This is a very divisive issue. There is about 7 million Muslims living in France. Islam is the second largest religion in the country. While there are about 7000 Catholic Schools and (probably around 100) Jewish schools (for the 0,5 million Jews living in France) there is 127 Muslim Schools in the Country today. One of them was even chose “The Best High school” in 2008.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/muslim-school...54718.html
In European countries will allow some autonomy to these “religious” schools giving them privileges like allowing headscarves to students and teachers while expecting sincere attachment to Republican and secular values. So unlike religious schools in the US, these schools need to maintain the values of the enlightenment etc.
It’s also normal for conservative people to want their kids to be raised with these values. For instance the Jesuit Boarding Schools have the reputation of taking in lazy kids and teaching them values of obedience and self-discipline, making responsible adults out of them by using corporal punishment on them if necessary.
According to this article the government is being criticized for willing to have an even better grip on these institutions.
So the first think I am going to say is that (unfortunately) Islam and Judaism appear as very political religions in our times. I think it is perfectly safe to say that in Islam objects that used to connote humility and simplicity in the past have become a clear sign of adherence to the political ideology of political Islam.
It is also important to say that organizations like the Opus Dei and/or similar sects and organizations like the Muslim brother hood (and there are dozens of them) like to pray on these kids. Meaning that once someone has been indoctrinated into a given form of Islam (through these very institutions) it’s not so hard in future to radicalize them or convert them into even more problematic interpretations of the philosophy of Islam.
Finally, and that’s the most important part, I’ve had absolutely no problem being in a secular / liberal primary education system. What I want to emphasize here is that my family was still able to teach me the basics. Beside: There are places like “bible schools” or “Quran schools” where you may or may not send your kids in the weekend if you want to. And my main point is that, teenagers are a group of people who are already struggling with a lot of issues. So it’s a good thing to let them not deal with issues like the fear of punishment or the feelings of guilt that are being promoted by most of the more classical interpretations of religious teachings. So I believe that adults must let them live and focus more on positive sciences and other stuff being taught in schools rather than pumping some unverified knowledge into them.
Finally: Yes there are stuff today like a philosophy based teaching in martial arts, Yoga, meditation and some Sufi teachings that are very beneficial to kids from early age. But the difference here is that:
1) We don’t force kids into that. It’s like learning to play team sports, the kids are interested or they are not interested. Period.
2) These are not related to “education” as we know it. Learning Karate for instance will probably give the kids an advantage in school. That discipline and the fact that they are exercising rather than being in front of a screen in some way, will have benefits for the curriculum in school as well. This is true for many methods of self-training and self-discipline.
But the school does not do that or even try to do that. I am not even going to talk about the state of public education institutions in some countries. They are there mainly to teach mathematics and history. It would be a great thing if they had elective Yoga classes or even elective religious history classes. I still do not understand what kind of mentality wants to integrate religion or one or another interpretation of religion (actually) into that system.
In its root: I see it as another attempt by some people to go back to the days in which people were simply indoctrinated into a given type of philosophy because that philosophy was seen as the only possible philosophy anybody in this world would be able to have.
So I don’t really like this idea
https://www.yahoo.com/news/muslim-school...54718.html
In European countries will allow some autonomy to these “religious” schools giving them privileges like allowing headscarves to students and teachers while expecting sincere attachment to Republican and secular values. So unlike religious schools in the US, these schools need to maintain the values of the enlightenment etc.
It’s also normal for conservative people to want their kids to be raised with these values. For instance the Jesuit Boarding Schools have the reputation of taking in lazy kids and teaching them values of obedience and self-discipline, making responsible adults out of them by using corporal punishment on them if necessary.
According to this article the government is being criticized for willing to have an even better grip on these institutions.
So the first think I am going to say is that (unfortunately) Islam and Judaism appear as very political religions in our times. I think it is perfectly safe to say that in Islam objects that used to connote humility and simplicity in the past have become a clear sign of adherence to the political ideology of political Islam.
It is also important to say that organizations like the Opus Dei and/or similar sects and organizations like the Muslim brother hood (and there are dozens of them) like to pray on these kids. Meaning that once someone has been indoctrinated into a given form of Islam (through these very institutions) it’s not so hard in future to radicalize them or convert them into even more problematic interpretations of the philosophy of Islam.
Finally, and that’s the most important part, I’ve had absolutely no problem being in a secular / liberal primary education system. What I want to emphasize here is that my family was still able to teach me the basics. Beside: There are places like “bible schools” or “Quran schools” where you may or may not send your kids in the weekend if you want to. And my main point is that, teenagers are a group of people who are already struggling with a lot of issues. So it’s a good thing to let them not deal with issues like the fear of punishment or the feelings of guilt that are being promoted by most of the more classical interpretations of religious teachings. So I believe that adults must let them live and focus more on positive sciences and other stuff being taught in schools rather than pumping some unverified knowledge into them.
Finally: Yes there are stuff today like a philosophy based teaching in martial arts, Yoga, meditation and some Sufi teachings that are very beneficial to kids from early age. But the difference here is that:
1) We don’t force kids into that. It’s like learning to play team sports, the kids are interested or they are not interested. Period.
2) These are not related to “education” as we know it. Learning Karate for instance will probably give the kids an advantage in school. That discipline and the fact that they are exercising rather than being in front of a screen in some way, will have benefits for the curriculum in school as well. This is true for many methods of self-training and self-discipline.
But the school does not do that or even try to do that. I am not even going to talk about the state of public education institutions in some countries. They are there mainly to teach mathematics and history. It would be a great thing if they had elective Yoga classes or even elective religious history classes. I still do not understand what kind of mentality wants to integrate religion or one or another interpretation of religion (actually) into that system.
In its root: I see it as another attempt by some people to go back to the days in which people were simply indoctrinated into a given type of philosophy because that philosophy was seen as the only possible philosophy anybody in this world would be able to have.
So I don’t really like this idea
![[Image: 7151bc275de2d3d422106a4008215efe.jpg]](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/71/51/bc/7151bc275de2d3d422106a4008215efe.jpg)
