How Much Religeon Should Be Discussed In Our Public Schools?

[karynnj]

132. More than how much, the question would be how they do it

Last edited Fri Oct 27, 2017, 06:45 PM - Edit history (2)

My kids in either 6th or 7th grade had one unit of social studies where they learned about various religions. The area we were in was relatively diverse - so for my middle daughter's class, the teacher asked the students who would be willing to commit to putting together a basic explanation of their own religion. The class was one of the top tier classes, so each of the kids who did volunteer did a good job per the teacher and it was a nice experience. My daughter did the day on Judaism, a good friend did Hinduism, another student did Islam, and 2 others did Christianity together. My daughter then wanted to do Buddhism - and the teacher agreed as there were no Buddhists in the class.

None of the religions was done in an evangelical way. Understanding different religions and in some cases having people they knew speak of it as "their" religion could well improve the tolerance and understanding of people who believe different things.

My daughter, now a 4th year PHD student in theology after getting a masters in world religions, loved this section, but she is clearly not typical. The question I would ask is what the goals are. I would also ask what the source of the material will be. (You would want a Jewish source for Judaism etc) I would also ask if the point would be that SOME people do not believe in any religion and to note that in any faith, there are variations between congregations and also between the people in them.