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 Posted: Mon Jun 27, 2005 3:45 pm
Religious Education at my school was, by default, all about learning Christian beliefs and taking an exam on that. There was the option of writing from the perspective of a Hindu, Jew or Muslim, but only people who were of those religions chose those options because the classes themselves were devoted to teaching the syllabus for Christianity.
I always thought it was rather sad, and I'd like to see a change in the way religion is taught in public schools in England. I would like to see Religious Education encompass the beliefs of all major religions, as well as secular philosophies (it should probably be renamed in that case) in order to give students the broadest and fairest base for which to choose a religion or lack of religion and, more importantly, to breed tolerance for those of other religions and/or belief systems. I don't believe the system should actively promote any one option, but present the valid arguments for and against all given religions, and references should be made to more obscure religions in order to present the option of reading further about religions not big enough to cover to students.
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Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2005 6:20 am
Triste Instead of parents just blindly having 'faith' in a religion that their parents taught to them, I think it would be best if they chose their faith willingly, then teaching the basics of each religion to their children so that they can also choose their faith willingly. Freely choosing one's beliefs, in my opinion, is more pure to the eyes of God compared to being forced to perform religious obligations of a religion one does not truly believe in. It might be nice if parents could be the ones to teach religious diversity, but it presents exactly the problem you allude to here. A parent is going to teach their children what they believe in. I know I plan to do so, but I won't stop them if they wish to see things differently. Belief in a pure sense is very important, and even though I could probably still be Christian, I'd not only be lying to myself, I'd be lying to the Christian God. We can't expect parents to teach children religious diversity. Generally, we can't expect parents to teach anything to their kids beyond things like manners, morals, and conduct. I think the prime role of a parent is also to be a teacher, not just in life skills, but also in things learned in school, but not everybody has this view (not everybody grew up with nerdy parents like me either... hehe). Public education takes up the role of educating children since parents nowadays often don't have the time. I think public education, though, is still a great thing, since it's hard for two people (parents) to be capable of instructing well on so many subjects.
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Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2007 1:39 pm
I think religion should be taught in high schools as electives. The best way to spread tolerance is through learning, and not many parents are going to encourage thier children about any religion that might conflict with the one they raised them up on. My parents still think I made a mistake by becoming a Kemetic. But as teenagers, by learning the hows and whys of other faiths, they can understand those faiths, and thus become tolerant towards them. and at that age, they should be allowed the right to chose what thier beliefs will be. not very religion is for everyone, and the religion you grew up on sometimes isn't for you. Being a Roman Catholic wasn't for me or my mother. She became Christian Orthodox, and I became Kemetic Othodox. She is very happy where she is and I am very happy where I am. But I could have only come this far in my faith with wisdom and learning.
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Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2007 2:35 pm
I'd like to review my previous position. I think that the Bible should be taught in class as mythology, for all it's worth. If the sections advocating turning the other cheek are going to be taught, we shall teach the sections advocating slavery, too. We should give the punishments assigned to breaking each of the Ten Commandments (death for all, I might add, except for the tenth, for which I haven't found any kind of punishment). If the Bible is going to be taught, it's going to be taught by an atheist, and the class is going to be inspected very, VERY closely.
If we are to teach the message of that book, let's not pussyfoot around. Let's teach the REAL meaning of the Bible, leaving out in the open, pink and naked, for the students to REALLY see. Then let them choose if they want to be religious.
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Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2007 8:49 pm
Elective availabilities might be nice. I think that religion and spirituality in general is way beyond the maturity of some teenagers though. They're more at the point in life where they're concerned with self-identity and self-assertion. Working with reconnection to something greater than themselves comes only after they recognize who they are as an individual. That's one of the fundamental roles and purposes of religion; to turn ourselves outward to something other than ourselves, be that object what we'd typically consider a divine power or simply observing that the sky is greater than you are. I'm not sure it is possible to be human and not be religious in this senes; whether or not you adhere to an organized religion is something else entirely though!
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Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2007 2:56 am
well, I am personally a christian, but I am very tolerant of others religions. after all, no matter what you want to say about it, no one religion has any more proof of truth than any other. they all generally rely on faith. therefore, though i personally choose christianity, and truly believe in it, i will not frown upon others freedom to believe otherwise, so long as they do not frown upon mine. in the end, we do not know the truth until after our death. I know one person who is athiest and he is always dogging on the church kids in my school. although he believes in no god, i still respect his beliefs. also I knw someone whos mom is one religion, dad another, step dad another, ex - stepdad another, and grandma yet another....... and so he has many options, although i am not sure of his own belief...........
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Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 9:48 pm
Up until middle school, I was attending a private Jewish elementary school. Looking back on it now, I hated growing up in such an environment; sure, I had a lot of friends, but I also lost a lot because of religion. Where I would question the validity of our learning material, a lot of students would just go through and absorb the information being given, never bothering once to even question it.
Now, I'm enrolled in public high school, but whenever I bring up the topic of religion with any private-schooled friends, they would go into these giant tirades about what they've learned, and I'd be singled out, leaving me helpless against the preachers.
So, after growing up in that kind of place, I would think that religion should be avoided completely until, and at LEAST until the last year of junior high. Not even, perhaps, since it's such a touchy subject in general.
As far as religious DIVERSITY goes, since attending a Jewish private school, nothing but Judaism was discussed. If anything else was ever brought to light, the student who said something would've been suspended. But lately, I've been talking with the rabbi of my parents' synagogue, and he's actually a lot more open to religious diversity than I could've imagined.
I think that in order to give the younger generations some sort of overview of religion in general, maybe a course should be offered; not a course that would directly study in-depth material, but something similar to philosophy, whereas different religions would be discussed, contrasted, and at the same time, it would be different from philosophy in the aspect of showing how religion affected the history of the world.
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Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2007 10:53 am
I think it just takes the right people in the right place at the right time. Wishful thinking, eh? LOL
I went to public school and the closest I came to anythign religious was a brief touching-base on Christianity. I remember coming home and telling my mom about it and she was like "Eh. Christians did a lot in history. Just depends on which side of the story you believe." whee
I think world religions classes as electives is a great idea. But then again I love the subject so I'm partial to the idea anyway idea
I think religion can absolutely be taught objectively, it just takes having the right people in place. Perhaps have a different section for some of the majors religiosn of the world- Christianity, Judaism, Islam,... maybe Buddhism or even Earth-based. Granted Earth-based is extreeeeemely broad, I think you guys know where I'm going with that smile Rather than being taught "We believe that Jesus was the Son of God and he died for our sins." It could be more along the lines of "One of the core beliefs of Christianity is that a man named Jesus was the Son of God and it's believed that he died for the sins of humanity." Says the same thing ut without classifying anyone or anything in particular. Then maybe leading in Judaism by saying "On the other hand, one of the core beliefs of Judaism is that Jesus was a mere mortal who was not the Son of God.."etc. etc. There are ways to maneuver around situations, especially if there are minds ho are willing to learn and are open to other cultures. Ignorance breeds fear. If we can open up the minds of students then maybe they won't fear other religions anymore. They'll be more free to make their own spiritual decisions rather than feel "different"
Wow.. I hope that all makes sense... sweatdrop
EDIT: Great topic by the way idea
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Posted: Fri Aug 03, 2007 11:06 pm
I personally think that if they had an unbiased subject of religion in school, there would be a lot less confusion. They could even just go over the main main ones, and then get into more detail later. They don't need to tell the kids that this is how it is, it just gives them a bit of information. I just think that the parents are over reacting when the word "Jesus" is mentioned during study time. And don't even think the word "Satan". It just is really irking... 3nodding
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