Brunswick-upon-Raritan wrote:Jedi Council wrote:That brings up another question about modern day church functions and teachings. Would students learn about a religions entire history, or just the basics?
Another problem lies in teaching about sensitive subjects. Imagine a unit on the Catholic church, what if questions are raised about homosexuality? Does the teacher ignore them? Or do they explain the complex and often discriminatory beliefs of the church towards homosexuals? How would that make LGBTQ children feel in that class? Can they teach units about religions without hitting these troublesome topics?
It opens up a huge can of worms that really is best left at home.
It shouldn’t be ignored at all. Churches are different, and not even all Catholics agree with the Catholic church on everything. That’s something people should know. I don’t think that education would be better taught at home, especially not from certain parents, and that goes double for LGBTQ subject matter. Without learning about such subjects through school, kids will learn about them through family prejudices, rumors, hearsay, biases, Fox News, the playground, etc.
Yes any churches are different of course, and many denominations have their own views on homosexuality. This can be said for many religions.
But taking the example of the Catholic Church again, the 1992 report on homosexuality by a Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, a report which I believe is still the official word from the Church on the subject, says that homosexuality is a "moral disorder," that in some instances it is "obligatory" to discriminate against homosexuals, that it would be acceptable to curtail their rights as one might do towards the extremely mentally I'll or those with a "contagious persons," and that the entire idea of homosexuality evokes "moral concern."
Now if the teacher was good at their job, they would obviously know this, or at least, the basic gist of it. But if this hypothetical teacher spends say half an hour explaining the Church's teachings on homosexuality, there will inevitably be questions over whether the Church is right. The children will be curious. What is the teacher to say?
If the teacher says no, they could risk offending the Catholic students in the class. If they say nothing, it leaves the door open for children to take the lesson that groups of people are discriminatory against the LGBTQ community, and that that is fine. And if they say yes then that defeats the academic study of the topic.
Similarly, in my experience, most schools do teach units on homosexuality and gender issues, curriculum which is largely based in anti-discrimination, acceptance and understanding. How are students supposed to square the schools curriculum with the teachings of the religions they learn about, especially when they directly conflict with one another?
Again, while I support optional religious study classes, they really should be left in University. Primary and secondary school resources are already spread thin, and religion, being a private matter, should remain in the home.