Picking up religion as an exam subject

Ciaral

id love to do religion as an exam subject

my school teaches it more or less to an exam standard (according to my teacher) but doesnt ask us to sit the exam

anyone know how i can take it up?

philologos

It requires a lot of work. We are starting our coursework project now. You might be a bit overwhelmed with everything that's all I can say. There are a lot of sections to the Religion course.

Naikon

Jakkass wrote:

You might be a bit overwhelmed with everything that's all I can say.

Especially if you are an Atheist;)

philologos

Naikon wrote:

Especially if you are an Atheist;)

a lot of Secular Humanism and the secular response is also dealed with in Section A of the course. So it's not neglected. But I understand what you mean

Jack Sheehan

Naikon wrote:

Especially if you are an Atheist;)

I don't know about that, I mean they don't make you learn scripture....

philologos

Em... to an extent you have to look at Scripture (particularly the Gospels) for the Christianity section, and it's apparently good to be able to quote in answers, or refer to specific parables and miracles and how they show us about the Kingdom of God.

Ciaral

but i have no idea what the course intails atm

can you explain it for me?

Naikon

Ciaral wrote:

can you explain it for me?

http://www.400monkeys.com/God/

spurious

Ciaral wrote: »

but i have no idea what the course intails atm

can you explain it for me?

You can get the syllabus on The DES site

Piste

Ciara: What year are you in? if you're in fifth it should be no bother to pick it up now, if in 6th tyou'll have to spend a bit of time doing a lot fo reading to get yourself up to speed but really most of it it a lot of learning off so if you can do that you're grand.

philologos

http://www.ress.ie/ - Religious Education Support Service, Junior and Leaving Cert

Louisecj

eugh religion..i got the notion at the start of 6th year to take it up..and here i am swamped in philosophy,symbols and all the rest!.. but well if u can learn easily, its do-able (hopefully i can pull it off!)
dont feel daunted by picking it up in a year...if your determined you'll be grand!
personally im not religious at all, but like just knowing everything is really interesting cause it applies to so many current issues,and you end up with a better understanding of the way people are and why!

phasers

they made us take it for the junior cert and I'd say it was the second hardest exam I took..

so I was put right off it.
but if you like the subject you'll be grand

thed4king

Im in 5th yr now and all we do in religion is have casual "discussions" about random topics. No homework, no exams, no nothing! its a gr8 break during the day!!!

E92

Why the fcsk would you want to do religion as an exam subject? Seriously though?

It's actually called Religious Education for a reason. You learn about all the major religions, there is no bias there towards Catholicism or indeed any Religion.

philologos

E92 wrote: »

Why the fcsk would you want to do religion as an exam subject? Seriously though?

It's actually called Religious Education for a reason. You learn about all the major religions, there is no bias there towards Catholicism or indeed any Religion.

Some people would have an interest in it. The content is pretty good, I think anyway. Mind you I am reasonably religious.

Good post from Louise I think.

jobey

I'm in 6th year and i personally love leaving cert RE, my teacher is amazing though so that helps i suppose. If you're into history or english it's similar in that the paper is all essays. Don't be put off by JC religion because although some of the same stuff is covered the course is very different. there's no short questions on the exam or anything either. You look at ancient philosophy and modern philosophers like Nietzsche, Marx, Camus. Then there's stuff about christianity, world religions, cults, secularism, morality, the bible, religion in ireland, etc etc. It's my favourite subject and once you get the hang of the essay writing (which i didn't do until well into the second half of 5th year, so current 5th years dont fret!) i actually think it's pretty easy. I'm hoping for a high B or A in the leaving so fingers crossed

Piste

Now three months into 5th year I realise how awful religion is, hopefully it's just section A that's the crap bit cos it's so wishy-washy, I'm hoping the rest will be a little more concrete.

MathsManiac

Piste wrote: »

Now three months into 5th year I realise how awful religion is, hopefully it's just section A that's the crap bit cos it's so wishy-washy, I'm hoping the rest will be a little more concrete.

If ya wanted concrete, ya shoulda done construction studies!

declan_lgs

Jakkass wrote: »

Em... to an extent you have to look at Scripture (particularly the Gospels) for the Christianity section, and it's apparently good to be able to quote in answers, or refer to specific parables and miracles and how they show us about the Kingdom of God.

Yep. Plus the correctors will mostly be catholic

Naikon

Leaving Certificate Fairy tale studies tbh.
The fact the subject is even available, while other more important subjects like computing is disregarded sickens me.
Pick a Science subject or something that's quantifiable and based on actual evidence, unlike this trash.
Hell, home ec has to be better than learning about a carpenter/crowd magician.
I know it's not all about the above, but there is far too much emphasis on scripture and religious stuff.

*awaits flaming*

Fad

Naikon wrote: »

Leaving Certificate Fairy tale studies tbh.
The fact the subject is even available, while other more important subjects like computing is disregarded sickens me.

I know it's not all about the above, but there is far too much emphasis on scripture and religious stuff.

*awaits flaming*

sickens me seems a tad extreme no?

there really isnt that much emphasis on scripture (and well relegious stuff is fairly f*ckin obvious now in fairness, what do you want a secular relegion paper?), i am a devout agnostic but its a reasonably relevant subject if you want to be culturaly aware

also those who need the points would find it useful

Piste

Naikon wrote: »

Leaving Certificate Fairy tale studies tbh.
The fact the subject is even available, while other more important subjects like computing is disregarded sickens me.
Pick a Science subject or something that's quantifiable and based on actual evidence, unlike this trash.
Hell, home ec has to be better than learning about a carpenter/crowd magician.
I know it's not all about the above, but there is far too much emphasis on scripture and religious stuff.

*awaits flaming*

What do you know of the religion course? Why do you say it's based on no fact. We study what people believe, are you saying people don't actually believe this stuff, and that the DOE is lying to us by saying they do?

skelliser

wtf!! religion is a subject for the leaving!!, jesus serious dumin down or what
and still no course for it/computing, ireland supposedly being a knowledged based economy!!

Piste

Saying LC religion is crap when you know nothing about it is like saying LC English is crap because Mr. Men books didn't appeal to you.

Naikon

Piste wrote: »

Why do you say it's based on no fact

There is absolutely no evidence to support any religious belief.

(Religion != reality I'm afraid)

philologos

declan_lgs wrote: »

Yep. Plus the correctors will mostly be catholic

That isn't really much of an issue, I'm COI personally and our teacher teaches from this perspective as well but I'd have a knowledge of the Apocrypha as well such as Maccabees, and doctrines like purgatory and transubstantiation.

Naikon wrote:

There is absolutely no evidence to support any religious belief.

(Religion != reality I'm afraid)

Theres enough factual basis to keep me believing. The historical figures that are in the Bible are entirely accurate, let alone that there is historical proof of Jesus in Palestine also. (see the works of Josephus, Tactius, and Pliny the Younger, and the Church History by Eusebius would be a handy thing to read).

Oh and weren't you the guy on the Christianity forum who was asking about how to salvage what was left of his Christian faith - ala this thread http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055114416

I'm sorry that you have lost your faith but it is no reason to be so closed minded about it.

Naikon

Jakkass wrote: »

That isn't really much of an issue, I'm COI personally and our teacher teaches from this perspective as well but I'd have a knowledge of the Apocrypha as well such as Maccabees, and doctrines like purgatory and transubstantiation.



Theres enough factual basis to keep me believing. The historical figures that are in the Bible are entirely accurate, let alone that there is historical proof of Jesus in Palestine also. (see the works of Josephus, Tactius, and Pliny the Younger, and the Church History by Eusebius would be a handy thing to read).

Oh and weren't you the guy on the Christianity forum who was asking about how to salvage what was left of his Christian faith - ala this thread http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055114416

I'm sorry that you have lost your faith but it is no reason to be so closed minded about it.

The miracles, stories, the entire belief system.......don't make any sense to me anymore.
Atheism/agnosticism just makes more logical sense to me.
This sums up my beliefs.

http://www.chick.net/nogod.html

But yeah, I guess people are entitled to their own opinions so I don't mind too much
as long as Religion doesn't interfere with secular living.

philologos

Naikon: I really don't mind what you think. I just prefer if discussion about religion didn't involve terms such as "fairy tales". As during my personal study of theology, one finds that it is actually a very complicated but interesting subject of its own. I don't mind what you believe, as long as you keep it a respectful discussion, and of course allow for open-mindedness. Hostility isn't going to make anything any better.

PurpleFistMixer

Naikon wrote: »

There is absolutely no evidence to support any religious belief.

(Religion != reality I'm afraid)

Did you read what she said?
Here it is again:
"We study what people believe, are you saying people don't actually believe this stuff, and that the DOE is lying to us by saying they do?"
If you mean to say that there is no evidence to support the existence of any religious belief, then I think the mere existence of Jakkass, among many other people (see your local place of religious worship), would prove you wrong.

This kind of "I hate religion get it away from me, you're all fools!" is what gives atheists a bad name.

Naikon

Jakkass wrote: »

Naikon: I really don't mind what you think. I just prefer if discussion about religion didn't involve terms such as "fairy tales". As during my personal study of theology, one finds that it is actually a very complicated but interesting subject of its own.

http://www.brendancalling.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/christianity.JPG

Studying theology is a waste of time in my humble opinion.
There is no escaping the fact that these sources are pure nonsense.
Historically speaking, Jesus was a mere manipulative mortal.

I don't want to particularly offend you, but do you honestly believe that
it's acceptable in this day and age to believe that the earth is 6000 years old, and that Jesus was a magical holy figure from the heavens?
Why is religion used as tool to cover up our lack of knowledge about the universe?

It makes perfect sense to me, you can't prove a negative.
I stand by my terms until proven otherwise.

Naikon

PurpleFistMixer wrote: »

Did you read what she said?
Here it is again:
"We study what people believe, are you saying people don't actually believe this stuff, and that the DOE is lying to us by saying they do?"
If you mean to say that there is no evidence to support the existence of any religious belief, then I think the mere existence of Jakkass, among many other people (see your local place of religious worship), would prove you wrong.

This kind of "I hate religion get it away from me, you're all fools!" is what gives atheists a bad name.

Let me reiterate, I am simply saying there is no evidence to support the existence of omnipresent beings.
I am not denying the fact that people actually "believe" in religious practices.
Some even brainwashed into believing.

PurpleFistMixer

Very well, I was simply taking umbrage at your very selective quoting and interpretation of what Piste was saying.

While I'm not familiar with the content of the Religion course, it seems like it would make sense to study something which has an extremely large influence in the world, if not for personal religious reasons.

philologos

Naikon wrote: »

http://www.brendancalling.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/christianity.JPG

Studying theology is a waste of time in my humble opinion.
There is no escaping the fact that these sources are pure nonsense.
Historically speaking, Jesus was a mere manipulative mortal.

I don't want to particularly offend you, but do you honestly believe that
it's acceptable in this day and age to believe that the earth is 6000 years old, and that Jesus was a magical holy figure from the heavens?
Why is religion used as tool to cover up our lack of knowledge about the universe?

It makes perfect sense to me, you can't prove a negative.
I stand by my terms until proven otherwise.

That's what you think, and I'm okay with your views. A lot of my friends express similar views. However upon reading the Bible, I think that it isn't a "cover up to our lack of knowledge", or anything else, it deals with spiritual connections and giving us a deeper understanding to the life we life. Of course it is possible to claim such an understanding of this through other philosophies, but I believe that Christianity is the most comprehensive, and finally the one which has the most truth behind it.

I honestly believe that there are different ways of interpreting the facts that we are given in the world today. Either in favour of theistic Creation, theistic Evolution, or secular Evolution, or deistic Creation, deistic Evolution etc. People interpret these things in plenty of ways. So yes I do believe it's acceptable for people to gain their own understanding of the world yes, and through Christianity I have found my own understanding. There is a logical basis behind Christianity as well whether you realise it or not, the sheer amount of historical sources is impeccable. I think your question is a loaded question then, as people can also believe that religion is a tool used for broadening our knowledge, that is my stance. Good question, one that we will not know the answer until the end of time.

Hmm, interesting that you say you cannot prove a negative, it's a bit of a get out clause if you ask me. If I rephrased this to "you cannot disprove a positive" how would you feel about it? Again that is a policy of closed mindedness and an unwillingness to look around further than what is visually infront of us through the sense. Actually philosophers such as Plato also proposed that we should look beyond what is physically present to gain an understanding of the world. It's not just confined to Christianity or even religion, but also in philosophy. Or the love of wisdom, if one is too look at the Greek. How about being open, which could lead to you gaining wisdom, instead of closed minded ultimately leading to ignorance of what is around you?

I read something interesting lately, 80% of the worlds population by 2050 will be an adherent of Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism, a rise from 73% in 2005. Also notable Christianity is still expected to top the world in terms of faith by 2050 in the light of Pentecostalism in the Far East etc. Faith is on the rise not on the fall, therefore there is a reason to study it.(figures from Economist 3/11/2007)

I fear that this is going incredibly off topic and apologies to the moderators for doing so. Feel free to continue discussing LC Religion, a subject which I enjoy a lot actually.

PurpleFistMixer wrote:

While I'm not familiar with the content of the Religion course, it seems like it would make sense to study something which has an extremely large influence in the world, if not for personal religious reasons.

Infact a large portion of our religion class (I'd say a majority actually), are either agnostic or atheists but yet they still find the course interesting. It also allows for a lot of open discussion as well.

Naikon wrote:

but there is far too much emphasis on scripture and religious stuff.

Interesting, that is why the subject is called Religious Education isn't it?

PurpleFistMixer wrote:

This kind of "I hate religion get it away from me, you're all fools!" is what gives atheists a bad name.

Absolutely, I have no problem discussing with atheists as long as they take 2 premises into account before I discuss with them, 1) Respect me for who I am, a Christian, 2) be at least somewhat open minded to learn something new, this doesn't mean conversion, it just means take an interest in the general Christian thought of things. I find this "I hate religion" thing to be a disturbing trend, no doubt spurred on by Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens etc, that will hopefully die out.