The human secularist would not be happy just to have their religion and lack of decent values taught in the State system. They will then want to tell private schools what they can and can't teach. That is because many of those who claim State schools should only have secular values see how miserably it has failed and then send their kids to private schools. I find it very amusing.

I get tired of hearing statements like 'count the corpses of those killed in the name of God'.

People kill each other for all kinds of reasons. 'God' is usually just a convenient justification for fighting and wars that would happen regardless.

Apologies for the spelling error. Of course what I meant was 'atheism'.

6 months ago I couldn't even spell 'atheist', now I are one!

I have long been absorbed by, and abhorred by, the wholesale grief and bloodshed and bigotry brought about as a result of religious belief. So it would be easy for me to argue the 'secular' case for teaching in schools.

I don't, because we can't escape the bald act that religion, in all its forms and in all societies, is part of the fabric of human existence. Like it or not. Some scientists even believe that it has an identified component in our brain structure.

Most violence and prejudice that stems from religion comes from reductionist thinking. Faith in one God. One true belief, one true church. The negative sides of religion do not stem from spiritualism, but from the very opposite that churches tends to imbue in their faithful. Competition for righteousness.

The worst offenders are arguably the larger multinational churches, but small fanatical ones can be just as dangerous.

If anything, a general study of religion and spirituality I think can help to differentiate the ugly side of religion from a true search for meaning. Being taught to have faith in one belief is reductionist and not educational. Being exposed to ideas about the history of religion and human spirituality can help to develop a healthy perspective on life.

Perhaps most importantly in these times, an awaareness that there is something bigger than our egotistical selfish selves.


church. The negative sides of religion do not stem from spiritualism, but from the very opposite that religion tends to imbue in theri faithful.

The worst offenders are the larger multinational churches, but fanatical small ones

First three posts do it for me too.

Imagine being a child and being taught about religion and then turning on the TV and seeing the realities of the world as it is today?

Our kids would have to be scared and confused. I know my youngest son is.

We need to help our children make sense of the world today.

Who knows we might learn some answers on the way.