RE: Ban forced religious studies in schools
March 4, 2013 at 8:53 pm
(This post was last modified: March 4, 2013 at 8:55 pm by Angrboda.)
While I would agree with Min that there are, perhaps, more important priorities, I think teaching about religion is important for secular reasons. Ignorance of other religions is a fertile breeding ground for fanaticism, closed-mindedness, and intolerance. And for better or worse, religion and religious ardor are not going to disappear because we don't teach about the subject. It will just leave people ill-equipped to make intelligent life choices.
Ignorance, if avoidable, is never preferable to education. Whether the study of religion rises to equal importance with that of, say, civics, is another matter. Given its centrality in the lives of many presently and historically, I think it might be irresponsible not to teach it.