The menace of religious schools (Richard Dawkins).

Post Reply New Topic

Then you should check out some of the cirriculum for some homeschool families who live in the US. There are some that use God in every single subject.

I went to parochial school the first two years,they didn't want me after that,I had"problems"they didn't want to deal with,a reading and writing disability.
I went to an Adventist school for 8th grade and it was actually very nice,you did have to read about Ellen White every morning but you weren't made to feel bad if you weren't an Adventist.The classes were really small,and it's the only school I went to that had no bullies.The kids were all really nice,it's the only school that I have nothing but good memories from.They did invite you to church but didn't push it,all the teachers were nice too.I'm sorry my situation changed and I went to another school after that year,I would have liked to have stayed there.They were very kind.

You could add Catholic schools to the list, since they generally don't have a problem with evolution. Though I would still have some reservations about how they might approach sex education.

Sometimes atheism has little to do the religious upbringing. For example, you could come to be an atheist as a result of coming from a skeptical point of view. I don't think there's anything wrong with being an atheist anyway.

Well, they only have to take them to see the priest...

I support a solid public school system, out of self-interest more than anything since I hate dealing with people who do not have a basic education.

Well, yes. There's nothing inherently wrong with being one if one can acknowledge truth and good principles, even if they come from sources, ideologies, or groups you don't agree with. I know of a few, but they are almost nonexistent in comparison to those that I know of who can't stand it if any person can find anything good, reasonable, or rational to say about religion.

Another aspect of Tony Blair's disastrous legacy...thanks for posting this.

They should make all the schools set up like they do in Japan so that each class is separated by rank, entrance exams are taken before entry of course.School is hardcore though hehe doing homework in a japanese highschool is like doing college homework in the west.

So you support laws that compel parents to turn their children over to adults of dubious and questionable morality and competence?

Consider the result of public schools in the U.S. U.S. elementary and high school students rank very low in science and math. Some basic education that is. And 40 percent of U.S. people are functionally illiterate. Basic education???? I doubt it.

ruveyn

Well, they would need to improve the public school system then.

My experience was very similar. I was very religious as a youngster too and took everything very seriously. We learned about no other religions as well. I left school knowing absolutely nothing about other faiths.

I'm no longer religious and my daughter isn't even Christened. I had to choose between the 2 local council schools, one Catholic and one non-denominational. I chose the non-denom one because, although she woundn't be learning about the sacraments, etc, I was wondering what on earth she was going to be doing when the majority of her class was doing this stuff. And from my memory of school, there's an awful lot of time spent on these things.

However, although she's at a non-denom school, I still think the religious bodies are having an influence. There's a Church of Scotland church nearby and the minister visits the school quite a bit and speaks at the assemblies. He's a nice man and I'm all for him speaking about being kind to your neighbour, etc, but I do object to the way in which RME (RE) is taught. I'm sure it's being spoken about as if God is fact and it seems that the Christian (Church of Scotland) faith is being forced on the kids, although they learn about other faiths too. It's like: here's what we believe (Christianity) and here's a bit about some other faiths. The private schools in the area are all religious schools, so the only way to ensure your child doesn't get a religious education is by homeschooling.

I must say though that my first elementary school, while a public school was heavily influenced by religion. We had 'religion' (protestant) classes, said the lords prayer every morning and said grace at lunch, which never made any sense to me then or now. Having said that it was by far the best education I ever received and the teachers were generally fantastic. In fact, outside the religion class there was no difference between that and a regular school and I doubt any of the teachers really believed the crap they taught us about Noah's Ark, Moses, Jesus, etc.

When we moved (at age 9) and I went to a completely secular school was when all hell broke loose and I was mercilessly tortured beyond belief. I'm as critical of religion as anyone but I have found those who have their kids in religious schools are amongst the most intelligent, open minded and caring parents I have ever met.

The one thing private schools have over public is they can kick out the ignorant monkey trash.

So the kids who want to act like ignorant fools get kicked out of private school, but the public schools have to deal with it.

Are you talking about badly behaved kids or kids who don't want to learn?

I would like creationists more if they promoted a creation story I like more.

Some ancient Egyptians believed that that the universe came out of the god Atum while he was masturbating. Why can't more religious schools teach that?