Immie, I would agree with you here in principle but for that very fine line between education and indoctrination. The road to hell is paved with good intentions, and even well-meaning people have their own subtle (or not so subtle) prejudices. Not only would some if not many teachers cross that line (intentionally or otherwise), but the overwhelming cost of the resulting lawsuits to already burdened schools wouldn't be worth the result in my opinion. Human nature being what it is, I feel it's better to avoid going there at all.
I agree with you on that Gold. I said I believe that public schools SHOULD teach about faith. The problem is as you said, that the teachers would bring their own biases into the classroom. So, you might have a fundamentalist Christian teaching about Islam and I can't see how that could work out for the good.
In a perfect world, the teacher would come to class teach the curriculum and the students would learn about the different faiths and there would be a hell of a lot more peace in this world... unfortunately, we don't live in a perfect world.
Imm......Has it occured to you that if we give equall time(which would be required by the Constitution) to ALL religions we would have very little time to teach ANYTHING else? Would you want your kids to be taught about Paganism or Satanism? Please don't lie because I don't think you would be happy with that ONE LITTLE BIT!
Cold, I'm not going to lie, because I am not afraid of what I have to say here. I would have no problem with teaching paganism. After all, paganism is nothing more than a religion. However, maybe we should define paganism, because paganism is different things to different people:
From dictionary.com
Pagan:
1. one of a people or community observing a polytheistic religion, as the ancient Romans and Greeks.
2. a person who is not a Christian, Jew, or Muslim.
3. an irreligious or hedonistic person.
Paganism:
1. pagan spirit or attitude in religious or moral questions.
2. the beliefs or practices of pagans.
3. the state of being a pagan.
To me paganism includes witchcraft and belief in spiritualism as well, but not everyone agrees with that.
Again, I have no problem with teaching the beliefs associated with paganism. I loved Greek Mythology in school.
Satanism?! A little harder for me to answer that question as I do believe in Satan and demons. In fact, I am convinced I have encountered demons before, but that is a story, I care not to share at the moment.
If the beliefs of Satanism are taught as the beliefs of Satanism, I am okay with that. If Satanism is taught as something that is good and helpful to society, I have a problem with that. If students are indoctrinated into Satanism, I have a major problem with that.
And about "equal time", it doesn't take a whole year to teach how faith has intertwined itself throughout our history. In fact, simply discussing history... let's say a discussion of the Middle Ages would simply include the discussion of the crusades, what was the underlying reasons for the crusades and how faith played a part in those times. Rather than completely ignoring the role that faith played in the times.
Immie
