Quote Originally Posted by TomOfSweden View Post
But religion is a big part of the world. Lot's of people are religious. I don't see how this is any different than learning about geography, (which is another neglected subject in the states). Or what about political science, philosophy or history. How do you teach history without touching on religion? It's about communication. So is language. I don't see a difference. There's a world of difference between learning about something and having it preached to you.
Again, I have to agree with you here, wholeheartedly. The problem in the US, as I see it, is that the vast majority of the faithful don't WANT to know about the origins of their religion. That might lead them to question whether or not their religion (NOT their faith) is right after all. And THAT is the best reason I can think of to actually TEACH such things!

I often see Americans say stuff like, "We've got a shared moral base because of our earlier shared faith in Christianity". That to me is a strong indicator that the educational system isn't working. If people don't know what makes Christian moral codes different from humanist moral codes, or Roman, they don't know why they believe what they believe. This is nothing less than intellectual poverty.
Saying a mountain isn't there because it isn't in the constitution, doesn't make the mountain go away.
This is where things have gotten out of hand over here. Those who are fervently anti-religious don't even want the CONCEPT of religion uttered in schools. In my opinion they are shooting themselves in the foot. The more we teach children about the origins and evolution of religious doctrine, about how those in charge tend to pervert the teachings of their forebears to foster their own interpretations, about how and why moral codes came about, then the less likely those children are to commit to a specific religion and become more accepting of other people's beliefs.

Instead, the public school system has become a farce. Don't teach the kids a moral code, because our moral code is based upon the ten commandments, and that's religion. And when those kids do something against that code, why, it's not their fault! Don't punish them! Blame the teachers, blame the parents, but don't blame the system! I'm just glad my own kids are finally out of it. And I managed to teach them to be good kids without the "benefit" of religion and despite the school system.

Amen!