Who says Western countries are all that much better? Lol, I mean, abortion was banned in Ireland until just yesterday, and people there still swear by the Bible and stuff like that.
But yeah, I agree with you. Personally, I don't think religious education belongs in public schools, whether we're talking about the US or Poland or anywhere else. I wouldn't mind having some kind of religious culture included—maybe even as a required subject—but only from fifth grade onwards.
That’s just my take on it, anyway. 😁 But looking at reality for a second, I get that we live in a melting pot and we aren't getting out of this for decades, so there's no way we're seeing widespread secularization or the constant accommodation of minorities and those kinds of things anytime soon. We really need to look for practical solutions to real problems. And that brings us back to what you said: asking the government to implement alternative programs or specific activity hours instead.
Susan James said:The article covers a bit of everything, but it really boils down to that old "we're all different, but let's just play along with the system to survive" mentality. It's like, sure, you can be a cosmopolitan individual and read anything from scripture to classic literature in private, but once you step out in front of the public, you’re expected to cross yourself just because that's what the people in power want. You marry in the church, you baptize your kid, and then that kid has to take religious education in school just to avoid being the odd one out.
To me, the whole piece feels like a subtle instruction manual for parents: send your kids to religious classes, otherwise, the people who love to perform piety will mock you or label you an outcast. 🤷
Exactly. Honestly, more women have raised my blood pressure than the actual environment has. 😂
Karen Richardson3 said:This whole article is incredibly biased and just flat-out dishonest. It feels like it was engineered specifically to stir up an outrage mob, baiting people into clicking and venting in the comments just so Bloomberg could rake in the ad revenue.
Unlike most other stories on the Nasdaq or similar sites... 😂
I was honestly a bit naive to think they’d just leave the reform alone. I really believed it was being handled by actual experts in the field who had nothing to do with politics from the start.
silentbear22 said:My money's on an Illich diversion. 😈 Like, maybe nobody notices and it just slips through.
Just kidding... honestly, who knows. It looks sketchy to me too. I don't doubt they'll give the project a quick once-over, but at this point, I'm just banking on people actually using their heads. 🕺
Wait, am I not allowed to just reply with emojis? Fine, here are some words then. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
I really hope they’ve done some actual testing on the exchange rate and that they actually stick to it, because (at least up until now) my most loyal Republican voters at work are pretty stunned by this announcement regarding the reform review.
I say "up until now" because I've seen firsthand how quickly people tend to pivot once their party changes its stance.😁
Honestly, this reform is probably being hailed as the first good thing to happen in the US since the days of Janet Yellen.
I don't really get why everyone is trying so hard. It just feels pointless. You can't convince a dishwasher to actually wash the dishes, or expect it to act with any kind of empathy.
Prayer can be pretty useful sometimes—like if you go to early morning services, you might get a free pass to go ice skating in a place like Chicago, for instance. And honestly, kids raised without religion shouldn't feel left out at all. No one is stopping them from joining in on those early services if they want to, or just paying for a ticket to hit the rink and skate. It’s not like anyone is banning them from having fun on the ice. I truly mean that.
Lawrence Torres56 said:First off, please don't take this the wrong way, but I am genuinely stumped here.😁
Why bother putting up a tree just for the atmosphere and the commercialism?... why go against your own gut and just follow the crowd like everyone else?
So, okay, you don't believe in God, and you don't want your kid knowing anything about religion one day... fine. But if that's the case, why push the tree and all that stuff tied to it if you aren't willing to commit to the bit? Why not just give them the chance to learn the basics of every faith so they can decide for themselves when they're older?🤷... I don't know, but personally, I feel like being aware of different religions today is actually an advantage, not a drawback. By learning about them, we see the common threads between people, and it means no one can ever sell us some nonsense story about a "bad" Catholic, or a bad Muslim... it'll just be about a bad person who's using faith as an excuse.
I'm Catholic myself, and I celebrate Christmas, but man, it drives me absolutely crazy when Christmas starts getting forced on us two months early by people who don't even care about the holiday. They don't understand the symbolism or the Catholic faith at all; they just want to push it harder and earlier every single year...
Um, what does decorating a tree actually have to do with Christianity, the Bible, or Jesus?
Alexander Ortiz3 said:In a school in Gunz, they actually teach both Catholic and Islamic studies. I have no idea what their school assemblies look like, though. Why don't you ask around and let me know when you hear something back?😉
What do you mean by "THEIR" school plays? It's all the same school, isn't it?
James Alvarez2 said:And you're telling me the Church isn't to blame? Like they aren't just playing blind to the fact that there's one elective stuck right in the middle of the daily schedule? How can the Church claim to promote values that would actually give ALL kids TWO HOURS back in their week, or let the kids who want religion class take it during a different shift?
Hold up, hold up. What about the other electives? Is it fair to the kids taking Computer Science? Or English? Or extra Math? Why wouldn't switching shifts work for the religion students? I get home at 1 PM, grab a snack, knock out some homework, chill for a bit, and then at 4 or 5 PM I head to religion class. I'll go with my buddy from down the street who's in the same boat. We'll walk, hang out, talk about homework... Where's the actual problem here? Meanwhile, our friend who isn't in religion might be in Computer Science then. Or English. Or soccer. Or just hanging at the park.
It's not one hour. It's two hours a week. Multiply that by the number of school weeks. If I'm not mistaken—that's 70 school hours. Someone's kid could have spent those 70 hours sleeping, staring at a wall, knitting, or fixing bike chains with all the neighbors on the block. That's not my business and yours. You chose what you wanted your kid to do for those 70 hours. Why shouldn't another parent have the right to choose for their kid?
You want to hear something even funnier? Kids—both the ones in class and the ones out of it—wouldn't give a damn if we called the subject Eating Ice Cream Until We Feel Sick or Playing Ball Until It Gets Dark, Even Though Half the Class Can't Even Spell the Letter R... which we don't teach because, well, obviously. But parents? They’d probably have a massive problem with that.
Look, personally? I wouldn't care. But I know my own faith inside and out, so nothing else feels like a threat to me. Actually, my teacher taught me that we all pray to the same God, just in different ways. That other faiths are just more stuff to discover, not some threat you gotta wipe out.
(Sorry mods for the double post, couldn't fit it all in one)
You didn't even seem offended by those parents wanting to strip religious studies and blessings from public schools.😁
I personally would never tell a child not to listen to someone just because of their faith, but I can't help wondering how those deeply offended Catholics would react if they saw a Muslim guard watching over their kids in school hallways and handing out discipline. 😁