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Hi Guys, I've just been catching up with all the podcasts I've missed (both this and EAC) as I've been really busy lately.
Will either of you tell me whether Religion is taught in US schools? I've done a little online searching and I don't think that is is.
Perhaps that's part of the problem with certain elements of US society at the moment.
Cecil, you mentioned that some parents think their children should be taught the bullshit and then left to make up their own minds; on the surface this seems a terrible idea and I agree wholeheartedly that kids should be taught "the facts", but in the UK "Religious Education" is part of the curriculum and is taught alongside science. In the UK religion is part of everyday life, but I think that this has helped to sound it's death knell.
Every school day begins with some sort of religious service, which gathers all the kids together in one happy little, hymn-singing throng (I'm being ironic here. Morning assembly is universally hated by everyone, teachers included, but is practiced because of some old-fashioned legislation that is generally out of step with the rest of society)
I remember one R.E (religious education) class in High School when the deeply religious teacher told the class "Put your hand up if you believe in God". Out of 30-something kids only one girl raised her hand (Hello Alison Draycott, if you're reading this). The reason the rest of us didn't send our fingers heavenward wasn't because of "peer pressure", but because truly none of us believed in God!
R.E has the wonderful effect of exposing religion bare and showing it for what it is, no matter what form it comes in. We'd all learned, at an early age, that the idea of an invisible Sky Daddy was ludicrous in the extreme.
In the Uk, religious belief is dwindling and church attendance is dropping like a stone. I believe that R.E. in schools has helped make us the secular society that we are today.
Of course, the UK and the US are very different beasts indeed, but it would be interesting to see the outcome if R.E. was taught over there. I'd like to think that American kids are smarter than their parents might give them credit for; and if they were taught the "bullshit" too, they'd be able to make up their own minds quite easily!
I'd LIKE to think that…..
*Note:
When I say "In the UK religion is part of everyday life..", I mean "In the UK, religion is part of everyday SCHOOL life…"