I already stated how I feel about the bible physically existing in schools - it should not (and is not) be banned, and in fact should be made available in the library. Information is the most important thing to humanity right now and of course I'm going to back spreading more of that information around. But teaching creationism in school (alongside evolution no less) is a popular demand by religious folk and I'd like to state how I feel about that. Teaching students anything from the Bible as fact, or as good moral example, would be a disservice and would obviously not be allowed the way things currently are. Now, a class that covers the history of religion? We have that, it's called History class. Religion happens to show up now and again in those text books and that's more than enough as far as mandatory teaching goes. You could argue that we need to "teach the controversy", to show students one side of the argument of our origins and the way the universe works, but there's a massive flaw to be found here. There is no real controversy. Creationism, in any form, cannot even begin to stand up on its own two feet when it comes to evidence or logic. Teaching creationism as a possible reality is madness and would be an insult to students. And on the subject of "creationism in any form", that's the biggest problem here. People who want the bible to be used as teaching material in school to make things "fair" ignore the fact that there is a wide variety of religions with JUST as much credibility as yours. Dedicating a class, optional or not, to a single religion is silly and with any luck will not happen any time soon.
Mandatory? NO, religion should not be forced onto people who do not want it. I think it would be acceptable to allow public schools to have elective classes based on religions (although if they only allow one religion that isn't fair, they would have to allow it for each religion that people would be interested taking a class on). Personally if religion became mandatory in public schools I would (probably) leave the country. People going around door to door trying to force religion on people is bad enough but I would not be ok with my future kids being forced to learn religion if they don't want to. Being religious is a choice each person has to make on their own it is not right to have it forced upon you.
The issue I have is that the topic would almost certainly be exclusive to only some religions. In America it may be Christianity and in some cases, Judaism. But how do you think it's gonna go over for people wanting to practise the Quran? There's always gonna be those meatheaded bigots who wan't to keep certain religions off their school. In mine it was the case with Catholics in a protestant school. People have no business knowing your religion unless your willing to tell them. It's on that basis, along with several other factors, that I say no. It's just a disaster waiting to happen.
[video=youtube;JxSdyEHX-oM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxSdyEHX-oM[/video] Why put it in schools when we have Bibleman!
Someone once said "the best way to make an atheist out of someone is to have them read the bible." While I think that was a rather condescending opinion, the ultimate point he was making is true. If you really believe you are in the right, you should not fear reading the literature of a different opinion. Also, the Bible and many other religious texts all serve as important historical literature that should be taught as such so that people can learn about ancient cultures that wrote these books. I personally think that the excessively adult themes in the bible would make it more suitable for teenagers and perhaps even college students, so definitely not for children. As for it being mandatory, I say no for the same reason many subjects are not mandatory - I studied engineering growing up so aside from personal interest historical books really had no relevance to my future career and thus my required education.
If someone wants to bring one in a school, then they should. But if it's a secular school like most public schools, it should NEVER be part of the curriculum. We won't like it is Islam, Paganism, Buddhism, Hindu, or any other religion was forced on us. So it should be the same for Christianity and Judaism. All religions should have their own schools to practice their beliefs. But in public places, religion has NO say. Keep religion only in the religious institutions and the homes of it's practitioners, not in our public schools, capitol hills, courthouses, or any other non-religious establishment.
I have no problem with it once a school isn't trying to force religion on you. Its a school subject that should never, ever be made mandatory in my opinion.
My opinion is that Bibles could be allowed, but not with the purpose of shoving your religion in someone else's throat. I'm an atheïst, and I'll be honest, there are some fun parts to read in the Bible, if you read it as your everyday book. For me, it's something like Harry Potter or Twilight. Just a good book.
I think that every school should have a bible (of every religion) in their library for the people who are religious.
My school offered an extra curricular class with exactly what you described and I'm glad I took it. Keep in mind I grew up in the bible belt, so the class was rather eye opening. I doubt I'd remember much about a course that was strictly Christian teachings, that's what church and Bible study are for. Again though it's no something everyone has interest in therefore no class that teaches religion of any kind should be mandatory.
It would probably be better to just have a course in Theology. Oh, wait, many schools already offer that.
Theology classes tend to be really biased at a lot of schools - i think it's a great concept but it needs to be taught by someone that's an academic, not a person of one particular faith (thus having an agenda to promote their own view of their own religion). Seems like the majority of people in this thread agree that knowledge and access to literature is good, and forced anything is bad. I can definitely get behind that general concept; now the hard part is figuring out how best to implement that idea.
A good point: at lower levels, it's hard to find a highly academic-oriented, non-biased theology course. However, I would put it to you that most college professors (with few exceptions) have an academic interest in their course material. Perhaps you could say this idea has already been implemented in some ways. Some universities host courses that study only a single religion, and so this idea of "teaching the Bible in schools" has already been attempted by certain schools at certain academic levels. Additionally, many high schools have Bible clubs. However, I do not condone the teaching of Creationism in any public school at any level (nor, it would seem, does anybody else here).
No for many reasons: 1. Not everyone is a Christian. There's Wiccans, Jews, Muslims, and the occasional Pagans. 2. May I turn your attention to Salem? 3. Religion caused enough problems in history(Crusades, Holocaust, and Age of Exploration).
