World Religions in Public Schools free essay sample

Kirstin Sargent Prof. Tooley Argumentative Essay 23 September 2012 World Religions in Public Schools Every parent wants their child to receive the best educational experience in their public schools. Subjects such as math, science, and English are never in question. However, a more controversial subject such as world religions has been debated in America for several years? This subject is seldom seen in a public schools curriculum.The teaching of world religions in public schools helps students to understand political affairs, helps them to know the history of their religion and that of others, and helps to properly teach the history and growth of civilizations. Politics amongst nations often has a lot to do with religion. Take for example the current crisis in the Middle East. In order to fully understand what the people of that culture were thinking when they attacked us, we need to know about their religion. World religions do not just influence today’s politics, but past politics as well. We will write a custom essay sample on World Religions in Public Schools or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page One very famous set of wars, the crusades, were carried through in the name of the Christian religion. Teaching world religion at a public school level will greatly increase our youths understanding of these politics. It has been noted that a large percentage of grade school age children do not know of the religion they are practicing or that of other peoples. Including a world religions class in our public schools will help to resolve this. By knowing the history of your religion, you gain a better appreciation for it.This is also true for other people’s religions. With knowledge comes understanding and acceptance. If the goal of mankind is to succeed in developing world peace, the best place to start in with the youth. The most efficient way to do this is through our school systems. Bigamy is a major issue in today’s society and this is what today’s youth is absorbing. If we raise and teach them to be accepting of other religions and cultures it will stick with them forever and they will spread it as well.Also, by knowing the history of another religion, we learn how each culture shaped our history. A religion tells us many different aspects of the culture(s) that follow it. We learn about their eating habits, family traditions/ rituals, and so much more. Therefore, when historians work on unraveling different cultures, they often study that cultures religion. As they study these religions, different parts of history are pieced together. Almost every piece of history has a relation to that cultures religion. When powerful nations were conquering smaller and weaker ones, they were bringing their religions with them. Thus, many smaller cultures have mainstream, or western, ideas and traditions. This is because the two religions mixed together. This happened countless times throughout history making it nearly impossible to properly teach it without including world religions. There are, however, those that argue against world religions in public schools. In fact, in more areas than not, it has been voted against.Many have exclaimed that these teachings are against their parental consent. Parents voting against world religions being taught in public schools are afraid their children will be influenced into a different religion. This can only happen if the teachers remain untrained to teach world religions as they currently are. It is also argued that, with regard to religion being a very personal matter, it is inappropriate to teach at the public school level. Parents also felt this way on another controversial subject, sex education.In which case, in countless situations a parental consent form was sent home and approved and if approved, the child participated or he/she did not if it was not approved. Every child should experience the rich diversity of every world religion. Teaching this in public schools can give children knowledge on international politics, the roots of other cultures as well as their own, and have a deeper understating of history. There is a fine line between teaching religion and preaching religion. So long as this line is not crossed, teaching religion in public schools should be in every teachers curriculum.