Religious Education in Schools
Posted by
peteM1989
on 2008-01-31 16:51:55
I have no problem with teaching about various religions, to the extent of: these are the main beliefs of x religion, these are the major customs etc. That is useful, and hopefully will make children realise how similar they are- and maybe realise what a load of cobblers they all are ;-)
What I do object to is the teaching of a particular religion as fact. Most religions are equally likely/unlikely to be true, so there should be no particular emphasis of one religion over another. I don't want any children of mine to be indoctrinated into a particular faith, thank you very much, I had enough of that at lower school.
Teach them about the world religions, including atheism (areligion) and then let them decide for themselves. Religion should be a personal choice.
Pete =]
Posted by
Predator
on 2008-02-01 17:31:46
Hi Pete, and thanks for your response.
I agree with you pretty well 100%, except the bit about all religions being a load of cobblers.
Some people choose to devote their entire life to religion, so to them it's not a load of nonsense at all.
However, I totally agree that schools should teach all religions, and that children should be permitted to make up their own mind about them. Unfortunately we have a law in England which allows parents to remove their children from such lessons. They have a legal right to do that, which I personally think is very wrong. We should not make up children's minds for them.
Posted by
Steve Stop
on 2008-02-01 20:02:16
parents should be able to send their kids to schools where they get taught their values
what's wrong with that?
if you want you can send your kiddies to atheist school
Posted by
peteM1989
on 2008-02-01 21:10:40
Read both the above posts. People should decide their own values and faith (or lack of faith) not have their parent's choices forced on them.
Pete
Posted by
Helga The Horrible
on 2008-02-03 03:11:35
I agree pretty much with you and Pete: it is good for children to learn about different religions and cultures. I do, however, think parents must have the right to remove their children from RE lessons (and worship) precisely because (English) schools do not treat all religions equally. In fact, the law requires them to give emphemsis to Christianity whilst many religions are totally ignored - including my family's. For those reasons, I exercise my right to remove my children from what is, in fact, Christian indoctrination.
