debate 4

this one has been puzzling me for the longest time.

Should religious teaching be allowed in public school?

note: I don't mean indoctrination, but comparative religion studies. Kind of like learning about different religions and their impact on human history and thought, not just straight up "This is Jesus, he died for your sins, thats all you need to know" bullshit.

From a historical perspective yeah. They have had a very large impact on society throughout history.

They are mentioned in logic/philosophy classes in college but generally only briefly as examples of logical fallacies. If that were to happen in high school I could see a lot of moms getting pissed off.

We used to have a comparative religions class in my high school, and I regret that it was destroyed before I could take it. My AP European History teacher used to weave religious perspective into most lessons, and I remember that being very enlightening. He didn't teach from one religion, just an amalgam of different philosophies and it was nice because it was a very tolerant and simple mechanic.

I wouldn't see a problem with a class like that.

Pariah wrote:this one has been puzzling me for the longest time.

Should religious teaching be allowed in public school?

note: I don't mean indoctrination, but comparative religion studies. Kind of like learning about different religions and their impact on human history and thought, not just straight up "This is Jesus, he died for your sins, thats all you need to know" bullshit.

This is norm in Greece for elementary through to high school.

The problem is that even during comparative studies on religion, there is still an indoctrination of sorts to some degree, although this greatly depends on the teacher from my experience. For example, one year, anything we were taught about Greek Orthodox religion (which was always the bulk of curriculum when I was in school) was served up as fact (as if God is proven to exist) while other religions under the microscope where always what "their followers believe", but always with an undertone of superiority, as if to say that they were fools for believing in something other than what we do.

I guess it can be interesting if approached by someone unbiased (yeah, good luck with that). Unfortunately, I have found that when it comes to religion most people have about as much perspective as a race horse wearing blinds.

we have that already

Religious Studies, and then Philosophy and Ethics (depending on the school) at A-Level.

its cool. the RS part is just learning about the religions and what they believe in, there isn't any 'indoctrination' (or at least there shouldn't be, teachers are told not to preach their personal beliefs) but there also isn't much analysis of flaws or strengths. GCSE RS is just learning and reciting information, you hardly need any evaluative knowledge at all.

and then in Philosophy A-Level we get to rip everything apart, which is awesome. plus, you don't want to preach religion to a group of A-Level philosophy students that are learning about 'The Attributes of God' and 'The Problem of Evil', so there is very little room for indoctrination.

Greg, I envy that. I wish we had that in America. And the teacher who used to do it before it was discontinued was, imo, perfect for the job. Besides being agnostic and a believer in science, he also bashed literally every religion we came across. Mostly as a joke. My favourite moment: "You kids don't realise it yet, but catholics are the scariest thing to ever happen in america. They suck."

America is so PC these days it makes me sick. I'm not a religious person at all, but dont have a problem with people practicing, as long as its not being thrown in my face or people are getting blown the hell up. Sounds like they got it right over in Europe right now, as far as teaching about religion goes. Its important to educate yourself about the subject IMO, and Americans, sadly are sheep for the most part.

I think a class like "world theology" or something would be great.

actually being taught to believe a religion in a tax-payer funded school... nope. that goes against separation of church and state obviously.

Sym wrote:Sounds like they got it right over in Europe right now, as far as teaching about religion goes. Its important to educate yourself about the subject IMO, and Americans, sadly are sheep for the most part.

yeah, its more about studying what the religions stand for in GCSE (and it is COMPULSORY to do the short course, there is an optional long course for extra credit) so that you have an understanding of what they do and dont actually do.

most hatred or fear about Islam comes from a total lack of understanding about what the core belief system actually is. radical christian groups are just as scary as radical islamic groups. neither could be considered as traditional religious denominations, but its the traditional denominations that get a ton of flak for them simply by association.

Pariah wrote:My favourite moment: "You kids don't realise it yet, but catholics are the scariest thing to ever happen in america. They suck."

Why is that? I'm curious haha

teaching religion is right. people have a right to know what other religions offer and that other people understand their own religion. it should lead to more religious tolerance instead of "muslim=terrorist"

I don't see why it would be a problem at all.

Zillah wrote:I think a class like "world theology" or something would be great.

actually being taught to believe a religion in a tax-payer funded school... nope. that goes against separation of church and state obviously.

Indeed. Now what do you think about the fact that prayer is said in school in Greece before the first class?

It always pissed me off.

Dance Hall Derelict wrote:

Zillah wrote:I think a class like "world theology" or something would be great.

actually being taught to believe a religion in a tax-payer funded school... nope. that goes against separation of church and state obviously.

Indeed. Now what do you think about the fact that prayer is said in school in Greece before the first class?

It always pissed me off.

wow...

the only compulsory thing we have to do is listen to the school Carol Service at Christmas, and i managed to talk my teacher into letting us skip it one year because we were Atheists (he didnt need much persuading) and found being forced to sing hymns 'insulting'