Question by ?band_geek?: Religion in schools…Please, I’d like feedback on these questions.?
At my school, they say we are allowed to learn about religion as long as we learn about all religions.
I have just finished the 7th grade and am going into the 8th. But, the only religions we have learned about have been Christianity, Judism, and Islam.
Doesn’t ‘all religions’ also include the pagan religions as well? Or will I learn about those later on in my school life?
I have learned about religion in my History class. Also, do you think it should NOT be required to learn about different religions, or should we just have an elective course on it?
What is it like at your school (if you still go to school) or what was it like (if you have already finished school)?
I would like to know what you think. Religion has seemed to interest me lately.
(I’m Agnostic by the way)
Best answer:
Answer by donte3030
My opinion about religion in school is that a specific religion cannot be taught unless it is by a follower of that religion; and a religion cannot be learned unless one is a follower of that religion.
Add your own answer in the comments!
All religions should be included and it should be part of every social studies course. I doubt that a fair standard will be applied. My school taught about the western religions but skipped everything else. My teacher even told the class that buddhism was a scam and said that all buddhists were in cults that give their money to a con man.
I didn’t get a good comparitive religion class until college.
I think it wouldnt be a bad idea to have a religion course…as long as it was an elective class. There could be an AMERICAN religions class, or a MODERN religions class…and that would narrow it down. Otherwise you would be trying to learn about ALL religions, which would take years haha. I think that would be a good idea for people who are REALLY interested in religions, and those who werent wouldnt have to take it. It would still be there if anyone was interested though.
take them all out of the classroom–If you kids want an easy “A” there’s always Art, Shop, and Chorus
I was offended by being forced to religious worship in school – it was in effect child abuse, but it still goes on in the UK.
As for religious studies, I think you are right that they should be as broad as possible, but unfortuntely RE teachers often have very narrow knowledge. They usually do not even know the history of Christianity.
Religion is a fact of all human societies ever recorded, so there is clearly something in our make up that predisposes us to institutionalised delkusion and bigotry. It seems most likely down to “in group/out group” tribal prejudice, and this is borne out be the three religions you have studied (which all stem from the same root but which have had their followers at each others throats for millenia).
Understand religion and you will not make the mistakes it has led people to over the ages. Like following it.
Nah. You covered the big three and that’s pretty good for middle school.
When I was in middle school (92-94) we didn’t really discuss religion. We had social studies and learned about different cultures and the religions that they practice, but never delved into what the belief systems actually were.
In high school, you might get into some of the eastern religions and philosophy (shinto, buddhism, etc.) but you’ll probably only scratch the surface. There just isn’t enough time to get that detailed about it because your teachers have a whole curriculum to get through.
Once you get into college, though, there are several classes that deal with religion and can get very specific.
If you want my advice, read up on religion in your spare time. Check out philosophy, too. It rules.
Hope this helps!
If you learn about one religion you should learn about more than one to form a good base of knowledge. If you want to know more about any religion you have the ability to learn……search the web and visit your local library.
I didn’t learn about religions in school, I had to teach myself and I didn’t have the advantage of a tool such as the Internet to help me. I will give you one piece of advice that helped me on my quest for knowledge. It helped me stay true to my search when everything else failed.
Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.
Buddha
I don’t think you should learn about religion in school. The majority of the “teachers” teaching that religion aren’t familiar with it and are only teaching it to you from their point of view. If they offered you an elective course about religion and there were actually going to be people there that studied and practiced the religion than maybe. But I don’t think you should have to do it unless you wanted to. We never learned about religion in my school. Simply because all of the teachers were “Christian” and didn’t believe we needed to be taught anything but christianity. I’m all for learning about religions and being able to make an honest educated decision about which religion you would like to follow. That’s if you choose any religion at all.
i just did 8th grade and we basically covered the main religons bcuz there r countless religons out there and u can’t cover them all in 1 semester or subject, w.e
we did Islam, Christianity, Buddhist, Hindi, Sikihism, Judism and we also covered the main terms of religion
and no, it should not be stopped at all. this world is becomin a terrible place and young kids like us needs to know wht is going out there and tht not all reliong exceot ur is evil. tht’s bull. my religion, Islam, has a terrible meaning out there but once u learn abt it u realize tht its passing on the same meaning as others. all the reliongs are. but in their own uniqe waii
Religion is appropriate in a history class, as long as it isn’t a basis to preach to you. Like it or not, much of history has religion at its core. Look at the inquisition, the crusades, the fall of Constantinople. People have been fighting wars and making decisions based on religion for a long time. It benefits us to understand the motivations of our ancestors, so maybe we can make wiser choices in the future.
As to teaching religion. It needs to be done as a social science, objectively, and without opinions as to the veracity of the mythology. This is hard to do. Its hard to be able to focus on the nuances of a religion, without seeming like you are advocating it.
Pagan religions can be interesting, but the documentation available is limited, so I would guess it would be hard to give it the same attention that Judeo-Christian-Islamic religions get.
You should have also learned about Buddhism as it is also one of the world’s largest religion, but is considered “godless” by most Christians. Your school seems to be picking and choosing only those religions that support a montheistic view.
I think all schools should teach about the great religions; it is a part of history. How can you understand all the killing that has gone on in God’s name, if you don’t study the religions that promoted it.
My school did not teach about other religions, I had to learn on my own.
I agree with you. I have even pointed it put in the times we’ve discussed it. We got the answer that they are teaching ones that have influence on modern culture. How are those three the only ones that had modern influence? Pagan and such were along before christianity, and christianity based alot of their practices on it. My school never would compare the religions, and made sure that it was hard to see how related they were.
I think it might be difficult to learn about ALL religions. I believe new religions are being discovered among remote tribes all over. Not to mention offshoots from main branch religions.
I think we all get to a point where we ask “why am I here?” and “what is the purpose of life?” and “when I die is there more or will I just cease to exist?”. You will find many who have an answer for you to these questions but beware of those who claim to have ALL the answers. Religion basically boils down to faith (the belief in that for which there is no real evidence).
In my school it wasn’t really covered. It was assumed you’d be in church on sunday tho (small texas town).
I tend to view religion as a form of mental facism wherin you gain emotional security by sacrificing intellectual freedom.
It is , in the end a very personal thing. I personally find comfort in the testimony from those who have experienced near death experinces. You might check out a book called “life after life” by Raymond Moody.
I don’t think ANY religion should be taught in school.
ok so this remind me of just a couple months ago;
[im the same age as u, goin into 8th]
well, my english teacher decided that she would read from the bible to the class. me & my friend hannah didnt like that because we r not religious & we dont want sum1 telling us wat to believe.
well everytime she wood talk about religion, me & my bestguyfriend wood fight & it wood end up w/ us getting in eachothers faces & being yelled at.
but my teacher wouldnt read from any other bible.
i dont think religion should be brought into school; at all.
all it causes is conflict
When I was in school, it was Christianity or nothing. We didn’t think much about it back then because that was the accepted way of believing. At least now you are allowed to hear about other religions. Unfortunatley the Pagan beliefs and religions are completely left out. They aren’t considered “mainstream” religions and therefore won’t be included in your curricullum. Search the web and read some good books on Pagan beliefs to educate yourself. Don’t wait for the school system to offer this information to you–they probably won’t. We live in a country that is predominatly Christian and, as a rule, Pagan beliefs are not accepted in mainstream America. Good luck in your search–Blessings.
I think that teaching ABOUT religions (a variety of religions) is good–teaching religion itself is not acceptable.
Finding someone with the qualifications and temperament to teach comparative religion in a public or high school is pretty much impossible. The closest thing would be to include an overview of religious beliefs and practices the context of learning about different cultures or historical periods.
We learned about Greek, Roman and Norse mythology in my Gr. 13 English class, and as part of that we learned about the cultures and religions that gave birth to those mythologies. It was the best possible way of teaching about them.
I went to small-town public school, so while there was some peripheral information on religion (especially when dealing with things like the Crusades) in History class, that was about it. No real World Religions classes, or anything like that.
For the most part, you’re not going to learn much about anything other than Christianity, Judaism, or Islam, unless you get into an Asian History section, which’ll likely include Hinduism and Buddhism. I wouldn’t expect to see any real teaching on any of the Pagan religions – from what I’ve seen, even in college level courses, anything on Paganism is independant study.
Personally, I’d like to see a sort of intro level World Religions class for highschoolers, just so that folks have a general awareness of the fact that there are other religions out there, and some vague clue as to what those religions believe. Makes it a little easier to interact with people.