Christianity's Place in the School System

With the cabinet reshuffle placing Nicky Morgan in the position of secretary for education (and the shocking expose on her religion fuelled backwoods views: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/nicky-morgan-new-education-secretary-voted-against-samesex-marriage-and-for-restricted-abortion-access-9607517.html) this is a pretty up2date topic.

What do you, especially Christians, think about Christianity's place in schools? Personally I think it's a load of hogwash and should be kept in churches, the fact that in quite a lot of schools in Britain the kids sing hymns about loving Jesus every morning is absurd in my opinion.

I have no problem with people being religious, I'm no Dawkins, I just think people should butt-out.

Scroll to see replies

Reply 1

SophieSmall

I think religious views and agendas should be kept out of schools, and not just Christianity all religions.
I am okay with children being taught ABOUT religions but I'm not okay with them being taught to believe in a certain religion as it's unfair and not right for an impressionable child to basically not be given the option to what religion if any they choose to believe in or have shoved down their throats.

Reply 2

tomfailinghelp

I think we should replace religious assemblies with a daily demonstration of obeisance to Christopher Hitchens...

in all seriousness though, replace R.E. With Philosophy lessons! Would improve critical thinking, teach indoctrinated kids to break through religious chains, and get some Epistemology circling in the air :')

Reply 3

Kathiye

As someone who went to a Catholic school, I don't think that there's anything wrong with Christian schools as such in terms of what they teach. It's not as if we're not taught about evolution and forced to share the beliefs of the religion - in fact, in my RE class, about 27/30 of us agreed with the legalisation of gay marriage. And the people who disagreed did so because of their upbringing rather than schooling. You're taught many different points of view about ethical matters, although I can only speak for my own school.

I think the main problem of Catholic schooling is the fact that it tends to attract a certain area of society. My school has substantially more middle-class families than other schools in my town and the behaviour and results the school gets reflect this since people with higher incomes tend to do better at school due to better financial support and parents valuing education more (not that people from working class backgrounds don't value education!). Should you not be able to go to the best school in your area because you aren't a Catholic? It doesn't seem right.

However, the school is better because it IS Catholic. Otherwise, it would be just another school. Part of this is due to the people at the school, but I also think that part of it is due to the community that a shared religion creates, getting parents more involved in their child's education. Perhaps the best thing would be to try to achieve this kind of community in a non-religious school, but I don't know how.

Reply 4

cole-slaw

Christianity has no place in the public life of this country. It is a weird and unpleasant minority view like or islamic extremism or holocaust denial, and should remain outside of any public institutions. If people want to practice their perverted cannibal fantasies behind closed doors, thats fine, but keep that filth out of the school system.

Reply 5

tengentoppa

Ideally there would be no religious schools, and religion would be taught solely as an academic subject.

And it's downright depressing that the new minister for education is a religious nut. Anyone who lets their religion affect their political decisions should be nowhere near power.

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 6

BoyWithTheThorn

It should be taught in RE lessons along with the other major world religions, and shouldn't receive any preferable treatment compared to Islam, Buddhism or any of the others.

Reply 7

Harvey Dent

Hell, I'd go in for a 'Scriptural Contradictions and Inaccuracies' class.

Reply 8

HangTheBankstas

About as much place as white people have in Europe. None.

Reply 9

Baldness

http://faithdebates.org.uk/debates/2012-debates/religion-and-public-life/richard-dawkins-faith-in-schools/

Reply 10

The_Lonely_Goatherd

I am a practising Catholic who attended Catholic primary and secondary schools. I don't think there's anything wrong with being taught RE or about one's own religion, or singing hymns, or even having faith schools. HOWEVER, what goes on in any faith school should be very closely monitored, especially with regards to RE lessons, science lessons and PSHCE lessons. All religions should be taught in RE, not just one's own.

Reply 11

2007PSanHa

I think faith schools are fine as long as they are not overly faith orientated and cover all faiths. My primary and secondary schools were both Christian. After all, my secondary school began as a Sunday school!

Reply 12

Baldness

Original post by The_Lonely_Goatherd

As a "practising catholic" what did jesus taste like when you last ate a piece of his 2000 year old body and drank his blood ?

What is moral about teaching children to eat human flesh and drink human blood ?

I say you are a pseudo cannibal and an imaginary vampire.

As a member of the catholic church you support pedophile priests, the demonisation of homosexuals, the spread of Aids, the spread of human suffering due to overpopulation and the poverty that creates.

I wouldn't be in a hurry to advertise the real monster in you !

"“Jesus Christ—who, as it turns out, was born of a virgin, cheated death, and rose bodily into the heavens—can now be eaten in the form of a cracker”

― Sam Harris, The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason"

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 13

The_Lonely_Goatherd

Original post by Baldness

This is not 'Ask TLG' or 'Ask a Catholic stupid questions' :tongue:

Reply 14

Hariex

Original post by cole-slaw

Christianity has no place in the public life of this country. It is a weird and unpleasant minority view

Wrong; whether you like it or not, Christianity is an integral part of our culture.

like or islamic extremism or holocaust denial

Wrong; most statistics place believers at around 50%, with Islamic extremism bordering on 2%.

If people want to practice their perverted cannibal fantasies behind closed doors

Wrong; cannibalism does not feature in Christianity. Perversion has no biblical justification.

thats fine, but keep that filth out of the school system.

I'm not sure how you managed to reach that conclusion. Whilst I don't disagree with you, this is a very poorly formulated argument.

Reply 15

Hariex

Original post by SophieSmall

It is, after all, a well known fact that children are unable to think for themselves.

Reply 16

cole-slaw

Original post by Hariex

Wrong; whether you like it or not, Christianity is an integral part of our culture.

No its not.

Wrong; most statistics place believers at around 50%, with Islamic extremism bordering on 2%.

Actually the census revealed christian belief had shrunk to single figures and was dwindling rapidly. It will soon be even tinier than islam in this country.

Wrong; cannibalism does not feature in Christianity. Perversion has no biblical justification.

So when you eat the sacrament and it transmutes to the flesh of jesus christ and you then swallow it.... what would you call that?

Reply 17

Hariex

Original post by cole-slaw

No its not.

•

A lot of our values in today's society are due to our Christian heritage. For example, freedom of speech, equality, etc.

•

Our hospitals and schools were initially founded by Christians

•

Christianity is heavily involved in society: food banks, street pastors, churches - more than any other belief.

•

Christianity, historically, has been central in Britain.

Actually the census revealed christian belief had shrunk to single figures and was dwindling rapidly. It will soon be even tinier than islam in this country.

Your source?

I chose the Office for National Statistics as my reference, which described that, in 2011, 59% of people identified as Christian. This marked a 12% decrease since 2001, working out at a rough 1.2% decrease each year.

Now, you are telling us that numbers for Christianity have actually dropped 50% in three years. I have not seen anything in society that could explain this statistical drop, especially when considering how the first New Atheist literature was released in 2006.

You might be interested to know that Islam was recorded to be 4.8% of the population.

http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/census/2011-census/key-statistics-for-local-authorities-in-england-and-wales/rpt-religion.html

So when you eat the sacrament and it transmutes to the flesh of jesus christ and you then swallow it.... what would you call that?

This thread was talking about Christianity, not Catholicism specifically.

Reply 18

shawn_o1

I agree, hymns are for churches only. I know there are some "children's hymns" (like Who Put The Colours In The Rainbow... ...God Made All Of These) that wouldn't sound right in a church but it wouldn't sound right in school either, as it goes against education by closing children's minds instead of opening them