Study of religions in Schools

[FinalEnigma]

OK, this is not an intelligent design thread.

What i am really asking is should the basis of religions (what they believe, why they believe this) should be taught in schools. not even as a 'these are theories about the univers' type thing but more as just a 'here are the major religions, this is what they believe.' kind of like a life skill type thing, a person has to decide their religion for themself, so shouldnt they have some means of knowing what the religions are?(including atheism and agnosticism) I never even knew what most religions were untill fairly late in my life(relatively, of course) and so, i was basically religiously suspended, i had never really made my own choice. i believed what my parents told me was true.

Ok so my question for debate is:
Should the basis of the world's major religions be taught in schools? if so, at what level? grade school? high school? a required college course?

please, discuss.

[Cathar1950]

When I was taught evolution in High school , I was not taught 'primodrial ooze' once.

When is the last time have you seen that in a high school text book? Got the ibsn number?

I have never seen that in any books on evolution but do read it all the time from Creationist writings.
But on the other hand in the bible God made man out of clay like a mud pie with out the use of a potters wheel like the more ancient stories.
So it seems it is the bible that says man in made out of something closer to ooze.
Then there is Eve made from a rib. It seems it would have been easier to make the woman first so she could have helped with the pies.

[juliod]

Actually, I think we should eliminate public schools altogether so that parents can be free to send their children to the schools that teach and perform according to thier standards and expectations. Especially if the only type of worldview that the government is "allowed" to teach is a secular one.

After reading the above, does anyone really question why I think religions should be taught as false in schools?

"Eliminate public schools altogether". Just mull that phrase over in your mind. Think about what that would do for our position in the global economy. And you wonder why many people think China is going to eat our lunch over the next 20 years.

But I think FiredUp is right in his expectations. If the US were awash in completely uneducated, ignorant, illiterate bumpkins, it would be a major boost for religions, and supernaturalists in general.

DanZ

[Cephus]

you actually think you can rely on parents to fairly teach all religions? they would emphasize that all the religions they are not a aprt of are wrong and bad, and the one they believe in is true. assuming they even taught them anything about religions other then their own, which they wouldnt. how many people have actually been taught anything like that by their parents? certainly not anyone i know.

No, but I don't think I can count on teachers to do it either, especially when you're going to get parental pressure on the school boards to teach that their religion is true and all the others are false. Until you get to a college-level course where parental pressure doesn't exist significantly, you're not going to get any reasonably fair treatments of religion, period.

The fact of the matter is that religion does not belong in public elementary and secondary education, period. Teaching about religion isn't going to end religious violence or hatred and it won't increase tolerance.

[Cephus]

Generally speaking parents don't know much about all other religions. So they cannot provide all the information to allow the child to make a desicion on its own. It'd be horribly biased. And as for churches teaching the kids? They'd be even mroe biased than the parents. That's not education, thats more like brainwashing.

It's not the job of schools to push kids into choosing a religion, that's the job of the church. And come on, you can't seriously think that anything the kids learned in school wouldn't immediately be countermanded by their parents the second they got home, can you? Obviously, any course would have to be optional, like sex education, and the kids that really need this thing are the ones who would never be allowed to take it.

School is the most unbiased place for this to be taught that I can think of.

School? Unbiased? HAHAHAHAHAHAH! Good one!

[Cephus]

They teach that God is dead all the time. How many of you were fed that "primordial ooze" crap.

No, schools teach reality. We're sorry your religion doesn't believe in reality.

That theory was debunked decades ago.

See, you're thinking about creationism, the wild-eyed hypothesis that is utterly laughable and completely debunked. No wonder you're so messed up.

[micatala]

They teach that God is dead all the time. How many of you were fed that "primordial ooze" crap. That theory was debunked decades ago. By the way, getting rid of public schools would be a less expensive way to educate our kids rather than a more expensive way. The money saved in taxes could go to people who need help. As far as an education goes, logic and critical thinking have been prctically eliminated in public schools. The only schools still doing that are private ones. Yes, they teach from a christian world view, but they still teach kids to learn to think for themselves.

There are so many false statements in this paragraph I hardly know where to start.

Public schools do not teach God is dead. I have never seen a "God is dead" educational standard in my state, nor in any of several other states whose standards I have examined. I have never heard this as the official position of any school district or educational organization. Where did you get this?

Is it because you equate teaching evolution with teaching God is dead? If so, you are entirely incorrect. The theory of evolution says absolutley nothing about whether God exists or not, period. Those who think so are usually confusing "God exists" with "my particular interpretation of Genesis is the only valid one and is absolutely true."

THe idea that logical and critical thinking have been eliminated in public school and only exist in private schools is also entirely incorrect. The fact that some private schools refuse to accept evolution does not equate to their practicing logic or critical thinking. If they have bought into typical fallacious creationist rhetoric, then exactly the opposite is true.

I would say both private and public schools could benefit from more emphasis on logic and critical thinking. However, at this point I have seen no evidence that the private sector is in general better than the public in this regard.

[methylatedghosts]

It's not the job of schools to push kids into choosing a religion, that's the job of the church. And come on, you can't seriously think that anything the kids learned in school wouldn't immediately be countermanded by their parents the second they got home, can you? Obviously, any course would have to be optional, like sex education, and the kids that really need this thing are the ones who would never be allowed to take it.

They don't need to push kids into choosing a religion. They can just provide the information they can, and the child can work out the rest for themselves.

School is the most unbiased place for this to be taught that I can think of.

School? Unbiased? HAHAHAHAHAHAH! Good one!

Well, where else is an unbiased source for kids at school? (note: I did say "most unbiased....that I can think of")

[Cephus]

They don't need to push kids into choosing a religion. They can just provide the information they can, and the child can work out the rest for themselves.

Schools exist to prepare kids for life. They exist to educate children so they can get a job and support themselves and become an integral part of society. Religion is not necessary for that.

Well, where else is an unbiased source for kids at school? (note: I did say "most unbiased....that I can think of")

Hey, if you want school to teach religion, why not teach sexual orientation too? Teach sexual positions. Teach techniques. Why not, supposedly school is unbiased, right? Oh yes, let's teach drugs too. Teach kids how to get them and where to get them and how to use them.

Just keep it all out of schools entirely, it has nothing whatsoever to do with the mission of the educational system.

[kiwimac]

You are confusing the anthropological study of comparative religion with faith-based teaching, they are not the same. Religion, whether you like it or not, informs the world-view of most of the world's peoples. If you want to understand them, you need to understand their culture which includes their religious beliefs.

So sorry for the inconvenient truth.

[FinalEnigma]

how many people, when you ask them their religion, answer 'i dont know'? none ive ever heard. man has even made i dont know into a religion(agnostic) so that isnt even valid anymore. and whether you like it or not people are veiwed differently based on their religions. and youre religion. it may not be nice, but everyone automatically has comes to some conclusions about a person based on the religions of the two people.
Everyone has a religion. Shouldnt the decision of which religion to follow be an informed one? it will affect the rest of their life in some way(assuming they honestly proclaim it when asked) particularly if it is an oddball religion(by that i mean not commonly practised) like paganism or satanism.