Over half of schools failing in religious education, says Ofsted
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-24399813
Is religious education important?
Do children in Britain need to learn about myths and ancient fiction perpetuated by those with a vested interest in maintaining their hold over the herd with scare stories?
You might guess from my pointed statements that I do not have belief in anyone’s invisible friends; in fact the more it was pushed at me when I was at school, the more I pushed back. Religion is a personal thing and whilst you might believe in some deity you cannot come back at me when I proclaim my right to worship the Flying Spaghetti Monster (bless his noodly appendages) by pointing out he is not real, that he does not exist.
Many peoples all over the world worship many different idols, probably a lot fewer than they did before the missionaries exported themselves in an effort to save the uncivilised heathens, so who has the right to demand that theirs is right? Does the fact that your religion has the most followers in the world mean that your deity is the only god and all the others are false? How about making your fantasy friend a bit more popular by cutting back on non followers in a blessed and thoroughly violent fashion – is that right? Or protesting against whatever takes your fancy by dowsing yourself in petroleum and lighting the first match – it might be demonstrating non violence to all except yourself, but what sort of example does it give to the young or non followers? How about when some of the local representatives of your church practise their celibacy in a way that is best described as interfering with young male members with the unspoken blessing of their overseers despite their (underserved) trusted status? Or demanding that you can only be saved by donating a fair percentage of your income either directly to the church or via a representative on a television?
I realise that religion has brought some good to the world (vaccinations, disaster relief, community focus, separating rich and gullible celebs from their money, etc) but has any of this really been enough to outweigh its worst effects?
I have kids and I have (reluctantly) allowed them to attend R.E. (religious education) so that they can learn that there are other beliefs in the world, so that they can learn about other cultures and see how they have been influenced by the meeting and mixing of religions. But the emphasis seems very much heavily focused on christianity, and fairly frequently on how bad other religions are (have a guess which one in particular!) and how much better the world would be if only they worshiped some Jewish carpenter from 2000-odd years ago (I’m paraphrasing just a little bit here so as to save space, but you get the general idea). I have had arguments with quite a few of my children’s R.E. teachers, to the point that one accused me of being a trouble maker intent on damning both my son and I to an eternity in hell (after I made my FSM (bhna) belief comment – see above. And I replied that it would be interesting since I’ve never been to Norway http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hell,_Norway). All I asked for was that if there was no actual proof then this needed to be explained to the kids – was a baby really born on Christmas day in the year zero, did that baby grow up to be nailed to a cross, die, yet apparently live on? Did this kid walk on water, serve food to a crowd of people unprepared, cure diseases and infirmities, etc? And if all this was so proven by a source apparently written a few hundred years later how come the normally efficient Romans failed to make any mention of it at the time?
Anyway, should time be made in a busy school schedule for teaching such fiction?
Maybe, but only so that children know that there is not just one religion, that many religions share their beliefs if not the same idols, that some religions swallowed up others sacred days for ease of acceptance, that ‘cuddly’ religions of today were rather more harsh in years gone by, and why should we have to live our lives according to a book apparently written 2000 years ago when other recommendations, written in that same book, are frowned upon or outlawed (incest, homosexuality, revenge murder, bestiality anybody?).
Discuss…
(Lights blue touch paper and retires to see what happens)
By: Bruce - 16th October 2013 at 13:27
Personally, I’m not intolerant of anyones beliefs. Clearly, as I demonstrate here and elsewhere, I have my own set of values, many of which are shared by the major religions; indeed they are likely informed by many of them. Where the problem comes is in trying to force ones beliefs on others. Tolerance in all things……
Bruce
By: Derekf - 16th October 2013 at 08:19
Are there no believers who want to come out to play? :dev2:
One of the things religion is often rightly criticized for is intolerance of other’s beliefs.
It’s odd that that is exactly what some of the “atheists” posting on here seem to be exhibiting.
If anyone has need of faith or wants to adhere to any particular set of values, then that is their own affair. It’s only when anyone religious or otherwise becomes intolerant then the trouble starts.
By: snafu - 15th October 2013 at 22:56
Some people don’t read all the thread, and some admit (coff!) to not even reading all the post they reply to.
Quote Originally Posted by charliehunt
Doesn’t quite square with your criticism of your teacher….???
Not sure what you are on about. Explain?
Still not totally sure what you are digging at here. Did you mean headteacher?
By: charliehunt - 15th October 2013 at 21:59
Why do you persist in asking the same question which has been answered several times many posts easier?
And if you don’t know what I mean – forget it – it’s not worth any more effort!:)
By: snafu - 15th October 2013 at 21:49
Doesn’t quite square with your criticism of your teacher….
???
Not sure what you are on about. Explain?
By the sound of it, at least snafu went to an “Approved” school….:D
Nope, nothing ‘special’ about it…
I agree with all of those statements, although some of them are not necessarily bad.
Maybe you better specify which ones are not bad, in case we start believing that you think the oppression, eradication, or exploitation of others is good…;o)
Are there no believers who want to come out to play? :dev2:
By: Bruce - 15th October 2013 at 09:21
Very good trumper – I agree with all of those statements, although some of them are not necessarily bad.
By: trumper - 14th October 2013 at 15:19
Religion is for those who are frightened of thinking that there is nothing else,
Religion is for those who are oppressing others through what they think is correct but can’t be proved,
Religion is for those who are looking to blame things on something else “acts of God”
Religion is for those who are looking for a good way of eradicating others and to be able to justify it,
Religion is for those who are looking to make a living from exploiting others weaknesses,
Religion is for those who are in need of an imaginary crutch to lean on,
Religion is for those who are lonely and need like minded people to form a group of lonely people.
By: AlanR - 14th October 2013 at 12:32
This sums things up quite well:
By: Lincoln 7 - 14th October 2013 at 08:34
By the sound of it, at least snafu went to an “Approved” school….:D
Jim.
Lincoln .7
By: charliehunt - 13th October 2013 at 20:29
Doesn’t quite square with your criticism of your teacher….
By: snafu - 13th October 2013 at 20:11
What? I’m no septic…
You want me to speak all local, like, and put gotted???
Its way I’ve spoken/written since school.
By: charliehunt - 13th October 2013 at 20:06
Hmm, the three ‘R’s – I got into trouble with a headteacher for pedantically asking how we could be confident in his schools ability to teach them when they couldn’t even spell that correctly! (The school had just gotten a poor Ofsted report and the h/t issued the usual missive insisting that they actually did fairly well but were let down in just a few areas. He was let go not long afterwards…)
I didn’t realise you were American, Snafu!:D
By: snafu - 13th October 2013 at 20:03
…reading writing and arithmetic…
Hmm, the three ‘R’s – I got into trouble with a headteacher for pedantically asking how we could be confident in his schools ability to teach them when they couldn’t even spell that correctly! (The school had just gotten a poor Ofsted report and the h/t issued the usual missive insisting that they actually did fairly well but were let down in just a few areas. He was let go not long afterwards…)
By: Lincoln 7 - 13th October 2013 at 09:05
46@ Paul. I agree with you Paul, you couldn’t beat the 3 Rs, didn’t do our Generation too badly did it?.
Jim.
Lincoln .7
By: charliehunt - 13th October 2013 at 05:30
Err……..sorry, what were you saying?;)
By: paul178 - 13th October 2013 at 02:34
I don’t have an imaginary friend despite my schools attempts to make me believe in one. Schools would be better advised to concentrate on the core curriculum of reading writing and arithmetic which seems to be in decline. A better subject to teach would be healthy eating and how to cook basic food and the identification of ingredients.
By: snafu - 13th October 2013 at 01:47
Nah, his concentration is too lightweight. He won’t even get through to the end of this sentence…;o)
Maybe he will tell us, though, what bait he’s using to catch what.
By: Lincoln 7 - 12th October 2013 at 23:52
I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt this time, however Chas will no doubt stick his two pennies worth in, when he gets home from his Care Centre…:D
Jim.
Lincoln .
By: snafu - 12th October 2013 at 23:12
The flu has subsided, although I wouldn’t get too close just in case. Put not your trust in flu jabs, they are just a government conspiracy to get the better of you really they are.
Snafu – I am convinced your ever extended posts are there solely to challenge my powers of concentration. Perhaps you’d be better staying away until your senses are clear. By the way flu is a virus so I’m not sure what pills you are taking…..
Try reading aloud, that might help with the concentration; although turning off all distractions such as TV, radio, music, but not ignoring your significant other since that causes problems that make your concentration even worse.
Paracetamol.
My sinus’s ached due to the sniffing and blowing.
Snafu I await your next few thousand words with baited breath!;)
Dare one ask what exactly you baited it with? My cats breath smells of cat food, so all I’d imagine him trying to catch is other cats.
I recently attended a school open evening, whilst looking for a secondary school for No 1 daughter. They dont teach RE, instead they are proposing to study ‘philosophy’. Personally, I think that’s bang on – an opportunity to learn the basic tenets of all religions, and how they affect the wider world – without pushing a specific belief system.
SNAFU – Broadly speaking, I’m with you; though the basic philosophy of most religions is very similar, and still relevant even in the modern world. The deity bit doesnt work for me, and its that part that is changing – and more in the UK than anywhere else.
Like the idea of philosophy, bit worried that it could be a little heavy for kids (although it could be that my understanding of philosophy is different from theirs…) unless it is much watered down, and if it focuses on the philosophy around religion then there could be little difference from the old RE. if the teacher is an old RE teacher.
Whilst the principle is intriguing, Bruce, I wonder, at secondary level, how the most immense subject known to man can be embraced. If it is religious philosophy they are referring to then that will take each of the main faiths and apply a rational defense for it’s teachings, I suppose. It’s still a mighty big subject, to which it is not easy to apply broad brush strokes.
Yes, what he says. Mostly.
Ever thought of writing a book snafu?, The most interesting thing about your ramble, is WHO forced you to swallow tablets for Flu,:)
Who says I haven’t, he lied…?;o)
As I pointed out above it was Paracetamol for my sinus’s, and some sort of Day/Night Nurse pills I’d forgotten about that my wife forced me to take, because she believes in dosing me up on any/everything that the chemist might have available; usually I manage to shove them in a pot plant – unfortunately I think she has cottoned on to this deception. They were more for the assistance in sleeping, I believe, since I am fully aware that there is nothing that helps with flu, not even man flu, other than groaning every so often and being waited on hand and foot.
Hope this meets Charlie’s approval for length. Next time, though…
By: charliehunt - 9th October 2013 at 13:00
A free school might well make resources available to explore the subject properly. I wish her well, anyway, and it would be interesting to hear how it has turned out after her first year – if we remember!! 🙂
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October 7, 2013 at 2:12 am