview being imposed at that level has had significant impact upon the students."

Yes, there is definitely a negative correlation between education and religiosity. That pesky knowledge, always getting in the way of our ancient rituals and superstitions.

Calling on Dblock to defend ...

WW, how was the slide down the slope? Thank you for making my point. You did it more efficiently than my comments.

I said: Please lets not let this horrible murder against so many children cause us to post here badmouthing MORE of our children.
If you prefer to focus on the few without manners/morals, your choice of course. In your reality " Everything is exceptable (sic) today among a large portion of our young people today drug, alcohol,sex. " Maybe that is even true of the young people you know.
For others we see many many more good kids. Many prefer this week not to bad mouth any of them, but to hug them closer and be more vigilant about their safety and their actions.
The very wise PARENTS will also BAN all violent video games, return any you bought for
Christmas, get rid of any you have in your home, don't let kids play such games, and don't let them see adults playing games that give more points for the more bodies you get! The wisest will never have had such games in their homes, never have bought any, and will teach their children to be responsible, and to care for and help others---not blame others and kill others.
Do these games cause all this killing? No, theres no ONE cause, but as the doctor said, exposure to them may be all the sick mind needs to start it on the path to another massacre. Such games are also isolating, the worst thing for the mentally unstable child.

Hi John,

Beneath the article, and above where the comment section starts, there is a tab that says "Stop Following." After clicking that, you should no longer receive email updates for this article. Thanks!