Should Creationism Be Taught in Schools?

Alex; oxytocin.:

^ There's a reason why religion would be taught in a private Catholic school. In a public school, there isn't.

What is this mysterious reason? Students who are already privileged because they're rich enough to afford going to private schools should benefit from a more vast and diverse education than public school students?

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Whether legal or not, a teen in a public school is more likely to think "why am I having this religion taught to me?" than a teen in a prviate Catholic school.

Why? What makes teens in public schools that much more clever than teens in private schools? I can guarantee you that in countries in which religion is already taught in both public and private schools, students wonder why it's a requirement just as much or as little regardless of where they go to school.

Mr W. H.:

What is this mysterious reason? Students who are already privileged because they're rich enough to afford going to private schools should benefit from a more vast and diverse education than public school students?

The buzz word that Dru used was "Catholic".

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Why? What makes teens in public schools that much more clever than teens in private schools? I can guarantee you that in countries in which religion is already taught in both public and private schools, students wonder why it's a requirement just as much or as little regardless of where they go to school.

Never did I say or even imply that teens in public schools were cleverer than those in private schools. Dru was referring to private Catholic schools. It's a given that a Catholic school is going to teach religion.

Mr W. H.:

But if it became legal to teach religion in public schools, students in the public system would also expect to be taught religion? I really don't see what the issue is.

It wouldn't. At least not in the U.S. without some huge revolution and shit. Separation of church and state. Church = religion, state = government funded schools. There cannot be an impasse. It's not legal.

dru will save you.:

It wouldn't. At least not in the U.S. without some huge revolution and shit. Separation of church and state. Church = religion, state = government funded schools. There cannot be an impasse. It's not legal.

It's not quite that clear cut. Schools can certainly teach students about religion and the impacts of the major ones. However, a public school cannot teach from a religious viewpoint firsthand. So, a school cannot say "x culture's pagan beliefs were/are wrong because they ignore the Word of God", but it is perfectly acceptable to teach about the belief system of that culture.

Captain Violence:

It's not quite that clear cut. Schools can certainly teach students about religion and the impacts of the major ones. However, a public school cannot teach from a religious viewpoint firsthand. So, a school cannot say "x culture's pagan beliefs were/are wrong because they ignore the Word of God", but it is perfectly acceptable to teach about the belief system of that culture.

And teaching Creationism as fact doesn't fall into what you're talking about.

I don't see anything wrong with teaching religion in school. I can't imagine why, if religion is managed beneath a correct department, that a problem should arise. People forget that religion isn't just another way of conforming to a controlled life - religion is interesting. I loved learning about the lengths that people went to because of their beliefs. When I was in school, it became this cool fad to interrogate the religion teacher (who was a nun) and make her very clear that 'we don't believe in your God' , even though they did, but it was just done to get a rise. My school was a public school - a public catholic school, yet we had Muslims students, Jewish students and Jamaican students, all of who participated in our religion classes, because it was just that damn well interesting.

I think religion, if thought in schools, needs to be more than from the book. Teachers need to make students realise that religion isn't a chore, it can be amazingly fun to study. Also, not all Catholic schools teach just Catholicism.

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I think teaching required religion in schools is a problem. It'll end up being discriminatory because only certain religions will be taught, which is favoritism.

I think in like a Catholic school or a school that holds a strong belief you should. But if you teach it in every school that's where it becomes a problem.

@ becalmandcarryon
Ironically enough, that doesn't seem to be an issue in most private religious schools in the U.S. It's the public, non-religious schools.

There are plenty of public religious schools where I live. Who says that if it's a religious school it's private?

@ becalmandcarryon
Public religious schools are not legal in the United States owing to a separation of church and state. Public schools are government funded and therefore cannot enforce a religion on the population.

Oh sorry, I didn't know that (I live in New Zealand).

When I was in middle school/high school, we learned about different religions in our world studies classes (history, global studies, etc.). It wasn't something we touched upon for a long time, but enough to understand the religions' basic beliefs and who generally followed them. I think that's a fine way for people to learn about religion.

Teaching creationism alone is hard to do because not everyone affiliates themselves with Christianity.

Most people affiliate themselves with science, though, so teaching the theory of evolution is easier to do.

Generally, though, evolution isn't taught in depth (one chapter or less usually?) so it isn't like the science class is entirely dedicated to one theory.

@ becalmandcarryon
No problem. I know religious public schools happen in other countries, which is why I include U.S. in my thing. I didn't know that until a few years ago, so fair enough.

In my school, in Northern BC, Canada, in eighth grade there is a whole chunk of the curriculum in Social Studies that is strictly the major religions. We touch base with Christianity and Catholicism as well as Judaism, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism. Depending on the teacher, we may also learn about less popular religions or belief systems. Our teacher taught us about Wicca and Atheism. We covered a lot and learned a lot. I unfortunately didn't retain any of it, but I do enjoy listening to people talk about their beliefs. I personally am not religious, though I do have a specific set of beliefs regarding life after death.

I don't think there is any problem with acknowledging someone else's religion, or acknowledging that it exists. My biology teacher taught about evolution and the Big Bang Theory and all that, but as a sidenote, he mentioned that there are other belief systems out there, such as creationism (which is not unique to Christianity). When we had to write a paper on evolution, everybody had to write about what was in the book, but he also allowed students with other beliefs to add their own point of views if they so wished. I thought it was very appropriate and didn't exclude students who don't believe in evolution for religious reasons, but also didn't force the rest of us to listen to ideas we may not agree with either.

As regards to the whole, "If you teach evolution you should teach creationism" thing. Yeah, but then you have to teach about every religious group's personal beliefs as well. If you are excluding all religious teachings of science, then its just a science class. But if you include only one religion's point of view, you are favoring that religion, and it becomes a theology course parading as a science class. I myself am not religious, but I find nothing wrong with someone embracing their own. I think it's a beautiful thing. But that's what private schools are for. And if you can't afford it, teach your child at home. That's my opinion, anyway.

Creationism can be taught in a Religion classroom, certainly not a science one. The United States seems to have an issue with their own Constitution (I am American) in the sense that there is freedom of religion.

I don't really have time to write my entire argument here, but for anybody interested in doing the right thing, this is your voice.

@ ur_best_nightmare
I guess a lot of science curriculums like to touch on the most popular theories of how things have come to be, and Evolution and Creationism are popular for certain regions of the world (specifically America).

Name Of Misery.:

@ ur_best_nightmare
I guess a lot of science curriculums like to touch on the most popular theories of how things have come to be, and Evolution and Creationism are popular for certain regions of the world (specifically America).

Creationism is not popular in the scientific community, and it's a science class. And it's misleading to say "a lot" of science curriculums- there are not "a lot" of science classes that include creationism- it's a very regional, southern, rural problem.

@ Kurtni
I guess the reason why I assumed that it was relatively popular in many regions of the US is because, before we learned about it in my high school biology class, we had a disclaimer that included a statement about how it was a popular theory that the teachers were required to mention (but not necessarily lecture on). It makes sense that it wouldn't be like that everywhere, though.