Current Events > Teaching religion instead of evolution in public schools. Thoughts?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I am not for it but it has been a topic of interest. Thoughts?
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No?
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The only religion we should be teaching in school is religious history. Origins of religions and such.
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Doom_Art posted...

No?

I expect this to be the majority opinion. I just want to see what makes you for or against it. Such as freedom of religion in the first amendment concerns.
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Thoughts? Well, I think it's fucking stupid.
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Sayoria posted...

Such as freedom of religion in the first amendment concerns

As someone else pointed out, if we want to teach kids about religious history and different religions, then I'd definitely be on board with that. I took a World Religions class in HS and it was completely fascinating.

Teaching religion instead of evolution is moronic though. Freedom of religion and first amendment has nothing to do with it.
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Not instead of evolution but rather as an alternative theory to the origin of life.
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Melonfarms posted...

The only religion we should be teaching in school is religious history. Origins of religions and such.

This. A some of the philosophies and views too. Make it an actual learnin instead of indoctrination
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Dumb it down even more. Let it be so religion is the answer to every question about life, just like it was intended to be. It's easier to just say god did it, than think about the reality of the world.

Why is the sky blue? It's gods favorite color

Why does it rain? It's when god is sad

Why did the sun get created? God did it for fun
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religious history as a part of the already existing history class up until around grade 10, and then maybe an elective for 11 and 12, is important
not that bullshit "religious education"

evolution is a literal, observable fact. of course it should be taught, and anyone who disagrees is just flat out wrong. there are no two sides to this discussion.
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No...
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Fuck no. One has a scientific rationale behind it, and the other does not. Schools should therefore focus on the former in curricula.
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UncleBourbon33 posted...

Not instead of evolution but rather as an alternative theory to the origin of life.

This is what actual idiots want in schools.
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Melonfarms posted...

The only religion we should be teaching in school is religious history. Origins of religions and such.

This.

If evolution won't be taught in churches, then religion should not be taught in public schools.
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UncleBourbon33 posted...

Not instead of evolution but rather as an alternative theory to the origin of life.

Evolution is not about the origin of life; that is abiogenesis.
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Religion shouldn't be thought, but philosophy should be taught in order to understand the religions. Philosophical notions such like ontology, epistemology, teleology should be taught so that people understand the issues between religion and science, understand the different concepts of 'self', understand morality and ethics, and so on. We shouldn't be teaching 'facts' like religious history, but rather teach things which underpin our current understanding of the world, both now and the past. After that, evolution could come as a sub-topic, as well as supernatural origin stories.

Basically, just bombard secondary education with philosophy classes, not classes meant for industry or just useless trivia.

No, we should not replace a science lesson with a mythology lesson poorly masquerading as science.
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They teach both in public schools. Evolution in science classes and world religions in global history
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They used to teach religion in public schools back in the day.
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Monolith1676 posted...

They used to teach religion in public schools back in the day.

They still do
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Eevee-Trainer posted...

Fuck no. One has a scientific rationale behind it, and the other does not. Schools should therefore focus on the former in curricula.

Feline_Heart posted...

Monolith1676 posted...

They used to teach religion in public schools back in the day.

They still do

No, I mean like how religious schools teach it. Not just as history.
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Melonfarms posted...

The only religion we should be teaching in school is religious history. Origins of religions and such.

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Monolith1676 posted...

Feline_Heart posted...

Monolith1676 posted...

They used to teach religion in public schools back in the day.

They still do

No, I mean like how religious schools teach it. Not just as history.

Yeah but human knowledge and the pursuit of progress means we have largely consigned that stuff to history.

Why would anyone want to go back to teaching children things which contradict known science?

UncleBourbon33 posted...

Not instead of evolution but rather as an alternative theory to the origin of life.

No, not even that. Save all the religious mumbo jumbo for a religious elective if the school wants.
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I wouldn't want religion thought in schools but I wouldn't mind them teaching things like love your neighbor and other nice things like that.

God knows we currently live in a society currently with no morals and it's disgusting.
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Why would you only teach one or the other?
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Now that I got a fair amount of responses, I am asking this because at the end of the semester, I'll be teamed with another student to argue this topic. The other student wants to "play devils advocate" (as said) and claimed it would be fun taking the pro-faith side, so I agreed to taking the (easier obviously) pro-evolution side. I was advised to ask people for opinions. Online, offline, wherever. This was a fun little study to start brainstorming the topic with.

Anything I come up with, I need to confront with my partner. It's not really a debate thing, but we will be playing it off. We are to gather our own information and help each other compile the project into a 10 page paper in the end. So yeah.

Thanks so far all.
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Melonfarms posted...

The only religion we should be teaching in school is religious history. Origins of religions and such.

This, which is what I was taught. Origins and impact throughout history.

Anything else can get fucked.
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TrevorBlack79 posted...

No, we should not replace a science lesson with a mythology lesson poorly masquerading as science.

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The main reason is there are many different religions, all of which have varied edicts and goals in them.

You can' teach one religion unless you teach ALL religions which isn't realistic.

Add that to the fact that evolution can actually be verified (to some degree) and 95% of all religious teachings have only FAITH backing them.
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itachi15243 posted...

Thoughts? Well, I think it's fucking stupid.

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Monolith1676 posted...

Feline_Heart posted...

Monolith1676 posted...

They used to teach religion in public schools back in the day.

They still do

No, I mean like how religious schools teach it. Not just as history.

I went to Catholic school K-12 and never was taught about religion in science classes.
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I think one question that you might want to press your opponent on, based on how they argue for religion, is whether they actually want an "academic" approach to religion.

What I mean is that most people who want prayer in schools, teaching the bible, etc. don't actually want a typical high school course whose content is religion, they want a Sunday school class. Would they be okay with a class where Christianity is taught in the same manner that Greek mythology is taught, where even though my teacher didn't claim that any mythology was wrong, it certainly wasn't treated as correct?
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I'm not for it but it will happen why because of who the secretary of education is. Expect US education to get worse under the DeVos.
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Melonfarms posted...

The only religion we should be teaching in school is religious history. Origins of religions and such.

This.
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hockeybub89 posted...

Monolith1676 posted...

Feline_Heart posted...

Monolith1676 posted...

They used to teach religion in public schools back in the day.

They still do

No, I mean like how religious schools teach it. Not just as history.

I went to Catholic school K-12 and never was taught about religion in science classes.

Nobody said that it was taught in science classes
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_OujiDoza_ posted...

Melonfarms posted...

The only religion we should be teaching in school is religious history. Origins of religions and such.

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I would actually be fine with a world religions class, teaching the basic tenets, beliefs, and demographics for religions. But Evolution needs to be taught too(and separately), and it needs to teach some of everything.

Zodd3224 posted...

_OujiDoza_ posted...

Melonfarms posted...

The only religion we should be teaching in school is religious history. Origins of religions and such.

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@Sayoria

According to the Pew Research Center, a whopping 70% of Americans self-identify as Christians, with 46% actively practicing their Christian faith.

That means that nearly 226 million Americans have Christian faith as a central element of their lives. Religious faith for many is not just a box they tick, but is an element of their lives that shapes most of the large decisions in your life that are made; who you marry, your code of ethics, how you raise your family, etc.

As a result, it is absurd that we are not incorporating religious education in public schools when it is something that impacts so much of the population of the US. Obviously the US has separation of Church and state, but when religion is such a vital element in the lives of so many Americans, it is important to have an understanding of these concepts when it is so profoundly influential to the way we live our lives.

Like it or not, America was founded on Judeo Christian values and principles. We have significant evidence that many American founders were orthodox, religious Christians, and at the time 98% of Europeans identified as Christians. While you can argue that maybe they were not truly devout in their personal lives, there is no way these founders could have not had some Christian influence when nearly every single person in the western world at the time was Christian.

Therefore, Christianity has a very important part in American's culture and history and continues to do so. Christianity is an important part of our nation's framework. Modern Christian theology is absolutely compatible with science, as they frequently do not cover the same topics, and they should be given the same attention as science.
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Romulox28 posted...

@Sayoria

According to the Pew Research Center, a whopping 70% of Americans self-identify as Christians, with 46% actively practicing their Christian faith.

That means that nearly 226 million Americans have Christian faith as a central element of their lives. Religious faith for many is not just a box they tick, but is an element of their lives that shapes most of the large decisions in your life that are made; who you marry, your code of ethics, how you raise your family, etc.

As a result, it is absurd that we are not incorporating religious education in public schools when it is something that impacts so much of the population of the US. Obviously the US has separation of Church and state, but when religion is such a vital element in the lives of so many Americans, it is important to have an understanding of these concepts when it is so profoundly influential to the way we live our lives.

Like it or not, America was founded on Judeo Christian values and principles. We have significant evidence that many American founders were orthodox, religious Christians, and at the time 98% of Europeans identified as Christians. While you can argue that maybe they were not truly devout in their personal lives, there is no way these founders could have not had some Christian influence when nearly every single person in the western world at the time was Christian.

Therefore, Christianity has a very important part in American's culture and history and continues to do so. Christianity is an important part of our nation's framework. Modern Christian theology is absolutely compatible with science, as they frequently do not cover the same topics, and they should be given the same attention as science.

Fuck that.

Religion (of any kind) should never be taught in school. Because every single religious argument revolves around "faith."

Nothing that REVOLVES around faith should be taught in public school.

Also how is it okay in your opinion to teach Christianity but not other religions when they revolve around the exact same argument, "faith."

Your "faith" is not more important then someone else's "faith".
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Dustin1280 posted...

Fuck that.

Religion (of any kind) should never be taught in school. Because every single religious argument revolves around "faith."

Nothing that REVOLVES around faith should be taught in public school.

Also how is it okay in your opinion to teach Christianity but not other religions when they revolve around the exact same argument, "faith."

Your "faith" is not more important then someone else's "faith".

but i'd argue that in the history of the US, the Christian faith is definitely more important than other faiths because it is not only the views of the vast majority of the nation but also has a huge historical context in the country
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Child abuse
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Romulox28 posted...

@Sayoria

According to the Pew Research Center, a whopping 70% of Americans self-identify as Christians, with 46% actively practicing their Christian faith.

That means that nearly 226 million Americans have Christian faith as a central element of their lives. Religious faith for many is not just a box they tick, but is an element of their lives that shapes most of the large decisions in your life that are made; who you marry, your code of ethics, how you raise your family, etc.

As a result, it is absurd that we are not incorporating religious education in public schools when it is something that impacts so much of the population of the US. Obviously the US has separation of Church and state, but when religion is such a vital element in the lives of so many Americans, it is important to have an understanding of these concepts when it is so profoundly influential to the way we live our lives.

Like it or not, America was founded on Judeo Christian values and principles. We have significant evidence that many American founders were orthodox, religious Christians, and at the time 98% of Europeans identified as Christians. While you can argue that maybe they were not truly devout in their personal lives, there is no way these founders could have not had some Christian influence when nearly every single person in the western world at the time was Christian.

Therefore, Christianity has a very important part in American's culture and history and continues to do so. Christianity is an important part of our nation's framework. Modern Christian theology is absolutely compatible with science, as they frequently do not cover the same topics, and they should be given the same attention as science.

It's your churches job to teach you nonsense, not the state's
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Romulox28 posted...

but i'd argue that in the history of the US, the Christian faith is definitely more important than other faiths because it is not only the views of the vast majority of the nation but also has a huge historical context in the country

If we are strictly talking about history sure, you can teach how Christianity may have impacted various parts of it.

There is a massive difference however when talking about Christianity in a historical context vs an accepted truth.

I am perfectly okay with the historical context aspect being taught. But don't you dare try to teach Christianity as a truth or something proven because it revolves around faith which is inherently something that cannot be proven by facts.
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Dustin1280 posted...

Romulox28 posted...

but i'd argue that in the history of the US, the Christian faith is definitely more important than other faiths because it is not only the views of the vast majority of the nation but also has a huge historical context in the country

If we are strictly talking about history sure, you can teach how Christianity may have impacted various parts of it.

There is a massive difference however when talking about Christianity in a historical context vs an accepted truth.

I am perfectly okay with the historical context aspect being taught. But don't you dare try to teach Christianity as a truth or something proven because it revolves around faith which is inherently something that cannot be proven by facts.

cant argue with that, all good points. i was just trying to play devil's advocate for the sake of the topic
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As a Christian I don't believe it should be taught in public schools. If I want my children to learn about Christianity I'll either send them to a private Christian school or I'll have it taught to them at a ministry or church.

Only acceptible teaching of religion in public schools should be either religious history or comparative religion.

Melonfarms posted...

The only religion we should be teaching in school is religious history. Origins of religions and such.

This.
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