How can schools be allowed to teach that God is real?

[Crimson Dynamo]

And yet the law does not accept "God told me to do it" as a defense?


Is there anything in our law that would suggest that God is real? (not swearing on the Bible as that is tradition and you dont need to).

[King Gizzard]

I'm pretty sure they don't, they study all the different religions without saying which one is fact these days..

[Crimson Dynamo]

I'm pretty sure they don't, they study all the different religions without saying which one is fact these days..

Catholic schools do and so do most faith schools

[Lee.]

I get hacked off with the nonsense they tell my daughter at school.

[Ninastar]

I kind of like it in younger schools because I think its quite refreshing as long as they aren't like preaching at them.

[Marsh.]

They don't. At least in the schools I went to (catholic high school).

We were taught more about foreign religions and how they originated and changed over the years as opposed to whether it's true or false. R.E. felt more like a culture class than religious preaching.

[Chuck]

I was never taught that God existed at school. :D

[Tom4784]

In my experience we were never preached at in school. I'm guessing at some faith schools it's inevitable due to the nature of them. I do disagree with the stories you hear from America of Creationism being taught as fact in lieu of Evolution which has a a lot more going for it really. I'm not saying that Creationism shouldn't be looked at in schools but keep it to RE really.

[Lee.]

They don't. At least in the schools I went to (catholic high school).

We were taught more about foreign religions and how they originated and changed over the years as opposed to whether it's true or false. R.E. felt more like a culture class than religious preaching.

My kids are 4 and 7 and get told about god. The school is just a bog standard state school.. I don't mind my children being taught about all different religions and the difference between them etc. I also think it's nice at Cristmas time to teach them why we celebrate Christmas and about Jesus/The Nativity Story.. but Reverend Thom who does the services at the school at Easter/Xmas etc takes it too far I think..

He was banging on last year about the crucifiction and the reserruction to a hall of 3-6 year olds! My daughter was all confused about people being able to come back to life... then this year they showed my daughter a film about the crucifiction! She was horrified!

[MTVN]

I dont think it really matters whether they do or dont, it doesnt suddenly mean "God told me to do it" is a valid defence in court

[InOne]

As long as they aren't brainwashing them totally it doesn't really matter. People have their own mind, they can decide for themselves.

[Marsh.]

My kids are 4 and 7 and get told about god. The school is just a bog standard state school.. I don't mind my children being taught about all different religions and the difference between them etc. I also think it's nice at Cristmas time to teach them why we celebrate Christmas and about Jesus/The Nativity Story.. but Reverend Thom who does the services at the school at Easter/Xmas etc takes it too far I think..

He was banging on last year about the crucifiction and the reserruction to a hall of 3-6 year olds! My daughter was all confused about people being able to come back to life... then this year they showed my daughter a film about the crucifiction! She was horrified!

Yeah, they can take it too far. But I don't think it's relegated to just religion wither. Schools are wanting the kids to grow up too fast I think, my auntie and a load of other parents went in complaining last week because their class of year 2's had started sex education classes. They'd been shown a video discussing "mummy and daddy's special hug" without even asking the parents consent or anything. My nan nearly choked when they came home talking about it.

[Lee.]

Yeah, they can take it too far. But I don't think it's relegated to just religion wither. Schools are wanting the kids to grow up too fast I think, my auntie and a load of other parents went in complaining last week because their class of year 2's had started sex education classes. They'd been shown a video discussing "mummy and daddy's special hug" without even asking the parents consent or anything. My nan nearly choked when they came home talking about it.

Bloody hell! Don't blame them for complaining!

[Marsh.]

Bloody hell! Don't blame them for complaining!

Too right. Not only are they too young to be learning about that anyway (apparently to try and reduce teen pregnancies) but they're at an impressionable age when they're copying everything going on around them.

[Lee.]

Too right. Not only are they too young to be learning about that anyway (apparently to try and reduce teen pregnancies) but they're at an impressionable age when they're copying everything going on around them.

Children should remain innocent for as long as possible! Childhood doesn't last long if you think about it and they certainly don't need to know about that sort of ****! :nono:

[BB_Eye]

And yet the law does not accept "God told me to do it" as a defense?


Is there anything in our law that would suggest that God is real? (not swearing on the Bible as that is tradition and you dont need to).
It assumes we have free will.

[Shaun]

I went to a Church of England primary school and whilst religion came up relatively sparsely, we were still taught events such as the nativity scene, crucifiction and Moses' parting the sea as if they were historical fact. In fact I remember literally one lesson devoted to another religion - when it was Duvali, we made coconut cakes. Weren't taught a drop about it.

[Marsh.]

I went to a Church of England primary school and whilst religion came up relatively sparsely, we were still taught events such as the nativity scene, crucifiction and Moses' parting the sea as if they were historical fact. In fact I remember literally one lesson devoted to another religion - when it was Duvali, we made coconut cakes. Weren't taught a drop about it.

Crucifixion (unless you were going for the "fiction" pun) is historical fact. As is the man named Jesus.

Obviously whether you believe he's the son of God is down to us to decide for ourselves but a lot of it is true (events wise) before it gets into prophecies. The Bible was written by humans.

[Shaun]

lmao oops. I'd claim it was a clever pun but no, typo.

[Jords]

The schools Ive been at never preached religion like it was fact, but just offered it as an idea on how the world was created and stories from the Bible that apparently took place.

I reckon only dedicated religious schools do, and this was just another opportuning for you to religion-hate LT, boooooooooring (as much as RE itself was!)

[Jords]

The schools Ive been at never preached religion like it was fact, but just offered it as an idea on how the world was created and stories from the Bible that apparently took place.

I reckon only dedicated religious schools do, and this was just another opportuning for you to religion-hate LT, boooooooooring (as much as RE itself was!)

[keithafc]

The lack of equality to spiritual teaching in schools compared to religion is not right.

[Crimson Dynamo]

Crucifixion (unless you were going for the "fiction" pun) is historical fact. As is the man named Jesus.

Obviously whether you believe he's the son of God is down to us to decide for ourselves but a lot of it is true (events wise) before it gets into prophecies. The Bible was written by humans.

It is not Historical fact as the only source we have for this is the bible and that is a highly revised and bias religious text - not the most reliable. :hugesmile:

[Mystic Mock]

The schools that I go to always preach about Islam and its annoying,I should be able to make my own mind up thank you very much.

[Pyramid*]

Santa isn't real but primary teachers get the kiddiewinkles to write letters to him. :eek:

then they break their little hearts later on......................:bawling:

Hang 'em I say!!! :D

[arista]

There is no God.

So it is Correct.

[Scarlett.]

Catholic schools do and so do most faith schools

I went to a catholic school and the taught us about Islam, Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism and Hinduism....so yeah :s

[Crimson Dynamo]

I went to a catholic school and the taught us about Islam, Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism and Hinduism....so yeah :s

Yes they taught you about other religions but they also taught you about the fact that catholicism was the one true religion

[Scarlett.]

Yes they taught you about other religions but they also taught you about the fact that catholicism was the one true religion

Nope, they didn't force it on us, of course they did crappy mass, but it was students choice wether or not they wanted to attend, of course no one ever did lol

[Zippy]

I don't think religion belongs in schools, period.

[Crimson Dynamo]

I don't think religion belongs in schools, period.

amen

All superstition should be outlawed.

[Niall]

I think that schools should be deliberately ambiguous about the existence of God and leave it to the child to make their own deductions about it. Being taught that God exists and that you must follow the rules of a certain religion etc is almost equivalent to indoctrination. Its just people don't see it that way cause its religion. Anyways, I think schools should be secular or that they teach that some people don't believe in God from primary school and up.

[james130]

Obviously, if you sent your child to a church school; e.g, St Francis' or something like that, then you know that they will probably do prayers and sing hymns.
I myself went to a church school and this was part of it, but a lot of Religious Studies was based on other reiligions.
I like the fact that we had some form of religion instilled in us because I think it teaches you to appreciate other peoples views and opinions aswell.

[joeysteele]

The schools that I go to always preach about Islam and its annoying,I should be able to make my own mind up thank you very much.

Correct, that's how it should be for all.as you say you can make your own mind up and seek further knowledge if you wanted to.

[Lee.]

I don't think religion belongs in schools, period.
I agree.. if I wanted my kids to be religious, I'd send them to church. Schools, in my opinion should teach, maths, English, science, spelling etc!

[MTVN]

I dont see the issue with teaching RE but I dont think that religion should be encouraged, not in state run schools anyway, private schools I dont have a problem with it

[Sam:)]

No they don't,I go to a catholic school (even though 1 in 4 in my school isn't catholic).We arn't studying christian belief any more than islamic beliefs,And we learn about every religion and every religions view on issues like abortion,contraception etc.

[Rob]

Schools don't teach you that at all, they educate you about other people's beliefs, that is all. They don't make you believe anything

[Marsh.]

They don't make you believe anything. In my experience it was about learning about religion.

Saying they shouldn't teach it because I don't want my child to be religious is a little uneducated.

Whether you want them to be religious is very different but they should at least learn about appreciating and understanding other people's beliefs and opinions. You wouldn't want them to grow up completely ignorant to the world that we live in.
I remember that most of my GCSE RE exam was about evaluating the contrasting views on modern life by different religions (contraception, abortion, afterlife etc).

Like PSHE has topics on drink and drugs. It isn't encouraging you to take them but educating you about them so you grow up fully informed of the facts to make your own decisions.

[Lee.]

I want my children to be taught about all religions and to respect other peoples beliefs..

I don't, however want them to be told at a ridiciculously young age that they are christians and should believe the stories told in the bible. It's not what I send my kids to school for.

I had a 6 year old child asking why her Gran couldn't come back to life like Jesus did! It's not fair on the child and it's not fair on the parents having to explain that it's not true!

[Zippy]

I don't see any need to teach about the belief systems of others. They should stick to teaching factual stuff. Religion is not fact. Lets be honest, it's fantasy. If children want to learn about certain religions then they can do of their own accord.

[Marsh.]

I want my children to be taught about all religions and to respect other peoples beliefs..

I don't, however want them to be told at a ridiciculously young age that they are christians and should believe the stories told in the bible. It's not what I send my kids to school for.

I had a 6 year old child asking why her Gran couldn't come back to life like Jesus did! It's not fair on the child and it's not fair on the parents having to explain that it's not true!

To be fair, if a child is asking that then the teacher in question need to be reassessed lol.
Parents have a lot more dodgy questions to deal with as it is.

[Lee.]

To be fair, if a child is asking that then the teacher in question need to be reassessed lol.
Parents have a lot more dodgy questions to deal with as it is.

It wasn't a teacher, it was a minister. Told them all about Jesus' resurrection and how Mary looked at him in awe when he rose from the dead!

:bored: Just not right

[Marsh.]

I don't see any need to teach about the belief systems of others. They should stick to teaching factual stuff. Religion is not fact. Lets be honest, it's fantasy. If children want to learn about certain religions then they can do of their own accord.

But religion is a fact, it exists. What those religions specifically believe in is down to the person whether you believe it or not. And all religions are different.

Learning about the cultural history of other countries very heavily involves religion. It's not about saying "Mrs X down the road believes we'll all live on a cloud when we die, so you must pretend you agree with her". It's another form of learning about the wider world and the differences everyone has.

Very big difference in being taught the Bible like a textbook as if everything is real and being taught about a variety of religions and cultures so you're aware and have knowledge of them.

And if children had a choice of what they wanted to learn then let's face it they'd never be in school.

[Marsh.]

It wasn't a teacher, it was a minister. Told them all about Jesus' resurrection and how Mary looked at him in awe when he rose from the dead!

:bored: Just not right

Yeah, I see what you're saying. In our school they had a chaplain and held masses on special occasions but it was for the religious people and church-goers. No one was forced to attend.

[Zippy]

But religion is a fact, it exists. What those religions specifically believe in is down to the person whether you believe it or not. And all religions are different.

Learning about the cultural history of other countries very heavily involves religion. It's not about saying "Mrs X down the road believes we'll all live on a cloud when we die, so you must pretend you agree with her". It's another form of learning about the wider world and the differences everyone has.

Very big difference in being taught the Bible like a textbook as if everything is real and being taught about a variety of religions and cultures so you're aware and have knowledge of them.

And if children had a choice of what they wanted to learn then let's face it they'd never be in school.

well thats all sounds nice. But not all religions can be covered and certainly not thoroughly or extensively. So best not even go there at all. Its not essential to getting a job or even living life generally.

Meanwhile, kids today can't even spell basic words or string two sentences together in a coherent manner. Less religion, more English.

Children can choose what they study but religion shouldn't be one of the essentials. many are just not interested in it and nor do they need to be.