Okay. In order to be fair and equitable, a public school would have to teach about every religion, without teaching that one was true and correct, to allow the kids and their families to make up their minds together. Are we in agreement about this, RR, or do I have to explain why this is so?
If a public school is teaching about all religions, then they have to explain to kids that the Jews (speaking generally) believe they are God's chosen people and the Messiah is yet to come, the Christians (speaking generally) believe they are saved and Jesus the Savior and the only Son of God, and the Muslims (speaking generally) believe that Jesus was a prophet and so was Mohammed, and the Qu'ran, the word of God's last prophet, is vital if you hope to be obedient to God's will. They will also, because the Scientologists have the most expensive lawyers anywhere in the world, have to explain that the Scientologists believe that all gods are manifestations of the evil alien Xenu, that evil aliens called Thetans are implanted in our bodies and cause us to have religious experiences, and that humans evolved directly from clams. (If you find primate evolution hard to believe try that one on for size.)
Now, are you going to trust a secular institution— let's be honest, schools are not going to become religious institutions overnight— to give kids a fair and accurate representation of the word of God as understood by Christianity in a class like that? Moreover, which do you think kids are going to find more attractive— sex before marriage is sinful and you have to avoid sinning, or anything bad you do is caused by aliens which can be removed from your body with magic cans if you pay enough money and then also you will get psychic powers?
Religion as revealed truth is best taught in a church or other religious organization. Religion as a subject for study can be taught in a secular setting, but it is not going to give people an idea what it's like to live as a believer of that religion. You could have high school students do what college religion students are sometimes required to do, which is spend a month or so attending the services of some religious group they weren't raised in, and I think that's ideal. Conservative Christians, generally speaking, will think that's temptation into the paths of the devil. So do you want the people who were specially trained in ministry to be teaching your kids your religion, or do you want a bored teacher who is barely certified to teach English and probably resents having to do this anyway teaching all kids a sad misrepresentation of every religion? (Excuse me for projecting my knowledge of the American public school system onto this exercise. Some of my best friends teach in Florida.) |
