Should we teach comparative religion in the public schools?

Question

That is, a secular based study of the 3 Abrahamic religions.

Answer 1

No. A Comparative Religions course should include as many religions as possible. I took an elective one back in the 80's, at a public high school, that was fascinating. It would be highly inappropriate to focus only on 3 similar religions.

Answer 2

Here in Australia we already do. Though it typically covers at least the five major religions, not just the three Abrahamic religions.
It seems like a pretty reasonable topic to cover, given the significance that religion has in most societies.

Teaching them all would be ideal, but it certainly isn't practical. There isn't time to teach kids everything, and at the moment most of them are graduating with only a very basic understanding of English grammar.

Answer 3

Why just the Abrahamic religions? They share more than they differ. They should be contrasted with different lines of Paganism and any other form of religion. Of course there should be comparative religions studied, it's a step towards a critical understanding of one's own religious context in the world. Anything to get us past unquestioned belief.

Answer 4

Yes, one can learn a lot from theology even if you don't buy into the metaphysics. How can anyone claim to be an educated person if they don't know the difference between say Orthodox Christianity and Catholicism, or between Sunni and Shiite Islam?

I don't have any objections to including faiths outside the Abrahamic tradition, but you have to learn to walk before you can run. Therefore I would suggest doing monotheism before you get into say...Jainism. Nothing against Jainism but I think basic religious literacy in our society would have to start with the God of Abraham.

Answer 5

We already study approximately many faiths at college interior the states. I fantastically undergo in recommendations discovering correct to the Egyptian gods, the Greek gods, the Roman gods, lots of Christian historic past and a few info approximately different religions. there's a distinction between discovering approximately religions and discovering faith. i've got faith that analyzing faith is a robust component of a balanced training as long as we coach it the way we coach religions that anybody isn't presently practising - as mythology and subculture. possibly if we coach little ones greater approximately different religions and don't coach each and every thing from an anglo-saxon attitude of historic past and we coach little ones approximately all 3 Abrahamic-religions, the foremost sects interior of them, Hinduism, Buddhism (that's technically no longer a faith, that's an earthly international view), and proceed to coach approximately the different mythologies that are no longer from now on practiced with a miles better concentration on similarities and the incontrovertible fact that they've been all, at one time, popular to be real basically as much as modern-day-day religions, we would have fewer people basically adhering to their very own mythology.

Answer 6

in the UK, (and most of northern europe), they teach comparative religion, all of the main religions not just the abrahamic ones. and the result seems to be a population of the vaguely deist, agnostics and atheists. when you teach a number of religions side by side you can see how ridiculous the whole idea is.

Answer 7

No. Since property taxes pay for the schools and the schools are supposed to be run at the local level, then the local people who pay these taxes should have the right to decide what is taught.

But, we, the people, have allowed a union, the NEA, to dictate to the citizens just what will be taught in the schools that we pay for. Quite ridiculous.

Teachers should not have the power to decide, the citizens that pay for the schools should have the power.

Answer 8

The Bible is all about compare-i-son from the get go.
Let us make man, is a before/after comparison:
- in our image: before; created; imperfect ... law
- after our likeness: after; made; perfect... grace

Comparative teaching is what the bible is about.
Law: I will forget you & I will forsake you: Jer 23:39
Grace: I will never leave nor forsake you: Heb 13:5

By Law: all perish... extinction
By Grace: none perish... salvation

Impure religion: arrives defiled, gets worse end
Pure religion: arrives undefiled, remains unspotted

This Spirit: Law
That Spirit: the Lord is now that Spirit: Grace

This God: Law
That God: is light, and in him there is no darkness at all

Them-ward: Law <--BC (bwd; draw back to perdition)
Us-ward: AD-->Grace goes fwd, unto the end written

The GRACE of our Lord Jesus Christ with you all. Amen.

Answer 9

I agree with "gelfling", if you are going to teach comparative religion, teach them ALL!

I might even go back to school for that one lol, of course it might take a couple of years to do a really good comparison, there are a lot of religions.

Answer 10

No. If you're going to teach about religions cover all of them. Public school, however, isn't the place to do that.