Religion classes in school - Megathread

neontrucker41 said:In our class, there were only two of them at the start, but now it's just mine, though the other kid signed up later—probably just following the herd.
It doesn't bother me at all unless it starts affecting my child, and honestly, she loves having those two hours free while everyone else is stuck in class. It probably would have been a massive headache if those hours weren't scheduled first thing in the morning, but since she gets to head to school a bit later, it's actually perfect for her.
I suspect their teacher plays a huge role in preventing any kind of discrimination here, especially since she’s personally against having religion classes in schools anyway.
As long as nobody is messing with me or causing problems for us, I'm fine with it. I honestly don't know how I'd react if this became an actual issue, because at the end of the day, it's my kid who has to deal with the fallout, and that's likely why this indoctrination sticks so well—parents are too afraid to put their children on the front lines. So, step by step, that's just how we ended up here.

Having a teacher like that is such a blessing..
When people move to Germany, they have to declare whether they are religious or not. And obviously, you pay the tax if you identify as a believer. Of course, in that moment, most people—if not all—claim they aren't religious just to avoid that extra tax, whereas back in America, everyone acts like a devout believer and sends their kids to religious classes just because "that's what everyone does."
We really need to blame the government here for not knowing how to say "no" to the church and instead standing up for being a secular nation.
Crosses are everywhere—hanging over hospital beds, in daycare centers, in schools, workplaces... it's spreading through society like a disease.

steelmarlin93 said:Having a teacher like that is such a blessing..
When people move to Germany, they have to declare whether they are religious or not. And obviously, you pay the tax if you identify as a believer. Of course, in that moment, most people—if not all—claim they aren't religious just to avoid that extra tax, whereas back in America, everyone acts like a devout believer and sends their kids to religious classes just because "that's what everyone does."
We really need to blame the government here for not knowing how to say "no" to the church and instead standing up for being a secular nation.
Crosses are everywhere—hanging over hospital beds, in daycare centers, in schools, workplaces... it's spreading through society like a disease.

The presence of crosses isn't the issue, nor are they spreading any kind of sickness; at the end of the day, they are simply religious symbols.

To give you some context regarding my little one’s school experience—since he was a first grader this year—the setup was as follows: religious education classes were held for two hours a week during school hours, plus an additional two hours every other week at the local parish led by a nun, on top of attending Sunday Mass.
The parents expressed their frustrations over those extra two hours at the church. They argued that kids are already spread incredibly thin with schoolwork and various extracurricular activities after the bell rings.

The priest’s response was quite firm: he maintained that once we make the decision for our children to receive their First Communion, there is a certain level of sacrifice required to truly learn the faith. He insisted that classroom instruction alone isn't sufficient to grasp the depth of religion, which is why these supplemental church sessions were implemented alongside the school curriculum.

There are actually two students in my son's class who attend the religious education offered at school but opted out of the church-based sessions. As a result, they weren't permitted to participate in the First Communion ceremony.
Meanwhile, the entire class remains enrolled in the school-based religious studies.

So, I guess nobody would have an issue with using an inverted cross or an inverted pentagram, right?

rowdypanther12 said:So, I guess nobody would have an issue with using an inverted cross or an inverted pentagram, right?

It really depends on your perspective.😁

I suspect that would be considered a bit too radical, though.

Mark Cruz402 said:To give you some context regarding my little one’s school experience—since he was a first grader this year—the setup was as follows: religious education classes were held for two hours a week during school hours, plus an additional two hours every other week at the local parish led by a nun, on top of attending Sunday Mass.
The parents expressed their frustrations over those extra two hours at the church. They argued that kids are already spread incredibly thin with schoolwork and various extracurricular activities after the bell rings.

The priest’s response was quite firm: he maintained that once we make the decision for our children to receive their First Communion, there is a certain level of sacrifice required to truly learn the faith. He insisted that classroom instruction alone isn't sufficient to grasp the depth of religion, which is why these supplemental church sessions were implemented alongside the school curriculum.

There are actually two students in my son's class who attend the religious education offered at school but opted out of the church-based sessions. As a result, they weren't permitted to participate in the First Communion ceremony.
Meanwhile, the entire class remains enrolled in the school-based religious studies.

Well, I suppose eternal life and bliss are things you have to earn somehow, right? You really have to accept the rules of the game once you decide to play it...
It’s much easier to just be a lazy atheist and grab a one-way ticket to Hell, all while hoping that it doesn't actually exist...

So, is there some kind of Hell that atheists actually believe in? 😂

brightheron64 said:Well, I suppose eternal life and bliss are things you have to earn somehow, right? You really have to accept the rules of the game once you decide to play it...
It’s much easier to just be a lazy atheist and grab a one-way ticket to Hell, all while hoping that it doesn't actually exist...

True... First Communion and Confirmation are essentially just expensive days centered around exchanging gifts.😉

brightheron64 said:Well, I suppose eternal life and bliss are things you have to earn somehow, right? You really have to accept the rules of the game once you decide to play it...
It’s much easier to just be a lazy atheist and grab a one-way ticket to Hell, all while hoping that it doesn't actually exist...

Good grief. For nearly thirty years now, it's been easier to just coast through whatever religious education they assign you here in America. Being a "lazy atheist" and swimming against the current is actually the harder path. 😬

Kate Harris3 said:Good grief. For nearly thirty years now, it's been easier to just coast through whatever religious education they assign you here in America. Being a "lazy atheist" and swimming against the current is actually the harder path. 😬

Exactly. It’s because we are still unfortunately living in a society that believes beauty lies in uniformity, rather than diversity. There is this pervasive idea that anything different should be rejected or feared instead of embraced.

rowdypanther12 said:So, is there some kind of Hell that atheists actually believe in? 😂

We're living through it every single day.

Exactly.

rowdypanther12 said:So, is there some kind of Hell that atheists actually believe in? 😂

To be perfectly honest, I’d almost be happy if Hell truly existed... I might find things a little uncomfortable myself given my own views and stances 😁, but the mere thought of a massive crowd of "devout believers"—you know, the typical American political, business, and religious elite—simmering in pitch is a level of justice worth enduring...

Kate Harris3 said:Good grief. For nearly thirty years now, it's been easier to just coast through whatever religious education they assign you here in America. Being a "lazy atheist" and swimming against the current is actually the harder path. 😬

Don't even get me started on that... Just look at those three who weren't even baptized... 😁

brightheron64 said:To be perfectly honest, I’d almost be happy if Hell truly existed... I might find things a little uncomfortable myself given my own views and stances 😁, but the mere thought of a massive crowd of "devout believers"—you know, the typical American political, business, and religious elite—simmering in pitch is a level of justice worth enduring...

Don't even get me started on that... Just look at those three who weren't even baptized... 😁

Honestly, you guys are reaching total extremes here. Even a casual believer would still go through with the baptism for their kids...

Tyler Ruiz502 said:Honestly, you guys are reaching total extremes here. Even a casual believer would still go through with the baptism for their kids...

It’s basically just a "just in case" thing.
I’m siding with the extremists on this one—zero baptisms for us.

Tyler Ruiz502 said:Honestly, you guys are reaching total extremes here. Even a casual believer would still go through with the baptism for their kids...

In my household (as of right now), it’s a clean sweep—5 to 0 in favor of atheism. 😁

School hasn't been much of an issue, though we did have a bit of wandering through the hallways in those early years, but everything eventually smoothed out, especially since the religious education classes seemed to lose steam more and more with every passing school year...

Richard Perez3 said:It’s basically just a "just in case" thing.
I’m siding with the extremists on this one—zero baptisms for us.

And even today, my daughter-in-law is constantly breathing down my neck about it (even though her own daughter has explicitly declared herself an atheist). She tries here and there, attempting to plant seeds of doubt with little anecdotes or trying to nudge them toward "re-evaluating their stances," but those naughty little atheists just 🙄 and 😵

We've actually had some pretty heated arguments over the kids' births, including actual "threats" along the lines of, "I'll just sneak them into a church and get them baptized behind your backs!"... And all we can do is just 🤣🤣🤣

Interesting topic. You've got 90% of students enrolling in religious studies, yet here we are, where the concentration of non-believers is at least 70%.

nimblelynx7 said:Interesting topic. You've got 90% of students enrolling in religious studies, yet here we are, where the concentration of non-believers is at least 70%.

And what exactly makes that interesting?

Honestly, I think discussions about religious education in schools should really be reserved for those who actually have issues with it—whether they're struggling with how it's organized or just have some ideological concerns.

brightheron64 said:In my household (as of right now), it’s a clean sweep—5 to 0 in favor of atheism. 😁

School hasn't been much of an issue, though we did have a bit of wandering through the hallways in those early years, but everything eventually smoothed out, especially since the religious education classes seemed to lose steam more and more with every passing school year...

And even today, my daughter-in-law is constantly breathing down my neck about it (even though her own daughter has explicitly declared herself an atheist). She tries here and there, attempting to plant seeds of doubt with little anecdotes or trying to nudge them toward "re-evaluating their stances," but those naughty little atheists just 🙄 and 😵

We've actually had some pretty heated arguments over the kids' births, including actual "threats" along the lines of, "I'll just sneak them into a church and get them baptized behind your backs!"... And all we can do is just 🤣🤣🤣

Grandma and Grandpa are always the biggest headache when it comes to this stuff. They exert the most pressure, and I don't mean the older generation (the 55-60 crowd). Once you hit that age, the drive to push back tends to fade.