You can study religion at the university using the scientific method. That is comparing different religious texts, analysing the historical context of the religious texts, explore how religious tradition evolved over time.
Also I have a hard time imaging a society without religion. People will always believe in something, be it fate, astrology, crystals. And people always have. Religion is a big part of our culture. Not talking about it will not undo it. We have to talk about it and and we have to teach about it. Teach about the atrocities commited in the name of religion but also the fascinating ideas religion has left in our culture. Such as the idea that you have a moral obligation to help the vulnerable, beyond your personal interest.
And teaching should not be left to your weird aunt or some strange people on the Internet. Teaching needs expertise and should be done in the best interest of the child.
A society founded on laicism gives no democratic voice to the issues of religion. Religion becomes a private matter and will only be taught by false prophets with a private interest such as making money from scamming people or gaining political influence.
The public must fund religion for it to be free and it must also make sure that there is no religion who actively undermines the constitution. Tolerance only works if there’s a minimal consensus on the fact that we have to be tolerant and how we resolve conflicts in a peaceful way and this minimal consensus should be the constitution.
So it always depends on your current point of view:
Are schools filled with proletyzing fundamentalist ?then yes you might need less religion and more science in school or more scientific method in your religious teaching
But are your kids so uneducated about religion that they blindly believe everything they are being told about “gods will” ? Then please reintroduce some religious teaching in your education system. Let them work on the sources.
I disagree here, at least in the way you phrased it.
Freedom is about restrictions on what the government provides. If your school teaches Christianity exclusively, for example, then are you really free to practice Buddhism? Not really, because you’re essentially getting indoctrinated into whatever religion your school picked to teach, which will directly oppose the religion you want to practice.
I absolutely think religion should be taught at school, and all major religions should be taught. You should finish K-12 with a passing understanding of all of the major world religions and be able to talk intelligently about the differences in the various value systems. This helps immensely in understanding those around you, and it can also help identify those “false prophets” you’re talking about because you’ll notice where they differ from the main branch of their professed religion.
I’m deeply religious, and I would hate for my religion to be taught exclusively at any school my kids go to. In fact, some of my neighbors send their kids to a private school that teaches my religion, and I would absolutely refuse to send my kids there, even if it was free. I want my kids to decide for themselves what religion (if any) to believe in, because without freedom, what do your choices even mean? I’d much rather have discussions on religion with my kids instead of give sermons.
So I’m absolutely in the camp of schools should be secular, but I’m also firmly in the camp that schools should teach religion, they just need to be impartial.
Well it depends:
Science and Religion are not opposing forces:
You can study religion at the university using the scientific method. That is comparing different religious texts, analysing the historical context of the religious texts, explore how religious tradition evolved over time.
Also I have a hard time imaging a society without religion. People will always believe in something, be it fate, astrology, crystals. And people always have. Religion is a big part of our culture. Not talking about it will not undo it. We have to talk about it and and we have to teach about it. Teach about the atrocities commited in the name of religion but also the fascinating ideas religion has left in our culture. Such as the idea that you have a moral obligation to help the vulnerable, beyond your personal interest.
And teaching should not be left to your weird aunt or some strange people on the Internet. Teaching needs expertise and should be done in the best interest of the child.
A society founded on laicism gives no democratic voice to the issues of religion. Religion becomes a private matter and will only be taught by false prophets with a private interest such as making money from scamming people or gaining political influence.
The public must fund religion for it to be free and it must also make sure that there is no religion who actively undermines the constitution. Tolerance only works if there’s a minimal consensus on the fact that we have to be tolerant and how we resolve conflicts in a peaceful way and this minimal consensus should be the constitution.
So it always depends on your current point of view:
Are schools filled with proletyzing fundamentalist ?then yes you might need less religion and more science in school or more scientific method in your religious teaching
But are your kids so uneducated about religion that they blindly believe everything they are being told about “gods will” ? Then please reintroduce some religious teaching in your education system. Let them work on the sources.
Here’s an interesting example of this
Dlf Islamunterricht - Schwieriger Weg zur Normalität im Schulalltag https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/islamunterricht-schwieriger-weg-zur-normalitaet-im-schulalltag-dlf-e73dc633-100.html
I disagree here, at least in the way you phrased it.
Freedom is about restrictions on what the government provides. If your school teaches Christianity exclusively, for example, then are you really free to practice Buddhism? Not really, because you’re essentially getting indoctrinated into whatever religion your school picked to teach, which will directly oppose the religion you want to practice.
I absolutely think religion should be taught at school, and all major religions should be taught. You should finish K-12 with a passing understanding of all of the major world religions and be able to talk intelligently about the differences in the various value systems. This helps immensely in understanding those around you, and it can also help identify those “false prophets” you’re talking about because you’ll notice where they differ from the main branch of their professed religion.
I’m deeply religious, and I would hate for my religion to be taught exclusively at any school my kids go to. In fact, some of my neighbors send their kids to a private school that teaches my religion, and I would absolutely refuse to send my kids there, even if it was free. I want my kids to decide for themselves what religion (if any) to believe in, because without freedom, what do your choices even mean? I’d much rather have discussions on religion with my kids instead of give sermons.
So I’m absolutely in the camp of schools should be secular, but I’m also firmly in the camp that schools should teach religion, they just need to be impartial.