How Dare You Teach About Other Religions/Cultures!

[Seifer]

Parents...I don't understand. I know they want their child to follow their own religious beliefs and cultural customs. I know the thought of their child suddenly turning toward another religion scares them. What I don't understand is why that makes parents hate the idea of their child learning about another religion/culture in a school setting.

Why are some parents so scared of their child having their own thoughts and opinions about other cultures and religions? Informing a child that there are other people in the world who think differently isn't going to suddenly change them into a Muslim/Christian/Catholic/Buddhist/Whatever. Nothing in their lives has to change - parents can continue to take them to their church/synagogue/temple/whatever and teach their children their own personal views. The child will just be a little more worldly, that's all.

And talking about another religion/culture in a school classroom DOES NOT mean that the children are PRACTICING another religion/culture in a school classroom. How is teaching children about Ramadan going to start a child on the path to Islam? How is teaching about Chanukah going to turn a child to Judaism? I don't understand where this fear is coming from!

I notice that it's totally okay in my state for a teacher to put a Christmas Tree in a classroom and give students Christmas presents. But then suddenly a teacher wants to talk about something other than a Christian holiday and parents go CRAZY. Drives me up a wall.

[Andara Bledin]

Parents who are afraid of their children learning about anything outside of their own doctrine often fear that their children are in danger of being corrupted.

It's pretty much just ignorance and fear and insecurity.

^-.-^

[fireheart17]

Same deal applies towards sex education. Parents seem to somehow think that teaching your children about contraception will make them want to do it. Idiots -.-

AS for Andara's point, you are right, they are ignorant. Especially when I cannot fathom how someone can make a link between "different religion" and "doing drugs/smoking/eating something else/having sex" and so on, especially given that the attitudes towards sex in MOST other religions are identical to Christianity.

As for the fear, whatever they're worried about....I dunno. A little project I did for American Studies last year was comparing religions between the three countries (Australia, US and Canada). While I can understand that at best, census data may be fudged a little (people not wanting to identify as <religion> for whatever reason), the number of Muslims, Wiccans, Buddhists and so on, was around maybe 5%. Total. And that applied to ALL the major religions for each country. The number of people who identified as Christian was overwhelming. The number of atheists was also on the rise and it actually beat out the amount of people who identified as another religion.

[Gravekeeper]

Parents who are afraid of their children learning about anything outside of their own doctrine often fear that their children are in danger of being corrupted.

I've noticed as of late that this seems to be pretty much the default for unsettlingly large portions of the US. There's this insane idea that to discuss something is to inevitably practice that something. You can't teach sex ed because kids will all start having sex. You can't discuss other religions because they'll become heathens. You can't discuss evolution or global warming because your kids will become liberals. You can't discuss acceptance, or your kids will turn gay.

It's.....insane, to put it politely. I'm not sure I've ever seen such behaviour wide spread anywhere else in developed nations? You can't *not* discuss other religions where I grew up because inevitably your home room class had Sikhs and Hindus alongside the whitebread Christians.

Hell, my mom is a lifelong Christian. But her church also has Sikhs, Hindus, Protestants, you name it. Because the church itself likes to discuss other religions and differing viewpoints despite being a Christian church.

Funny part is the pastor is American, from the south no less. I understand why he fled to Canada all things considered. >.>

While I can understand that at best, census data may be fudged a little (people not wanting to identify as <religion> for whatever reason), the number of Muslims, Wiccans, Buddhists and so on, was around maybe 5%. Total. And that applied to ALL the major religions for each country.

75%ish to be exact, if you lump together all of the Christian groups anyway. Then about 5% other, then the rest are "no religion". Where I live though, once you cross into BC, the % drops like a rock while the other religions jump up.

BC is only 53% Christian if you lump the Catholics and Protestants together. Once you step into Vancouver it drops to 36%. Heck, the only other white people in my neighbourhood married in for the food. >.>

[Rageaholic]

It doesn't help that some of the more extreme fundies think other religions are Satanic.

[Jaden]

I was lucky to grow up in a household that was decidedly conservative and Christian, but that didn't stifle intellectualism or promote ignorance. My parents are both very, very smart people, and they realize that the best way to keep me from making choices they wouldn't want me to make would be to allow me to learn about whatever I wanted and decide for myself. We would, and still do, discuss philosophy and other religions freely. Thus, my parents and I get along fairly well despite some philosophical differences about some things without any of us getting into fights about it or anybody being looked down upon for holding a different opinion. I'll always be grateful to them for that.

However, the same can't be said about some of the people I know, some of whom I can't stand to be around anymore because they were raised in an environment where such things were looked upon as somehow corrupting, and wouldn't let their children learn about anything other than their own way of thinking. Instead of growing out of it, many of them have become hostile towards anything that doesn't match their own lines of thinking exactly, and I can't even stand to have conversations with them. That's a large part of the reason why I stopped going to church, despite that I still hold my faith.

[fireheart17]

I've noticed as of late that this seems to be pretty much the default for unsettlingly large portions of the US. There's this insane idea that to discuss something is to inevitably practice that something. You can't teach sex ed because kids will all start having sex. You can't discuss other religions because they'll become heathens. You can't discuss evolution or global warming because your kids will become liberals. You can't discuss acceptance, or your kids will turn gay.

It's.....insane, to put it politely. I'm not sure I've ever seen such behaviour wide spread anywhere else in developed nations? You can't *not* discuss other religions where I grew up because inevitably your home room class had Sikhs and Hindus alongside the whitebread Christians.

Hell, my mom is a lifelong Christian. But her church also has Sikhs, Hindus, Protestants, you name it. Because the church itself likes to discuss other religions and differing viewpoints despite being a Christian church.

Funny part is the pastor is American, from the south no less. I understand why he fled to Canada all things considered. >.>

I know a few people who've emigrated to Australia from the US. One's from Texas, one's from west Michigan and I'm not sure about the other two. Funnily enough, the Texan is among the most tolerant people I know. She'll occasionally link to stories from the US that surprise her, including the one about (I think it was) Arizona's abortion legislation. She also has a 3-year-old girl who's the most adorable thing I know.
The man from west Michigan emigrated with his wife and the first thing he mentioned was that Adelaide seems to be the small world capital. Everyone knows everyone. He has commented though, on how tolerant we are. He's in my music class and he hams it up big time whenever we perform. Everytime we're getting into groups to do something, I can't look at him without cracking up.

75%ish to be exact, if you lump together all of the Christian groups anyway. Then about 5% other, then the rest are "no religion". Where I live though, once you cross into BC, the % drops like a rock while the other religions jump up.

BC is only 53% Christian if you lump the Catholics and Protestants together. Once you step into Vancouver it drops to 36%. Heck, the only other white people in my neighbourhood married in for the food. >.>

Whoops, I knew I forgot something. In all three countries, the Christian population overwhelmed the others-that was lumping them together anyway. The only real fluctuations were in what branch of Christianity was being practiced. I can't remember exactly but the US was arguably Protestant, Canada was Catholic and Australia I think was a mix between the two. Australia had less PRACTICING Catholics (among others) than the other two though.

[jackfaire]

Because in most of the cases where the parent fears this they have been so intensive that the kid will convert when given wiggle room. They are the parents that raised the kids who will go wild once away from home.

[BlaqueKatt]

Because in most of the cases where the parent fears this they have been so intensive that the kid will convert when given wiggle room.

the other issue is "what if little ben questions why his friend dave believes differently?"

Many religious parents bring their children up to believe their religion is the only "true" religion, which Dave's family also believes of their different religion, and since the two religions are at odds with each other, by default they can't both be correct, and ben may ask how they know dave's religion isn't the real one?

And then if the kid is reasonably inquisitive, you get the inevitable "so if I were born in another country I might believe the same as dave? Why should where a person is born have anything to do with what they believe if religion x is true?"

It makes the parents have to question their faith, and for many people asking questions about faith makes them very uncomfortable, because they never thought about it(because they were never exposed to anything else) and just accepted what their parents told them.

[fireheart17]

And this is why I'm hesitant to bring up my assignment with my topic co-ordinator.

We have an assessment for one of my toopics where we do a 10-minute performance, then take a group of kids away and teach them a lesson relevant to that theme. We're also required to submit a 10-week lesson plan.

My idea was covering Myths and Legends. Now I'm not sure if I'll be allowed to even mention the words "myths of <Asian country of choice>" without getting attacked for it. My lesson would've been covering Aboriginal myths and comparing them with ANOTHER mythology: in other words, looking at perspectives and teaching kids that just because it seems strange, doesn't necesarily mean it's a bad thing because they might see you as strange too. (sort of an anti-bullying theme)

No, I wouldn't be covering a religious mythology if I can help it (which restricts me a little bit) because the school is a state school.

[BlaqueKatt]

My idea was covering Myths and Legends. Now I'm not sure if I'll be allowed to even mention the words "myths of <Asian country of choice>" without getting attacked for it. My lesson would've been covering Aboriginal myths and comparing them with ANOTHER mythology:

America has myths-Paul bunyan and Babe, casey jones, johnny appleseed, Pecos bill
Native american myths-the wendigo, cheorkee rose, ogopogo
Irish myths-the kelpie, leprachauns, banshees, will o' the wisp
urban legends are a form of modern myth, so maybe go with the Aboriginal, and compare to the modern?

[protege]

America has myths-Paul bunyan and Babe, casey jones, johnny appleseed, Pecos bill

Casey Jones wasn't a true myth though. He was an actual engineer on the Illinois Central. However, after he died, things took on a life of their own. I'm sure the facts of the case have been twisted a bit in the past 112 years.

What about the million or so ghost stories in circulation? Not far from me, is the infamous Corvette Tunnel Supposedly, some kids were drag racing there years ago...which ended in a serious accident. That wouldn't surprise me, since the end of the tunnel is a seriously-tight bend. I've been through the tunnel many times, including a couple of times at night. Other than my MGB's horn suddenly going silent inside the tunnel (and reactivating itself on the outside!) nothing strange happened. According to the stories, if you drive into the tunnel, shut your engine off...you'll hear sounds and see the lights of the doomed car.

Not far from that tunnel (they're only about 30 feet or so apart), is Green Man's Tunnel. Like Casey Jones, the Green Man, said to haunt the tunnel, actually did exist. He was horribly disfigured after being burned by high-voltage trolley wires. Again, the real person was nothing like the stories. From all accounts, the guy wasn't a monster at all--just someone who kept to himself. Again, I've been inside that old rail tunnel...which is currently used to store road salt. According to legend, if you walk in there, and call for the Green Man, he'll appear. Been there, done that...saw nothing.

Those stories are still around, simply because they 'sell.' The area those tunnels are in, is still pretty rural. No street lights mean that it's pretty dark and spooky down there. There's usually fog and strange mist that plays tricks on the eyeballs too. Perfect setting for a ghost, in other words. There's something about possibly seeing a ghost or other entity that gets people creating (and adding to) legends.

[Racket_Man]

America has myths-Paul bunyan and Babe, casey jones, johnny appleseed, Pecos bill

the Johnny Appleseed myth is mostly true. John Chapman (a real person) is the man who the "ledgend/myth" is based. the ledgend (and the Disneyified version) differs only slightly from the real story. John did not roam randomly but set up apple tree nurseries, was very religious and did sing the song that is featured in the Disney version.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Appleseed

[Slytovhand]

Some myths will be hard to separate from religion... so, how about discussing the concept of 'myth' to start off... ??

Why are parents so scared of comparative religious study? Well, other than their own insecurities, it's because if they are taught in an intelligent, rational way, then they become intelligent and rational options. Such things lead to acceptance ... acceptance leads to trying things out, and from there, to conversion.

Also, in reality, most religions are based upon 'faith'... specific 'faiths' can't really be rationalised... and the child might then ask the ultimate question - "why?" And that will lead to erosion of the parental (and perhaps, societal) authority. (after all, think for a minute... what requirement is there that says we should obey the law? Or follow moral edicts? For the first, only the fear of punishment... 'respect' for the law is, really, an irrational concept)

[Andara Bledin]

Well, if you don't present religion as an absolute, then the whole "why" question becomes far more abstract and far less dangerous to parental mandate.

^-.-^