Religion in Education

We should teach tolerance. The difficulty is how to do this w/o showing bias. The notion the UK is a christian country is outdated. Out of everyone I know from the UK i would say less than 1% of those have a genuine religious belief.

I believe in God

And I believe that God believes in Claude

That's me, that's me, that's meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Have said for years that it shouldn't be taught in schools.

Should be down to the parents/local church to go over the subject. Schools should stick to teaching facts, not matters of belief.

it can be taught at school, but should take the form of philosophy, and every religion, myth, philosophy of existence should be covered

most schools wouldnt exist without religion. they are funded by the church for the very reason they instil their beliefs on open minded 5 year olds.

The best school in my area is one of those funded ones, and it teaches creationism (that is the belief that god created everything, and Darwin was wrong).

How do they get away with that?

Can you believe that some english schools cant have nativity plays for the kids anymore

what a mess we are in

:(

SNOOCH 27 Nov 17:16


It has no place in school i say. Religion is for the home or church if people are interested. Schools should only cover a very brief overview covering all religions. The time would be better spent teaching the kids something of use like a foreign language. In Scandinavia the kids learn English from 5 years old. The education system is not helping the countries religion problems. Why do we have Catholic schools, what is there to stop Muslim schools appearing. Give kids education that will help them in the future. Rant Over

Muslim schools already exist in the UK

Might as well stick a whisk in their brains and give it a vigorous twirl. I'm the nearest thing to a god you'll ever meet. Which puts it in perspective.

Spot on, snooch

BF forumites arrive at the correct conclusion as usual - it restores my faith.

Totally agree Snooch.

Religious instruction should be completely banned from all schools and the face of the earth as far as I'm concerned.

Totally fabricated fairytales to keep the commoners in check and fear over the years, creates polarised views polarised societies, venom , hatred and total intolerance.

Religion sucks big time imho. :(

utter rubbish

so we deprive kids of having christmas at school but a few muslims dont like it?

Yep, should be banned. All 'Faith Schools' should be closed down, whatever the faith concerned.

Bearing in mind our legal system is based on Christian Faith it's very important. Plus all scriptures are excellent works of literature they are worth studying.

Bearing in mind our legal system is cr%p, not really dave. And the scriptures - selected, edited, distorted, castrated, ,injected with heroin, soaked in cherry brandy and set alight. Also no.

My Mom has been a head of RE teacher at a secondary school for 30 years. Im sure she could argue the relevance of the subject. From my perspective I believe that it gives the students boundries and encourages people to act in a particular way. The majority of genuinely religeous people in the UK only do good for society, ie raise money and help disadvantaged others. Therefore I beleive that all children should be taught religion, however they have the opportunity to make up their own minds if they wish to pursue it any further.

The religious don't have a monopoly on 'doing good' and an RE Teachers arguments carry no weight with me - still less an archbishop.

So. religion stops people from killing other people, which is what they would do if they didn't have religion. Except when religion suggests they should kill the others. To be on the safe side I should kill all.

Religion may teach people to kill others in other parts of the world but were pretty darn safe in the UK!

what - due to RE in schools?

lol, erm no.

You forget, religion comes in , as well as goes out.

When I did RE in school, we learned any aspects of the main faiths, including atheism. There was no right or wrong. It was more an excercise in understanding other peoples beliefs. No problem at all there. Surely if you say that should not be taught, you are as bad as any 'zealot' out there?

That should read 'many' faiths

yes i agree it comes in, in which i presume you mean fanatics. Its an issue that has been blown completely out of perspective imo.

Sorry, many aspects of the main faiths.

I concur Dave, there is even more aspects of the main faiths being brought into RE. I feel that those who dont think RE is relevant in schools are very naive. People need to be given and taught different faiths in order to make a decision about how they wish to live their lives. When I was 20 I thought that RE was a waste of time and I even told my mother, which she respected. Now at 28 I feel completely different towards it.

I'm with the majority on this thread....the way religion of all kinds is perpetuated is by forcing it upon kids from an early age...kids still young enough to believe in Santa and the tooth fairy. They are too young to question it because they believe anything that adults tell them. I believe it's wrong because they are forced to embrace someone else's beliefs (teachers / parents)...a percentage carry those beliefs through to adulthood and the cycle begins again.

That's sounds ok MUD - certainly not the way it went in my day.
Is that the normal curriculum now I wonder?
Seems to me an hour of RE is just another hour of lesson the kids have to sit through and forgotten as they walk out the classroom door until exams and revision becomes necessary.

Some people on this thread seem to be confusing being taught about religion (ie: RE) and being a faith school.

Being taught about religion includes all religions, what they believe and where they came from. There's hardly anything wrong with that. I think that they are all a load of old bull, but kids being educated about them (as wityh anything) prevents them turning into complete nobs with misinformed views similar to those reguarly expressed by some Betfair forumites.

Faith schools, on the other hand, will probably teach about other religions but are specfically designed to influence and 'catch' impressionable kids and promote their faith as 'the real thing'. And that cannot be healthy.

i taught RS (religious studies) in a secondary school a few years ago. Im not religious. The syllabus covered all main religions and was designed to encourage tollerance and understanding as well as encouraging debate - no part of it attempted to make the kids religious. At faith schools of course this will be different.

I am not an expect on religion - learnt it basically on the job but know quite a bit about the main religions as a result.

SNOOCH - Why do we have Catholic schools?

Religion in education you say; thinly veiled anit-Catholic bigotry more like as is your habit on here. There are Church of England schools too but that wouldn't fit in with your agenda.