I think that what some people often forget is that separation the separation of church and state means you cant teach/require/indoctrinate religion as truth. it DOES NOT mean you cant teach ABOUT religion.

Don't get me wrong, I don't mean teach ID as science.

I went to public high school in Texas, and even though it was a red state and bush was governor at the time, in our world history class, we had a section on world religions. We learned the basic belief and tenets of Christianity, Islam, Judiasm Taoism, Hinduism, Shamanism, Zoroastrianism and a lot of others. It was very clean and clinical in the same way sex ed wasn't porn, religions weren't forced on us. Religion should be taught in school, you should learn about it, not be indoctrinated by it, and NOT remain ignorant about it. and that is where ID should come into it.

In the last school year (sophomore year) I learned about a multitude of religions, but there simply isn't enough time to go into detail with things like this, and, frankly, I don't see any reason to. The teacher went over 6 of the major religions very briefly, but I'm sure the students learned more than enough about them than they'll ever use.

See, and I think thats part of the problem. 6 religions very briefly? These are belief systems that have motivated almost every major world conflict, that are a driving factor in most lives of over 84% of the people in the world. You need to understand religion to understand peoples motivation, even if you don't believe in it yourself.

6 religions very briefly and thats all anyone could need???... thats a huge problem in my mind

edit: That world history class was over 13 yrs ago, and I still remember it, and find it to pertinent and useful information. Measure that against how often you need to know about the second peace of thorn and i think it was time very well spent.

I'd like to point out that the part you quoted and rebutted was my response to "it's a load of excrament that should be disposed as such."

Duly noted. I have had a little bit of inchahol so I'll add more tomorrow as ID's a bit heavy for me to think about right now. :D

I like tis approach. Also, ID has failed to make it through the rigorous process of peer review. It doesn't want to go through the steps it takes to get into classroom textbooks. It just tries to bypass them and get right in.

Perhaps religion as a concept, its origins, its effects on society, etc should be taught. The way history is effected and shaped by religion should be taught. Teaching the religions themselves can break the separation of church and state.

You are not supposed to hold one religion higher than another. Unless you have an infinite amount of teachers teaching an infinite amount of hours you can't teach ALL religions therefor you are in effect raising some over others.


I also wonder how things would go if someone wanted to make a case about teaching ancient beliefs as mythology. If we say that the ancient Greek, Roman, and all the rest religious beliefs are myths and not true isn't that breaking that separation? Why is it okay to say that Zeus is a mythical being that doesn't exist but you can't say the same thing about the more modern religious beliefs.