RE: Should people learn about other religions?
March 3, 2010 at 9:44 am
(This post was last modified: March 3, 2010 at 9:45 am by LukeMC.)
I think it should be taught. Just as I think mathematics, science and english should be taught. My personal feelings on what a school "should be" include opening and expanding horizons. If my school life had resulted in me coming out knowing a relevant amount of mathematics, a firm grasp on my own language and a general view of science, I'd have been pleased. If I also came out with an understanding of my country's history and relation with other countries, knowledge of other cultures and beliefs, and a vague feel for the political climate of the world, I'd have felt much more well-rounded as a person.
Unfortunately, neither outcome was the case- and the most interesting and fundamental things I learned about the world/beyond came from my own studies after finishing high school (to include physics [cosmology, particle/quantum physics], implications of language, how to construct an argument [and how to tear one down], buddhism, taoism, confucianism, legalism, shinto, a great deal on my origins [biology; abiogenesis, evolution, natural selection] and pretty much everything I know about politics, other cultures and religions). Had at least some of these things been a larger part of my school curriculum, I feel I'd have come out with more confidence about the wider world and my place within it.
I think I'm making more of a case against the way school curricula (curriculums?) are formed than I am for religious studies to be taught. I never liked how most of my physics would extend no further than the mechanics of pushing a door, and how my biology never extended much further than identifying bones in a bird's wing. The content was made to be testable- not useful nor interesting in many cases. I suppose my idea of a good education would be incompatible with this notion. Still, I think that knowing that not every country is the same and that different people do different things due to different beliefs is a good thing- perhaps even vital for a well-rounded understanding of the Earth you inhabit.
Either way, I don't make the policies, so my opinions are merely personal musings that'll never make it past the internet
Unfortunately, neither outcome was the case- and the most interesting and fundamental things I learned about the world/beyond came from my own studies after finishing high school (to include physics [cosmology, particle/quantum physics], implications of language, how to construct an argument [and how to tear one down], buddhism, taoism, confucianism, legalism, shinto, a great deal on my origins [biology; abiogenesis, evolution, natural selection] and pretty much everything I know about politics, other cultures and religions). Had at least some of these things been a larger part of my school curriculum, I feel I'd have come out with more confidence about the wider world and my place within it.
I think I'm making more of a case against the way school curricula (curriculums?) are formed than I am for religious studies to be taught. I never liked how most of my physics would extend no further than the mechanics of pushing a door, and how my biology never extended much further than identifying bones in a bird's wing. The content was made to be testable- not useful nor interesting in many cases. I suppose my idea of a good education would be incompatible with this notion. Still, I think that knowing that not every country is the same and that different people do different things due to different beliefs is a good thing- perhaps even vital for a well-rounded understanding of the Earth you inhabit.
Either way, I don't make the policies, so my opinions are merely personal musings that'll never make it past the internet
