Should there be broad-based religious teachings?

Even though the people carry around a name of a religion, they fail to live the values of an religious life.
All religions today exist in the body (the rituals and dogma) but are devoid of spirit.
The word religion means to "bind back" meaning to bring back to the origin, the source.
It should raise the mind to God consciousness, divine intelligence but it fails in this endeavor.
It still does have value in that it keeps the word God in the minds, and singing to God is a great homage.
Prayer to God, individually or collectively, is a wonderful action. IMO

One of my books, "Angels explain God and the New Spirituality" explains this further
 

My opinion: Religion should definitely not be taught in schools. I would like to see schools have classes on how children should treat other children of different beliefs regardless of where they are from. Children should be taught how to live in today's world. How to cope with the stresses of today and also classes in meditation should be a part of the curriculum.
 

Should there be broad-based religious teachings?​

Not certain what you mean or how that would look, but if you mean an overview of all religions taught in, say, state schools, then no. And in any case, broad-based religious teachings = broad-based religious arguments.
 

Nathan said:
...but NOT in public schools. Separation of church and state is specified in the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

But yea, by all means, teach religion in private schools.
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Religion is an integral part of history and should be taught as such. We would never have had the 9/11 attack if not for religion. The ongoing situation in the Middle East is due to religion. Hitler used religion to gain a massive following. Then there's the Inquisition and all sorts of religious massacres throughout history.
 
I do not follow any religion, that doesn't make me a bad person, though I have respect for people who have a religious belief, but that belief should be taught in their Churches, Synagogues, Mosques etc, not in schools. Those young minds should be kept free of religious doctrine to concentrate on the things they will need for their future careers.
 
Nathan said:
...but NOT in public schools. Separation of church and state is specified in the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

But yea, by all means, teach religion in private schools.
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I strongly agree. Religious instruction -- and by that I mean the proselytizing type of instruction -- no matter what variety, has no place in public schools.
 
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Irwin said:
Religion is an integral part of history and should be taught as such. We would never have had the 9/11 attack if not for religion. The ongoing situation in the Middle East is due to religion. Hitler used religion to gain a massive following. Then there's the Inquisition and all sorts of religious massacres throughout history.
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Yes, but teaching that religion has had an impact on history is vastly different than "teaching" a particular religion. For instance, when I was in school, we were of course taught about the Crusades, the Inquisition, the Reformation, the fleeing of the pilgrims to America to avoid religious persecution, etc., as historical fact without the instructor taking any position on whether said religion(s) were/are right or wrong in their basic beliefs.

I was particularly fascinated by a class I took in the ancient Egyptian religion, but I certainly had no thoughts of practicing it.
 

Should there be broad-based religious teachings?​

This concerns missionaries, religious intimidation, forced worship, religious cohesion, religious persecution for nonconformity to religious laws and doctrine, missionaries who accordingly are sent to the four corners of the world for massive conversion. Doesn't it seem odd that mass conversion into one religion (world religion) is noted in the Bible signifying the apocalypse. History shows Christian missionaries served worldwide as a means to introduce and convert people into the Christian faith.

The same is true with the Mormon and JW missionaries inducting new members to pay the cost of religion.
 
From Wikipedia:

18% of respondents surveyed consider themselves "neither religious nor spiritual",[4] and another 16-27% as "spiritual but not religious".[5][4] The percentage of Americans without religious affiliation, who mostly identify as "nothing in particular" and are therefore known as "Nones", is around 21%.[6] Most of the "None"s have some and often strong religious beliefs, and 10% of all Americans are nonaffiliates who attend church six times a year and more. Social scientists argued that many "Nones" should be considered "unchurched", not being members of an organized faith at the time of being questioned, rather than objectively nonreligious.[1][7]

So, considering the enormous variation in religious belief in this country, plus all those who checked the "None" box, what religious teachings would be appropriate? Wow, talk about opening a can of worms!

Of course, the history of what has happened in the name of religion should be taught as a part of history, but without any dogma or religious indoctrination of any kind. (I'm talking about public school, of course.) If parents want their children exposed at an early age to the teachings of a particular religion, it should be up to them to provide it. They should send their children to private religious schools, or provide instruction after school hours. Example: the Jewish kids preparing for their bar mitzvah or bat mitzvah go to Hebrew school after school hours; they do not expect the public school system to prepare everybody for a bar mitzvah.
 
I wish there was a way people could communicate their beliefs and practices in an open non-controversial manner that those who hear may choose to adopt as their own.

Unfortunately, seldom do people hear what is said without judgment or fear. Example, somehow my wife has it in her head that Yoga is a religion and therefore since Yoga is not Biblical or according to Scripture the practice of Yoga is unacceptable to her way of thinking.

How many preconceived ideas do we carry with us wherever we go? Quick to judge or dismiss anything that doesn't fit within our tiny scope of the world we make for ourselves.

I regret my time for living is much shorter than before. However, I am happy for what is to come because I choose to be.
 
When I was in elementary school, we had religious instruction every Wednesday afternoon. I don’t know why they have stopped it because it was a good start to understanding the Lords way. In what I’m seeing in today’s schools, there’s a lot of kids that need this in their life.
 
When I was in elementary school, we had religious instruction every Wednesday afternoon, also, but only if we had parental permission to leave the school premises with the instructor, in my case a rabbi.

After awhile my best friend & I stayed at the back of the line walking to the synagogue, and we ducked over to her house.
 
That's exactly what Christians did. About 70% of Africans who were brought here as slaves were Muslims. Christians indoctrinated us with a White Jesus (which he wasn't) and their ways. Although Muslims are told to teach, we are not supposed to try to convince others they should be Muslim. That choice should come from the heart after (if one chooses) studying the religion and it's practices. We will never have one universal religion for all.

@Keesha "I feel exactly the opposite and don’t think religion should be taught in school. Which religion? With today’s mixed culture, I think it would cause more problems than solutions." I agree.
 
There is really no such thing as total seperation of church and state, however, teaching religion in public schools is too fraught with litigation. The mere hanging of a picture of Jesus in the school hall is forbidden.

The Senate Chaplain can open a session with a prayer, secular in nature. Christmas trees in public arenas/land, secular in nature. Still they have a religious overtone.
 
OneEyedDiva said:
That's exactly what Christians did. About 70% of Africans who were brought here as slaves were Muslims. Christians indoctrinated us with a White Jesus (which he wasn't) and their ways. Although Muslims are told to teach, we are not supposed to try to convince others they should be Muslim. That choice should come from the heart after (if one chooses) studying the religion and it's practices. We will never have one universal religion for all.

@Keesha "I feel exactly the opposite and don’t think religion should be taught in school. Which religion? With today’s mixed culture, I think it would cause more problems than solutions." I agree.
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It’s really a shame that so many others got a different religion shoved in their face like it was the ‘right’ way when they already had their own beliefs.

We like the stories about Jesus but if he was just a bit whiter he’d be so much more appealing ?

Christianity became more about power, money and politics than anything and somehow tried to erase anything that contradicted it like evolution. If our earth is 4.5 billion years old, then that’s a long time before humanity even entered into the equation. There were dinosaurs and all types of creatures large and small. They seemed to all survive without religion for more years than we can possibly imagine. There are far more things we don’t know about than we do.

Humanity comes along and suddenly we understand how the heavens and earth were made, what God expects from us but in doing so we have to forfeit our logic and common sense as well as the entire history of the world.

No Christianity wasn’t all rainbows and roses.
It caused a lot of global issues and still does.
Religion should always be a choice once we reach adulthood. ( in my opinion )
 
Mr. Ed said:
I wish there was a way people could communicate their beliefs and practices in an open non-controversial manner that those who hear may choose to adopt as their own.

Unfortunately, seldom do people hear what is said without judgment or fear. Example, somehow my wife has it in her head that Yoga is a religion and therefore since Yoga is not Biblical or according to Scripture the practice of Yoga is unacceptable to her way of thinking.

How many preconceived ideas do we carry with us wherever we go? Quick to judge or dismiss anything that doesn't fit within our tiny scope of the world we make for ourselves.

I regret my time for living is much shorter than before. However, I am happy for what is to come because I choose to be.
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Yoga in itself is not a religion...however, it is part of a religion (Hindu)...so your wife is partially correct. Why must other religions be Biblical?
 
🌺
I went to a private Catholic school…my parents sent me there not because of the religious aspect but because I could pursue the activities I showed an interest in i.e. dancing, music, sports, swimming etc. Later on we sent our children to a Catholic school and were just as pleased with the result.

In spite of my Catholic school upbringing, I do not practise any particular religion. I am very interested in most of the main religions and feel comfortable going into any church or temple which gives me space to express gratitude and respite from the hustle and bustle of daily life. 🌺
 
Keesha said:
This seems more reasonable. Everyone should have a choice.
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In the ethics class, they ask the children things like 'Is it okay to lie?' and interesting discussions would follow. We all tell lies, but sometimes it's to spare giving an answer that would hurt a person's feelings. Would an ethics class be more beneficial to the child than a religious class? I have no idea because the ethics class didn't exist when my children went to primary school so they attended a religious class where nobody listened to a word from the poor Christian volunteer and it was a great class to get away with blue murder.
 
mellowyellow said:
In the ethics class, they ask the children things like 'Is it okay to lie?' and interesting discussions would follow. We all tell lies, but sometimes it's to spare giving an answer that would hurt a person's feelings. Would an ethics class be more beneficial to the child than a religious class? I have no idea because the ethics class didn't exist when my children went to primary school so they attended a religious class where nobody listened to a word from the poor Christian volunteer and it was a great class to get away with blue murder.
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An ethics class or classes to teach children about how to interact with others and about life in general would be a good course to offer.
Even courses offered on mental health and how to improve it would seem like useful courses to learn while growing up. There are many topics that could be taught and be significantly useful without the need for religion. With all the different types of religion, how would they please every family? They wouldnt and couldn’t.
 
Keesha said:
An ethics class or classes to teach children about how to interact with others and about life in general would be a good course to offer.
Even courses offered on mental health and how to improve it would seem like useful courses to learn while growing up. There are many topics that could be taught and be significantly useful without the need for religion. With all the different types of religion, how would they please every family? They wouldnt and couldn’t.
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Great idea Keesha, there is so much they could learn, bullying and how it affects mental health would be a start.
 
Irwin said:
Religion should absolutely be taught in schools. It's had an immense effect on society and the world, both positive–mostly in the realm of art and architecture–and negative when one considers all the wars that have been waged in the name of religion and all the suffering that has resulted from people trying to force their religious beliefs on others.
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I took a Religions class in high school... very very interesting, covering all the major ideas and believes from around the world..
Including from none to astronomy to native spirits.... even devil worshiping...
The wildest part of the class was the teacher ..... and the HUGE OUTCRY from the community....
He was also the psychology teacher, a proclaimed Atheist and most parents called for him to be fired...
Who better to pass along the fact than someone with no dog in the fight.
 


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