School Religion Out Out Out

Mr_Red

IS it time to remove all religious activities and Religious teaching from school
(Not counting History classes)

Aint Eazy Being Cheezy

Nearly half eleven? Nah, keep at it 'til lunch time.

KungPao

Well, Holy God.

catallus

A cogent point, well made.

wazky

Without religion we would all still be savages scrawling on the walls of caves.

whiskeyman

I can remember our 'Religion' teacher just let us do our homework during his class.

legend!

Clankatron

wazky wrote: »

Without religion we would all still be savages scrawling on the walls of caves.

Nah, in fairness by now we'd have colonized Mars and would have been exploring deep space for years.

Ninjini

I think if there is a religion class it should teach about all major religions.

Outline the core beliefs, how the religions are practiced etc.

Not just focus on learning Catholic prayers and sacraments to recite.

TheMilkyPirate

Ninjini wrote: »

I think if there is a religion class it should teach about all major religions.

Outline the core beliefs, how the religions are practiced etc.

Not just focus on learning Catholic prayers and sacraments to recite.

This, Have a religion class by all means that teaches children about all the different religions where they come from and how people practice them.

Just don't force one of those religions on the children.

catallus

I can see the totalitarians coming out in force on this one, (again ).

Religious freedom is a family issue not a State one.

Captain Flaps

My religion class in secondary school was more a sociology class where we learnt about the belief systems of all the major religions, the similarities and how they had been at odds with each other through the years. It was actually really interesting and I definitely think that something like that (teaching ABOUT religion) should be taught everywhere. Completely against teaching religion, imposing beliefs and prayers in schools though.

RobbieTheRobber

Ninjini wrote: »

I think if there is a religion class it should teach about all major religions.

Outline the core beliefs, how the religions are practiced etc.

Not just focus on learning Catholic prayers and sacraments to recite.

Its a lot more inclusive of other religions than the current system but as useless as teaching children the difference between the Marvel and DC superheroes.
Would it not be a lot better to teach kids more useful subjects like maths than waste their time on ancient fairy stories?

LenaClaire

RobbieTheRobber wrote: »

Its a lot more inclusive than the current system but as useless as teaching children the difference between the Marvel and DC superheroes.
Would it not be a lot better to teach kids more useful subjects like maths than waste their time on ancient fairy stories?

A lot of current political issues are very tied into religion. Having an understanding of religion, the history of religious strife, and the current impact of religion on politics would be very helpful for understanding current and historical struggles.

Optimalprimerib

Captain Flaps wrote: »

My religion class in secondary school was more a sociology class where we learnt about the belief systems of all the major religions, the similarities and how they had been at odds with each other through the years. It was actually really interesting and I definitely think that something like that (teaching ABOUT religion) should be taught everywhere. Completely against teaching religion, imposing beliefs and prayers in schools though.

I agree with this. Religions in general hold such anf important factor in the current social environment. The majority of wars have been started due to religious beliefs and hold a strong card in government as well. I always found religion interesting when it veered from the Catholic teachings.

freshpopcorn

In primary school we mainly coloured in the Alive-O book and the odd story. Then when we got your communion or conformation you had to learn a few prayers nothing drastic and if you found them hard the priest/school weren't that bothered.
In secondary school we mainly watched movies/did homework and the priest called in for the odd chat.
I always looked forward to religion.

Egginacup

As long as there are exams in school, there will always be praying

TwoShedsJackson

Egginacup wrote: »

As long as there are exams in school, there will always be praying

http://s22.postimg.org/54bcw6mgh/pfy.jpg

RobbieTheRobber

LenaClaire wrote: »

A lot of current political issues are very tied into religion. Having an understanding of religion, the history of religious strife, and the current impact of religion on politics would be very helpful for understanding current and historical struggles.

No I dont think so!

suicide_circus

We learned how to judge people and how to oppress and disenfranchise minorities

LenaClaire

RobbieTheRobber wrote: »

No I dont think so!

Why not?

o1s1n

freshpopcorn wrote: »

In primary school we mainly coloured in the Alive-O book and the odd story. Then when we got your communion or conformation you had to learn a few prayers nothing drastic and if you found them hard the priest/school weren't that bothered.
In secondary school we mainly watched movies/did homework and the priest called in for the odd chat.
I always looked forward to religion.

So it's basically a waste of time then that could be put to better use, right.

I was exempt from religion in school and used it as a great opportunity to get my homework done

foggy_lad

TheMilkyPirate wrote: »

This, Have a religion class by all means that teaches children about all the different religions where they come from and how people practice them.

Just don't force one of those religions on the children.

The people giving/teaching these classes will always be biased towards their own religious beliefs.

There's nothing to be said for saying another Mass:pac:

RobbieTheRobber

LenaClaire wrote: »

Why not?

If it was that simple surely all we would have had to do was explain the difference between catholic and protestant faiths and the whole north divide would have been solved. right?

LenaClaire

RobbieTheRobber wrote: »

If it was that simple surely all we would have had to do was explain the difference between catholic and protestant faiths and the whole north divide would have been solved. right?

I am not saying it will solve the problems, but if people want to try to come up with a solution, they have to understand the foundation of the problem. Otherwise you just keep repeating the same mistakes over and over again.

RobbieTheRobber

LenaClaire wrote: »

I am not saying it will solve the problems, but if people want to try to come up with a solution, they have to understand the foundation of the problem. Otherwise you just keep repeating the same mistakes over and over again.

Well for me a good start to stopping the repetition would be to stop teaching innocent young minds religious nonsense!

Barely There

The use of valuable education time to indoctrinate our children into the mumbo-jumbo of one particular religion as opposed to teaching them Chinese or something really gets me angry.

OperationWolf

Mr_Red wrote: »

IS it time to remove all religious activities and Religious teaching from school
(Not counting History classes)

No. That would be stupid.

Children should learn about the world around them and religion is part of that world.

They should also learn about other religions and cultures besides Catholicism.

o1s1n

OperationWolf wrote: »

No. That would be stupid.

Children should learn about the world around them and religion is part of that world.

They should also learn about other religions and cultures besides Catholicism.

If they were to learn about world religions and philosophy in some sort of neutral sociology class (and not 'religion class') then that would be ideal.

However, it's just one of those subjects that a very large percentage of people can't get over their own bias and teacher objectively. Therefore I'd agree that it just shouldn't enter schools at all.

cletus van damme

suicide_circus wrote: »

We learned how to judge people and how to oppress and disenfranchise minorities

sounds good to me
is there a refresher course for adults?

conorhal

Normally I'd say, non issue. We may need to go down that route however to keep nutters like this bloke in check:

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/religion-and-beliefs/call-for-state-schools-to-accommodate-islamic-beliefs-1.1915810

Dr Selim wants:

Islamic Holidays to be marked and celebrated
Special days off for Muslim children
Schools to actively participate in Ramadan by raising funds for "the needy"
A ban on raffles as a method of fund raising as they are "strictly forbidden" in Islam
"Crucial" changes to Relationships and Sexuality Education curriculum to exclude reference to or attempted normalization of pre-marital relationships
Exemptions and radical change to PE to ensure female only teachers and a ban on male staff accessing areas where girls might be taking lessons
All music to exclude any instruments that makes a note ("tunable instruments")
School Plays to forbid any physical contact between boys and girls and a ban on gender role reversals

Fuzzytrooper

suicide_circus wrote: »

We learned how to judge people and how to oppress and disenfranchise minorities

I think people are fairly good at doing that irrespective of religious background or lack thereof.

Vandango

Mr_Red wrote: »

School Religion Out Out Out

Are you a reincarnation of Maggie by any chance?

I Heart Internet

Mr_Red wrote: »

IS it time to remove all religious activities and Religious teaching from school
(Not counting History classes)

No. No it's not.

Irish Guitarist

I loved religion class. It was forty minutes of doing almost nothing.

I'm sure I'm not the only one that liked a break from the likes of maths class. I wonder did anyone actually hate religion when they were in school or are they just complaining because whining about the Catholic church is the done thing now.

If I had been given the choice of getting rid of one class in school it would have been PE.

shruikan2553

Irish Guitarist wrote: »

I loved religion class. It was forty minutes of doing almost nothing.

I'm sure I'm not the only one that liked a break from the likes of maths class. I wonder did anyone actually hate religion when they were in school or are they just complaining because whining about the Catholic church is the done thing now.

If I had been given the choice of getting rid of one class in school it would have been PE.

Because the church has done nothing wrong that has cone to light recently.

Paramite Pie

Private Religious Schools are a far bigger worry -- I'd rather keep religion in a place where we can monitor it.

Ninjini wrote: »

I think if there is a religion class it should teach about all major religions.

Outline the core beliefs, how the religions are practiced etc.

Not just focus on learning Catholic prayers and sacraments to recite.

In fairness, I believe this is the current curriculum. Whether it's being taught or not in every school is a different story....

I Heart Internet

Ninjini wrote: »

Not just focus on learning Catholic prayers and sacraments to recite.

Sacraments aren't recited.

krudler

I'm all for teaching about religions, the origins, beliefs, effect son society and history etc. But not the drivel we used to learn about Adam & Eve and talking snakes and men living in whales. That nonsense has no place being taught to kids.

AdolfHipster

Should replace it with "Movementarians 101" and learn further about our glorious leader!

ScumLord

conorhal wrote: »

Dr Selim wants:

Islamic Holidays to be marked and celebrated
Special days off for Muslim children
Schools to actively participate in Ramadan by raising funds for "the needy"

Up to here, I have no problem. There's nothing wrong with acknowledging Muslim holidays and the raising funds for ramadan is a good thing.


I do think we need a religion class, religion has been too important to human civilization to just ignore it's existence in our schools. It criss crosses through everything from history to science.

I think in many ways you could see religion as a beta version of science in that it was asking the same questions just going about it in a different way, but even so I think it was a fundamental part of developing the human condition. It brought just as much good into the world as it did bad and made people aware of the fact there was a bigger picture outside of themselves and they're societies.

I do think a religion class that looks at the history of religion would probably lead to more people turning to atheism. When the facts are laid out in front of people they're not going to buy into the dogma as easily.

Crumpets

When I was primary school, we were made learn passages from the Bible and go up to the top of the class and recite them. :eek: And you wouldn't have a bull's notion what you were saying.

shruikan2553

Crumpets wrote: »

When I was primary school, we were made learn passages from the Bible and go up to the top of the class and recite them. :eek: And you wouldn't have a bull's notion what you were saying.

Did you get to learn the beattitudes? Cant remember what they were or what they were form but I remember having the learn them.

krudler

ScumLord wrote: »

I do think a religion class that looks at the history of religion would probably lead to more people turning to atheism. When the facts are laid out in front of people they're not going to buy into the dogma as easily.

Exactly, children are a lot easier to sell religion to. That's what the churches motto has always been "get 'em while the're young", which a few people took a bit too literally.

I Heart Internet

shruikan2553 wrote: »

Did you get to learn the beattitudes? Cant remember what they were or what they were form but I remember having the learn them.

Blessed are..

• ....the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven. (5:3)
• ....those who mourn: for they will be comforted. (5:4)
• ....the meek: for they will inherit the earth. (5:5)
• ....those who hunger and thirst for righteousness: for they will be filled. (5:6)
• ....the merciful: for they will be shown mercy. (5:7)
• ....the pure in heart: for they will see God. (5:8)
• ....the peacemakers: for they will be called children of God. (5:9)
• ....those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (5:10)

Good stuff!

Pherekydes

I Heart Internet wrote: »

Blessed are..

• ....the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven. (5:3)
• ....those who mourn: for they will be comforted. (5:4)
• ....the meek: for they will inherit the earth. (5:5)
• ....those who hunger and thirst for righteousness: for they will be filled. (5:6)
• ....the merciful: for they will be shown mercy. (5:7)
• ....the pure in heart: for they will see God. (5:8)
• ....the peacemakers: for they will be called children of God. (5:9)
• ....those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (5:10)

Good stuff!

Matthew 9:9 is my favourite.

osarusan

I liked Matthew 3 Luke 1.

Great game.

The_Valeyard

We learned about all cultures and religions in school RE. Think some of the posters do not realise that things have moved on in second level schooling.

And anyway militant secularists will not be happy until religion is treated like a mental illness to be cured.

mrty

It should be removed from society....

The_Valeyard

mrty wrote: »

It should be removed from society....

Then who is next? The communists , the Jews ?

catallus

It is amusing seeing Luddite-like people dismiss religious belief and calling for it to be "taken out of society" when the reality on the ground the world over is that faith is growing strong and providing the majority of people with communities and strong familial bonds.

It occurs to me that secularists just can't help but see what they want to see.

Berserker

mrty wrote: »

It should be removed from society....

You must be another one of those "all-respecting" atheists.

The_Valeyard wrote: »

We learned about all cultures and religions in school RE. Think some of the posters do not realise that things have moved on in second level schooling.

Yep, I am in my 30s and our RE covered all religions. I am not RC myself and some RC parents took exception to that fact that other religions were being discussed but they soon pipped down when the young RC Chaplin in our school, who thought us RE told them that he felt that it was best to educate young children about all religions. That young man was years ahead of his time by the sounds of things.

OP, why is it ok to include it in history classes, might I ask?