Should Religion Be Taught In Schools?

I trust the validity of that quote about as much as I trust the details of the bible.

Ever heard of oral tradition? 20 years really isn't that long.
http://nativehistory.tripod.com/id15.html

 

I'm just saying that in those 20 years the story could have been fabricated from a man named Jesus who stole a loaf of bread and was crucified, into a man named Jesus who performed miracles and restored life to the dead purple monkey dishwasher.

 

Oh many times, that's inarguable. However, it does nothing but to support the side against religion. Science is constantly evolving as new discoveries are made, as man begins to understand more and more about the world. Religions such as Christianity, Judaism and Islam, however, has barely changed (if at all) since those first men, thousands of years ago, theorised that the world was only a few years old and was created by the magic invisible sky giant.

 

I didn't read all the posts, but how can you say it should be optinal? I mean, don't you think it's reallly important to learn about the different religions? Not just to choose which one you want to believe in (or not to) but also to understan other cultures? I think it is SO important to know at least some of each religions rituals ~ or cultures.

 

I think Scientology should be taught in schools. It's not really a religion, more of an alternative to science. Am I wrong?

I say this because, for all we know, all religions could have been written by a science-fiction writer like L. Ron Hubbard.

I'm not saying it should be optional. I'm saying it could be optional because of the vast amount of people who have conflicting views as to whether their child should learn about other religions when they're trying to raise them in a strictly Catholic/Jewish/Athiest household.

 

It is important. However, we shouldn't force people to study things that offend the most basic of their beliefs.

 

Teaching people about a religion is far different from forcing them to practice it. If it was taught in an open-minded environment, I think the teaching of different religions would be quite educating in understanding where we came from. Believe it or not, just about every culture had/has their own religion. An indepth class about them in public schools might be considered a social study.

 

I didn't suggest that the classes would be pressing the religion on the children. What I'm saying is, some parents and children would find the idea of even learning about another religion, in an open minded environment or not, wholly offensive.

The terms "open minded" and "religious" are not often used together, and with good reason.

 

As well as that, the teaching of ideals from other religions may provoke the child to question whether their own religion is the right one, and undo all of the work the parents had done. That is, of course, assuming that the parents were bringing the child up in a religious household.

An example of this is shown heavily within Jewish communities. They have Jewish schools, or home schooling, to protect their ideals.

 

I think the idea of having a lesson that taught religion and culture is perfect. People want to stop racism and intolerance but where do children learn not to be these things? If a child has a bigot for a parent they will more than likely adopt their views but if schools taught tolerance maybe we would be living in a more tolerant world.

I personally believe religion has no place anywhere other than their respected religious buildings. Fine do charity work but don't use it as leverage to get more converts. Religious schools are just bizarre to me being taught from birth Christianity and only Christianity is just ridiculous how does a 3 year old make their mind up about religion? They don't it's forced on them and when it becomes part of education as well, being taught Jesus is your saviour in the same breath as 2 + 2 = 4 is just plain brainwashing. Obviously though I don't like it I think religious schools should be able to exist as should religious charities I just dislike the alterer motive.

In my opinion teach evolution and creationism in schools I was taught both and one had proof and the other didn't... guess which one I chose.

 

teaching children at an early age that there isn't a god is just as much of a brainwashing as the opposite.

 

But no one was proposing that children be taught that there's no God at an early age, only that children ought to be presented with the alternatives.

 

in private schools, sure what do i care. in public schools, no. i believe in complete separation of church and state. neither religion nor religion-fueled matters such as creationism, abstinence-only education, etc should be taught in public schools. seriously it has no place. it should be a parents responsibility to teach their children about what they wish when it comes to these things and if the parents happen to be people (cough idiots) who do not believe in evolution or basic scientific facts then it is their responsibility to enroll them in a religious arch diocesan or private school or to home-school them. i think people should be able to believe in whatever they like as long as they do not force it on other people and honestly teaching religion in government-run schools is doing just that

edit: if it is teaching religion from a strictly historical viewpoint, however, i think that is fine and even important

 

If there is anything more irritating about religious people than this, I haven't found it. It's infuriatingly illogical and every major study ever conducted has shown without margin of error that abstinence only sex education does not work.

I don't care if your archaic Book of Contradiction forbids you to teach about condoms and spermicides and lubricants, kids are going to go out there and screw like bunnies nomatter what you say to them. The difference is, with abstinence only sex education they don't know what the feck they're doing and they end up with STDs/pregnant. Kids need to be taught about the importance of birth controll and STDs as well as being told that the best way to avoid any danger is abstinence.

 

Damn right it should be. I've said it before - whether you believe there really is a God or not, it's good for us if most of the human race believes. If people think they have something to live up to and someone to answer to for what they do and how they act, they will more than likely be decent human beings. When belief in a higher power isn't a factor, well.... look around sometime.

 

I didn't say that anyone was proposing this. I was leaving my post to implication. Sorry for being vague.

I'm just saying, that there are people I know that are not aloud to set foot in a church because their parents are atheists. I would not doubt the same parents tell religious people to keep an open mind and not be so bigoty.

 

That's not exactly the same thing, though. It's like refusing to have an open mind for people who refuse to have an open mind. The very basis of most religions is to stoicly deny that possibility that you are wrong and insist that your way is the one true way and everyone else's is ignorant, wrong and condemning them to hell. I can't fault parents for wanting to keep their children from hearing that among other things. Imagine a white supremacist arguing with a regular ol' Joe. Joe can refuse to hear the white supremacist's arguments and "teachings" because they're hateful, outdated, wrong, and call them narrow minded, because they are. But can the white supremacist call Joe narrow minded for refusing to hear them? No.

Now, this is a very extreme example and it is certainly not my intention to compare religious people to white supremacists, so go ahead and jump down from the high horse you're in the process of mounting. What I'm saying is, you can't be bigoted against bigotry. You can't be narrow minded when the views you're refusing to see are narrow minded views.

 

So you think that peoples' morals, sense of conformity, and sense of justice and knowing of the punishment come behind their belief in a higher power?

 

You know, I really hate people that think like that. It's remarkably ignorant.