Should kids be taught religion in schools

[Balti]

isn't this what church and mosques and temples and synagogues are for?

 

[nijinsky's fetlocks]

Faith schools should be abolished.
Full stop.
It's bad enough teaching kids divisive fairy stories to start with,but once a school starts to teach five year olds that followers of religions other than their own are infidels and will burn in hell, it really is time to stop the madness.

Faith schools should not be abolished AT ALL.

Here in the UK, we have the freedoms to practice whatever mystical traditions that we wish, from Christianity to Jedi. Removing this, is a far, far worse scenario than removing faith schools. Faith schools' curriculum should be regulated to ensure that they are in line with the National Curriculum. I'm not sure if this currently happens or not, but I hope so.

What you want, instead of an enlightened society as you preach it, is a dictatorship in which we decide what it is ok for you to believe.

Complete and utter disingenuous shite.
The curriculum of faith schools is not state regulated,despite your desperate hopes to the contrary.
They can pretty much teach whatever unproveable claptrap they choose,providing maths and English are on the syllabus.
Nobody other than you is talking about a dictatorship,so you can desist with your infantile scaremongering about some perceived totalitarian state - what I am opposing is the sickening force-feeding of fairy tales to impressionable kids in the name of someone who,in all likelihood,doesn't exist.
What the fuck are you on about with your 'Jedi' comparison?
We don't currently teach Jedi in schools - we do,however,teach that those of other faiths are inferior infidels destined for hell,and that suicide bombings can be justified,all in the name of an imaginary friend.
There are a plethora of worthwhile subjects that we could be teaching our kids,but divisive sectarian bullshit like religion is not one of them.

 

[Damocles]

Faith schools should not be abolished AT ALL.

Here in the UK, we have the freedoms to practice whatever mystical traditions that we wish, from Christianity to Jedi. Removing this, is a far, far worse scenario than removing faith schools. Faith schools' curriculum should be regulated to ensure that they are in line with the National Curriculum. I'm not sure if this currently happens or not, but I hope so.

What you want, instead of an enlightened society as you preach it, is a dictatorship in which we decide what it is ok for you to believe.

Complete and utter disingenuous shite.
The curriculum of faith schools is not state regulated,despite your desperate hopes to the contrary.
They can pretty much teach whatever unproveable claptrap they choose,providing maths and English are on the syllabus.
Nobody other than you is talking about a dictatorship,so you can desist with your infantile scaremongering about some perceived totalitarian state - what I am opposing is the sickening force-feeding of fairy tales to impressionable kids in the name of someone who,in all likelihood,doesn't exist.
What the fuck are you on about with your 'Jedi' comparison?
We don't currently teach Jedi in schools - we do,however,teach that those of other faiths are inferior infidels destined for hell,and that suicide bombings can be justified,all in the name of an imaginary friend.
There are a plethora of worthwhile subjects that we could be teaching our kids,but divisive sectarian bullshit like religion is not one of them.

Removing the right for free practice of religion (and as part of that, faith schools), is entirely a dictatorship. I'm not going to go as hyperbole as you, because it has made your argument cheap.
Also, if you cannot see 'what the fuck I'm on about' with Jedi, perhaps you should read the post again. I've had debates on here with hundreds of people, and this is probably the worst. Your entire argument boils down to "religion is indoctrination, so we should change our long held freedoms to stop it".

 

[nijinsky's fetlocks]

Complete and utter disingenuous shite.
The curriculum of faith schools is not state regulated,despite your desperate hopes to the contrary.
They can pretty much teach whatever unproveable claptrap they choose,providing maths and English are on the syllabus.
Nobody other than you is talking about a dictatorship,so you can desist with your infantile scaremongering about some perceived totalitarian state - what I am opposing is the sickening force-feeding of fairy tales to impressionable kids in the name of someone who,in all likelihood,doesn't exist.
What the fuck are you on about with your 'Jedi' comparison?
We don't currently teach Jedi in schools - we do,however,teach that those of other faiths are inferior infidels destined for hell,and that suicide bombings can be justified,all in the name of an imaginary friend.
There are a plethora of worthwhile subjects that we could be teaching our kids,but divisive sectarian bullshit like religion is not one of them.

Removing the right for free practice of religion (and as part of that, faith schools), is entirely a dictatorship. I'm not going to go as hyperbole as you, because it has made your argument cheap.
Also, if you cannot see 'what the fuck I'm on about' with Jedi, perhaps you should read the post again. I've had debates on here with hundreds of people, and this is probably the worst. Your entire argument boils down to "religion is indoctrination, so we should change our long held freedoms to stop it".

Nobody is advocating removing the freedom to practice religion,least of all me.
But that is what churches are for,not schools.
Schools are for education,not teaching selective views of spurious fairy stories.
Your 'Jedi' comparison is simply ludicrous and embarrassing.
My argument is that parents,sadly,have the right to push their irrational views upon their offspring,but schools should not be party to teaching unproveable nonsense.
Oh,and highlighting the odd random word and making it bigger is no replacement for coherent argument,which your laughable 'Jedi' comparison reveals you to be sadly bereft of.

 

[JULES]

I dont believe anyone really believes in any religion, nobody can be that stupid

 

[Damocles]

Removing the right for free practice of religion (and as part of that, faith schools), is entirely a dictatorship. I'm not going to go as hyperbole as you, because it has made your argument cheap.
Also, if you cannot see 'what the fuck I'm on about' with Jedi, perhaps you should read the post again. I've had debates on here with hundreds of people, and this is probably the worst. Your entire argument boils down to "religion is indoctrination, so we should change our long held freedoms to stop it".

Nobody is advocating removing the freedom to practice religion,least of all me.
But that is what churches are for,not schools.
Schools are for education,not teaching selective views of spurious fairy stories.
Your 'Jedi' comparison is simply ludicrous and embarrassing.
My argument is that parents,sadly,have the right to push their irrational views upon their offspring,but schools should not be party to teaching unproveable nonsense.
Oh,and highlighting the odd random word and making it bigger is no replacement for coherent argument,which your laughable 'Jedi' comparison reveals you to be sadly bereft of.

*sigh*

I guess I have to be a little more direct with the comparison, instead of leaving you to fill in the blanks.

The point is, everybody in this country has the freedom to practice whatever mystical traditions that they want. Christianity is a mystical tradition made up a little over a millennium ago. Jedi is a mystical tradition made up in the 1970s, that also have an official "church" here. Jedi and Christianity are both protected forms of worship under our laws. Pastafarianism is too. So is Islam.

To tell people that they are not to indulge them or their families in their own cultural religion, whether that be Islam, Christianity or Jedi (WHICH ARE ALL EQUAL IN THE TERMS OF THE LAW) is undemocratic.

Also, the increasing the size of those two words was because I again didn't need to make the point, as you already did it for me.

 

[glen quagmire]

Religion is for the old, sick or very lonely.

 

[nijinsky's fetlocks]

Nobody is advocating removing the freedom to practice religion,least of all me.
But that is what churches are for,not schools.
Schools are for education,not teaching selective views of spurious fairy stories.
Your 'Jedi' comparison is simply ludicrous and embarrassing.
My argument is that parents,sadly,have the right to push their irrational views upon their offspring,but schools should not be party to teaching unproveable nonsense.
Oh,and highlighting the odd random word and making it bigger is no replacement for coherent argument,which your laughable 'Jedi' comparison reveals you to be sadly bereft of.

*sigh*

I guess I have to be a little more direct with the comparison, instead of leaving you to fill in the blanks.

The point is, everybody in this country has the freedom to practice whatever mystical traditions that they want. Christianity is a mystical tradition made up a little over a millennium ago. Jedi is a mystical tradition made up in the 1970s, that also have an official "church" here. Jedi and Christianity are both protected forms of worship under our laws. Pastafarianism is too. So is Islam.

To tell people that they are not to indulge them or their families in their own cultural religion, whether that be Islam, Christianity or Jedi (WHICH ARE ALL EQUAL IN THE TERMS OF THE LAW) is undemocratic.

Also, the increasing the size of those two words was because I again didn't need to make the point, as you already did it for me.

When will this particular penny actually drop with you?
Nobody is saying that folk are not free to follow whichever religion they want to.
There is a barmy religion in the states that considers it appropriate to hand venomous snakes to young kids to hold as some warped test of their faith,believing that if said child is bitten and dies,then their 'faith' wasn't strong enough.
Yet that nonsense is allowed,as they are an accredited religion,so that's ok then.
The difference between religious freedom and single faith schools is massive - people can practice whatever faith they want in the comfort of their own homes,but to teach a blinkered,sectarian view of one faith in a school just serves to further increase intolerance and mistrust.
You only have to take a look at how faith schools really helped to integrate the protestant and catholic communities in Northern Ireland for proof of that.
I am sorry that you consider this to be the worst debate you have had on here,but all you have consistently done is misrepresent my opposition to faith schools as an attack on the right to religious freedom,which a blind man can see is not the case.
And you can drop the infantile sarcasm you use to replace argument - it may come as a shock to you,but not everybody on this forum hangs on your every word as if it were on tablets of stone.
I think it best to agree to disagree on this one,as continuing a debate with somebody who's sole stock in trade is a smokescreen of misrepresentation is futile.

 

[Damocles]

*sigh*

I guess I have to be a little more direct with the comparison, instead of leaving you to fill in the blanks.

The point is, everybody in this country has the freedom to practice whatever mystical traditions that they want. Christianity is a mystical tradition made up a little over a millennium ago. Jedi is a mystical tradition made up in the 1970s, that also have an official "church" here. Jedi and Christianity are both protected forms of worship under our laws. Pastafarianism is too. So is Islam.

To tell people that they are not to indulge them or their families in their own cultural religion, whether that be Islam, Christianity or Jedi (WHICH ARE ALL EQUAL IN THE TERMS OF THE LAW) is undemocratic.

Also, the increasing the size of those two words was because I again didn't need to make the point, as you already did it for me.

When will this particular penny actually drop with you?
Nobody is saying that folk are not free to follow whichever religion they want to.
There is a barmy religion in the states that considers it appropriate to hand venomous snakes to young kids to hold as some warped test of their faith,believing that if said child is bitten and dies,then their 'faith' wasn't strong enough.
Yet that nonsense is allowed,as they are an accredited religion,so that's ok then.
The difference between religious freedom and single faith schools is massive - people can practice whatever faith they want in the comfort of their own homes,but to teach a blinkered,sectarian view of one faith in a school just serves to further increase intolerance and mistrust.
You only have to take a look at how faith schools really helped to integrate the protestant and catholic communities in Northern Ireland for proof of that.
I am sorry that you consider this to be the worst debate you have had on here,but all you have consistently done is misrepresent my opposition to faith schools as an attack on the right to religious freedom,which a blind man can see is not the case.
And you can drop the infantile sarcasm you use to replace argument - it may come as a shock to you,but not everybody on this forum hangs on your every word as if it were on tablets of stone.
I think it best to agree to disagree on this one,as continuing a debate with somebody who's sole stock in trade is a smokescreen of misrepresentation is futile.

You know, for somebody who is trying to take the moral high ground, your last two posts have basically been just insults. I don't mind that, I just think it's laughable to play both sides and a little disingenuous.

What you fail to realise, is that an attack on faith schools IS an attack on religious freedom. People have the right to be educated in whatever warped belief system that they think suits them, as long as it meets certain national standards (which it does, if your post about their curriculum is anything to go by). We should always recommend what we should teach our kids. We should never say that we cannot teach something.

You are asking for us to curb the right for people to educate their children (thereby spread) in their chosen religion. I see that as an issue of religious freedom.

If I am misrepresenting your point, then I apologise and can only tell you that it isn't intentional. If you could address the point I made in the last paragraph, we could probably clear up this confusion on views.

Just to add; if I'm understanding you properly, you would only have a point if people were forced into faith schools by their faith, rather than their parents.

 

[squirtyflower]

i can't agree with you here Dam

or is this just a part of your master plan you unveiled last night "argue both sides in any religious debate'?

all schools should be completely mixed and non secular, they should all be comprehensive with no grammar schools or private schools

if parents want their children to have a religious education then they should go to Sunday school or pay for extra classes, but the state should not be funding secular education and should not be supporting divisions by belief