Teaching other religions in schools

[Le Chat]

I noticed that this is to be incorporated into our state system - which I think is a good thing as any extra knowledge is. However, I was wondering, whilst teaching about other religions and their customs and traditions, would children be taught about "honour killings", stoning of adulterers, jihads etc when learing about the moslem religion?

[Pippa68]

I thought this had been incorporated years ago? I know I learned about other religions during RE lessons 20 odd years ago, and my children certainly do too.

Don't recall learning about the customs you mention though!

[dancecaller]

You could widen that. People do things in the name of Christianity too.
Personally I think it is more important to teach ethics without a religious background.
In the past children have been taught Christianity as a basis for right and wrong then when they realise that most people don't believe it ( in any active way) they have no moral foundations

[RATTER15]

When I see and here about kids that cant read and write and the state of education in this country, it sounds to me like they should be scrapping all religion based schooling and concentrate on learning about things that will find them a job.

We can all be good people without religion telling us how to behave, I know it doesn't happen always but most of the worlds problems and wars are caused by religion

[noxlumos]

I don't know whether they will or will not with regards to the Muslim faith, but if they do then I also hope that they point out that "barren " childless women in ultra-orthodox Jewish communities are routinely divorced and effectively banished, the Hindu caste system can lead to similar "honour" style killings, the Sikhs recently rioted in Birmingham when a Sikh lady's play was performed because it discussed sexual abuse by Temple elders and of course then you have the happy goings on between Catholics and Protestants who see no problem very often with beating and blowing each other's brain's out in the name of their version of the same religion.
You can take pot shots at the fringe loonies of any religion and indeed those loonies should be pointed out to kids as glaring examples of how not to embrace religion, but by and large most mainstream religious people of all persuasions are perfectly nice and normal and there's no need to pick out Muslim's for attack on their own.
I am, by the way, Catholic with a Jewish wife, so I'm not particularly partisan to the Muslim community but it does irritate me when they are singled out for vilification.

[Beanmistriss]

I think what they teach is more about the beliefs and customs that are relevent to everyone of that religion. Like festivals, ways that people worship, the rules of dress, what people can and can't eat. They teach the basics of the main religions but don't, or didn't when I was at school, go into extreme nutsy views.

From what I have read things like honour killings don't come from the religion, they are more a, and I quote, "tribal custom that has overtaken the religion".

Altough I'm an atheist I think it's right that all religions are taught about in schools, It's important to know about what other people believe so at the least you don't go tramping out into the world causing offence to everyone you meet through ignorance.

[Beanmistriss]

That quote was specifically about honour killings by the way

[horsestache1]

par de problem, le chat?