Does anyone on here believe in The 10 Commandments being displayed in classrooms?

[CurlewKate]

And if so, why? And if so, why The 10 Commandments, not The Beatitudes?

No.

I’m an ex teacher and displays are far too much bloody work, ban them all. Blank walls.

Absolutely not. Keep religion out of schools.

Absolutely not!

No. We don't need children to be seeing words like 'murder' in front of them every day.

Context is important....in my opinion I'd say..

In a Christian school...ok
As part of a display of work done in RE lessons...ok

Why just the 10 Commandments? Let's do it properly and have the whole Bible on the walls. And the Qur'an. And the Bhagavad Gita. And the Guru Granth Sahib. And the Tao Te Ching. And the Book of Mormon. But not Dianetics because fuck that hack L Ron Hubbard.

Can't see any value in this. They are a strange hybrid of (1) exclusively religious stuff- basically god laying claims to our undivided loyalty; (2) straightforward moral principles that children are very well habituated to in many other contexts; (3) sexual mores which are irrelevant for children; (4) a left-field tip for developing personal wellbeing by not coveting others' stuff -- which would only be useful with a bit of context, but not when tagged on to a hotchpotch of god's preferences..

Christian school yes.

non denominational school - not unless other religious texts are also displayed

Well, most of them aren't bad rules to live by are they? Don't steal, don't lie, don't cheat on your partner, don't murder anyone, don't swear, chill on Sunday, don't be envious, be good to your parents, don't worship false gods.

The only one I can imagine people having a problem with is the first one. But I'd be explaining all this in age appropriate way to my kids.

No I wouldn't have a problem with it. I'd just talk to my kids about it.

No, I think school rules are probably more useful. There'll be some cross over of course, killing being banned both in schools and in the ten commandments, for example.

Oh and also, the one about not coveting your neighbour's wife? That gives the game away - that the intended audience is men (or conceivably men and lesbians) so the 10 commandments are rather exclusionary for girls (or at least heterosexual girls).

What’s the context? Is it an RE classroom or a Christian school? If so, that’s entirely normal. Is your problem with religion in schools per se or are you quibbling with how they are teaching it?

Not if it's a state school. Religion should be taught as general knowledge and history. If parents want religion they can teach it themselves.

No, parents can indoctrinate their own children if they so wish, not schools.

No but then I believe in a separation of religion and state.

Many state schools are religious. The reason they exist is because many parents want them. In my area you have a choice of religious and non-religious schools. Don’t you think a pluralistic democracy should reflect a range of values? Surely the point of society is that parents don’t have to individually teach their children values that are shared by many others - they vote for a government that will allow for that service to be provided collectively.

I think even in a religious school it’s not massively appropriate to stick references to murder and adultery on the classroom walls…

If it were a display of information about Christianity in an RS classroom, fair enough (or similar about another religion). Just on display in a school, no.

Oh and if it were in a Church school... well, I don't actually think there should be state religious schools.

As an atheist, I don’t have a problem with it in the U.K. and I’d expect similar from other religions in other countries. Parents that don’t follow Christianity can use it as an opportunity to teach their children tolerance.

I do think there is an attitude in the UK of being tolerant to any religion other than Christianity. Maybe cultural guilt?

If it’s part of the GCSE curriculum to learn them, then that’s fine. Or at a faith school.

My aunt used to have the poem Desiderata displayed in her house. In my youth I scoffed at it. But it is full of wonderful wisdom and I would be happy to see it on classroom walls

Yes true. If it’s a secondary RE class and they have a display about the key beliefs of different religions and that’s under the christianity heading or something along those lines then yes that would be fine and would make sense.

My children go to a religious school.

However, if they didn't, I would support the ten commandments. Not because they are Christian. They are just a list of things that are a pretty good idea to abide by. Probably presented in more child friendly language though.

I don’t think they should, but I wouldn’t be bothered by them being there either.

When I was at school we all had to keep a bible in our desks. Never asked to actually take them out, so who knows what the objective was.

We did daily singing and all sorts of other religious stuff, and I have never (not then or now) been remotely religious. I think I just sort of accepted it as part of living in a Christian country - as I do now, when asked to attend a church event for some reason!