One of PLANS' first myths started out as a "witch
hunt" when their anti-Waldorf campaign was thrust into the public eye
by television and newspaper
stories in Sacramento, CA in 1997:
"Anthroposophy is a satanic religion"
and "Waldorf schools practice and teach the pupils witchcraft".
These media reports of the false allegation of teaching
witchcraft at a public
Waldorf-methods charter school were then used by PLANS to apply successfully
for a $15,000 grant from an evangelical organization to finance the initiation
of the PLANS lawsuit in 1998 against two California school districts for
illegally "advancing religion".
When criticized by a supporter for his way of supporting
the myths in question, Mr. Dugan answered on June 9, 1997 on the PLANS
mailing list:
"What I say 'in defense of the Waldorfians'
is that 'they don't eat babies.'" "Am I pandering to the prejudices of
Christians? Personally, yes I am!"
Today, eight years later, the group is still pursing
this litigation. For documentation of the history of the case in more detail,
see here and here.
During depositions
in 1999 for the lawsuit, when asked if he actually believed that Waldorf
is the work of Satan, Mr. Dugan responded, "I do not believe that Waldorf
is the work of Satan." Even so, PLANS continued for a time to push this
myth about the satanic origin and nature of Waldorf education on its home
page.
And this myth still resurfaces in different writings
from PLANS, for example, a comment from PLANS president, Debra Snell, in
2000 and later a PLANS press release in 2004.
But the public cultivation of this specific myth,
for the most part, seems to have been abandoned in favor of other allegations
and myths. One reason for this is probably that the allegation damages
PLANS' credibility.
And most of the other myths
published by PLANS, such as the allegation that Waldorf education is "racist"
and "anti-Semitic", probably suffer similar credibility problems, when
you look at some of the students
who have attended Waldorf schools, including the African-American Chairman
and CEO of American Express, Kenneth Chenault, Diana and John Kerry in
the 1950s, the daughter of Heinz Galinski, an Auschwitz survivor and former
Chairman of the Central Jewish Council in Germany, and a son of Helmut
Kohl, former German Chancellor.
Nevertheless, PLANS persists in endless repetitions
of such myths, undoubtedly with the expectation that if you repeat something
often enough people will assume it is true.
To the overview of myths cultivated
by PLANS Inc.
Go to the next myth |
