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Religion in school
November 30, 2012 at 5:11 pm
My son has been coming home from school lately talking a lot about the baby jebus and god, I can tell he is obviously confused because I have worked hard to pour everything i know about evolution and the big bang etc.
Found out that they have a man coming in telling bible stories and they are making it fun and appealing to the school children. I am becoming increasingly frustrated with this seemingly biased approach but don't really want to kick off about it in the school.
As a biologist do I just keep teaching him everything i know in conjunction with the religious intrusions and let the kids make up their own mind or do I take an alternative route?
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RE: Religion in school
November 30, 2012 at 5:29 pm
I think the most important thing is to teach children how to properly discern what can be proven as truth and what must be dismissed as fiction. If they become religious, that is their choice, but at least the chance of them becoming a fundamentalist that believes god created man and earth 6,000 years ago will be minimized.
Even if the open windows of science at first make us shiver after the cozy indoor warmth of traditional humanizing myths, in the end the fresh air brings vigor, and the great spaces have a splendor of their own - Bertrand Russell
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RE: Religion in school
November 30, 2012 at 5:35 pm
I was raised atheist but attended a protestant primary school. Nothing wrong with a little doubt.
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RE: Religion in school
November 30, 2012 at 5:36 pm
My kids are only small at the moment but when this comes up, which it inevitably will, I plan on explaining that the Bible is a really old book full of stories that were written a long time ago. I would also show him some books about Greek myths, Roman gods, etc, so that he can see that "God" has appeared in lots of different stories throughout the world and taken lots of different forms.
I like to think that as long as they are exposed to lots of different information and have a good education in science and rational thinking, they'll make the logical connections all on their own.
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RE: Religion in school
November 30, 2012 at 6:59 pm
Education should only be based on things that are proven and have evidence to back it. Some history has no evidence but it's also manipulated by who is writing it.
Live every day as if already dead, that way you're not disappointed when you are.
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RE: Religion in school
November 30, 2012 at 7:21 pm
(This post was last modified: November 30, 2012 at 7:22 pm by Something completely different.)
Had "catholic school education" by a catholic priest for 2 years (torture). The the priest got "fired" (retired), because parents complained ybout how he sometimes treated kids (pulling their ears for not knowing answeres to his questions).
Then had lessons interducing me to the the various different existing religions.
Then had "ethics" which was more about the philosophical question of what is moraly right.
I dont know how "religion" is tought in other countries school systems.
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RE: Religion in school
November 30, 2012 at 7:34 pm
(This post was last modified: November 30, 2012 at 7:37 pm by Voltron.)
Curious, where are you from? I myself wouldn't sit back and wait on it. I'd be at the school in a hurry asking about this bible man. I'd be pretty pissed if some clown were teaching my girls to embrace the nonsense. I'm all for kids learning and taking what they've observed to make up their minds. And I feel that I teach my kids to look for truth, but I wouldn't sit by and let some dickhead push religion on my kids and hope they don't fall victim to the madness.
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RE: Religion in school
November 30, 2012 at 9:11 pm
My kids did not talk about what went on in school that much, what did you do today? usually elicited the answer 'oh stuff', but one thing they both enjoyed telling me was how they took part the RE teacher, or a bunch of kids who believed in nonsense. I come from an atheist background, and there is a difference between indoctrination and fore knowledge. Don't tell them what to think, but do tell them what you think.
