I think you need to teach kids about religion. How can they make informed decisions about what they believe or don’t believe, if they don’t have the information? By the same token, I don’t think you should TELL a child what they are. They can decide that for themselves. Maybe they’ll become Atheists, or maybe Christians, or Buddhists…but they can’t decide that without the knowledge. Ultimately, your spirituality is individual and personal.

Definitely not good. You have to use discernment when teaching your children scripture. Some videos just aren’t accurate. Actually, most aren’t. Yes, you are to teach your children God’s truth as Joshua was instructed to do. Hannah knew this & sent Samuel to live with Eli due to this. And you shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. (Deuteronomy 6:7)

Religion should be taught to children in public schools. Equal time should be given to the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Islam, Christianity), Buddhism, Taoism, Hinduism, Shinto, Shamanism/indigenious traditions, Paganism, and Atheism. Minority religions should also be addressed such as Scientology, Rastafarianism, ect. The instructor should not privilege one world-view over another and they should encourage critical thinking. This would cultivate respect for other peoples traditions while helping students to decide for themselves what exactly it is that they believe. But in no way should the instructor encourage any school of thought above any other.

I’d say yes. Religion is an important part of human history.

We are a “religious family” and I do not find this “hard.”

In fact last year (we homeschool) we studied all the major world religions, created a comparison chart of symbols, beliefs, observations, ceremonies, etc.

I did not feel threatened that my son was learning about religions other than the “family religion.”

This year, on the reading list is the Koran.

Where I do take offense to in your question, and with some of the answers, is the obvious prejudice against those of us who are “religious” and what is probably meant by this is Christian. You make unfounded presumptions and are using stereotypes to characterize all of us.

Adults, but not children, should have a choice in what they believe. Children, however, in my opinion, should be given objective information so they can learn about various choices including agnosticism and athiesm.

From my understanding, you can discuss religion if it provides RELEVANCE to the topic. For example, say you were teaching history, and discussing Queen Elizabeth and why she she had enemies (predominantly because of her faith- she was protestant and there was a devisive split between protestants and Catholics during her reign).

What you CANNOT do is encourage students to adhere to a particular faith based belief system, or have a “hidden curriculum” that sways them in a certain direction towards one faith or another. Faith has a context in offering explanations of events in time, but as the previous poster indicated, it has conistently been the court’s ruling that religious influence is to be kept out of the public classroom.

It doesn’t matter is you are for it or against it at this point, for the fact is that it is illegal

McCollum v. Board of Education District 71 (1948) said it is illegal to use tax-supported property for religious instruction.

And while I am at it:

Engel v. Vitale says that any kind of composed prayer by public school districts is illegal.

Abington School District v. Schempp says that reading the Bible or prayer over the intercom is illegal.

Stone v. Graham says posting of 10 Commandments in schools is illegal.

Lee v. Weisman makes illegal the school bringing in a clergy person to give a prayer.

Sante Fe District v. Doe makes student led prayer during a football game illegal.

ACLU v. Blackhorse made student led prayer at graduation illegal.

So there you have it. We can all have our opinion, but the Court has already made their opinion for us.

Depends if it’s a catholic/christian/buddhist/religion school. If it is, then it’s okay.

Parents sometimes force their kids to be in the same religion they are in because it’s just what they believe.

And usually, the kid doesn’t get to have a choice.

No, it’s inappropriate for parents or teachers to indoctrine impressionable minds. Of course, if parents or teachers were to simply teach the basics and leave the scare tactics and pressure to convert out, then talking about religion with children is fine.

well i’m not religious and i think teaching religion to kids is fine. i was taught plenty and happen to know more about the bible than most christians i know. kids will make their own decisions about what they are taught. unless of course they are forced into something but then that isn’t teaching is it?

Only in a private religious school or higher education. With private schools, parents send their children there specifically knowing what they will be taught (presumably because the faith in question is their own). It’s inappropriate to try to instruct children in what to believe or think in public settings.