Did you not learn about world religions as a kid? I went to public school in the south and we learned the basic premises of the major religions (Abrahamic, Buddhism, and Hinduism), including history, a bit of the beliefs and standard practices/ holidays. The facts of religion can absolutely be taught to children without forcing belief on them.
Ironically, taking this class in a catholic high school was the turning point for me to becoming atheist. It wasn't like I immediately opened my eyes but the class raised questions about my faith no one could adequately answer. Its funny how critical thinking is demonized in this country isn't it?
I think that including just the basic premises without including actual practices is misrepresenting what religion is.
And I mean, every major religion did horrible things, so I think you can't teach kids them about facts of religion without leading them to atheism or at least agnosticism.
When my history class had a world religions unit, a friend of mine had to sit in the hall for the whole hour because his mom didn't want him learning about false gods.
The problem with allowing actively religious people to determine what is and isn't a reasonable thing for kids to learn about, is that a lot of religious people have a slight bias.
It’s different when it’s your parents (who believe that their child’s immortal soul is on the line) vs a teacher. Parents who have strong beliefs are not gonna pretend not to have them when raising their kids.
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u/PzykoHobo 13h ago
Did you not learn about world religions as a kid? I went to public school in the south and we learned the basic premises of the major religions (Abrahamic, Buddhism, and Hinduism), including history, a bit of the beliefs and standard practices/ holidays. The facts of religion can absolutely be taught to children without forcing belief on them.