School+Religion=?

Question

Now, I hope you people take me seriously. But I'm just a kid, so hey, when you're a short little Asian atheist kid, no one takes you seriously. But, to the point.

I'm in JHS. Now, we're learning about blood, and we had to be in a group of 4(ours was short one person, we had 3 people) to create a presentation, which we did yesterday. We presented our neat poster. Then we were required to answer questions. Our topic was white blood cells. Now, a classmate asked us a question after the presentation. He asked, "Why are white blood cells white?" And our group didn't have the answer to that. Then one of my group members said, "Because God made it that way!" The teacher said, "Amen to that!"

And all this while, I was thinking, "Hm... I really want to say something, but I shouldn't say anything." Silence is golden, they say. I wanted to be respectful. So, I'm thinking, what do you think about the idea of school+religion?

My two cents? I don't think school and religion should mix.

Answer 1

By law, public schools are supposed to steer clear of religion, which is a good thing of course.

Answer 2

I went to a state school (that's not what we call it but same basic thing) in the UK. We have lessons in religion from 3 years old in an unstructured way. Then from year 7 (11 yrs old) we have lessons on a weekly basis and we cover various religions over the 5 years of compulsory religious study(RS) (you parents do have the right to withdraw you from class but few use that right). My school covered Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism and a few other religions. We also covered evolution in RS.

We also had assembly every Monday with prayers and hymns, I only remember 5 girls not attending and they had to go to a class room and reflect on something - usually the moral story the rest of us were hearing.

I cannot imagine having children and them having no religious lessons in school, ignorance breeds fear and hatred.


Some countries such as France ban all religious things from schools, this includes jewelery and head scarves - and many children have refused to go it school because they are forbidden to show their religious beliefs by what they wear.

I think that religion should be allowed in schools, if only to prevent children losing education and being ignorant of others beliefs.

Answer 3

I agree with you short little Asian atheist kid. School and religion just do not mix. Everyone has different beliefs and could be offended by someone's religious beliefs. Your teacher should've said something like "I'm not quite sure why that is, I'll find out and tell you tomorrow"
I think you should say something next time that happens, just be respectful.

Answer 4

if you knew a better answer, you should have spoken up...as for a classmate saying 'because God made it that way', if that somehow disturbed you, you might need to drop your sensitivity setting just a tad...no one is required to leave their religious beliefs at the schoolhouse door. what I'd be more concerned about is the fact that your group, doing a presentation on white blood cells, did not have the answer...at least thank your classmate for not standing there like a deer in the headlights...

Answer 5

Not to put too fine a point on it: it sucks. Ascribing something to god rather than figuring out how it actually works is a cop-out, and about as intellectually dishonest as you can get. God has no place in a science class. I would discuss the matter with the principal.

Answer 6

I agree that school and religion should not mix. Because schools are funded by State and National budgets, if schools were to endorse a particular religion, that would mean that the state and national governments were also endorsing that religion. This is clearly forbidden in the constitution, and would be incredibly unfair to the tens of millions of people living in this country who do not believe in that religion.

Answer 7

Coming from a little Asian girl, I think you are 100% correct. In my classes, my teachers make a point never to mix religion and our courses. Currently, we are studying evolution and our teacher has kept religion out of the curriculum.

Answer 8

It sounds like the teacher didn't know the real answer either but is a bull** artist and wanted to get past it.
You have learned a valuable lesson though- Teachers do not know everything .
Let it go--you will see much worse situations as you grow up when people who do not know come out ahead......

Answer 9

You probably did the right thing. Trust me, you are not the only student who was saying to themselves, "what....?" What the teacher did was inappropriate. School and religion do not mix. It's unfortunate that not everyone understands that concept.

Answer 10

I agree with you - religion and education don't mix. You can teach *about* religions in school, but education shouldn't have a religious agenda. Religion is about belief systems and faith, but learning should be about investigation and evidence.

Answer 11

Well, I think religion and biology class should be taught in the same room. Let the students decide for themselves which sounds more reasonable...