(December 18, 2015 at 5:36 am)Nontheist Wrote:

(December 18, 2015 at 5:21 am)abaris Wrote: Yes, but it doesn't hurt to have an informed opinion. They shouldn't learn as in here's something you should subscribe to. But they certainly should learn what makes other cultures tick. Ignorance is one of the main factors that led us to where we are now.

I don't remember doing assignments on the loch ness monster or mermaids.. all forms of bullshit should be kept away from education.

That comparison is silly. You don't think kids should have a basic understanding of what half of the world's population believes and base their life on? That's idiotic.

(December 18, 2015 at 5:36 am)Nontheist Wrote: I don't remember doing assignments on the loch ness monster or mermaids.. all forms of bullshit should be kept away from education.

Exactly why you do get idiots like the former CIA resident in Pakistan, who, in a televised interview about the consequences of his actions made the following claim: As a christian, he didn't understand these people. That's dangerous ignorance. On the lines of Ignorance is bliss.

(December 18, 2015 at 5:43 am)Quantum Wrote:

(December 18, 2015 at 5:36 am)Nontheist Wrote: I don't remember doing assignments on the loch ness monster or mermaids.. all forms of bullshit should be kept away from education.

That comparison is silly. You don't think kids should have a basic understanding of what half of the world's population believes and base their life on? That's idiotic.

No what is silly and idiotic is religion it's self, and if half the world's population want to believe fairy tales that is up to them.. just don't subject the rest of us and our kids to it.

Seemingly you don't get the distinction between exposing someone to something and learning something about the world. Try as you might, the world is there, wether you want to know it or not. Better to know the real deal instead of propagating ignorance.

I'm reminded of this exchange from Futurama

Hermes Conrad: This is mighty strange. First the civilization of Space Rome collapsed, then Don Martin 3 went kerflooie, and now Tweenis 12.
Fry: Looks like this planet is next in line.
Leela: That's Earth.
[Fry just stares at her]
Leela: The planet we live on?
Fry: I'd hate to be those guys.

(December 18, 2015 at 5:43 am)Quantum Wrote:

(December 18, 2015 at 5:36 am)Nontheist Wrote: I don't remember doing assignments on the loch ness monster or mermaids.. all forms of bullshit should be kept away from education.

That comparison is silly. You don't think kids should have a basic understanding of what half of the world's population believes and base their life on? That's idiotic.

Muslims don't agree what Islam is about and there's several Islamic cultures, you couldn't do a lesson based on what half the world believes in and bases their life on because that amount of people have never come to an agreement on what they base their life on.
At most religious teaching in school should be one hour a month.
And if lessons are going to be taught about Islamic culture then it should be about the negatives aswell as the positives, the homophobia, capital punishment and sexism along with the nice handwriting

(December 18, 2015 at 8:19 am)abaris Wrote: Seemingly you don't get the distinction between exposing someone to something and learning something about the world. Try as you might, the world is there, wether you want to know it or not. Better to know the real deal instead of propagating ignorance.

The only problem with this is that there's a lot of religions in the world, and learning is an investment that requires time which is a limited resource, so there's an unlimited about of bullshit in ancient books to learn with a limited amount of time to learn about them

You know what else is complicated? Learning other languages. Man, everyone has a different one, and people apparently can't even agree which one to use. Better not expose our children to such complicated things. And don't get me started on the metric system!

(December 18, 2015 at 8:31 am)Quantum Wrote: You know what else is complicated? Learning other languages. Man, everyone has a different one, and people apparently can't even agree which one to use. Better not expose our children to such complicated things. And don't get me started on the metric system!

Can you make the point without sarcasm to make it more clear so I can rely to your point easier?

Ok, my point is that now, maybe more than ever before, it is important that people have some kind of understanding what is going on in the world, and to understand as good as possible what other cultures do and why. To say that Islam is too complicated or too fragmented and therefore kids should be isolated from any information about what it stands for and what its adherents think and do, is madness pure and simple. It's why we always accuse "Americans" (not all of them, obviously, just the stereotype) of being so ignorant, barely knowing that there are other cultures worth speaking of beyond their border, while their government throws bombs on them.