Should Religions Be Taught in Schools?

[VoVoDoCo]

Hell yeah. I would sponsor it.

I've seen Secular Student Alliance clubs, they often encounter resistance from the administration.

And that’s a damn shame. Imagine being so insecure in your “unshakable” faith that you would be scared of a bunch of highschoolers expressing their viewpoints. Yikes.

[Albrenia]

On the topic of clubs and the like, I don't mind as long as they don't receive any support and are prohibited from making a nuisance of themselves on school grounds. Handing out pamphlets or approaching people to talk (unless you keep going when asked to stop) are not 'being a nuisance' in this case.

[San Kalungsod Saludong]

All kinds of religions and even irreligion should be allowed to be discussed in school. Religion flourishes in a forum of free thought, the Edict of Milan in Ancient Rome allowed the Toleration of Christianity which was then considered Atheism because they denied the Divinity of the Roman Pantheon. The more free discussion of either Atheism or different Religions is allowed the better. What are we Communist Russia or China? Where State Atheism was enforced and Nuns were either killed or thrown to the Gulag because they said religion was anti-progress? And we all know how the Soviet Union turned out...

[Dylar]

I mean some public schools in the US already do. It's taught as "Comparative Religions"

[Albrenia]

Religion flourishes in a forum of free thought

Quite the opposite is true according to most religions, who crack down hard on opposing thought if allowed to take power.

[Nap the Magnificent]

aKshuAlLy it cannot because religions are not just a history of some people in robes chanting stuff much like maths isn't just a history of some guys in robes scribbling numbers down or governments are not just the history of some guys in robes shifting papers around.

We already learn the history of religions in school here. We just learn it from an unbiased perspective.

Teaching the history of XYZ subject is not the same as teaching about said XYZ subject fully. Further, you can't really fully grasp a religion just by reading its history alone much like you can't get a full grasp of a country simply by reading its history or get a full grasp of any institution just by reading its history. You have to learn its ethics, virtues, internal logic, worldview etc. Imagine if Civics class was just a rehashing of your country's history (if it is then it is failing its purpose btw) or maths was *just* the history of maths.

There's really no reason to not have classes about a particular religion, especially within Western education as the Big Two (ie Roman Catholicism and Protestantism) have played massive roles in shaping our philosophy, cultural values, worldview, norms, virtues, government systems etc. You can't really escape the influence they have had and if you want children to be properly educated on "How We Got to Today" you can't just cleave it out or else you are actually failing at giving them a proper education. This is why even atheist philosophers who despised religion still read theology and encouraged people to do so to have a better understand of how things came to be in contemporary society.

[Genivaria]

The teaching of Creationism in public schools was determined to be illegal in Edwards v. Aguillard in 1987.

Creationism cannot be separated from religion and thus cannot be taught in a public classroom as fact.

[San Kalungsod Saludong]

Religion flourishes in a forum of free thought

Quite the opposite is true according to most religions, who crack down hard on opposing thought if allowed to take power.

How many Atheists have Christians in the US killed vs how many Christians have Atheists in China and Russia have killed?

Using this question in mind. Ask yourself which one is more tolerant...

[Atheris]

Religion flourishes in a forum of free thought

Quite the opposite is true according to most religions, who crack down hard on opposing thought if allowed to take power.

I feel like it's not so much as to force people to follow the right religion as it is to hold onto power.

[Rojava Free State]

I've seen Secular Student Alliance clubs, they often encounter resistance from the administration.

And that’s a damn shame. Imagine being so insecure in your “unshakable” faith that you would be scared of a bunch of highschoolers expressing their viewpoints. Yikes.

Sent a request to start an atheist or agnostic club at my school. They never responded...oh but we can have static club and we can have Kensington Church meet at my school, the guys who my friend brendan said were "actually really cool" (newsflash, they're just like many an evangelical, thinking that anyone who doesn't believe as they do or who is gay should burn in the fiery depths of hell forever).

[Albrenia]

We already learn the history of religions in school here. We just learn it from an unbiased perspective.

Teaching the history of XYZ subject is not the same as teaching about said XYZ subject fully. Further, you can't really fully grasp a religion just by reading its history alone much like you can't get a full grasp of a country simply by reading its history or get a full grasp of any institution just by reading its history. You have to learn its ethics, virtues, internal logic, worldview etc. Imagine if Civics class was just a rehashing of your country's history (if it is then it is failing its purpose btw) or maths was *just* the history of maths.

There's really no reason to not have classes about a particular religion, especially within Western education as the Big Two (ie Roman Catholicism and Protestantism) have played massive roles in shaping our philosophy, cultural values, worldview, norms, virtues, government systems etc. You can't really escape the influence they have had and if you want children to be properly educated on "How We Got to Today" you can't just cleave it out or else you are actually failing at giving them a proper education. This is why even atheist philosophers who despised religion still read theology and encouraged people to do so to have a better understand of how things came to be in contemporary society.

Teaching the basics like that is much different from teaching religion as if it is fact though. Teaching about Transubstantiation belief and how it influenced people is fine, but teaching it as if it is true is not.

[Godular]

One thing I would like to see taught in schools is something about Critical Thinking. I had that class in college, and it was actually hella fun.

I did my term paper on Homeopathy. Those dilutions are bullshit.

[San Kalungsod Saludong]

At least 20 Million Christians and 106,000 Priests and Nuns were killed in Atheist Russia...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecuti ... viet_Union

Can you produce a counterpoint in Christian America?

[Rojava Free State]

Quite the opposite is true according to most religions, who crack down hard on opposing thought if allowed to take power.

How many Atheists have Christians in the US killed vs how many Christians have Atheists in China and Russia have killed?

Using this question in mind. Ask yourself which one is more tolerant...

No one was ever murdered in the name of Atheism though. They were killed by authoritarians who were having a rivalry with the church for who could be the most anti free thought and backwards. Also nice of you to use three different countries for comparison. Why don't we compare all the atheists killed by Christians here vs Christians killed by atheists here?

[Estanglia]

Quite the opposite is true according to most religions, who crack down hard on opposing thought if allowed to take power.

How many Atheists have Christians in the US killed vs how many Christians have Atheists in China and Russia have killed?

Using this question in mind. Ask yourself which one is more tolerant...

Here, you're comparing a non-unified group with no central philosophy/idea/principle beyond "there is no God" in one particular area of land (the US), against a semi-unified group with some common philosophies/ideas/principles in a larger particular area of land (China & Russia).

That doesn't seem like a fair comparison to me.

[Neutraligon]

One thing I would like to see taught in schools is something about Critical Thinking. I had that class in college, and it was actually hella fun.

I did my term paper on Homeopathy. Those dilutions are bullshit.

The is part of what science classes are supposed to teach (along with skepticism). From what I can tell, they fail pretty badly at teaching both.

[Godular]

At least 20 Million Christians and 106,000 Priests and Nuns were killed in Atheist Russia...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecuti ... viet_Union

Can you produce a counterpoint in Christian America?

ALL THIS AND MORE ON THE NEXT EPISODE OF STRAWMANS-R-US Z!

[Rojava Free State]

At least 20 Million Christians and 106,000 Priests and Nuns were killed in Atheist Russia...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecuti ... viet_Union

Can you produce a counterpoint in Christian America?

Once again, they were not killed in the name of atheism. They were killed for communism. Wanna talk about all the atheists killed specifically because your religion hates everyone? Like in Africa or the Middle East or here in America?

[Godular]

One thing I would like to see taught in schools is something about Critical Thinking. I had that class in college, and it was actually hella fun.

I did my term paper on Homeopathy. Those dilutions are bullshit.

The is part of what science classes are supposed to teach (along with skepticism). From what I can tell, they fail pretty badly at teaching both.

It's rather an involved process. It should be a dedicated class, even if it were only a semester long.

[Albrenia]

At least 20 Million Christians and 106,000 Priests and Nuns were killed in Atheist Russia...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecuti ... viet_Union

Can you produce a counterpoint in Christian America?

I don't think anyone here is advocating the horrors of Stalinist Russia. State Atheism is just as wrong as State Christianity. Secularism is the way to go since it allows us all the freedom of and from Religion.

Christian states have done plenty of massacring of unbelievers on their own though.

[Rojava Free State]

How many Atheists have Christians in the US killed vs how many Christians have Atheists in China and Russia have killed?

Using this question in mind. Ask yourself which one is more tolerant...

Here, you're comparing a non-unified group with no central philosophy/idea/principle beyond "there is no God" in one particular area of land (the US), against a semi-unified group with some common philosophies/ideas/principles in a larger particular area of land (China & Russia).

That doesn't seem like a fair comparison to me.

It's not. It's the usual Christian strawman when they get called out for causing thousands of years of misery.

[San Kalungsod Saludong]

How many Atheists have Christians in the US killed vs how many Christians have Atheists in China and Russia have killed?

Using this question in mind. Ask yourself which one is more tolerant...

No one was ever murdered in the name of Atheism though. They were killed by authoritarians who were having a rivalry with the church for who could be the most anti free thought and backwards. Also nice of you to use three different countries for comparison. Why don't we compare all the atheists killed by Christians here vs Christians killed by atheists here?

Let me quote:

Soviet Marxist-Leninist policy consistently advocated for the control, suppression, and ultimately, the elimination of religious beliefs, and it actively encouraged the propagation of Marxist-Leninist atheism in the Soviet Union.[2]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecuti ... viet_Union

[Estanglia]

At least 20 Million Christians and 106,000 Priests and Nuns were killed in Atheist Russia...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecuti ... viet_Union

Can you produce a counterpoint in Christian America?

Counterpoint: the atheists in Christian America are largely not of the same ideology as Atheist Russia, so conflating the two together is disingenuous.

Unless you're going to argue the majority of atheists in America are communist, this comparison does not seem fair.

[Neutraligon]

The is part of what science classes are supposed to teach (along with skepticism). From what I can tell, they fail pretty badly at teaching both.

It's rather an involved process. It should be a dedicated class, even if it were only a semester long.

Oh I am aware. I would include how we know what we know it that class and do we actually know it.

[Rojava Free State]

No one was ever murdered in the name of Atheism though. They were killed by authoritarians who were having a rivalry with the church for who could be the most anti free thought and backwards. Also nice of you to use three different countries for comparison. Why don't we compare all the atheists killed by Christians here vs Christians killed by atheists here?

Let me quote:

Soviet Marxist-Leninist policy consistently advocated for the control, suppression, and ultimately, the elimination of religious beliefs, and it actively encouraged the propagation of Marxist-Leninist atheism in the Soviet Union.[2]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecuti ... viet_Union

Once again, killwd for communism. Atheism is not a single ideology unlike your belief.