And I don’t mean doctrinal religious instruction like CCD classes. Something along the lines of a World Religions course or Religion in Society. As long as it’s the academic study of religion and not teaching children that a specific religion is the one true faith it shouldn’t violate the first amendment.
I would not oppose such a course being available as an elective for high school students. I don’t really think you could do the subject justice below that level. I suspect that it may be allowed somewhere already. I don’t think it should be part of the required curriculum.
Absolutely. Why shouldn’t it? Religion is a fact of life throughout much of the world, and I don’t see why kids shouldn’t learn basic facts about each of the major world religions, and a bit about their influence on history.
Nor is there anything wrong with studying the Bible in an English class. The Bible is among the most referenced and influential works in the history of Western literature – no reason kids shouldn’t read it and study it, IF the teacher can make the purpose of the study clear, and maintain that purpose throughout the course.
Absolutely, yes. Religion is an incredibly important human institution and its significance both in history and in current events cannot be understated. IMO, a thorough education should absolutely include a working knowledge of major world religions.
Really? I think you’re doing kids a disservice. Some will already be being taught about their own religion in some depth outside of school. There’s no reason they can’t also be given some knowledge of the differences between beliefs.
I think it’s more appropriate for older kids, at least in public schools. Less likely to be controversial, too. If the fundie crowd get wind of somebody mentioning Wicca to middle schoolers, they’ll go apeshit.
I think religion needs to be taught about in public schools for the simple reasons that Separation of Church and State is a very important part of our Constitution and that religion is a major part of society.
It’s a shame you have to pander to the extremes. Take a look at this list of suggested resources for use with English 5-7 year olds. (FWIW, parents have the right to withdraw their children from RE lessons.)
Yet another reason to teach about religion in the public schools, IMHO.
Yes.
At my school we had a class called “religious education.” We learned about different religions and their traditions. I found it very interesting. One year the teacher who taught the class was a Wiccan.
Absolutely.
Major world religions and a summary of their beliefs and traditions. Historic influence and key historic figures in different religions. I wish I had a class like that.
I’ve done basic comparative religions for my kids as bedtimes stories. I leave out the graphic violence. I know this is odd, but they ask about this kind of stuff (we’re not religious), but they’ve been exposed to this stuff since a very young age and it is interesting and very relevant to how the world interacts, all personal religious beliefs aside. It may help that I used to have to travel to Saudi Arabia, they’ve seen some of the great cathedrals of Europe and they’ve been exposed to Buddhism in Asia.
My point is that it is not unreasonable for kids in elementary school to get the gist of this stuff.
Yes - Starting in about 5th or 6th grade, it needs to be a part of the history curriculum. Each civilization you study, you should also study the influence of their religion, the same way we study other aspects of their cultural impact.
Most schools I know of already do this to some degree.
Yes, kids should be taught what the world’s major religions are, their major beliefs and practices, perhaps the key differences and similarities, and the areas of the world in which those religions are prevalent. All should be presented in such a way that reasonable practitioners of those religions would think was fair and accurate. Obviously, any proselytizing for or against any particular religion, or religion in general, should be kept out of public schools.
You can’t understand American history, world history, current events, or a significant portion of world literature while remaining ignorant of religion.
It’s essential- you can’t understand the world’s history or literature if you don’t understand its religions.
**Should religion be taught about in public schools? **
Taught about, yes. Taught, no.
I tend to think not. I think it would be more beneficial to study other cultures, with the religions of said cultures being part of the mix. This is what we did in geography and history classes when I was growing up, although one hopes it could be done a little better. Singling out religion for special consideration would lead to an imbalanced view of the world, besides which it would give the fundies more ammo to carry out their culture war.
Definitely
- but descriptively, not prescriptively.
I was shocked that after 9/11, in the USA ‘Ragheads’ were having a hard time, Sikhs have nothing to do with Jihadism.
We are appallingly ignorant of other peoples’ religions.
At one time I thought that if we learnt to understand them, we would learn to rub along.
Now I am veering towards the view that we need to understand the more primitive religions so we can botox the sources of venom.
Once a former soldier tried to interest me in Sufism
Yes, of course. Religion is a major driving force behind some of the most powerful people, and nations, in the world. And, if nothing else, it might help problems with bullying of kids who don’t share the beliefs of the majority of kids.