Do atheists oppose teaching the beliefs of christianity in history class?

Question

When I was in school I was in 9th grade the basic history and beliefs of all other world religions, except christianity. Dont you think, given how important religion plays a role in different societies, that religion needs to be taught in school?


Why would you exclude religion from the curriculum when religion shapes sooo many societies around the world, esp now that we have a global economy and society?

Isnt the teaching of religion in school vital to a persons education, esp in the world we live in today?

ok wait, let me rephrase that first sentence, lol
When I was in high school, in 9th grade, I was taught the basic history and beliefs of all major religions, except christianity.

I must have had a brain fart.

Teaching about religion is vital though. Think about a person going into international business. Dont you think knowing what and how and why a Muslim believes and thinks the way they do will be very important if you are doing business in the middle east?
The beliefs of a religion shapes how a person reacts and acts and why certain societies do what they do. So dont you have to learn their belief system to understand their society?

Answer 1

To teach the history of religions or comparing one belief with another without idoctrinating should be the marker of a good teacher. Religions have shaped the values, the thinking, and the cultures of societies, that is true. We al belong to the culture in which we were born and raised. Not all the rules and customs of our culture are rational and desirable. To maintain a critical view of culture is an important aspect of being an intelligent person.

Answer 2

Yes and no.

The separation of state and religion has a very important byproduct. That is because there is a separation of church and state it is possible for all types of people to teach all types of religions. If the opposite was true then one religion would be in control of the government. The problem arises when the question of which religion should be the religion of the country arises. Most people in this part of the world will happily say christianity and be done with it. However, this is just where the trouble starts. You see, not only did you alienated a great part fo the population by choosing only one religion as the main religion. You also come across the question of which version of christianity? I mean, should we all then choose to be catholics, or southern babtist? or episcopleans. You see the problem here. If we allow religion to be taught in school then we get into the argument where no two school will be teaching the same concepts because they will all teach things according to their point of view of the chosen denomination. So, you have just managed to segregate your whole school. It is then easy to see how this practice is unfair for everybody. The simple and best answer then is not to force religion on others and allow them to find which religion fills their spiritual need. That is we have given people the right of freedom of religion without persecution and freedom of choice. Isn't that great?!

I did take a religion course in college because the university I went to was based on christianity. It was a private college. There was a 1 course religious requiremnt for the school. Everything else was like any other college. You know behave on school grounds etc etc. It did had its own chappel where people could go pray and what not and every year they had an ecumenical get together. For some reason I ended up going to it every year. I don't know why I just happen to end up there. It was in the theater. I did not go to anything else on that theater exept that. Just dumb luck. I never planned on it. Anyways, what I was trying to get at was that the class was a bit bias. Yes, it starts with a bit about other religions but, 75% of it was about christianity and some of its major teachings. They try to remain as neutral as possible but inevitably they fail. Well, at least in my opinion. If I where to set up the course I would then spend the semester and divided the time equally on the 5 mayor religion and at least two smaller ones. That is you will have to divide the class into 7 section or about 1 religion per semester to be fair and un-bias. You will then have to cover christianity, muslim, jewish, budhism, hinduism, but then some other minor ones like wican and alternative. As a bonus I would cover stanism. See that is unbias. The idea is to expose people to what is out there, what each religion major points are and how they differ from each other. So, you can see that such a program is highly unlikely to hapen because religion is something that people do not agree on. So if I ask you what is the main point of christianity but summirize it so I can cover it in 1 week, then what ever you say is going to be slightly different than some other expert in the matter. It will all end up a big mess.

Answer 3

Well, in school I was taught basic beliefs of different countries and where these beliefs came from. When I became a history major my History professors told our classes that if you're religious you should leave you religion at the door, because unfortunatley, once you really start to dip into history there is a lot to prove that all religions pretty much derive from the same place, Mesopotamia. In my case it just strengthened my atheist roots.
However, I do agree that in history classes, at least in more involved history classes, all aspects of a society should be studied so an indidvidual can gain a full understanding of the culture.

Answer 4

It should be very basic and mostly having to do with specific world events if religion is taught in a history class.

Otherwise religion should be it's own course and each religion should be treated equally, of course not every minor religion can be given equal time to say Judaism, Islam, Christianity etc.

But anyway, what does it have to do with Atheists? Why are you singling them out? What about what Muslims or Jews think about teaching the beliefs of Christianity? I guess I don't get that part of your question.

Answer 5

This class might have a great burden to handle, coaching each and all of the religions of the worldwide, previous and latest in an independent way. extra clever left for a college direction then in public HS. *********** as long because of the fact the direction replaced into a hundred% optionally available, taught via somebody who will instruct info and the religions have been taught thoroughly independent i assume not. yet what occurs while little ones who do not take the direction get ridiculed via young ones who do? How can we make particular that the direction is taught as authentic somewhat then religious? i think of that fogeys could only be extra in charge of their coaching of worldwide religions. yet there are a number of substances attainable to those that a direction isn't mandatory, only the prefer to earnings and the potential to examine. You and that i are the two examples of that. i'm unquestionably undecided if i may well be comfortable with it. i'm not completely against it nevertheless. How can lamont think of that Darwins theories stem from a religios concept, Paganism, while Pagans believe in not purely one God yet many Gods. this is an oxymoron.

Answer 6

:) On the R&S forum, have you ever noticed Christians disagreeing with each other over their history, beliefs, and roles in society? Even on what the basics are?

How would your 9th grade class handle such? One hopes, with better courtesy, or the objectivity your teachers may hope you bring to religions with which all or most of you do not identify...

In my HS classes, we did study Christianity along with many other religions, in History and other classes. But this was a school run by one denomination, and confliects could and were sometimes resolved by reference to that denomination's beliefs.

Answer 7

I'm not opposed to it being taught in history at all. It is a major part of history and current events. I'm just opposed to it being taught as fact.

EDIT: I want to stress that it needs to be taught along side other religions and done objectively. I added this because after reading the other answers I realized I was assuming these points were a given.

Answer 8

I'm an athiest and I dont oppose learning about theology. I find it interesting, even though I dont believe in any of it. But it is true and has shaped the world today by how people followed their religion. It needs to be taught, but it also needs to be taught that EVERYONE needs to respect everyone elses lifestyle choices and I think its wrong if teachers are asking children to pray in school and preaching to students (happened to a friend's daughter recently). It is each persons choice, even a childs.

Answer 9

History is the proper place for it. If other religions were presented as beliefs that motivated historical actions, Christianity certainly should have been treated the same - in fact it would be a distortion of history to teach otherwise.

Answer 10

I wouldn't mind a comparative religions class tought to highschoolers... as an elective. History shouldn't be focusing specifically on all the religious factors except for perhaps one lesson, or at most a week's lessons.

And yes, Christianity would have a place in there too.