a reply to:
TonyS
Thats the thing. I have no hatred for Christs people. I am one of them.
Most education systems include a general religious studies class, in which an overview of the most prevalent religions in the world, is taught. This
class will highlight the differences between world religions, for example, showing the distinctions between Buddhism, Sikhism, Hinduism, Christianity,
Islam and Judaism, as well as giving a little history on the origins of these religions as well. The basic concepts and principles of those faiths,
will be explained and the anthropological effects on the societies in which those religions are most prevalent, will be explored to a shallow, but
relatively useful degree.
In the UK, Religious Education was mandatory, everyone took it. Personally, I benefited greatly from learning about other faiths, particularly
Sikhism, Hinduism, and Buddhism, because these religions, which were covered by the class, were the least similar to my own, and offered me a better
understanding of a broader swath of the human race, than a narrow focus on the Abrahamic faiths would have. It also inspired me to consume information
about lesser understood religions, like that which informed the greater majority of Japanese history, for example.
But there is a difference between an education which broadens understanding, prevents the discord which comes of the unknown, and actual preaching.
There is nothing at all wrong with learning more about the people you share a planet with in an educational setting, but unless students happen to be
at a faith school or a college for pastors, preachers, priests or otherwise, they should not be being preached at during school hours, or as part of
the schools education program.
Like I said, I have my faith, and I am comfortable with it. But it ought not be taught in an educational setting as part of an education provided by
a government which is secular rather than theocratic, and the Constitution states clearly that the US is simply not a theocracy. Given these factors,
I fail to see how the program as described in the OP, can possibly be justified.