I think Religion and Philosophy courses should be mandatory in High School

[QUOTE="toast_burner"]

[QUOTE="themajormayor"] What why?SolidSnake35

I agree. The problem is, in many places in Canada and the US, the "religion" class may be viewed as an attack against children's beliefs, and it wouldn't last long as a mandatory class. People seem adamant to protect their children from outside beliefs, to the point where if they were to learn about world-religions in an academic way ("this is what they believe and how it came about" rather than "this is the ultimate truth, and this is how you believe it"), the children may start to think rationally, and see problems with the religion they have been indoctrinated into from birth. I would have loved to have been able to take philosophy in high school, as it would have probably significantly altered my world view (which developed more through university). Critical thinking as a whole seems in short supply these days, and it is concerning how many people get through high school not only without those skills, but without knowledge and skills in the sciences.Zeviander

Speaking as a professor who gets mostly freshman and sophomores, this is so sad and so very true.

one of these days i'm gonna read the bible from start to finish. something i've always wanted to do.ZumaJones07

i agree. though the religion courses should be focused on the development and influences of religion over history, rather than picking certain religions to teach on. as for philosophy courses, i think the emphasis should be placed on fallacies.

1. Philosophy has nothing to do with IQ scores, if you really think IQ is important schools should teach more geomatatry, number series and perhaps a little computer science (they put very similar questions on programmer job assessments on IQ tests).

2. We have this in the UK and it's a joke which just soaks up time for no real gain. Also your reasoning would work much better supporting a world affairs class which would go into things like the Palestinian issue, the drug cartel issue in Mexico, sex trafficking in south America and eastern Europe ect.

Finally the fact that there is a creationism vs evolution debate at all is idiotic, teach real science in science class and leave it at that.

[QUOTE="toast_burner"]

Religious studies is mandatory in the UK. From what I remember 95% of it was about Islam.

themajormayor

1. Philosophy has nothing to do with IQ scores, if you really think IQ is important schools should teach more geomatatry, number series and perhaps a little computer science (they put very similar questions on programmer job assessments on IQ tests).

2. We have this in the UK and it's a joke which just soaks up time for no real gain. Also your reasoning would work much better supporting a world affairs class which would go into things like the Palestinian issue, the drug cartel issue in Mexico, sex trafficking in south America and eastern Europe ect.

Finally the fact that there is a creationism vs evolution debate at all is idiotic, teach real science in science class and leave it at that.

markop2003

actually I did, I just don't believe religion should be in schools in any way shape or form, even if it is "understanding" religion and where it came from, what their beliefs are, etc... JayQproductions

I agree, but as a realist i feel like economics and home ec classes should be priority

religion WTF is wrong you? religion causes so much evil in this world it isn't even funny. i just want it disappear. NO TRACE

k2theswiss

Uh religion is a problem, I agree, but not that evil. Plenty of things in this world cause problems. You view on religion is very one sided.
Religon has done great things as well, which dosen't mean it is true though.

The main reason why religion should be phased slowly is because of the lack of evidence. Having faith for such a thing is, in my opinion, irrational. At the end, showing respect on both sides helps quite a bit. No one want to listen to someone when they are being heavily threatened.

one of these days i'm gonna read the bible from start to finish. something i've always wanted to do.ZumaJones07

Sounds like a waste of a class. Why not learn something useful instead?Toxic-Seahorse

Highschool education should focus on Reading, Writing & Mathematics skills. The skills that have been shown most relevant to labour outcomes. I don't really like social engineering or highly subjective critical thinking skills. Nearly every subject requires you to asses things critically and at times in more relevant and consistent ways. For example, problem solving in engineering or mathematical analysis. If you want people to be able to asses things then you should also include quantitative methods like Statistics and Operation's Research. Why just focus on qualitative?

PS. The idea that philosophy is the only subject that teaches critical thinking skills is BS. Anything will do, for example case studies in an Introduction to Business Class. NO reason to force students to take your favourite subject :)

I came into this thread hoping I could agree with you, and I'm happy to say I can. Schools need to do more than just teach material, they should teach the youth how to think. My cousin is also examining the bible not as a religious piece, but as a piece of literature. I think that's really cool. Religion plays a huge part in the world, and I wish that schools offered classes that let students examine the old and new testaments as well as the Quran. I'd hate it every step of the way though.

[QUOTE="Toxic-Seahorse"]Sounds like a waste of a class. Why not learn something useful instead?Maor-Teo

Yes. Science only solves the context, it does not deal with the same things philosphy and religion do.

As a Christian, there should be a separation of Church and State. I know it's a cliched and common argument, but kids should decide for themselves which side to go to, and having places where both sides can be explained without contradiction to themselves (church and school) really helps the decision making process. It did for me and most people I know. However, on the same note, a little education into the things that the more ignorant athesits and agnostics attack couldn't hurt to be taught on an educational level.

Philosophy, on the other hand, could be implemented into society a little more than it currently is, so yes on that one.

Depends on how much is mandatory, tbh.

I would be all for a class or two that covered a fundamental understanding of religion and the major religions. It would help reduce some of the ignorance. Beyond that I would say it should not be mandatory.

and agree about the philosophy course.

Well I went to a Catholic school, so religion was mandatory. The last two I took were World Religions and Catholic Morals. Something like World Religions should be taught, because it's actually a facinating class and has nothing to do with forcing views upon anyone. Catholic Morals was actually a really dumb class, at least the way they taught it at my school, so something like that shouldn't be mandatory.

But philosopy? Have you seen the essays they have to write? fvck that.

I agree, but as a realist i feel like economics and home ec classes should be priority

Neo-ganon

Agree on home ec. I wish my school(s) had offered that because I can barely do anything that class would teach.

[QUOTE="Neo-ganon"]

I agree, but as a realist i feel like economics and home ec classes should be priority

zeldaluff

Agree on home ec. I wish my school(s) had offered that because I can barely do anything that class would teach.

We had mandatory ones in middle school.

I can make pancakes and cookies that's about it.

[QUOTE="zeldaluff"]

Agree on home ec. I wish my school(s) had offered that because I can barely do anything that class would teach.

Optical_Order

We had mandatory ones in middle school.

I can make pancakes and cookies that's about it.

I can follow instructions okay, cookies I can do. :P Thankfully my boyfriend likes to cook, so I just do the cleaning.

Religion is usually integrated in History classes, depending on the course. I think if people want to learn more about a certain religion, it should be an elective course, not mandatory. Perhaps if chosen, a religion course can count as a history class in terms of credit.

Same for Philosophy, its not essential for basic education, but if used as an elective it counts as (probably English?) credit.

Well thats my take on it.