To think schools shouldn't teach religion as absolute fact?

[PoesyCherish]

DSD is 6 and is learning about Christianity in school. They're teaching her Jesus is the Son of God rather than "some people believe he is". Everything about the religion is taught as fact. They've also failed to mention anything about any other religion.

AIBU to think they shouldn't be teaching it as absolute fact? How are children supposed to be understanding and tolerant of other people's beliefs if they're taught one world view as fact?

Oh my days. You've chosen to send to a RC school. And you aren't accepting the religious teaching. Hahahahhaha

I’m shaking my head.

If you saw a Thai cooking class advertised and signed up, would you come away huffing that the teacher didn’t spend enough time explaining German cuisine, and explaining that other cultures use different ingredients??! Would you be complaining that they should have catered especially to you, because the other cooking classes were too geographically far away for you, or were beyond your budget?? This is what your posts sound like.

Leaving aside that as a step-parent your only involvement with the kid’s religious education is the initial choice you made to join a religious family.

A religious school teaches, reinforces and lives the doctrine of that religion. To the people in that religion, what you call ‘beliefs’ are actually their truths. Why you’d think they’d do anything different beggars belief.

Ok just rtft. But still. As a PP said. Concentrate on teaching her critical thinking at home. She's at an RC school as her parents chose that get over it. The tiny, perceived terrible, part about religion is probably negated but the great ethos and education she may be getting otherwise. And thriving in a small school Environment.

P3onyPenny

The Church owns land for the same reason anyone else in this country does: they bought it or they stole it. Get rid of all private property rights (including the Queen's) and I would agree with you.

Skittles I get your point in regard to the OP. However, I had no choice but to send my DC to our local large CofE primary.

YABU it is a Catholic school, so the pupils will be taught the faith.

That's what happens when you send a child to a religious school.

freshstart24

Fair enough, Fresh, but you still don't get to demand a school changes its whole ethos because you were limited in your choices. How is that their problem?

Moreover, the OP said in an early post that the Catholic school is undersubscribed. That doesn't often happen in an area where there are no other realistic choices, does it?

I think churches holding onto land with schools on should think of the common good and release it ie practise what they preach. They have no need for it.

P3onyPenny

Don't be so silly. They built schools on land they owned to aid the common good in the first place. There is no reason they should give that land to the state just because the state decides (which it hasn't) that they don't want religious involvement in education. If the government doesn't want faith schools, the government needs to provide the alternative.

That’s what happens in faith schools, particularly Catholic schools, you will have ‘signed up’ for this when she started. In my school it’s not taught as fact.

”Moreover, the OP said in an early post that the Catholic school is undersubscribed. That doesn't often happen in an area where there are no other realistic choices, does it?”

Yes, this does happen. For instance, I n some areas there aren’t any choices other than faith schools, in others many children may be able to choose other schools because they have transportation options or after school care options that work but people without those options are stuck. And in some places it is the undersubscribed school that you get stuck with after all your choice schools turn you down because they are oversubscribed.

But the op made it very clear that was the School they chose. Therefore that puts a very different slant on things.

It’s awful when there is no other choice and that shouldn’t be the case but it isn’t the case here. The parents decided it was the best school yet want to pick and choose which bits they like!

BoomBoomsCousin

But it isn't likely the case that there are simply 'no other choices', is my point. This school is undersubscribed (apparently) so the other local children must be going somewhere else. The OP said the other choice was a non-faith state school miles away - it just seems rather strange that, given the option of a local Catholic school, most parents would travel miles out of their way? Maybe it's just me but I'm not buying it.

There should be no religious schools at all. Imagine a whole education based around one fairy story.

YABU. To Catholics it IS fact, so to speak.

Anyway it could be worse; I lived in Ireland for a bit as a child and there were regular trips from school to the village church for confession.

Pengggwn it may well be undersubscribed because demographics have changed significantly since it was built. Local authorities don’t get to manage the enrollement in most faith schools the way they do in local authority schools.

BoomBoomsCousin

That may well be the case, but I don't believe that there is no other local primary other than the faith school, but local parents still send their kids to a school miles out of their way. It makes no sense.

Talk to the child as they get older. Seems like the thing to do. It's what my parents did (one was non-Christian, the other a devout Catholic) and what I do with my dd.
If you present a positive, thoughtful and humane example, isn't that a good thing?
If you are the stepparent, op, defer to the parents.

My thoughts are that no school should teach any religion as they are made up concepts from long ago when people didn't know any better.
They all cause problems and have resulted in more conflicts and deaths over the centuries than any thing else.
It is a form of brain washing where different sets of bullshit are handed on from one generation to the next.

I'm appalled that anyone thinks catholic schools shouldn't teach about their religion as fact. How odd to teach it but then to say but this might not be true. Can you imagine any other religion doing that. If you send your child to a Catholic school just because it's "a good school" then don't be disgruntled because shock horror they're teaching their religion. I hope the day never comes when they stop.

"YABU. To Catholics it IS fact, so to speak."

The ultimate get-out clause. How much nonsense are we prepared to tolerate compared to actual observable facts? Schools are supposed to educate in knowledge and thought, not random unsupported beliefs. We are in danger of losing science and civic toleration both if this trend teaching that beliefs and feelings trump fact and thought (thinking of trans ideology too) continues.

That may well be the case, but I don't believe that there is no other local primary other than the faith school, but local parents still send their kids to a school miles out of their way. It makes no sense

We applied to the 5 closest by distance. 3 and 4 select on faith grounds. We didn’t get any of them.

We went to appeal and were given the local catholic primary which is (and remains) undersubscribed.

We were fortunate in that we were able to take other options. Had we not though we would have been left with a school completely not of our choosing.

As I said early “choice” is a misnomer. It’s expressing a preference.

The ultimate get-out clause. How much nonsense are we prepared to tolerate compared to actual observable facts?

You don't have to tolerate it. Don't send your child somewhere they are going to teach what you consider to be "nonsense" if you are not prepared to accept them doing that. It isn't rocket science (which is, I consider, "observable fact"!).

Teach religion as folkloric history. Not as fact.

Plus, don’t just teach them Abrahamic religions. DS went to regular secondary school. Islam and Xtianity were the main ones studied and they weren’t encouraged to debate in case it offended the Muslim or Christian children.

Which is a bit annoying in itself as you can’t really have a Muslim or Christian child when faith is supposed a personal choice.

Teach religion as folkloric history. Not as fact

How damaging. "Billions of people in the world believe X but it's bollocks, obvs."