All Ages Do you think that religion is an unnecessary subject?

I agree that knowing the history of a religion is important, where it's from and about the actual people themselves but I still don't think what that religion teaches or its values has a place in modern schools.

Religious education lasses can often cause problems if not between the children but the parents aswell, and I just think it's a topic that could be dropped or scaled down without it affecting children and their education all that much.
 
Religion isn't an unnecessary subject. Fact is over 60% of people in the world are "religious" to some degree. Students should for that reason learn about religion so they won't inadvertently offend someone who subscribes to a certain religion they know nothing about.

Same way some people are interested in and learn about other people's cultures since you get to understand why they do the things they do — religion should be treated thusly too.
 
I think that's a very good idea. Religion should not be taught just by concentrating on one religion alone. This would make the world view of the students rather myopic. They should be taught about other religions, too. I believe there's such a subject as comparative religions where students are taught about different religions. However, I think it's only taught at the university level. I would like to see comparative religion taught even at primary school level. Children need to be taught from a very young age to be tolerant of other people's beliefs.
 
The bitter fact remains and I fear I have to state it here in this forum that one can be anything in this world but at death, one is ushered into eternity either in heaven or in hell. Alot of mouths will gape at this but I was one of their kind but later underwent a complete paradigm shift after 4 solid years of spiritual research on Christianity and the occult which opened my eyes. Religion is the most important subject in school.
 
I do think teaching about the world's religions is important to help foster understanding of others and help lessen fear based on ignorance. Children are already open to diversity so it is a good time to learn more information and other cultures, which can be strongly based around religion. Learning about ALL religions (versus just Christianity) can help students make connections, compare and contrast, and one day have more certainty over which path they may wish to take.

remnant I am totally on board with you - but how can this information be given and digested? I agree it too that learning about the occult (which would not and should NOT be taught in schools) is what verified Christianity for me as being real and true.
 
Religion is an important topic to learn about, I understand that but at the same time I'm not sure that it should be included in the school curriculum like it is in some countries. If a parent want's their child to learn about subjects like these, then there is a feeling that they should be taught outside of the school day, maybe after school or at the weekend as not every child either wants to learn about it, or indeed even believes in it.
 
remnant said:
The bitter fact remains and I fear I have to state it here in this forum that one can be anything in this world but at death, one is ushered into eternity either in heaven or in hell. Alot of mouths will gape at this but I was one of their kind but later underwent a complete paradigm shift after 4 solid years of spiritual research on Christianity and the occult which opened my eyes. Religion is the most important subject in school.
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I agree that religion is an important subject but I don't think that it should be the most important subject in school. I have taught in schools where religion is the main subject which makes it the most important subject. However, from my personal experience, I found that just knowing a lot about religion does not equip a person with all the necessary skills to cope with life. There are many other things which are just as important. Language is one. To get on in the world, we must be able to communicate. To be able to communicate, we must have language skills. Another important subject is Maths. To learn Maths is to learn how to think in the abstract. To learn Maths is to be able to make calculations. The difference between a simple laborer and his boss is very often that his boss knows how to calculate and the laborer doesn't. In short, besides religion, I would really recommend also putting emphasis on language and Maths, in equal measure.
 
Religion is a personal preference subject and has no purpose in modern school in regards to people personal lives. It has no relevance to the livelihoods of the average persons lives.

Teaching people about religion in schools is setting them up for a way of life that is unfair to people who don't want their children to learn it, and there is no proof of a superior being, so I would never allow it. For many more reasons as well, but I just don't think it's a good idea at all in public schools. It's not essential to our current way of life.
 
In Dеnmаrk rеligiоn is оn thе сurriсulum, it rеmаins mаndаtоry until yоu finish оur еquivаlеnt оf high sсhооl.
Wе hаvе 9 yеаrs оf mаndаtоry sсhооl, аnd during thоsе wе dо nоt hаvе rеligiоn pеr sаy, but instеаd hаvе "сhristiаnity" whеrе thеrе is оnly fосus оn оnе rеligiоn, guеss whiсh оnе. Frоm 1-5th grаdе it еvеn dоublеs thе аmоunt сlаssеs соmpаrеd tо mаth оr сhеmistry, еvеn thоugh thоsе skills аrе "thе priоrity" in аll kids thеsе dаys. It is hоwеvеr vеry sесulаr еduсаtiоn, whеrе thеrе is fосus оn еthiсs, mоrаlity аnd whаt сulturаl impасts сhristiаnity hаvе hаd оn оur сulturе. It is in fасt sо sесulаr thаt I rеmеmbеr twо kids frоm my сlаss in 2nd grаdе, аlmоst bеing еmbаrrаssеd соming frоm а fаmily "whеrе thеy асtuаlly bеliеvеd thеsе things" аnd thеir fаthеr wаs а ministеr.
 
I'm frоm Nоrthеrn Irеlаnd аnd wе hаd Rеligiоus Studiеs аs а subjесt frоm thе аgе оf аrоund 12 until thе аgе оf 16.
It's bееn а lоng timе sinсе I studiеd sо my mеmоry is а littlе hаzy, but I knоw wе studiеd vаriоus fоrms оf сhristiаnity, fосusing mаinly оn Prоtеstаntism аnd саthоliсism in оur finаl yеаr.
еаrliеr I think wе studiеd Jеudism, а littlе еаstеrn оrthаdоx аnd thеrе mаy hаvе bееn а briеf stint intо аnсiеnt rеligiоns (mоrе аs а lооk аt thе аspесts оf rеligiоn in gеnеrаl).
Еvеryоnе hаd tо study Rе (rеligiоus еduсаtiоn) hоwеvеr wе hаd а сhоiсе bеtwееn shоrt соursе аnd full i.е. 1/2 а grаdе оr thе full соursе. Mоst оptеd fоr thе 1/2 (еvеn thе vеry rеligiоus) аs tаking thе full mеаnt yоu'd hаvе tо drоp а diffеrеnt subjесt.
 
Rеligiоn shоuld nоt bе tаught in sсhооls unlеss it is tаught аs а Histоry оr Humаn Dеvеlоpmеnt/Humаnitiеs соursе. соnсеntrаting оn оnе flаvоr оf rеligiоn wоuld bе соnsidеrеd insulting tо thе оthеrs. Wе аlrеаdy tеасh аbоut sоmе оf thе аnсiеnt rеligiоns in bоth Litеrаturе аnd Wоrld Histоry.
Hаving аn соmpаrаtivе Rеligiоn соursе аs аn еlесtivе wоuld bе оkаy аs lоng аs it prеsеntеd аll viеws еquаlly аnd withоut biаs, inсluding аthеism.
Thе issuе wоuld bе finding а tеасhеr thаt wоuld rеmаin unbiаsеd.
It shоuld nеvеr bе а rеquirеd сlаss.
 
I think religion is a personal faith or belief, It not an educational subject like math or science. Religion is to be introduced and practiced at home by Its family. What if the school is Catholic and I'm a Muslim or vice versa? Would you convert me or teach me a faith that I have no knowledge of? We can study different forms of belief from Catholic, Muslims, Protestants, Hindus, Taoism to any faith. But to practice religion is a separate issue. Religion is about worshipping and praying. Other definitions of religion are misleading or misguided. I hope this post can clear some clouded minds. If you want to study the different forms of belief, you can call it by a different name like physics, chemistry, theology or whatever but, Studying and practicing religion are different issues.
 
The generation of today is by far very different from what I have been decades of years ago. Values which is a universal principle that needs to be followed, is under attack because of many factors brought about by changing standards. Religion therefore should not be considered an unnecessary subject but an integral one. A man's existence can not only be measured by how far genius he/she is among his members in the social circle. Education should not only serve to brighten the mind and make our student exemplary in their own field of expertise. They must have a heart and mind that looks for the welfare of others for the common good of everyone. I don't want to create a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in the making, if you have read the book. It conveys the reason why we should not only teach students with knowledge, among others they got to have values first.
 
I think religion doesn't fit into modern society. It was a good tool for teaching people to live in a society but it has taken a very negative course and has become a liability for the whole planet.
 
I highly disagree. Religion is not an unnecessary subject. We need to have a subject that teaches the students the morals and ethics that they need. Despite all of the achievements of the student, if having a good attitude is not one of them, then that still makes him terrible. Aside from focusing on developing our intelligence, we should also give emphasis on our morals and values.
 
The ones that think that everyone who disagrees with them is evil rather than simply mistaken are not worth it from my own experience with them. In the way of living that I follow liberation from this potentially endless cycle of birth and death is based on the simple understanding of impermanence which is the fact that all that is subject to beginnings is subject to endings and therefore any happiness that is based on things with those qualities is not permanent and the idea is to develop non-attachment to things with those qualities and to trade happiness that is not permanent for happiness that is subject to no beginnings and so is subject to no endings and this can be realized even in this very life and doesn't have to wait for after death. This is not about getting rid of the things of this world but simply accepting that they pass away. One should be careful also that they don't develop self-destructive tendencies toward themselves as well for this way of living sees no value in destroying ourselves but rather in being moderate and fulfilling our basic needs and not having desires that never can be satisfied. This can feel like you are going to drug detox at first and this is what gets many people to give up on it early because the mind has developed many defense mechanisms against this over the eons of birth and death that all have gone through and this kind of happiness is all we have known for the great majority of that time but once the detox is over and one is cleaned up and sober the mental health is perfect.
 
pwarbi said:
I agree that knowing the history of a religion is important, where it's from and about the actual people themselves but I still don't think what that religion teaches or its values has a place in modern schools.

Religious education lasses can often cause problems if not between the children but the parents aswell, and I just think it's a topic that could be dropped or scaled down without it affecting children and their education all that much.
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I believe that religion as a subject should have a place in modern schools. It is my favorite subject when I was in elementary school.
 
I'm an atheist, and yet I think that every "major" religion should have equal place in the classroom from an academic aspect. I grew up in a Catholic school and religious studies teachers were extremely biased and naïve about other religions. This affects student's morals and their perspective towards the world.
 
I believe religion is necessary in schools. It is so important to teach students that there are many different religions in the world but yet we are all humans who need love and respect. Teaching religion at school just might be the only way some students are exposed to it. Some students don't learn about religion at home.
 
I think it's important to expose students to the different religions that exist in the world. It is a good strategy to help students discover, understand, respect, and be sensitive to all kinds of religions.
 
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