I know this is an old post but I haven't been able to listen and I'm catching up now, just wanted to throw my opinion in.
I understand where you're coming from and I agree that we shouldn't be taught how to be a certain religion during school, but from my experience R.E has been about learning how religion impacts people’s lives. In high school we looked at things like abortion and how different religions would affect people’s views. I think that the way I was taught was perfectly fine, In primary school they was only 5 white students the rest were Muslim, trangely enough we still sung hymns.
Surely if we stopped religious education it would lead to more racism, we're taught about religion so that we can understand the differences between people and accept it, taking away that education is one step in the direction of putting the marbles back into the bags and into a smaller box. From personal experience it has taught me that everyone is equal regardless of what we believe in. But I do completely agree that it should be our own personal choice what religion we choice follow if we choice to follow one at all. I'm very glad my parents didn't christen me when I was born leaving the choice up to me, yet I understand you are born into a lot of religions which in my opinion is unfair.
I’m not sure what other people have posted about this, they have probably already picked up on the same points so sorry for re-saying them I just don’t have much time to read them all and as I said I wanted to throw my opinion in.
Should religion be taught in school? Yes. Not preached, but taught. I think religious studies are important to better understand one another as human beings. If you are ignorant to other people's beliefs, you won't be able to understand why they act the way they do. I've always been taught religion in school, I don't remember when we started with religious studies, but I know I wasn't very old. While I found it incredibly dull when I was younger, I think it's an interesting topic now. I think it's important if it's taught by someone who are open minded towards all religions, though. My religion teacher in High School was interested in all religions, and not religious herself, and she is, by far, one of the best teachers I've ever had.
What I DO have a problem with is children being forced to go to church with their school: Because Norway is a Christian country (and have a state church), I've always had to go to church around Christmas Time. Unless your parents say that "No, my kid doesn't have to go because we don't believe in Christianity and aren't members of the Church.", you would have to go. Not only is it bad because it sort of forces the religion on the kids (Even though it's only once a year), but it also just ends up being a lot of kids sitting there, being utterly bored and disrespectful towards the people who are actually religious. Nobody benefits from it.
I've had a few somewhat conservative Christian friends. I have no problems with their beliefs - people can believe whatever they want, but we've had a few arguments because of beliefs they have because of it. (One thing we disagree on is the subject of abortion, just to give an example.) What I found extremely interesting was while I don't believe in creationism, and I have a hard time understanding how ANYONE could believe in creationism - one of my friends said something along the lines of "I don't want to sit through a class where they tell me that human kind evolved from monkeys! I don't believe that, so why should they present it to me as a fact?" Which does sound really ridiculous to me, but the irony is that I've said the same about religious studies.
And I also know for a fact that these people will teach their religion to their children, and I also understand why: They don't want their children to go to Hell. Teaching them about the "right way" is their way of saving their children, just like teaching them not to walk on the middle of the road is. (My friend actually used those words.) Which is another reason why I think the religious studies are important: it teaches religious people can learn about OTHER religions. The similarities and differences.
With that said, I think it's equally important that children are taught science. Then again, I might be biased because I'm kind of a science nerd.
wow myles...quite a strong topic you've chosen this time. Ive been living in a multicultural society all my life and have, in the process of living, known and understood many different religions and cultures. At my school Islamic Studies was compulsory for all Muslim students and not all wanted to 'learn' it (their families teach it anyway!)....the rest of us Hindu and Christians..we had Moral Science. I personally dont think religion should be taught at school and if it has to be taught...let it be optional, culture on the other hand should definitely be taught. Most parents would want their child learning their own and if the parent is an Atheist they dont really care what the child believes. If the school can provide the basic knowledge of different cultures...thats about enough....by the age of 15 any child who is curious will explore further...let there be a little flexibility. This gets easy in a multicultural society....and people can exist happily in one btw.
The reason I like Audioboo, is because it attracts a certain level of intellect and therefore more intelligent responses. I’ve recently responded to a slightly different topic, on Youtube, with a similar undertone and found myself being attacked from all angles. So thank you everyone.
Anyway, I agree with the basis of what you are saying and most of the responses to date, so I won’t bore you with repetition. Yes, I think the basis of all religions should be taught at schools and yes, my utopia would be a society of acceptance and peace. I feel there are a lot of people that need religion in the same context as people need a leader. Not everyone has a strong personality and some need to be guided through their lives to be happy. Don’t forget, not everyone has the ability to lead and I think religion fills that void and following an idol (call it God if you wish) give hope. I’m now going to ramble on about multiculturalism.
Think about this; you can’t dismiss the reality that each of us has a cultural background which we do not wish to loose sight of. In a perfect blend of multiculturalism, you would slowly loose sight of who you were, by focusing on who you should be. By creating a multicultural society, you will inevitably create a NEW society with its own culture. So we wouldn’t call ourselves English or Australian or American, because that would be defining our culture again, so how about we call ourselves something else? If you mix flour and water, it blends nicely, but you end up with glue. Hypothetically, if this worked, we would have to take down all the other “non blended” cultures because that’s human nature and we would have to start a war (joking!!).
It’s funny; I recently had a conversation about a similar topic with my very Christian friend. But in my efforts to keep this from being insanely long, I’ll just talk about my own experiences with religion education.
When I was 10 or 11, we got an extremely basic overview of seven of the world’s major religions in school. We weren’t taught very much, and at that point, I didn’t care to learn any of it. I didn’t believe in God, so I didn’t see any reason to learn it.
Now, as an older teen, I’d love to learn about the major religions in depth. My parents were never religious, so I can’t ask them. I can’t go to a church to learn about religion without getting told I’m going to hell for disagreeing. I’d have no idea where to start if I were to try studying by myself. It seems to me that school would be the perfect place to learn about different belief systems without being told that any one is “right” or “wrong”.
I agree that young children shouldn't be taught religion in school. They're either going to just be brainwashed into believing or ignore it like I did. But by the age of 14 or 15, I think they’re old enough to handle it. Plus, wouldn’t it be better if we made educated decisions on what religion (if any) to follow rather than just believing the only thing we were taught by our parents?
@blade376 That is exactly the issue. You're not only counting on the openmindedness of the educator but of the parent as well. In the end, that's where it all starts. And as far as those cases go, those are ethical dilemmas indeed. And believe me, being a midwifery student, we have plenty of discussions about them. But again, there's probably more to it than just religion and either way it is out of our control. You can only try to place yourself in their shoes and try to think what you would've done differently had you been in that exact situation. I'm not saying that either of these situations you've mentioned were excusable or 'right' in any way, but we need to respect that different people have different beliefs. I could go into this more detailed (because I do feel I'm currently simplifying the issue to be concise) but this may indeed be a discussion for another time. I just wanted to put my 2 cents in nevertheless.
I understand where you're coming from and I agree that we shouldn't be taught how to be a certain religion during school, but from my experience R.E has been about learning how religion impacts people’s lives. In high school we looked at things like abortion and how different religions would affect people’s views. I think that the way I was taught was perfectly fine, In primary school they was only 5 white students the rest were Muslim,
trangely enough we still sung hymns.
Surely if we stopped religious education it would lead to more racism, we're taught about religion so that we can understand the differences between people and accept it, taking away that education is one step in the direction of putting the marbles back into the bags and into a smaller box. From personal experience it has taught me that everyone is equal regardless of what we believe in. But I do completely agree that it should be our own personal choice what religion we choice follow if we choice to follow one at all. I'm very glad my parents didn't christen me when I was born leaving the choice up to me, yet I understand you are born into a lot of religions which in my opinion is unfair.
I’m not sure what other people have posted about this, they have probably already picked up on the same points so sorry for re-saying them I just don’t have much time to read them all and as I said I wanted to throw my opinion in.
What I DO have a problem with is children being forced to go to church with their school: Because Norway is a Christian country (and have a state church), I've always had to go to church around Christmas Time. Unless your parents say that "No, my kid doesn't have to go because we don't believe in Christianity and aren't members of the Church.", you would have to go. Not only is it bad because it sort of forces the religion on the kids (Even though it's only once a year), but it also just ends up being a lot of kids sitting there, being utterly bored and disrespectful towards the people who are actually religious. Nobody benefits from it.
I've had a few somewhat conservative Christian friends. I have no problems with their beliefs - people can believe whatever they want, but we've had a few arguments because of beliefs they have because of it. (One thing we disagree on is the subject of abortion, just to give an example.) What I found extremely interesting was while I don't believe in creationism, and I have a hard time understanding how ANYONE could believe in creationism - one of my friends said something along the lines of "I don't want to sit through a class where they tell me that human kind evolved from monkeys! I don't believe that, so why should they present it to me as a fact?" Which does sound really ridiculous to me, but the irony is that I've said the same about religious studies.
And I also know for a fact that these people will teach their religion to their children, and I also understand why: They don't want their children to go to Hell. Teaching them about the "right way" is their way of saving their children, just like teaching them not to walk on the middle of the road is. (My friend actually used those words.) Which is another reason why I think the religious studies are important: it teaches religious people can learn about OTHER religions. The similarities and differences.
With that said, I think it's equally important that children are taught science. Then again, I might be biased because I'm kind of a science nerd.
Ive been living in a multicultural society all my life and have, in the process of living, known and understood many different religions and cultures. At my school Islamic Studies was compulsory for all Muslim students and not all wanted to 'learn' it (their families teach it anyway!)....the rest of us Hindu and Christians..we had Moral Science. I personally dont think religion should be taught at school and if it has to be taught...let it be optional, culture on the other hand should definitely be taught. Most parents would want their child learning their own and if the parent is an Atheist they dont really care what the child believes. If the school can provide the basic knowledge of different cultures...thats about enough....by the age of 15 any child who is curious will explore further...let there be a little flexibility. This gets easy in a multicultural society....and people can exist happily in one btw.
Anyway, I agree with the basis of what you are saying and most of the responses to date, so I won’t bore you with repetition. Yes, I think the basis of all religions should be taught at schools and yes, my utopia would be a society of acceptance and peace. I feel there are a lot of people that need religion in the same context as people need a leader. Not everyone has a strong personality and some need to be guided through their lives to be happy. Don’t forget, not everyone has the ability to lead and I think religion fills that void and following an idol (call it God if you wish) give hope. I’m now going to ramble on about multiculturalism.
Think about this; you can’t dismiss the reality that each of us has a cultural background which we do not wish to loose sight of. In a perfect blend of multiculturalism, you would slowly loose sight of who you were, by focusing on who you should be. By creating a multicultural society, you will inevitably create a NEW society with its own culture. So we wouldn’t call ourselves English or Australian or American, because that would be defining our culture again, so how about we call ourselves something else? If you mix flour and water, it blends nicely, but you end up with glue. Hypothetically, if this worked, we would have to take down all the other “non blended” cultures because that’s human nature and we would have to start a war (joking!!).
When I was 10 or 11, we got an extremely basic overview of seven of the world’s major religions in school. We weren’t taught very much, and at that point, I didn’t care to learn any of it. I didn’t believe in God, so I didn’t see any reason to learn it.
Now, as an older teen, I’d love to learn about the major religions in depth. My parents were never religious, so I can’t ask them. I can’t go to a church to learn about religion without getting told I’m going to hell for disagreeing. I’d have no idea where to start if I were to try studying by myself. It seems to me that school would be the perfect place to learn about different belief systems without being told that any one is “right” or “wrong”.
I agree that young children shouldn't be taught religion in school. They're either going to just be brainwashed into believing or ignore it like I did. But by the age of 14 or 15, I think they’re old enough to handle it. Plus, wouldn’t it be better if we made educated decisions on what religion (if any) to follow rather than just believing the only thing we were taught by our parents?
And as far as those cases go, those are ethical dilemmas indeed. And believe me, being a midwifery student, we have plenty of discussions about them. But again, there's probably more to it than just religion and either way it is out of our control. You can only try to place yourself in their shoes and try to think what you would've done differently had you been in that exact situation. I'm not saying that either of these situations you've mentioned were excusable or 'right' in any way, but we need to respect that different people have different beliefs. I could go into this more detailed (because I do feel I'm currently simplifying the issue to be concise) but this may indeed be a discussion for another time. I just wanted to put my 2 cents in nevertheless.