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Yep, not teaching religion to 11 and 12 year-olds in public schools, in classes that are supposed to be about world history and geography is Christians wanting to keep people ignorant, And un-American. There's very little more important for those children to learn than the 10 Commandments of Moses won't precisely match what's taught in Sunday school.
Religion plays a huge part in history, it's hard to discuss one without the other. I had a segment on world religion over 50 years ago in public school, I found it fascinating. My suggestion is that if you are offended about your kids being taught ABOUT world religions, home school them.
We don't, then again, why did we go to war and are now bringing thousands of them to live with us?
I am unclear as to what you are saying here. We went to war for control of resources and trade in a certain part of the world (Iraq) and for revenge/attempted breakup of a terrorist organization and other reasons not quite so clear lol (Afghanistan). Who is bringing thousands of who to live with us?
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Originally Posted by 3~Shepherds
Now it's okay for schools to pass out religious homework assignments? Those who oppose religion being in government seem to be fine with it being in public schools.
Southern and Northern Ca......see no videos and no websites.......the way it should be.
Are you deliberately pretending not to understand? These are not religious homework assignments. It seems to be general information about a world religion, which is something you would study with regard to a particular country/region or history. ONCE AGAIN, in case you missed the first two times I said it and the numerous times others have said it, basic information about world religions has always been taught in schools--in my case, fourth grade, circa 1967. I'm pretty sure that wherever you went to school, it was taught there, as well.
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Originally Posted by 3~Shepherds
Some how you are confusing what I said with moderate Muslims. My guess a moderate Muslim would not have provided a website for further teachings of Islam......did any other religion do this?
Again, I am unclear as to what you are trying to say. ALL religions have websites about their teachings. Multiple websites. For example, if you want to learn about Judaism, there's a website called Judaism 101. If you want to learn about Catholicism, you could go to Catholic Answers.
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Originally Posted by 3~Shepherds
I didn't say people should not learn about other religions this is not for 7th & 8th grade students. If this is needed, add a class in high school, where at least people are old enough to get it!
7th and 8th grade students might not be as stupid as you think they are. Again, many of us learned some of these basics in FOURTH GRADE, decades ago.
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Originally Posted by 3~Shepherds
Should they also teach how Iran and Saudi Arabia have no separation of church and state. Also, teach it is the leaders who decide if one gets stoned or beheaded and it goes on daily in the town squares? How will young kids take this?
My guess you only want them to talk about Muslims who have become Americanized.
Yes, teaching about separation of church and state or the lack thereof and its impacts seems a great topic for discussion in middle school.
Stonings and beheadings do not take place "daily in town squares", and I question your reasoning for such silly remarks in a serious conversation, but such horrific punishments do take place in certain countries, as we all know. I don't think 12- and 13-year-olds are too young to know that, but deeper discussions might be more appropriate later on.
Remember, we were that age or younger when we learned about what had happened a few short years earlier in concentration camps. I had a father who lost his legs in WWII. I knew people who were in the camps because they hid Jews in Holland. There are kids on this planet who see death and destruction every day. Middle school kids are far smarter and more resilient than you seem to be giving them credit for.
Your last sentence is puzzling. It's not true, and nothing I said should give you any indication of that.
Last edited by Mightyqueen801; 10-14-2015 at 12:43 PM..
Interesting, isn't it. I don't memorize posters' names, but I'd bet many who are A-OK with all this teaching religion have a heart attack if the same children sing a Christmas carol at their 'Winter' concert or their town hall has a Christmas wreath or Heaven forbid, a public school teacher says Merry Christmas rather than Happy Holidays.
Ridiculous blather. My daughter's high school concerts, both instrumental and choral, included MOSTLY Christmas music, with some Chanukah songs and sometimes something from a completely different culture. Both her band teacher and her chorus teacher were Jewish.
Again, and I am terribly puzzled as to the inability of some of you to grasp this--no one is teaching religion. They are teaching about religion.
I refuse to accept that you are so incredibly stupid as to be unable to see the difference. You seem to be able to spell and whatnot, so unless you tell me you ate all the lead paint chips off your crib as a baby, the only conclusion I can draw is that you are deliberately pretending not to understand. The question is why?
If one is not Buddhist why should we care to. You must not be American, I know many Americans that know religions and their meanings, doesn't mean we all have to be proficient in each religion.
A lot of Americans bounce around from faith to faith before landing on one, so why the push for elementary kids to get their faith at a young age? Homework on religion is not needed......
This is off topic. This thread is not about pushing for elementary kids to "get their faith". It's about learning.
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Originally Posted by 3~Shepherds
How many people don't know the Ten Commandments? I happen to know a few and they have lived in America all their lives.......they happen to think religion is hogwash or of no importance in their every day life.
So what? This is a country where we are free to worship as we wish, or be free to express if we don't believe. Knowing the Ten Commandments is not a requirement to be a citizen of the United States. Knowing that there ARE Ten Commandments and that they are a factor in some religions (and the title of an epic American movie, lol) is important to a well-rounded education.
My guess is that they are teaching a sanitized version that omits the things that make Islam the horrible religion it is. For instance, they never seem to include in the curriculum the fact that big Mo's favorite wife was the 9 year old.
No, but when teaching the basics of Christianity or Judaism, they also don't mention that Abraham married his half-sister and twice pimped her out to save his own skin, either, or that King David's son raped King David's daughter. Such stories are beyond the basics.
I am a Christian and I'm not the least "overwhelmed" by people expressing their opinions regarding Christianity.
When I grew up, faith was something that you had, it wasn't something that you wore.
Too many Christians today exhibit behavior that I describe as "see-me worship."
It's all about the outer trappings - insisting that people say "Merry Christmas" for example, instead of actually trying to love thy neighbor.
All show and no substance, as if they themselves cannot be faithful if some external force doesn't reinforce their belief.
Personally, I wouldn't care if I never saw another manger or Christmas tree outside a City Hall.
I don't need people to recognize my religion because I recognize it.
This outrage about this homework assignment is just one more example of people so weak in their own faith that they cannot stand to be exposed to anything that may present a different path.
It's just one more example of the lack of maturity and critical thinking that has over taken far too much of our population.
The kid doesn't have to know what they mean, doesn't have to believe that they are true, all that is being asked is that the kid regurgitate what he (ideally) read in his textbook.
Then whats the point? We teach kids the colors of the rainbow to teach kids about color. Color and basic color theory at a young age is important for communication about a description of an object. Its also important to teach that white light contains all colors.
Whats the point of teaching the pillars of Islam if they aren't understood or understand what they mean? Just for the sake of regurgitation? If thats the case, then no wonder why the education system has turned to pot.
Teacher mantra has become World religions=culture/good Christianity=imperialism/bad.
The 5 pillars of Islam and hearing a call to prayer are worthless in a historical context. That's akin to public school kids learning the 10 commandments or the beatitudes. It adds nothing to their education.
This assignment was not about history, it was about acceptance of others religious beliefs and to get kids to believe that Islam is a religion of peace. It's a trick I have seen in textbook after textbook, start them young. It's social engineering at it's finest. My son had a similar textbook and the weird thing was the teacher would always put her personal beliefs and what she thought was important. My son did not pick up on it, but my wife and I did. She'd leave the counterpoints out, she'd cherry pick chapters, make her own "critical thinking" worksheets. (I'm so sick of hearing the phrases "critical thinking" and "lifelong learners", those phrases are so meaningless just like "synergy" and "value added"). The book does include 3 chapters of Christianity and may even be the book my son used. Although when my son went trough it the teacher showed just how atheist she was, everything she said about God or Christ or Jesus was followed by alleged or and she made sure her students knew that the church was corrupt, she focused an inordinate amount of time on the crusades, she taught and odd segue about the Christ myth theory then harped on Calvinism and puritans and how stupid Mormons are. When you put it all together it was easy to see it was liberal indoctrination.
Here is what rubs me the wrong way. When it was about other religions she was oddly upbeat and only tended to reveal positive things. In the Islam sections the teacher never once had an assignment about the Ridda Wars the 1st and second Fitnas, or the actions of the Umayyad dynasty. The Ottomans were awful, no one even knows how many people they killed in the name of Islam. Those actions are mentioned briefly rather than in vivid details, perhaps the genocide of millions doesn't help the religion of peace image. Islam is a religion based on murder and war as all Abrahamic religions are. So why then are those things overlooked but every bad thing anyone did in the name of Christianity was there in black and white and vivid detail.
But this is Portland, Oregon so I wasn't surprised at all.
In my opinion religious indoctrination has no place in schools, be it Hindu, be it Christianity, or Islam or eastern mysticism. Present information, don't indoctrinate. My Daughters will both be in middle school and my son high school soon, I generally have stopped looking at what they bring home. They bring home the dumbest stuff sometimes and I just can't look at it anymore.
That said. The mother is an idiot and an attention seeking social media.... never mind. She is likely the kind of person who leads a life of egregious sin but loves to throw the 8 bible verses she was able to look up on her openbible app. around with reckless abandon.
I agree with just about everything you've said. Yes, religion has historical context. Wars are started over religion. Holy land was fought over. Fundamentally though, religion (or lack of religion) needs to be taught at home by parents. This obviously presents a problem when teaching world history.
Then whats the point? We teach kids the colors of the rainbow to teach kids about color. Color and basic color theory at a young age is important for communication about a description of an object. Its also important to teach that white light contains all colors.
Whats the point of teaching the pillars of Islam if they aren't understood or understand what they mean? Just for the sake of regurgitation? If thats the case, then no wonder why the education system has turned to pot.
The point may be just that you know what exists so you understand what is meant when there's a news event.
Take the recent news about the 700 or so people dying in the hajj stampede. If you didn't learn that making the hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam, how did you know why they were making this pilgrimage? And for those who really fear and despise Islam, the history of deaths in hajj stampedes should go a long way toward implanting in your kids the down side of that religion.
Heaven forbid we try to give our children a well rounded education.
If you can't understand how one can learn about Islam without converting that's your own projection. I'll never wonder why people in this country fight for less education, less knowledge, less understanding, less learning. It's foolish and our education system is falling behind the rest of the modern world and we're over here arguing over learning about other world religions.
Ridiculous.
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There's very little more important for those children to learn than the 10 Commandments of Moses won't precisely match what's taught in Sunday school.
this is not for 7th & 8th grade students. If this is needed, add a class in high school, where at least people are old enough to get it!
