A Case For Religious History Classes

thank you !

far too many people think they know , or understand their religion or faith yet have no clue.

I've always said people need to study beyond what they think they know and explore other religions.

They'll be amazed at what they find and what they learn.

I had a bit in there about religious ceremonies if so desired, but I cut it for flow.

Ah. More than understandable. :-)

Kindest regards

Ah, more fairy tales. Like we don't have enough of them

Wait... did Moses build the ark? Is that how he crossed the red sea?

Like we don't have enough of them

Yeah, but at least they're entertaining.

me too !

it's amazing what you learn factually about man's belief systems . I think that's why so many fear learning about it. or pick and choose .

or as a scholar friend of mine who passed away put it ...

Every other field of study has to verify its validity. For philosophy it's "Cogito ergo sum." For chemistry it's the atomic theory; for statistics it's the central limit theorem; .... Only religion is conceited enough to think it is studying a real subject without having any evidence for it.

When it finally dawns on you that everything you've been told about god, heaven, etc., is based only on speculation, it comes as a major shock. Anger is the intial reaction, hence, the Christian charge that atheists are angry people (Only recent converst are.). Once you're past the anger, it becomes possible to see the people who lied to you as unwitting dupes who genuinely believed they were telling the truth.

an interesting couple of comments .............

John Shelby Spong, retired bishop of the Episcopal Church, USA has written:

"Religion is primarily a search for security and not a search for truth. Religion is what we so often use to bank the fires of our anxiety. That is why religion tends toward becoming excessive, neurotic, controlling and even evil. That is why a religious government is always a cruel government. People need to understand that questioning and doubting are healthy, human activities to be encouraged not to be feared. Certainty is a vice not a virtue. Insecurity is something to be grasped and treasured. A true and healthy religious system will encourage each of these activities. A sick and fearful religious system will seek to remove them."

David C. James, rector of St. John's Episcopal Church & Diocesan Mission Center in Olympia, WA, wrote:

Many times when we think we are worshipping God, we are actually comforting our very fragile egos. I'm not so naïve as to assume that we build temple and erect altars to ourselves…directly. But our core need to been safe, secure and sound mandates that we construct reality systems that will support us.

http://www.religioustolerance.org/rel_theory1.htm

Going to Catholic schools that took a more progressive look at world religions and their histories was eye opening.

In private schools you get religion/religious instruction as well as science and in science we learned about evolution, Big Bang all the normal stuff. In religion we learned about creation.

Never were the two mixed unless it was a joint departmental project like we did at mine in Junior and Senior year.

We had religion at different points of the day depending on the teacher and how she set up her lesson plans and sometimes classes were switched depending on what was happening. As I got closer to the 8th grade we would change classrooms for different subjects. Each class was 35 minutes long.

Nope each class was taught independent of religion. Historical discussions about religion didn't happen until high school.

We didn't use the Bible. I can remember using it for a project about "The Signs of the Times" in the 6th grade when we were taught how to find & read scriptures but it was never in depth bible study. In high school we got to choose our religion courses--morality & ethics, Christian Values, World religions, etc.

By the time I got to high school I had more lay teachers than religious. I think it also depends on the order of religious as well. San Francisco tends to be obviously a bit more liberal and progressive.

My daughter who's also been to Catholic schools her entire life has had to study and produce projects on the major religions of the world including quite the extensive one on Islam.

How can one understand their own faith if they don't compare and contrast it to others?

I'm impressed with such openmindedness, of course, I'm in VA -- very conservative.

I too am often appalled at the number of people who make no effort to understand their religion -- especially within the historical perspective. Aren't they even curious?

I can't tell you how much trouble I got into, for questioning "the Word of God." Even as a small child, I argued with the nuns, that there had to be a beginning, because even God said "In the beginning..." LOL

Etva. Well, that explains much.

In my grade school class we had a few students that weren't Catholic and practiced other faiths. They still had to take part in the religion classes and go to Mass but they did not have to participate in our Sacraments, etc.

But we did learn about their faiths as well.

People who don't learn outside what they know either aren't naturally curious or are taught not to be so they restrict themselves even into adulthood.

Oh yeah we got into trouble, too especially with the more Conservative nuns and priests.

Yep there is a beginning......but we also have middles and ends......

:)

Thanks Kathy

And I agree it's a push-me-pull-you existence for many children. Some, thankfully, grow up and out of that and figure things out on their own and others are just bound to be chained to only what they know so as to not incur the wrath of mommy and daddy and the church.

In my grade school class we had a few students that weren't Catholic and practiced other faiths. They still had to take part in the religion classes and go to Mass but they did not have to participate in our Sacraments, etc.

Susi -- actually that was me too. LOL I'm not now, nor have I ever been Catholic, but interestingly enough, I can still recite the catechism from memory, even on those days that I forget why I went upstairs...

It's one of those misconceptions about religious schools that they only allow and enroll students of the same faith.

Obviously as you stated not true.

There is so much that is still ingrained me in that when I do got Mass it all comes back to me LOL

Kathy, do you think the religious part played a part? I ask that because even today with some people it plays a big part. They want to send their kids to a private school and sometimes the only one's available happen to be Catholic and either they aren't religious or are of a different faith.

I can tell you this that I swore up and down I would never send any of my kids to Catholic school and many of my friends said the same thing.

And now we thank our lucky stars we were able to go and wouldn't dream of sending our kids anywhere else. Mine just graduated HS and as much as a PITA as it could be at times, thanks me for making the sacrifices I did to send her there for 12 years.

The religious aspect aside, because to be honest to me was not the reason I sent her there, there is one thing I can say that from my experience and now having been a parent through it one thing remains the same from my time through my daughters----consistency.

Consistency in standards, expectations, accountability, required parental involvement, the true family environment, structure, the expectations of success.

Ah, okay, Kathy. That is rather counter to the usual especially for the time.