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Religion in textbooks, the way school presents christianity is not the way it is |
Oct 21 2009, 08:13 PM
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#26
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![]() Rocking For God ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Resident Posts: 581 Joined: 28-December 08 From: United States Member No.: 22,329 Gender : Male |
They had a special overall on text book neutrality and they found that many of the most used books were written by small groups of people involved with political or religious movements. I consider myself, for the most part lucky, because my teachers were and are fairly neutral and not afraid to present the other side of things if the book does not.
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Nov 7 2009, 01:51 PM
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#27
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Bible Thumper ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Resident Posts: 201 Joined: 30-September 08 Member No.: 20,394 Gender : Female |
In the UK were I am, the RS textbooks we use are pretty unbiased. We look at issues like abortion and then we look at non-religious arguments for and against and then we look at the for and against arguments from the different religions, mostly Christianity and Islam. In the past we learned about all different religions, mostly Christianity, but also Islam, Judaism, Hinduism and Buddhism. The only thing that annoys me is how they go 'Christians believe this, Muslims believe this', as though everyone who followed that religion had exactly the same views on everything. They also never say that any religious people have any immoral views, for example, it never says, 'some Muslims believe they are commanded by God to blow themselves up' or 'some Christians believe that homosexuals should be separated from society. I know these are minority views, but shouldn't we look at the good and the bad?
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Nov 7 2009, 06:06 PM
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#28
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![]() Jarrax Volk--The ULTIMATE Predator. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Resident Posts: 1,452 Joined: 16-February 09 From: Missouri Member No.: 23,148 Gender : Male |
I just finished reading Dan Brown's 'The Lost Symbol' and I've done research on this topic in the past, also. The founders of the U.S. were not all explicitly Christian. Most were, in fact, prominent Masons. Did you know that Jefferson actually cut up his Bible and rearranged it, taking out the virgin birth and resurrection of Christ? The United States when it was still pre-Revolutionary War was full of all different religions, for it was a promise of religious freedom. Most of the founders were Deists of some form, they believed in a God, but not a specifically Christian one. The early Americans were very wrong in their actions of slavery and wiping out the Native Americans, those are definitely not something Christianity supports. The allusion that the United States was founded a Christian nation, I believe, comes from the way our laws are now and the way the ones of the past are interpreted. Our freedoms of religion, speech, press, and thought as well as laws against stealing, murder, multiple spouses, etc. are all supported by Christianity, but they are also supported by many other religions. Although the majority of Americans are Christian, calling the United States a Christian nation is purely opinion because there is the law of separation of church and state so that the laws cannot force one religion on its people. You can call Americans Christian, but not the country as a whole. In response to the teacher/school topic, the only issue I've had is keeping my tongue in check while my biology teacher (an evolutionist) teaches that evolution is real and that the earth is billions of years old. I would answer all questions concerning evolution, etc. on worksheets and tests beginning with "The book states..." or "According to the book...". There is no law of "separation of church and state". It's not in the Constitution, nor the Declaration of Independence. The phrase comes from a letter to the Danbury Baptists from Thomas Jefferson, promising that their right to practice religion will not be curtailed by the government. That's the only thing the "separation of church and state" means. |
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Nov 9 2009, 07:26 PM
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#29
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Catching On ![]() Group: Newcomer Posts: 7 Joined: 8-November 09 From: Kentucky Member No.: 27,080 Gender : Female Name : Kayleigh |
I don't have this problem, as my textbooks are all either "In Christian Perspective" or some other little subtitle-thingy. It did apply to me, however, in middle school because they had to teach us all about the Egyptians and Indus River Valley blah blah. Annoying.
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Nov 10 2009, 03:53 PM
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#30
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Bible Thumper ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Resident Posts: 201 Joined: 30-September 08 Member No.: 20,394 Gender : Female |
Oh no, learning about different cultures and the cradle of civilization! You poor thing!
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Nov 10 2009, 04:00 PM
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#31
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![]() Hilton Lover. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Gentryman Posts: 2,790 Joined: 29-November 08 Member No.: 21,867 Gender : Male Name : Karen |
Like most people in my classes, I just get bored when they start dogging on religion. I don't know why they spend so much time talking about stuff that has no grounds in what we're talking about.
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| Time is now: 21st November 2009 - 02:51 AM |