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Author Topic:   Teaching of religion worldwide
carbonstar
Inactive Member


Message 16 of 41 (338491)
08-08-2006 11:23 AM
Reply to: Message 15 by Phat
08-08-2006 11:13 AM


Re: Six of One and half a dozen others
I can see how challenging it gets for a person to strictly believe in something that it seems that the whole world "disproves". This is why I think culturally faith is a very beautiful thing. Mixing science and faith is a very dangerous thing in my opinion.
Even though it seems hard from some to do, I think its a very important thing to do. I personally think that science and faith can truely co-exsist just fine. People thought it was heracy to believe that the Earth was not the center of the universe, but look at us now, religion is still strong now and we beleive that the sun is at the center of the solar system. Works just fine...
I look at learning about other faiths not as testing your own faith... but understanding our neighbors.. and the current rising conflicts of today.. and probably forevermore.

- "Only two things in life are infinate, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not so sure about the former." - Albert Einstein

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Quetzal
Member (Idle past 5872 days)
Posts: 3228
Joined: 01-09-2002


Message 17 of 41 (338640)
08-08-2006 8:06 PM
Reply to: Message 12 by anglagard
07-27-2006 7:25 PM


Re: Odessa Texas Bible Class
This has got to be the absolute best part:
quote:
Tracey Kiesling, the national council's national teacher trainer, said the course offered "scientific documentation" on the flood and cites as a scientific authority Carl Baugh, described by Mrs. Kiesling as "an internationally known creation scientist who founded the Creation Evidence Museum in Glen Rose, Tex." (from the linked article)
Carl Baugh and "scientific authority" somehow don't seem to fit very well, IMO.
On the other hand, teaching an "elective" course on the Bible - as long as it's not a ministry outreach or bible study kind of thing - doesn't strike me as necessarily bad, all in all. It would be even more interesting to teach a true comparative literary study using several other holy books as well as the bible. I doubt the fundies pushing Carl Baugh as a scientific authority would countenance that, however.

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jegule 
Inactive Member


Message 18 of 41 (412588)
07-25-2007 1:47 PM
Reply to: Message 1 by Whirlwind
10-28-2005 6:33 AM


removed spam
spammer is banned
Thanks for getting my attention Bren.
Edited by AdminNosy, : removed spam

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jegule 
Inactive Member


Message 19 of 41 (412590)
07-25-2007 1:48 PM
Reply to: Message 1 by Whirlwind
10-28-2005 6:33 AM


hi
hi
Edited by jegule, : No reason given.

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macaroniandcheese 
Suspended Member (Idle past 3928 days)
Posts: 4258
Joined: 05-24-2004


Message 20 of 41 (412605)
07-25-2007 2:30 PM
Reply to: Message 18 by jegule
07-25-2007 1:47 PM


HEY ADMIN, SPAM ALERT!
spam off, spammo.

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Stile
Member
Posts: 4295
From: Ontario, Canada
Joined: 12-02-2004


Message 21 of 41 (412648)
07-25-2007 5:26 PM
Reply to: Message 1 by Whirlwind
10-28-2005 6:33 AM


Canadian Perspective
I know this topic is old, but I just read through it and it seems the Canadian system has not been explained.
Actually, I'm not even sure if this is representative of all of Canada, but at least for Southern Ontario:
There are two main school systems, about of equal size, each going from juniour kindergarten to grade 12. The public school board, and the (Roman) Catholic school board. I'm not positive about funding, but I believe both are government (tax) funded and operated, and parents can just choose to place their children in either option.
The public school board works very similar to the public school in USA (I think?). No religious study of any kind, with possible option of a world religion class in high-school.
The Catholic school board (what I went through) contains a mandatory Catholic-religion class every year. All grade 2 students go through the Catholic sacrament of First Communion and all grade 8 students go through the Catholic sacrament of Confirmation (although I don't think either are strictly mandatory). In grade 12, a World Religions class is available as well as the Catholic-religion class and students can choose either one as their mandatory religion class for that year. Almost all students choose the World Religion class simply because they've already had 11 years of Catholic-religion class at this point. The World Religion class I took was very good at giving a base for many different religions. I found no Catholic bias there, or in any science classes. Although that may just be from the specific teachers I was lucky enough to have.
Most Catholic schools (especially the high-schools) have a small chapel built right into them, room for about 10-20 people. And school-wide Catholic Mass is held during school hours for important Catholic dates (Easter, Christmas...), usually in the gym or even nearby church.
College and Universities do not give either school system priority (as far as I'm aware). And both offer plenty of world-wide religious courses.

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Taz
Member (Idle past 3292 days)
Posts: 5069
From: Zerus
Joined: 07-18-2006


Message 22 of 41 (413142)
07-27-2007 7:46 PM
Reply to: Message 3 by jar
10-28-2005 10:17 AM


jar writes:
Most students get no introduction to any of the worlds religions outside their own particular denomination.
I know I'm responding to a message made over 2 years ago, but I want to point out something.
This is not true at all. Every student by grade 7 is suppose to have read at least a short version of the Illiad and the Odyssey. I'd say this is a pretty big introduction to the religion of the Olympian Gods.

Disclaimer:
Occasionally, owing to the deficiency of the English language, I have used he/him/his meaning he or she/him or her/his or her in order to avoid awkwardness of style.
He, him, and his are not intended as exclusively masculine pronouns. They may refer to either sex or to both sexes!

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Replies to this message:
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anglagard
Member (Idle past 837 days)
Posts: 2339
From: Socorro, New Mexico USA
Joined: 03-18-2006


Message 23 of 41 (413233)
07-29-2007 11:04 PM
Reply to: Message 22 by Taz
07-27-2007 7:46 PM


Where?
TD writes:
This is not true at all. Every student by grade 7 is suppose to have read at least a short version of the Illiad and the Odyssey. I'd say this is a pretty big introduction to the religion of the Olympian Gods.
Every student when and where? In California in the late 60s we had no study of mythology or comparative religion until the 10th grade Geography class in 73. I asked my daughter, who by some coincidence is in the same state as jar, what mythology or comparative religion she was taught. The answer is none until she had to read Hamilton's Mythology prior to her G/T English class in the 9th grade.
So I guess when you say every student, I was wondering which every you were referring to? The only mythology currently taught prior to the 8th grade in Texas is called Texas history.

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ikabod
Member (Idle past 4493 days)
Posts: 365
From: UK
Joined: 03-13-2006


Message 24 of 41 (413247)
07-30-2007 4:00 AM


the current state of RE in england , from the school i work at .. (no i do not teach RE )...
staffing level is 3 full time RE teachers .. they only teach RE .. this make the RE dept the same size as art , drama , music , design tech ( wood/metal work plus drawing cad and cam )
rooms cantain items / posters books covering all the worlds major religions ,
pupils are taught religion compartivly , and the info is both historic and current , it is a bit mechanical .. eg they learn the floorplans and usage of religious buildings ..
all pupils do the course 11 to 15/16 years of age , many do the exam at 15 thus finish early ... its a very much learn the facts course ..

  
Asgara
Member (Idle past 2303 days)
Posts: 1783
From: Wisconsin, USA
Joined: 05-10-2003


Message 25 of 41 (413305)
07-30-2007 10:22 AM
Reply to: Message 22 by Taz
07-27-2007 7:46 PM


I agree with Angla...I never had to read either of those in school (Michigan 60s and 70s).
My kids (Wisconsin 80s) never had to read them in school either.

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Taz
Member (Idle past 3292 days)
Posts: 5069
From: Zerus
Joined: 07-18-2006


Message 26 of 41 (413549)
07-31-2007 12:17 PM
Reply to: Message 23 by anglagard
07-29-2007 11:04 PM


Re: Where?
anglagard writes:
Every student when and where?
First of all, when you read something I have written that looked like a blanket statement, you have to realize that the world revolves around me and that what I experience is what everyone else experiences. "Every student" was used because that's what I went through in my school district.

Disclaimer:
Occasionally, owing to the deficiency of the English language, I have used he/him/his meaning he or she/him or her/his or her in order to avoid awkwardness of style.
He, him, and his are not intended as exclusively masculine pronouns. They may refer to either sex or to both sexes!

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Refpunk
Member (Idle past 6053 days)
Posts: 60
Joined: 08-17-2007


Message 27 of 41 (419158)
09-01-2007 11:44 AM
Reply to: Message 1 by Whirlwind
10-28-2005 6:33 AM


Actually, all that should be taught in the schools is the TRUTH. But since most people don't know what the truth is, they develop categories called either "religious" or "non-religious" beliefs.
So if it's true that God created the world and mankind, then that will NEVER be taught in the schools as long as people call it religion instead of being concerned about what's true or false regarding our creation. But what these people don't understand, is that secular beliefs are just as much beliefs as religious beliefs are, since no one was around at creation.
Edited by Refpunk, : No reason given.

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Replies to this message:
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AdminNosy
Administrator
Posts: 4754
From: Vancouver, BC, Canada
Joined: 11-11-2003


Message 28 of 41 (419169)
09-01-2007 12:09 PM
Reply to: Message 27 by Refpunk
09-01-2007 11:44 AM


There is a thread for this historic studies
I suggest you take this comment to Historical science.
You comments will need to be supported.

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Replies to this message:
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Kitsune
Member (Idle past 4301 days)
Posts: 788
From: Leicester, UK
Joined: 09-16-2007


Message 29 of 41 (422458)
09-17-2007 8:55 AM
Reply to: Message 28 by AdminNosy
09-01-2007 12:09 PM


Re: Religious education could be useful
I grew up in US public schools in Missouri and Nebraska. My family was Catholic and sent me to Sunday school. I learned absolutely nothing about other world faiths until I elected to take a course on comparative religions at college. It was only a basic introduction but it Blew My Mind. I felt utterly conned that up until that point in my life, no one had seemingly wanted me to find out about what other people believe. WHY? This is a good question for this thread maybe. As I learned, I came to decide that the world view I had been taught did not match reality. I went from someone who wanted to become a nun as a child, to what I'd best describe today as an agnostic. With leanings toward Buddhism maybe. But no one was about to teach me what that is or what anyone could learn from it. I suspect this is because, as has been suggested here, people think that religious education will cause the "faithful" to jump ship. I would argue that's not necessarily a bad thing, but plenty of people would equate it with condemnation.
Perhaps because of my own personal experience, I do believe that a broad education broadens the mind. Concealing the truth from students, e.g. that there are other religious views in the world, and different ways of looking at things, is antithetical to what any good teacher should be doing.
RE seems to work well here in the UK. Indeed it is necessary. Leicester, where I live, has an Asian population of over 20%. Learning about Hindus, Seikhs, and Muslims is part of learning about the people who live and work here, those with whom we interact. In fact, RE can be a way for them to learn about the Christians here too. I taught for a while at a school that was 95% Muslim and I am sure that without RE, quite a number of those students would have known little to nothing about Christianity.
The big question would be how to introduce this in the US though, where religion is so much more of a political issue. I don't know how it could be done; all I can imagine is problems and lawsuits.

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Replies to this message:
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jar
Member (Idle past 394 days)
Posts: 34026
From: Texas!!
Joined: 04-20-2004


Message 30 of 41 (422464)
09-17-2007 9:35 AM
Reply to: Message 29 by Kitsune
09-17-2007 8:55 AM


Re: Religious education could be useful
Currently we have another open thread, Should Sacred Studies be part of a general public school curricula, where some of those issues are discussed in detail.
The fact is, religions have played and continue to play a large part in shaping history and we need to be aware of those influences. If our only knowledge is the cartoon characterizations that are seen so often here, then we will continue to make policy based on ignorance.

Aslan is not a Tame Lion

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