Ouch my brain

[fireheart17]

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/n...-1225899497234

This could probably go in Church and State but I'll leave that up to the mods.
Also slight background: In Australia, evolution is taught in public high schools, but really is left more to science classes and is often used as part of natural science or biology (i.e. looking at how human and chimp DNA are almost alike, looking at dinosaurs and future descendents etc.). It's more referenced to than anything. Creationism is not taught in schools.


Basically, kids in some Queensland public schools are having sessions about "religious education." OK, the original idea was to be about multi-faith discussion in general, also to educate about different faiths: not 100% sure on this part, but I think it's also to encourage tolerance of religions such as Islam.

Where it gets to the point of stupidity however, is when the "teachers" of that class are teaching very, very, very skewed facts, mainly concerning creationism.
Example: according to the teacher, we're all descended from Adam and Eve. Student asks "Wouldn't we all be inbred?" Teacher tells her that DNA hadn't been invented around that time.....O.o

My main views on this:

1) The class really should be taught by teachers, NOT by members of any church.
2) If said class is taught, it should be more about learning about different religions in general for instance covering the history, the core beliefs, rituals and so on, particularly as quite a few world cultures are steeped in religious history.
3) The classes should also cover how everyone has the right to practice religion, nobody can force religion onto you and that nobody should have the right to force religious beliefs onto an entire state.

[crashhelmet]

When I was in high school in Orlando, they got around the religion in schools thing by creating a class called "World Religions." You learned about the major religions in the world and teachers used that as a method to teach creationism. The catch was they had to spend equal time on each religion taught in the book.

I didn't take the class, but had friends that did. From what I remember, it taught the histories and core foundations of each religion. Students that took it also got credit for a social studies class, I believe.

CH

[HYHYBT]

1) The class really should be taught by teachers, NOT by members of any church.

So, teachers aren't allowed to be members of a church?

[ExRetailDrone]

So, teachers aren't allowed to be members of a church?

What I took from the sentence you quoted was that teachers should leave their religious beliefs at the door and not bring them into their teaching. If a question is asked, the teacher should answer to the best of his/her ability without skewing the facts to bend it toward the teacher's particular belief set.

[Red Panda]

I don't think what was being taught is accurate for science or for religion

[Plaidman]

Reminds me of Mitochondrial Eve that was briefly covered in class.

[Lace Neil Singer]

I find this subject strange to me as I was never taught Creationism as fact. I learned about it in Sunday School, and later on, in Religious Education (RE) along with other religious stories about how the world was created. But what was considered fact, was what we learned in Science; ie, evolution.

[fireheart17]

What I took from the sentence you quoted was that teachers should leave their religious beliefs at the door and not bring them into their teaching. If a question is asked, the teacher should answer to the best of his/her ability without skewing the facts to bend it toward the teacher's particular belief set.

Pretty much that. I also meant that classes shouldn't be conducted by people such as priests.

[draco664]

So, teachers aren't allowed to be members of a church?

FTFA

About 80 per cent of children at state primary schools attend one half-hour instruction a week, open to any interested lay person to conduct.

Many of the instructors are from Pentecostal churches.

and

Queensland Teachers Union president Steve Ryan said teachers were sometimes compelled to supervise the instructors "because of all the fire and brimstone stuff".

If the principal at my daughers' school let nutjobs like that in to 'teach' them, I'd be campaigning for his removal. They do have the ability to say 'no' to these people.

[fireheart17]

If the principal at my daughers' school let nutjobs like that in to 'teach' them, I'd be campaigning for his removal. They do have the ability to say 'no' to these people.

I'd be the same way, or I'd pull said kid OUT of the school.

I was tested at a young age and found to be somewhere between mild and moderately gifted. If they tried any of that on me at school, they'd have a hard time trying to prove it-I loved to read.

[Plaidman]

I was never gifted. Makes me sad. No talents. Except being a jackass .

[HYHYBT]

Pretty much that. I also meant that classes shouldn't be conducted by people such as priests.

Ah, that makes more sense. Sorry for the mixup.

[Nyoibo]

My school chaplain taught our RiL class in highschool, he was really cool about it and covered most of the big religions, his response to hearing that I was an atheist "Most of the people that think too much are" he was awesome, he was however a quialified teacher along with his phd in theology, the problem with a lot of these classes is that they are being taught by anyone, all they need is a police clearance, nothing more.

[infinitemonkies]

I have no problem with requiring that any teaching of evolution must stress that it is theory, and that there are other opposing views. However, I don't believe that a science class is the appropriate place to teach creationism.

If a public school can be forced to give equal time to creationism, why aren't churches in the same states forced to give equal time to evolution? For that matter, if a teacher can be forced to discuss religion, why cant a minster be required by law to spend x% of his sermons instructing his congregation in algebra?

[Red Panda]

Because churches don't usually get money from the government