Religion to Get Into School?

seven-day-weekend

Jagraf wrote: »

I think if you send your child to a religious school you will get the hump over something. It's a bit like enjoying classical and going to a rock concert. Neither is right or wrong its just a personal preference. You will spend all of yor time trying to ensure your child isn't being taught anything you disagree with. I'm not having a go, but you are wanting to send your child to a faith school without that child being subjected to any faith learning. For example, something like assembly. I'm happy for my daughter to sing hymns but you probably wouldn't be. So don't do it.

The Head at my son's secondary school used to tell parents that seeing as they has chosen to send their child to his school (and it was very oversubscribed, so many who had chosen it didn't get a place), then although it was their right to withdraw them from RE and worship, that he wouldn't expect them to do so and indeed would question why they had chosen to send them there in the first place. Fair enough really.

One parent I knew was a practising Sikh (she had got her son in on 'other faith community' criterion). She said she wouldn't dream of withdrawing her son from the 'Christian' bits, she felt it broadened his mind and she agreed with the rest of the ethos, because they fitted in with her religion too (just as the Muslim poster above said).

BarryBlue

Tlg1991 wrote: »

I went to a faith school and went to church with the school and did the hymes and so on. if my child did that i really would not have an issue with it at all!

like i have stated already plenty of time which you must have missed, my concern is my child being forced to follow that certain religion because of that schools faith and also the faith affecting other studies like science, which DOES happen.

I would be more than happy for my child to go through RE studies from a historical and modern day view as long as it is not taught that one is right and others are wrong. and unbiased teaching method.

Times have changed since I was at school! I didn't go to a faith school, it was a grammar school with a good reputation. However, we were expected as a matter of course to be believers and RE was taught as incontrovertible fact. No religion other than CofE was mentioned. Any dissent was regarded as blasphemy and you risked a caning. I regard myself as having been smart enough to have dismissed religion as fairy tales by the age of 13-14.

The idea of a faith school teaching RE as a historical rather than factual subject is rather far-fetched. All religions believe that they are the right one and others are therefore wrong. They believe in their god and dismiss all others. Atheists just go one god further and take the logical view that if those others are imaginary, then all must be. We just go one god further. Religions need to recruit future members, especially as they are aware that less and less people 'believe' with every generation. Faith schools are simply their recruiting scheme, they like to get 'em young and fill their minds.

Jagraf

Tlg1991 wrote: »

I went to a faith school and went to church with the school and did the hymes and so on. if my child did that i really would not have an issue with it at all!

like i have stated already plenty of time which you must have missed, my concern is my child being forced to follow that certain religion because of that schools faith and also the faith affecting other studies like science, which DOES happen.

I would be more than happy for my child to go through RE studies from a historical and modern day view as long as it is not taught that one is right and others are wrong. and unbiased teaching method.

Then you need to look at each particular school rather than thinking they are all the same. In the same way as you should look at all teaching across all subjects. And also the pastoral care, anti-bullying policies, ethos etc.

As I have stated, my child has been through a catholic education system, and it hasn't happened in her case. It certainly hasn't affected her sciences, and it hasn't affected what she believes / doesn't believe / isn't sure about. All you need to do is go and talk to the school, rather than stating something along the lines of "I don't believe in religion, but I want the option of sending my child to a faith school but don't trust what they are doing".

You can sit in on an RE lesson and see if it floats your boat (not in the Noah sense ).

Jagraf

BarryBlue wrote: »

Times have changed since I was at school! I didn't go to a faith school, it was a grammar school with a good reputation. However, we were expected as a matter of course to be believers and RE was taught as incontrovertible fact. No religion other than CofE was mentioned. Any dissent was regarded as blasphemy and you risked a caning. I regard myself as having been smart enough to have dismissed religion as fairy tales by the age of 13-14.

The idea of a faith school teaching RE as a historical rather than factual subject is rather far-fetched. All religions believe that they are the right one and others are therefore wrong. They believe in their god and dismiss all others. Atheists just go one god further and take the logical view that if those others are imaginary, then all must be. We just go one god further. Religions need to recruit future members, especially as they are aware that less and less people 'believe' with every generation. Faith schools are simply their recruiting scheme, they like to get 'em young and fill their minds.

It sounds like you had a bad experience. As I mentioned previously, my senior school wasn't a faith school but it believed in bullying and violence. There were much worse things flying through the air than fairies, I can tell you. I don't think all schools are like that though. just like all faith schools are not extreme.

Jagraf

BarryBlue wrote: »

Times have changed since I was at school! I didn't go to a faith school, it was a grammar school with a good reputation. However, we were expected as a matter of course to be believers and RE was taught as incontrovertible fact. No religion other than CofE was mentioned. Any dissent was regarded as blasphemy and you risked a caning. I regard myself as having been smart enough to have dismissed religion as fairy tales by the age of 13-14.

The idea of a faith school teaching RE as a historical rather than factual subject is rather far-fetched. All religions believe that they are the right one and others are therefore wrong. They believe in their god and dismiss all others. Atheists just go one god further and take the logical view that if those others are imaginary, then all must be. We just go one god further. Religions need to recruit future members, especially as they are aware that less and less people 'believe' with every generation. Faith schools are simply their recruiting scheme, they like to get 'em young and fill their minds.

Don't you think your disbelief is a strong as other people's beliefs? You are so sure there is nothing (your choice) don't of understand why some people think there is something.

Tlg1991

Jagraf wrote: »

Don't you think your disbelief is a strong as other people's beliefs? You are so sure there is nothing (your choice) don't of understand why some people think there is something.

I wouldn't say its a choice to not believe in something, not for me anyway. its more of an informed decision. the evidence about the universe and life goes against things taught in a book with zero evidence to back it up. People choose to question everything and follow the thing with the most answers.

I am not trying to offend anyone in this thread nor was i trying to in the first place, i don't want this to turn into a discussion of who right whos wrong in what beliefs, just wanted to mention that. im happy fro anyone to follow whatever path they want to as long as its not preached.

BarryBlue

Jagraf wrote: »

Don't you think your disbelief is a strong as other people's beliefs? You are so sure there is nothing (your choice) don't of understand why some people think there is something.

That's the thing really. Belief in any sort of supernatural being makes absolutely no sense to me and never has done. Belief in some imaginary god, of which there are plenty, makes no more sense than belief in Santa Claus or the tooth fairy. How can I respect someone's judgement in other matters when they are happy to believe in some man-made entity that has not the slightest scrap of evidence for its existence?

Atheism is the default setting for the human mind. The idea of any deity has to be taught relentlessly to overcome that default. How else would so many people, by free will, believe in exactly the same thing? If our children were allowed to make their own minds up about such issues they would all come to very different conclusions. That's why we should not be indoctrinating them and why faith schools have no place in a modern, sophisticated society.

Mrs_pbradley936

Pixie5740 wrote: »

Perhaps I should have been clearer. I don't think there should be any state faith schools. If people want to send their children to a fee paying faith school that's up to them but they shouldn't be state funded.

The only problem with that argument is that the Church was educating children for centuries longer than the local Council They owned the buildings and land and paid the staff.

Ditto hospitals, Bart's is the oldest hospital we have - been there since 1123 long before the NHS.

gabriel1980

how would they find out if your kid was christened or not?

BarryBlue

Mrs_pbradley936 wrote: »

The only problem with that argument is that the Church was educating children for centuries longer than the local Council They owned the buildings and land and paid the staff.

Ditto hospitals, Bart's is the oldest hospital we have - been there since 1123 long before the NHS.

It is not a problem with the argument. It is the justification. We are not living in the dark ages any more and we should not have to depend on[Text removed by Forum Team] belief to be educated or cured. Nor should church figures decide on who gets a handout based on being deserving or undeserving poor. We, as a sophisticated society, have a state to provide it.

That education of children by churches was all about perpetuating the myth and teaching them to know their place. They didn't do much of a job teaching most children to be literate or numerate, just who they had to worship. We are well rid of those times.