Should religious education be put back on schools curriculum given the erosion o

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   Tina2011posted 14 years ago

   Should religious education be put back on schools curriculum given the erosion of values today?

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   superwagsposted 14 years ago

   In the UK, religious education is the only lesson that has to be taught to 16 by law. It is generally to promote a better understanding of others' cultures though.
   
   If you mean teach people one religion over another, then no, of course not.

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   Dr. Wendyposted 14 years ago

   I don't have a yes or no answer.  I am a Christian, and I homeschool my children.  I believe in the separation of church and state.  However, I see false religions being taught in public schools and that really bothers me.  It seems like any religion, other than Christianity is ok.  If secular humanism is acceptable, Christianity should be too.  Yet, even within Christianity, there are so many denominations and beliefs. I don't know how a teacher could properly teach religion.  Parents who send their children to school really need to be paying attention so that they can teach their children truths, especially if their kids are being fed a bunch of lies.  Morals need to begin at home too, but most definitely need to be a part of what is going on in school.  Schools need to quit handing out condoms and playing parents to other people's kids.  The people within the school system should be viewed as hirelings.  Parents need to be aware and have the final say-so in what goes on in their children's lives.

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   Barbara Kayposted 14 years ago

   No, because we need separation between church and state. I sent my kids to a Christian school part of their high school years, so it's not that I have anything against religion.
   
   This wouldn't be fair to families of different faiths either.

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   peterxdunnposted 14 years ago

   No - there should not be any state support for any religion. If parents want to brainwash their children they should undertake it - and pay for it - themselves.
   
   You talk about values. What values? Whose values?
   
   Do you mean religious values? Religion teaches that people who do not share a particular religion do not - either - share the values of that religion. Ergo these people are evil and it 's quite OK to go out and kill them.
   
   How is this valuable?

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   jvhirniakposted 14 years ago

   hmmm, separation of church and state would make that difficult in the United States, although I agree family values (among others) have gone down the tubes....

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   Pcunixposted 14 years ago

   Yes. As an atheist, I definitely think children should be taught everything we know about the history of religion and myths.
   
   Most people really know very little about even their own religion and are unable to recognize the inheritance from more ancient belief systems.  Knowing that history breeds healthy skepticism and might help curb some of the dangerous fundamentalism that can occur when only one religion is taught.
   
   As to values, understanding the values that various systems have held as absolute truth can also help to broaden children's minds.  I'm talking about teaching ABOUT what these religions believed,not what SHOULD be believed according to one creed.
   
   And of course, the children should also be taught ABOUT humanism and atheism.

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   dianebowlingposted 14 years ago

   Uh, no.....that's a heck no. First off which of the world's religions would you choose to force down the throats of our young people? Which God would you choose?
   Secondly, isn't that one of the reasons our four fathers crossed the ocean to settle in the new world. How many people have been persecuted and killed because they didn't follow their government's religion. That is the reason here in America we have separation of church and state (yeah, land of the free and all that).
   Thirdly, the erosion of values today is not because we don't have bible class in public school (however, if you choose that route there are many, many private religious schools).
   Fourthly (not sure if that is even a word), isn't it OUR jobs as parents to teach our children values in our home, not depend on schools, where your child will only be 6 hrs a day, nine months of the year, minus weekends and breaks. The majority of their time is spent with us (or at least it should be) and we should be providing our child with a good role model and teaching them to be good people (not necessarily good Christians, good Muslims, whatnot) including how to be accepting and not judgemental of other people. (Yes, I said the J word)
   Lastly, take a look at the news, I'm sure you willl find some country who does not have a democratic society. There you will find hell. Do you really want that here?
   We may have a crappy economy right now and crappy healthcare, incompetant politicians but one thing we do have is FREEDOM. That means we can take our kids to any church we want, on our own time. The schools are there to teach our kids skills they need to live and work (you know math, science, social studies), it's our job to do the rest.

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   esmeinposted 14 years ago

   I don't necessarily think that any religious subject should be mandatory in school. The lack of moral values, in my opinion, are more due to the absence of parental control and parental figures in children's life.
   
   If it was entirely up to me, I'd encourage parents to spend time with their kids rather than letting the TV raise them. If anything is killing off values today it's the lack of attention children get.

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    Bethany Culpepperposted 14 years ago

    No.  Parents should be responsible for these issues.  Besides, which brand of religion would they teach?

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    Tirzah Laughsposted 14 years ago

    First, i'm not religious. I have no desire to be religious. Once you pick a religion and put it in the curriculum, where does it end?  What if they pick a Muslim or Native American religion, would the Christian children be offended?
    
    I would greatly resent being forcefed someone else's doctrine of beliefs.  If you want to teach good manners such as being kind to others, sharing...you dont' need religion for that.
    
    Religion never gave anyone 'values', it just gave them a way to punish or shun those that didn't fit their idea of what 'values' were.
    
    To me, religion has done more harm to the world than good.  It divides people into smaller and smaller groups.
    
    But I don't want to remove something from people that gives them comfort so let religion exist....outside public schools.   Not inside where it does not belong.
    
    Personal religious values should be taught by the families, not the schools.  Once you pull in religion, you open a can of worms.

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    nightwork4posted 14 years ago

    no way. the erosion is partly do to religion , look at the actions of priests. though i don't tell my kids what to believe in there is no way i want religion forced on them. look at how many attrocities have been commited in the name of religion, yup good morals there.

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    wilbury4posted 14 years ago

    To begin with, I would start by defining what Religious Education actually is.
    Religious Education is education covering all religions, learning and understanding about the beliefs of each religion, learning about the gods and prophets from each religion, learning about the world areas where each religion originated, etc.
    Religious Education is not bringing the pupil up in any one religious faith. Muslims, Jews, Christians, Hindus etc can theoretically all be taught Religious Education together in the same class. Even non-religious pupils can benefit from Religious Education classes.
    Bearing that in mind, I would say that Religious Education should definitely be on the curriculum in todays schooling.

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    Kelly Underwoodposted 12 years ago

    Christian Education is very important and I guess having christian universities would help. http://www.christianeducation.com/

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