Posted on 10/03/2009 7:17:20 AM PDT by Clive
MONTREAL -- Half of American high-school seniors surveyed recently thought Sodom and Gomorrah were a married couple. A McGill University professor's reference to the patience of Job drew blank stares from students in his religion course. An art history teacher in France found children were mystified by the "strange bird" (a dove representing the Holy Ghost) common in Renaissance paintings.
Until recently, such confusion was little more than fodder for faculty-room jokes, evidence of the increasing secularism of Western societies. But educators attending a conference at McGill University yesterday heard there is growing recognition in Europe and North America that religious illiteracy creates serious barriers between cultures.
"There exists a widespread illiteracy about religion that spans the globe," Diane Moore, a professor at Harvard Divinity School, said. "The most significant consequence is that it fuels antagonism and hinders respect for pluralism, peaceful co-existence and co-operative endeavours."
Quebec, which last year introduced a mandatory Ethics and Religious Culture course to replace Christian denominational classes, was held up as a leader in an effort to improve children's religious literacy. The Quebec class covers all major world religions and is taught throughout primary and secondary school.
Spencer Boudreau, a professor of education at McGill, said he was struck by how little his students knew about religion. (He was the one who had to explain the biblical story of Job.) "It became more and more evident to me, the lack of knowledge -- not only of other religions but of their own tradition," he said in an interview. "I'm saying, how can you understand Canada, how can you understand Quebec, without some of this background knowledge?"
. . .
(Excerpt) Read more at nationalpost.com ...
-
Teachers Unions are not about teaching they are about money & power.....why doesn't that surprise me? Teachers of course only do what they are told to do and leaving God out of the class room was and still is de rigueur....plus the fact, 80% of our teachers are poorly taught themselves......higher wages for a finished product - NEA etc.
good article
The Euro Peons have already lost their faith. North Americans are trying hard to catch them. Can you say,”separation of Church and State malarkey?”
“Churches teaching self-help theology instead of the Bible?...”
AD - I agree with you completely. Great Scriptural reference as well. Our answers are there, if we only take the time to look. I understand what the article is saying, though in my mind, we can’t blame the educational system for our young peoples lack of knowledge. That falls squarely on the parents. As a Christian parent, I am the one who is charged with raising my child in the Christian faith. I will be the first to admit some of our churches fail miserably, but again I go back to the parent. It is my responsibility to be aware of what my child is being taught, and to be educated in my own faith so that I can make the right decision for my child. I realize this isn’t very PC these days - it’s JMHO, but I believe it is correct.-—JM
Oh the humanity ....how awful /sarc
The other half thought S & G would be married if not for Proposition 8.
It’s like cultural amnesia. What’s it like to be a stranger in your own home?
Ah, the realism of this insistence, the inherent drama. I can't tell you how many times, in a moment of anguish, I have exclaimed, "Alas!"
When really p!st it will be followed by, "... Alack!"
The article makes it clear that we must teach religion to school children, yet it says it’s wrong to tell Islamists that it’s against the law to stone women to death. They STILL don’t know what they’re talking about.
Let’s take our kids to church, where they can learn all about Job, the Holy Ghost and everything else they need to know about religion.
I may be in a minority here but I wouldn’t want my kids learning anything about religion from a public school teacher’s perspective.
Let them learn at home and in the church of your own choice, let them pray at home, in church and yes, even silently in public school if they so choose. If vocal prayer ever is allowed in public schools you can bet the kiddies will spend part of their “prayer time” on their knees bowing towards Mecca.
It’s not only religion and the Bible — most of western literature refrences the Bible, and if you don’t know the Bible, then you’re mising a dimension of the literature.
Thanks for the suggestion. I did and this worries me:
"What happened in Hérouxville, I was embarrassed as a Quebecer," Mr. Boudreau said. "And it's not just Quebec that would think like that." He said Canadians have to learn to live alongside newcomers for whom religion is central to their identity. "We're going to survive as a country by bringing in people from different religions, and many times that is how they define themselves," he said. "Whether you think it's a good thing or it's a bad thing, it's there, and you have to be respectful."
So, from his point of view, the issue is provoked because of these immigrants, not because of the inherent value of knowing the religions of Western Civilization.
More BOHICA.
Ugh, this is a terrible article. The law in Quebec is bad, very bad. Do you really want the secularists teaching religion? I don’t and I don’t trust them to teach what Christianity teaches.
Here are the key words you need to know to understand what this law is all about. This course can and will teach that gay marriage is appropriate for Christianity.
“the code informed new arrivals to the village that stoning of women was not allowed and that pork was a common menu item.”
Now, this course is against the condemnation of Islam. Please be aware that what Herouxville did was defend Christianity in the face of Islam, and they think it’s a bad thing.
“She identified a wide range of problems caused by a lack of religious understanding, including anti-Semitism and the equation of Islam with violence and terrorism.”
Read that again. The equation of Islam with violence and terrorism is a bad thing.
“We’re going to survive as a country by bringing in people from different religions, and many times that is how they define themselves,”
“Whether you think it’s a good thing or it’s a bad thing, it’s there, and you have to be respectful”
Again, religious pluralism. No truth. Homeschooled children will not be taught that there is one faith in Christ, and it is only through him you will be saved. They have made this mandatory for all homeschoolers in Quebec to have this course.
“The most significant consequence is that it fuels antagonism and hinders respect for pluralism, peaceful co-existence and co-operative endeavours”
Pluralism, peaceful co-existance and co-operation. Read submission to Islam.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.