Role of Religion in Public Schools? - Page 9

Originally posted by: chatbuster

lol. take that sentence in bold. are you sure you're not talking about a eutopian world where people can calmy and rationally think and talk about different religions? seen what happens even with adults when the topic veers towards religion? now if you're going to implicitly assume a eutopian world, why even bother with religion? in that case, folks would have already attained nirvana. all problems solved 😛😉😆

In real world I haven't seen any non catholic (and Indian/Hindu) kid attending catholic schools in my time or even curently here in USA becoming a convert or a fanatic of any kind. In a child centric culture, liberal or over protective parents fear external religious influences on their child but if the core foundation at home is solid there is nothing to fear..(God bless my parents for being blissfuly ignorant of this fear) I guess for these parents it is ok if children learn about Hitler and other cults in school but not about different religions. We are talking about teaching ABOUT religions in schools not teaching religion as a truth or matter of fact subject.. All major religions have basic tenets that can be covered in general comparative study. A truly educated person needs to have some knowledge of all of the major world religions and belief systems

How many of us wish our non Indian friends/colleagues/neighbors knew importance of Swastika in Hindu religion and not think of it as a sign of Nazi era?

"Nothing in the First Amendment converts our public schools into religion-free zones, or requires all religious expression to be left behind at the school house door." President Clinton, 1995-JUL-12. Quoted in "The President Announces Release of Revised Religious Guidelines for America's Public Schools," at: http://www.ed.gov/PressReleases/

Originally posted by: lighthouse

In real world I haven't seen any non catholic (and Indian/Hindu) kid attending catholic schools in my time or even curently here in USA becoming a convert or a fanatic of any kind. In a child centric culture, liberal or over protective parents fear external religious influences on their child but if the core foundation at home is solid there is nothing to fear..

again talking about a eutopian world.😆

I guess for these parents it is ok if children learn about Hitler and other cults in school but not about different religions.

dont know where that exterpolation comes from for parents. in any case there's a difference between kids learning about hitler and cults. there's very little ambiguity there. religion is more controversial than history.

We are talking about teaching ABOUT religions in schools not teaching religion as a truth or matter of fact subject.. All major religions have basic tenets that can be covered in general comparative study. A truly educated person needs to have some knowledge of all of the major world religions and belief systems

a truly educated person needs to learn a lot, starting with (for most engineers) basic interpersonal and communication skills, and (for the humanities types) a better understanding of math and sciences. next in line would be philosophy, sex education, leadership development, athletic development etc. There's enough there to learn if that's what one wants😉

how about even geography to get kids to first learn about other places before we even get to their culture and religion. it needs a mature mind to deal with different ideas, something that even adults have a problem doing.

How many of us wish our non Indian friends/colleagues/neighbors knew importance of Swastika in Hindu religion and not think of it as a sign of Nazi era?

if that's all we wish someone to learn about hinduism, well why cant we teach the neighbors now? 😛what's stopping us? surely we can communicate to other adults ourselves, and we should be able to do so more effectively than some bureaucrat who decrees what the proper curriculum should be.

i think the problem might be that some folks dont know their own religion well enough to communicate effectively. maybe they should pick a trick here from the folks in the west who learn religion in sunday churches, without having to learn it in schools😉

"Nothing in the First Amendment converts our public schools into religion-free zones, or requires all religious expression to be left behind at the school house door." President Clinton, 1995-JUL-12. Quoted in "The President Announces Release of Revised Religious Guidelines for America's Public Schools," at: http://www.ed.gov/PressReleases/

the place and time for it is as adults when the mind can at least begin to grapple with complexity. the first amendment would also permit teaching kids in school how to fly a kite, go take a hike, string a bow and arrow etc. Not sure if that's what we want though😛😆

Originally posted by: sareg

Dont worry I dont take take debates personally😉

FYI

https://india-forums.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=163028

great that you re-visited this thread. so proud of you😊

Originally posted by: chatbuster

Originally posted by: mythili_Kiran

So do you think that religion should be taught for the folks who need to understand the higher concepts of life!! I don't think so! Religion is like food!

sure. and just like food, people get into trouble and kill for it.😉 of course, so what if even adults have a hard time over religion. kids will be more capable, no?😛

Based on the capacity of the human,the age of the human,the maturity of the human;religion is taught! Just as an infant is fed with milk,later on with some cerelac or anything,then with higher level of foods...... religion is also taught in a stage wise manner! No one feeds an infant with mango pickle or mirchi bajji or biryani on the first day of birth or at infancy😛!! Similarly schools also take care to see that they feed simple concepts related to religion to children!! They don't teach about nirvana,mukthi, renunciation and all those stuff in Nursery itself or even to the higher class students!!

so what do they teach then? if you cut out all of that, we are left with a shell of a religion and with a bigger distortion. better to have no impressions than the wrong ones. 😉and do kids really need instruction to be able to "experience" the basics of other religions around them? also, who decides on the curriculum? teachers and aadarsh bureaucrats?😛 could we even agree on these matters? yes? i guess we've already attained nirvana then and can do away with religion totally.😆

sorry to say but i think most folks need to understand their own religion first. 😉just saying something is a way of life is a lazy thinker's crude understanding of things. swamiji might have made that statement to western audiences a long time ago to provide a sound byte that they could get, but we've continued to short-change ourselves if we cant do better than westerners. i can even tell from various posts as to what the general level of understanding is.😉😉😉

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The schools which teach basic religious concepts might not be in a special mission to teach only religion and leave the primary activity like teaching !! As far as India is considered there are somany missionary schools of Christianity and Hinduism which groom students of high standard!!!

The religious inputs they get at school level helps them in dealing the competitive world and the exams to be faced in it!

Regarding devils workshops and the people working in it !!! Its definetely associated with the upbringing for which good schools ,good parents and good concepts of life are necessary!!!😛 Good school does not always mean the prestigious schools!!!

sure sure. and we have folks lining to turn down offers from prestigious schools and go to the kind of "good" schools you have suggested, no?😛 incidentally, would you? 😉maybe they know something about what schools should be teaching in the real world.😆

Originally posted by: chatbuster

Originally posted by: chatbuster

Originally posted by: mythili_Kiran

Myth what you are saying in pink above is what we are talking about religion in schools. If anyone wants to learn more they can go to the religious school of their choice and get a degree.

Originally posted by: lighthouse

Myth what you are saying in pink above is what we are talking about religion in schools. If anyone wants to learn more they can go to the religious school of their choice and get a degree.

right.😛 and could you even begin to enunciate what those basic principles are? or do you think it would be enough to tell them here are 10 different religions and all of them are great because they agree that you be a good guy/ gal?😛 or that they all request that thou shalt not hit on thy neighbor's wife? i mean if you want the latter kinda religion, do you really need to be told that it in school?😆

yes if you want something deeper, which explores differences and develops other insights, then that's the sort of thing that creates problems in the first place. wishing them away is like wishing for manna😆 and if we got that manna, we have already attained nirvana.😛 no need to be taught religion then😉

Originally posted by: lighthouse

So according to you in real world non catholic chiildren graduating from catholic schools become converts..😕 and they are at disadvantage because they missed out on all important education stuff you mention below.-----------

catholic schools are bigger on discipline and on good study habits than most and it comes from the quality of teachers, even the parents who are serious about their kids . dont confuse these aspects with learning about catholicism.

and the eutopiam world refers to your starting point of assuming that the core foundation at home is already great

IWe are talking about basic religion not scholar in religious subjects.-----------

lol. could you even enunicate what that basic religion constitutes? thou shalt not hit on thy neighbor's wife and be a good girl et al?😛 i mean, are you sure one needs to pick these up in school? and would that give you a keen sense of appreciation of other religions😉 lemme know. there is a pamphlet or two that could take care of all the religious principles there😆

Kids are in learning mode and not biased like adults when it comes to religion or any other subject. Unlike adults thay understand and grasp such stuff better then adults in the absence of any pre conceived notions, egos or agenda. -------------

right. and they are in such a learning mode, they forget how bad it is to bully people they dont like because they are different😛😆

Hmmm.. not sure if I want to take on addl chores or responsibility... have other fun stuff to do on weekends you know..😉...

no i wouldn't care to guess what that fun stuff might possibly be. couldn't be bothered.😉😉

Better yet I think they should all go to India a a la Beattles did in the 60's and 70's and help Indian tourism while they discover some Indian spirituality..😃

lol. yes. now we are getting somewhere😆

Exactly... @ some folks don't know religion well enough...hence school is the better option..

but then folks dont seem to know other subjects either. cant do much with kids who like to goof off on weekends anyway and expect spoon-feeding😉

the place and time for it is as adults when the mind can at least begin to grapple with complexity. the first amendment would also permit teaching kids in school how to fly a kite, go take a hike, string a bow and arrow etc. Not sure if that's what we want though😛😆 Yup they can in Indian Gurukul...😆

good that you see that first amendment notions should only go so far😉