Introduction
Should religion be taught in schools? That question is a very popular question that people (mostly parents, teachers and politicians) ask themselves. Religion plays a very big role in your life, if you’re religious. The rules of your religion can limit your abilities, or it can expand your ways of thinking. This research paper relates to the belief systems and will discuss the main issues around them. This is a good question for personal, national and global perspectives because it relates to all people who have a religion in the world.
Issues & Perspectives
The issues this paper will focus on are: Freedom of Religion & Secularism. My research shows different perspectives for and against the issues my paper focuses on.
Freedom of Religion: ‘When I heard the question, “Should we teach religion in public schools?” it made me cringe. Why? The United States is currently in the unenviable position of being near the bottom of the list of industrialized nations when it comes to teaching evolution in our public schools. As a consequence, at least half of adults outright embrace creationism and reject evolution.’ (Annie Laurie Gaylor, 2014). The dismissal of reason, this religious restoration America is still amidst, is risking their worldwide standing. In what capacity can an experimentally unskilled country contend in worldwide market? What does it mean for their future when half of their populace rejects truth and acknowledges tale? It is in this setting America must consider whether average government funded teachers—especially instructors at the lower level—can really be trusted to be objective about "educating" religion. The Freedom From Religion Foundation is persistently reached by understudies and guardians who experience instructors and principals who see their engaged group of onlookers of understudies as a ready mission field for enrollment. The establishment handles in excess of 2,000 objections per year by individuals from people in general worried about infringement of the detachment among chapel and state, and by far most of these worry infringement in America's government funded schools. Gaylor says that they need to nearly screen their state funded schools to consent to over 60 years of clear point of reference notwithstanding supplication and reverential guidance in their government funded schools. They've as of late needed to grumble in excess of one state about kindergarteners being compelled to implore by their educators.
‘The First Amendment to the United States Constitution states, "Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." The right to freedom of religion includes the right to be free from religion: "Public schools are run by the government. Therefore, they must obey the First Amendment.’ (Steven E. Glink, N/A). This statement by Glink means that public schools in America can teach about the influences of religion in history, literature, and philosophy, but they can't promote religion or practices as a part of the lessons. Also, students can be excused from some school activities if the activity goes within their religious beliefs. The issue of religion has also been brought up in regards to prayer and graduation. In the year 1992, the United States Supreme Court in Lee v. Weisman said, "The First Amendment's Religion Clauses mean that religious beliefs and religious expression are too precious to be either proscribed or prescribed by the State" (Harrison and Gilbert 161). The court stated that praying at a public high school graduations are illegal. However, students can pray and have prayer groups at school if the groups are not funded or cheered on by the school.
Secularism: ‘We want an open and inclusive education system, free of religious discrimination. A secular approach would see faith-based education phased out and ensure that publicly funded schools are equally welcoming to all children, regardless of their backgrounds. We oppose publicly funded faith schools and campaign for an end to religious discrimination in school admissions.’ (National Secular Society, N/A). Schools who are involved with religion or 'faith schools' as they are mostly known, hold to be for around a third of Great Britain's publicly funded schools in England and Wales. Scottish and Northern Irish schools are still divided along factional lines. The NSS (National Secular Society) disagrees with faith schools. Parents are entitled to raise their children within a religion or faith, but they are not being held accountable to ask for help to the state. The state shouldn’t fund adjustments or allow the schools it funds to force children into a particular religion. There are other reasons why organising children's education around religious identities is a bad idea. Isolating children along such critical lines of contrast is divisive and leads to religious, ethnic and socio-economic apartheid says the NSS. To make matters worse, the Government is thinking about to remove the rule that means oversubscribed faith free-schools can only select 50% of their students on the basis of faith, leaving the remaining 50% of places open to all students, no matter the religious background. This will promote a new wave of religiously-selective schools. Despite a steady and dramatic decline in church attendance, and a blooming majority of non-religious citizens, governments have created a way for even greater religious involvement in education, often to the damage of inclusive community schools. This really limits choice for parents and guardians who do not want a religious education for their children, or do not share the faith of the local school states the NSS.
‘Faith has never been more hotly contested than when it comes to our children. But while we wait for the dust to settle in the galloping wake of a herd of Trojan Horses, and as our chuckles over the ironic hashtag #britishvalues turn to weary and wary disappointment, what we’re left with is what we’ve had for far too long – an education system that is discriminatory and unfair.’ (Victoria Richards, 2014) Richards says that we often talk, about the gender divide, and its impact on young people who grow up just as affected by pay gaps and unequal opportunities as the generation before. But we almost never talk about the divide in faith. She says that it is the last taboo; a global scandal that aids segregation and advances the suspicion of outsiders. She suggests that we make all schools which belong to the state secular, and all faith schools private. She also suggests that we should teach the theology of all faiths and allow children to express themselves through religious dress. However, we should keep religion neutral from decisions over who may attend the local school, and who should be shunned. That, rather than religious discrimination, is the way to a Big Society.
Although the National Secular Society and Victoria Richards are for secularism, the people of Muslim Village Media don’t have the same opinion: ‘It is with greatest urgency that I beseech Muslim parents everywhere: if you think drugs and dating are the biggest threats plaguing your children at school, think again. The real danger in public schools is in the very thing we encourage our kids to master – the curriculum.’ (MV Media, 2015). MV Media suggests that we have no choice but to respond to the extreme need of saving the Iman and our children from the risks of the modern curriculum by investing in Islamic schools with our money and our time and by creating a broad Islamic curriculum, totally free from the secular approach, for all classes, to be used in place of the secular system currently in place.
Comparison of Issues
Based on the above, I can conclude that there are many relevant issues connected to my research question. The issue of secularism is definitely the most important and crucial to be considered. However, not everyone agrees with secularism. The people who are against secularism, think that schools should teach religion to children so that they have something to look up to and to believe in, but people who agree with secularism don’t want their children ‘brainwashed’ by religion. Secularism is the most relevant issue in my paper, because my research question has a lot to do with secularism. Secularism is the division between religion and state, and those two are in my question. Freedom of religion is also relevant, but secularism has more to do with my question.
Courses of Action
When asking the question if religion should be taught in school, a few things should be considered:
Not every student has the same religion, some don’t have a religion at all. For example: if you teach Christianity in schools, then other students from different religions like the Islam, or Judaism won’t be educated at all about their beliefs. This could result into students with other religions thinking that their religion isn’t important, or that they believe in the wrong god. Atheists could be influenced by a religion, and think that they should believe in the god of that religion.
Teaching religion in schools takes away the freedom of speech and association rights of the students. For example: If a school would teach Christianity, they would most likely teach the children that non heterosexual intercourse is a sin. Students who are not heterosexual would then also be excluded from the group since they don’t follow ‘the rules’ of Christianity. Students would then get bullied more than in a non-religious school and get excluded from other students because they are not the same as them.
Teaching religion in schools would infringe the law in some countries. For example: in many countries, secularism is a law. So it’s illegal to combine state and religion. This could cause a bad name for the country and other countries would look down on that country. The country then won’t be traded with as much as they did when they were still secular and the economy in that country would also slowly degrade. To avoid breaking the law, students themselves could initiate in making religious after-school groups or activities without funding of the school. This way, the children have the right to choose if they want to be educated about a religion or not, and it won’t break the law since the school or other governmental services won’t fund it.
Conclusion:
My research question was: ‘Should religion be taught in schools?’ and my answer to that is: ‘No, teaching religion in schools infringes laws, this could be an option in non-secular countries, but then the countries would take away human rights like; the freedom of religion, the freedom of association and the freedom of speech. Governments are better off by letting the students themselves create religious communities of students and not force them to join it. They also are not allowed to fund it, because then it would also break the secular law. The students themselves should fund it and they should decide themselves to join a religious group or not.’ My research paper fits in with the ‘Belief Systems’ topic which we discussed in class at the beginning of the term.
Reflection:
Before I started this paper, I always thought that teaching religion in schools was a normal thing in some countries since I saw that in movies and tv-shows. While doing my research I have found out that it’s actually not allowed and that it also breaks laws and human rights. I have also learned more about secularism, that it’s not just the division between schools and religion but state and religion. Luckily, we discussed secularism in class which helped me a lot while writing my paper and doing my research.