The paralles between Rudolf Steiner and L. Hubbard are also very striking.
ShyDavid
bills its criminal enterprise as a "religion:" therefore, human rights
activists may object to Scientology Inc. defrauding its victims and
the government upon "religious grounds:" the crime syndicate may not
have it "both ways."
The paralles to the following article and Scientology are obvious.
NarConon *IS* Scientology, and therefore ACCORDING TO SCIENTOLOGY
NARCONON IS "RELIGION." Hubbard's "study tech" *IS* Scientology, and
therefore ACCORDING TO SCIENTOLOGY "APPLIED SCHOLASTICS" IS
"RELIGION." The Scientology crime syndicate wishes to get away with
their "It's a desert AND a floor wax" scam: it falls to human rights
activists to educate the crime syndicate's victims and potential
victims.
The paralles between Rudolf Steiner and L. Hubbard are also very
striking.
Magazine: Free Inquiry
Issue: Spring 1994 (Vol. 14 No. 2)
Title: Are Rudolf Steiner's Waldorf Schools `Non-Sectarian'?
Author: Dan Dugan and Judy Daar
Are Rudolf Steiner's Waldorf Schools `Non-Sectarian'?
Dan Dugan and Judy Daar
Public funding of schools in Milwaukee and Detroit operated by a
cultlike religious sect is a new crack in the wall of separation
between church and state. The establishment in law of this separation
was a great social innovation of the American Revolution, and publicly
funded non-sectarian schools are the flesh and blood expression of
this principle. The courts for the most part have stood firm against
the general funding of openly sectarian schools. The "Lemon" test,
referring to the Supreme Court ruling, Lemon v. Kurtzman (403 U.S. 602
1970), provides that, under the establishment clause of the First
Amendment, the primary effect of a government action must not be to
advance religion. The Supreme Court has also clearly ruled that a
state may not design or modify the curriculum of its schools in order
to further religion at the expense of non-religion or to further one
set of religious beliefs over others.
The establishment of publicly funded Waldorf schools should be cause
for alarm for anyone who is concerned with preserving the separation
of church and state, because these schools are the missionary arm of a
religious sect hiding behind a facade of propaganda and dissimulation.
We do not make this assertion lightly: one of us had a child in a
Waldorf school for a year and a half; we have attended many open
houses and lectures at four Waldorf schools, studied forty books by
founder Rudolf Steiner and many by his followers, read Waldorf teacher
training texts, and several academic theses, and monitored periodicals
of the parent Anthroposophical Society for several years.
Rudolf Steiner and Anthroposophy
Waldorf schools are the most visible activity of the international
Anthroposophical Society, which has been called "the most successful
occult religion in Europe" by Sven Ove Hansson, a Swedish skeptic.
Other writers refer to it as "the most developed contemporary instance
of Western esotericism"; and a "highly organized occult group."
Anthroposophy emerged from the spiritual confusion of
turn-of-the-century Germany, part of a burgeoning of exotic and
occultist religious activity not unlike the 1960s' "New Age" explosion
in America. The Anthroposophical Society was created by Rudolf Steiner
(1861-1925), who had led the German section of Theosophy, but split
off to form a group that would follow his personal revelations of the
"spirit world." The sect developed to maturity during the social and
political turmoil Germany suffered during and after World War One.
The group's activities include Anthroposophical Medicine (in Europe
the sect has its own hospitals), Biodynamic Agriculture, Eurythmy
(dance) schools, Camphill Villages for the developmentally disabled,
and a church, Christian Community. Its most effective outreach program
is the Waldorf schools.
Their numbers demonstrate the extent of their success. Over five
hundred schools exist worldwide, including about 125 in the United
States, and the number is growing steadily. Although they are called
Waldorf schools here, in honor of the first such school created in
1919 for children of the workers at a Waldorf-Astoria factory, they
are also known as Steiner schools, and in some parts of Europe simply
as the Free Schools.
Doctrine
In Steiner's doctrine, Christ was a sun god come to earth, not to
redeem humanity from sin, but to help the human race balance between
the influences of the Zoroastrian gods of light and darkness, Lucifer
and Ahriman. Steiner's revelations typically blur religious,
scientific, and historical topics. His version of history includes
epochs on the lost continents of Lemuria and Atlantis, which he
claimed to have read with "clairvoyant vision" out of the mythical
"akashic record."
Steiner derived some of his central concepts from Hinduism (via
Theosophy): reincarnation, karma, and polytheism. He mixed in the dual
gods of light and dark from Zoroastrianism, and fit it all into the
geocentric cosmology of medieval Europe, where humanity is positioned
in a cosmic hierarchy below nine classes of supernatural beings. The
occultist doctrine of correspondences, expressed in the formula "as
above, so below," is the unifying principle. Seven planets correspond
to seven epochs of history, twelve constellations of the zodiac to
parts of the body, four elements to human temperaments, and so on, in
elaborate detail. These magical correspondences describe the universe
as one living spiritual web of being.
Steiner's mystical world view is deeply pessimistic. He foretold,
among other things, the reincarnation of the dark god Ahriman early in
the twenty- first century. In this respect, Anthroposophy is not
unlike evangelical Christianity with its propensity for millennialism.
After World War I, having failed to inspire world leaders to adopt his
utopian political system, Steiner founded a school system so that
Antrhoposophy could at least start the process of raising the
evolutionary stage of souls who would be reborn in future generations.
Steiner states emphatically, in the manner of all religious
dogmatists, that his revelation is the only truth, and that all other
traditions and ways of knowledge are erroneous.
The Attractive Qualities of the Schools
How and why do non-Anthroposophists choose to send their children to
schools that disseminate these unusual ideas? Waldorf schools hold
open houses for parents, but the cult's stranger beliefs are invisible
unless one knows where to look. A visitor sees beauty everywhere and
dedication in every staff person. Colors, lighting, and artwork are
carefully chosen with loving attention to human feelings. The walls
are painted in blended pastels, using aspecial wet layered technique
that yields a shimmering effect. Prints of great works of art adorn
the walls, along with student art, and collections of beautiful
natural objects change with the seasons. The arts of storytelling,
drawing, music, and drama are incorporated into lessons in all
subjects. The teachers are as dedicated as Catholic nuns. They greet
each student with a handshake and eye contact every morning. Primary
teachers stay with their classes up through the grades, becoming
surrogate parents. It isn't surprising that the physical beauty and
nurturing atmosphere of the schools, and the idealism of the teachers,
prove to be almost irresistibly attractive to parents.
Deception
Besides their seductive beauty, these schools use deliberate deception
about their purpose and organization to attract the children of
outsiders. From the beginning, Steiner planned to attract the general
public by systematically concealing the objectives of the schools and
the contents of their curriculum. As he wrote in 1920, while trying to
obtain state approval for his school:
"We must worm our way through. . . . [I]n order to do what we want to
do, at least, it is necessary to talk with the people, not because we
want to, but because we have to, and inwardly make fools of them."
A visitor might understandably assume from the use of Christian
symbolism that Waldorf schools are Christian. Parents who are
Christians, or who are willing to have their children educated within
the Christian tradition for the sake of a "superior education," might
be willing to choose these schools on this basis, just as many
non-Catholics choose to send their children to parochial schools. In
addition, Waldorf teachers say that along with Christianity, other
religions are studied as part of the spiritual history of mankind. But
would so many parents enroll their children in Waldorf schools if they
knew the strange beliefs of the founder, the principles that motivate
the teachers, and the extent to which those particular beliefs and
principles influence what is taught? Though the teachers say that, in
spite of their personal belief in Steiner's religious teachings, they
use only his pedagogical techniques professionally, we know otherwise.
Anthroposophists are evasive when asked about Steiner's occultist
doctrines, but the pedagogy is based on the whole work of Steiner, and
the totality of his writings should be investigated by public school
boards considering proposals for public alternative Waldorf schools.
Steiner's world view can be found in books from Anthroposophical
presses on sale at Waldorf schools. If these beliefs were arranged in
a creed, and parents were asked to agree to them, it is likely that
the schools would be very small indeed, with only a couple of dozen
children of believers in each school.
There are no textbooks, but inquiring parents could, if they looked,
find books by Steiner containing occultist religious,
pseudoscientific, and racist statements typical of Germany in the
1920s. Nonetheless, Waldorf teachers have assured the authors that the
schools are "non-sectarian," admitting only that some of Steiner's
teachings are "difficult."
We don't know what material the Anthroposophists provided to the
Milwaukee and Detroit school boards, but the San Francisco Waldorf
School gave the authors a paper that contained the following deceptive
statements:
"How much of Anthroposophy and of Steiner's ideas are taught to the
children in a Waldorf school?
"None. On the day Rudolf Steiner opened the first Waldorf school, he
stated firmly, 'It is not our intention to teach growing human beings
our ideas, the contents of our world-conception. We are not aiming at
education for the sake of any special dogma.' Although there is a
worldwide Anthroposophical Society, whose members invariably are
supportive of the Waldorf schools, THERE IS NOT CONNECTION BETWEEN THE
SCHOOLS AND THE SOCIETY. [Emphasis added.]"
Are the schools religious?
In the sense of subscribing to the tenets of a particular denomination
or sect, the answer is No. However, the schools are "religious" in a
higher sense of the word, and they are based on the Christian
perspective of Western civilization. Compare this with Steiner's
private conferences with the teachers of the first Waldorf school:
"[Y]ou people who work at the Waldorf School must help to support the
whole Movement... the Waldorf School can put itself on a broad basis
and thus be a pillar for the whole Anthroposophical Movement."
That this policy continues to the present day is amply attested by the
contemporary Anthroposophical writer Gilbert Childs: Waldorf teachers
must be Anthroposophists first and teachers second.
It must never be forgotten-- and one must be emphatic about this--
that the whole of teaching matter and method in Steiner schools is
aimed at developing within each child the consciousness that spirit
permeates everything in the world. Artist, writer, and former Waldorf
teacher M. C. Richards summarizes the religious nature of the schools
thus: "One could say that Waldorf education has a hidden agenda. Its
curriculum is described in terms common to public schools in general:
arithmetic, writing, reading. . . But in Steiner schools the
dimensions of these subjects are threefold: they are artistic,
cognitive, and religious."
Anthroposophy in the Curriculum
This contradictory policy affects the teaching in two ways: by the
direct teaching of doctrine, of which some zealous teachers are more
guilty than others, and more commonly by the omission of information
that conflicts with doctrine. Sect beliefs leak into the classes
because of the teachers' commitment to bring these "facts" to the
students. Often, simply through ignorance, they accept Steiner's ideas
on a subject without being aware the rest of the world thinks
otherwise.
As Steiner argued: "You must make the children conscious that they are
being given the objective truth. And if this sometimes appears to be
anthroposophical, anthroposophy is not to blame; it is that things
have to be like that because . . . the matter itself leads to it
becoming anthroposophical."
In other cases, the teachers believe that doctrines of the sect are
advanced scientific knowledge they are privileged to be able to
present.
A sixth-grade physiology class in a Waldorf school, for example, will
include lessons on "the twelve senses" and how they correspond to the
signs of the zodiac. Steiner's "post-Atlantean epochs," the latter
part of this reading of "akashic record" of the "evolution" of the
earth, are presented as the objective framework of history. Art
consists of copying the teacher's illustrations from the board, and
practicing Steiner's wet-on-wet watercolor meditations on "pure
color." Much time is spent in repetitive geometric drawing, intended
to give appreciation of the "qualities" of "pure numbers."
Any knowledge that conflicts with Steiner's eccentric doctrines is
simply omitted. Steiner taught that the heart doesn't pump blood, so
although Waldorf students may draw beautiful diagrams of the human
circulatory system, they will never learn how it works. He taught that
light is pure spirit, and that Newton was wrong: light cannot be
divided into colors. Waldorf graduates are unlikely to have a clear
notion of the electromagnetic spectrum, despite having taken physics
in both grammar and high schools.
Long-term Waldorf teachers are pious Anthroposophists, dedicated to
preserving and promulgating Steiner's world view. Over the center of
the blackboard, where Catholics would put a crucifix, we have seen a
Waldorf teacher put a painting of the sun. Another classroom we
visited gave the top center position to a picture of a dancer, left
arm angled up and right arm angled down. This is a depiction of a sign
for the sun god, the swastika.
Waldorf classes always begin with a prayer. The following Steiner
verse is recited daily in grades one through four:
The loving rays of sun
Give me the light of day;
The spirit power of soul
Within my limbs I feel;
In sunlight shining clear
I reverence, O God,
The power of human strength
Which Thou so graciously
Hast planted in my soul.
To the uninformed this might look like a generic prayer, acceptable to
any deistic religion. If one knows that Anthroposophists honor a sun
god, however, the text reads quite differently.
In Milwaukee, where the school board has chosen to fund a Waldorf
school as a public alternative school, Waldorf master teacher Betty
Staley reports that the prayers have been retained by the simple
expedient of changing God to "the light within." The use of the word
God in Waldorf class prayers was already, in the 1920s, a conscious
accommodation to public sensitives. Anthroposophical writings usually
refer to "the gods" rather than "God." These changes were consistent
with Steiner's policy of camouflage. As he counseled in 1920, "[W]ith
these things the outer form is of the utmost importance. Never call
the verse a 'prayer' but a 'school opening verse.' Do see to it that
people do not hear the expression 'prayer' used by a teacher. This
will go a long way towards overcoming the prejudice that this is an
anthroposophical school."
All Waldorf students take two special subjects that are purely
Anthroposophical spiritual exercises, painting and Eurythmy. Students
take painting classes continually, but in them they learn only one
technique, year after year: Steiner's wet-paper watercolor method.
Waldorf students learn and use other illustration techniques in their
regular class time, but the painting classes are special. All the
students paint the same pictures. Waldorf painting classes have
nothing to do with creativity or self- expression. Their secret
intention is to work on the students' subconscious by meditation on
pure color and symbolic images.
Eurythmy is taken by all students twice a week. Like the painting, it
is a spiritual and "therapeutic" exercise. Eurythmic gestures
represent the consonants (twelve, corresponding to the zodiac), vowels
(seven, planets), musical keys (twelve), intervals (seven), and
geometric figures. The gestures are devoid of meaning except to the
initiated, who accept Steiner's claim that Eurythmy is the actual
language of the angels.
One of the most obviously cultlike qualities of the Waldorf schools is
their rejection of outside ideas, both in pedagogy and in the subjects
taught. They have their own methods, which they have received from
their master. Since Steiner is dead, there can be no modification or
development.
Waldorf teachers go only to Waldorf teacher training and enrichment
institutes. They don't take college courses or enroll in regional or
national teacher organizations. Waldorf students are similarly
isolated. For example, the San Francisco Waldorf School's science
classes don't go to the Exploratorium, San Francisco's world-famous
"hands-on" science museum, because the theories taught there conflict
with Steiner's revelations.
Waldorf primary school students never touch a computer. The public
explanation for this is that a child shouldn't use anything before he
can understand how it works. The private reason is that computers are
believed to be an incarnation of the evil spirit Ahriman. This is a
good example of how concealed doctrine has a deleterious effect on the
curriculum.
Milwaukee
How is it possible that two public school systems, Milwaukee and
Detroit, have begun funding these religious schools in spite of the
Supreme Court decisions? Both Milwaukee and Detroit have had
long-established private Waldorf schools. The new schools have been
created as public "alternative" schools.
Dr. Robert Peterkin, the Milwaukee Superintendent of Schools, began
the public Waldorf program there after meeting the founder of the
private Detroit Waldorf school, Dr. Rudolph Wilhelm, a retired
professor of medicine who is also the president of Americans for
Choice in Education.
Dr. Peterkin viewed videos prepared by the Anthroposophists and
visited a Waldorf school in Chicago. Apparently seduced by the
attractive appearance of the system, he invited the top guns of the
U.S. Waldorf school movement to act as advisors.
It is no surprise that they determined the teachers for the new school
would have to be trained by people from the Waldorf movement. Public
school teachers were then subjected to indoctrination in
Anthroposophy. According to Waldorf master teacher Betty Staley, the
teachers studied:
"the biography of Rudolf Steiner; the development of the child; the
basic Waldorf curriculum and its relation to child development; the
four temperaments; the importance of the teacher's working on his/her
inner life through group exercises; and the processes of
transformation of the self through the arts."
The first indication of irregularity is that the biography of the
founder was at the top of the agenda. The next items exemplify the
cult's habit of redefining common terms to their special meanings.
When Anthroposophists speak of "child development," they are referring
to Steiner's three seven-year stages (mystical numbers) in which the
child's soul gradually reincarnates from the spiritual world; and the
"physical," "etheric," and "astral" bodies are brought into what he
calls their proper relationship to foster the incarnation of the "I"
that has been "evolving" between death and rebirth. "The four
temperments" refers to Steiner's revival of medieval psychology.
Waldorf teachers classify personalities as sanguine, melancholic,
phlegmatic, or choleric, and treat children differently according to
their types. "Group exercises" are Steiner's meditation practices.
Staley reported that the new trainees took to the Steiner doctrine
enthusiastically.
Conclusion
Waldorf schools are designed to promote the teachings of Rudolf
Steiner, and those teachings are indisputably religious. If it's a
Waldorf school, it must be religious. The claim that
Anthroposophically trained Waldorf teachers can keep religion out of
the classroom is transparently false. In light of our understanding of
the totalistic nature of Anthroposophy, we are very skeptical of any
claims that legitimate public schools can be founded using Steiner's
pedagogy.
The school boards of Milwaukee and Detroit have put themselves in a
very difficult position. Perhaps without intending to do so, they have
created schools that violate the U.S. Constitution. The school boards
did not fulfill their obligation to investigate thoroughly the
alternatives proposed. Any further attempts to "clean up" the teaching
in the schools as presently established would only result in another
layer of deception. It might be possible to establish schools that
take many of the good Waldorf school ideas into a secular environment,
but this could only be done by people not indoctrinated by
Anthroposophical training. If these school boards are looking for
creative alternative solutions to educational problems, they should
dissolve the existing Waldorf schools and start over. Their mistake
underlines the need for constant vigilance to protect the wall of
separation.