Religion classes in school - Megathread

brightheron64 said:I ran into them today and we ended up talking about this all over again.

Since the teacher had another outburst, this time targeting homosexuality, the mother finally hit her breaking point; she went straight to the principal's office and demanded that her son be withdrawn from the religion classes immediately.

When the principal told her it wasn't possible to make changes like that in the middle of the semester, she threatened to call the Child Advocate, which caught the principal totally off guard and left him promising he'd figure out some kind of workaround.

I am honestly so curious to see how this whole thing plays out... 🍿

Either we're looking at uneducated parents who are clearly disinterested—sending their kids to religious studies with a community whose values they don't even share—or the instructor is teaching material that deviates from the actual curriculum set by the church. If it's the latter, then the Vatican needs to get involved.

brightheron64 said:I ran into them today and we ended up talking about this all over again.

Since the teacher had another outburst, this time targeting homosexuality, the mother finally hit her breaking point; she went straight to the principal's office and demanded that her son be withdrawn from the religion classes immediately.

When the principal told her it wasn't possible to make changes like that in the middle of the semester, she threatened to call the Child Advocate, which caught the principal totally off guard and left him promising he'd figure out some kind of workaround.

I am honestly so curious to see how this whole thing plays out... 🍿

Honestly, this is just hitting rock bottom. Can you believe it? She actually "threatened" the principal. 🙂 That’s just how things work in our wonderful country, apparently! It is exactly the kind of "value" parents should be instilling in their little ones. If something doesn't align perfectly with your personal preferences? No problem, just resort to intimidation... It doesn't matter what the school board regulations state about withdrawing from elective courses via a formal request before the start of the academic year... It doesn't matter that it would create absolute chaos if every student could just jump in and out of electives whenever they felt like it mid-semester... It doesn't matter how much it would wreck the teachers' schedules or the entire school's organization... None of that matters! All that counts is that she intimidated the principal! And instead of being mortified by her own behavior, she seems to be flaunting it openly! 😲 I truly don't know anymore. The moral compass of the world has clearly spun completely off its axis. A child raised under those circumstances really has no business sitting in a religious education class... 🤦

Nancy Kelly31 said:Honestly, this is just hitting rock bottom. Can you believe it? She actually "threatened" the principal. 🙂 That’s just how things work in our wonderful country, apparently! It is exactly the kind of "value" parents should be instilling in their little ones. If something doesn't align perfectly with your personal preferences? No problem, just resort to intimidation... It doesn't matter what the school board regulations state about withdrawing from elective courses via a formal request before the start of the academic year... It doesn't matter that it would create absolute chaos if every student could just jump in and out of electives whenever they felt like it mid-semester... It doesn't matter how much it would wreck the teachers' schedules or the entire school's organization... None of that matters! All that counts is that she intimidated the principal! And instead of being mortified by her own behavior, she seems to be flaunting it openly! 😲 I truly don't know anymore. The moral compass of the world has clearly spun completely off its axis. A child raised under those circumstances really has no business sitting in a religious education class... 🤦

Yeah, because it's always better to just follow the herd like a sheep. 😵
Really though, what is a fourteen-year-old supposed to get out of a religious education class when, during a "sermon" regarding the sins of homosexuality, they ask a perfectly logical question like, "well, what about someone who was a victim of homosexual assault?" Only to be told that the victim is also a sinner who needs to seek forgiveness...

So now I'm left wondering.... what is a normal kid actually looking for in a religion class, regardless of whether they are a believer or not????

So, I suppose following the law just means being a mindless sheep. How wonderful. 👍 It sounds like a lovely little world you all inhabit. But religious education is where things get complicated, isn't it? Yes, indeed...

Nancy Kelly31 said:Honestly, this is just hitting rock bottom. Can you believe it? She actually "threatened" the principal. 🙂 That’s just how things work in our wonderful country, apparently! It is exactly the kind of "value" parents should be instilling in their little ones. If something doesn't align perfectly with your personal preferences? No problem, just resort to intimidation... It doesn't matter what the school board regulations state about withdrawing from elective courses via a formal request before the start of the academic year... It doesn't matter that it would create absolute chaos if every student could just jump in and out of electives whenever they felt like it mid-semester... It doesn't matter how much it would wreck the teachers' schedules or the entire school's organization... None of that matters! All that counts is that she intimidated the principal! And instead of being mortified by her own behavior, she seems to be flaunting it openly! 😲 I truly don't know anymore. The moral compass of the world has clearly spun completely off its axis. A child raised under those circumstances really has no business sitting in a religious education class... 🤦

It’s funny how you conveniently overlook the teacher’s own condemnations of homosexuality and IVF—things that have absolutely nothing to do with her job description, much less her authority to judge.

What else would it take for people to actually wake up and feel concerned?

I don't have kids yet, but I definitely want them one day. 😁

My nephew just came home from preschool talking about all their holiday stuff, and now I’m sitting here wondering... honestly, I need some input.
With the holiday season kicking off, how should I even handle this?
Look, at my place, we’ll put up a tree and all that, but let’s be real—it’s mostly just for the vibes and because everything is so commercialized. We actually have two different faiths represented in our household, and I have zero intention of forcing any specific religion on my future kid.
I'm not planning on preaching about God, Jesus, or anything like that.
My nephew came home singing "Joy to the World," and it got me thinking... I get that he's just a kid and Christianity is a huge part of American culture, but I really don't want my child being taught songs about when Jesus was born, or about Muhammad either.

When it comes to school, I can choose religious education or not, and I’m definitely opting out of the religious classes. But what do I do about all this other stuff?

Just move to Canada

slybison88 said:I don't have kids yet, but I definitely want them one day. 😁

My nephew just came home from preschool talking about all their holiday stuff, and now I’m sitting here wondering... honestly, I need some input.
With the holiday season kicking off, how should I even handle this?
Look, at my place, we’ll put up a tree and all that, but let’s be real—it’s mostly just for the vibes and because everything is so commercialized. We actually have two different faiths represented in our household, and I have zero intention of forcing any specific religion on my future kid.
I'm not planning on preaching about God, Jesus, or anything like that.
My nephew came home singing "Joy to the World," and it got me thinking... I get that he's just a kid and Christianity is a huge part of American culture, but I really don't want my child being taught songs about when Jesus was born, or about Muhammad either.

When it comes to school, I can choose religious education or not, and I’m definitely opting out of the religious classes. But what do I do about all this other stuff?

This doesn't bother me at all. It's just basic folklore at this point. It would only be an issue if the teachers were actually trying to teach the kids to say grace before meals.

LOL... haha...🤦

I already said I don't want to learn anything about Muhammad. Maybe if I said "about Allah" it would actually make sense to you.

Chloe Roberts2..yeah. maybe I am being a little too dramatic about 😁

I figured preschools in big cities were basically totally secular... you know, atheist style.
If Santa Claus is gonna be an issue for you, though, I don't even know what country you'd actually want to live in.

Kudos to the atheists if they actually pull off forcing their worldview on everyone else and blocking 85% of kids from taking religion classes. Honestly, learning about Moses and having actual conversations about love and friendship is way more important in school than just mindlessly memorizing facts without understanding a thing, which is how most other subjects go anyway.

Jacob Lewis5 said:Kudos to the atheists if they actually pull off forcing their worldview on everyone else and blocking 85% of kids from taking religion classes. Honestly, learning about Moses and having actual conversations about love and friendship is way more important in school than just mindlessly memorizing facts without understanding a thing, which is how most other subjects go anyway.

Nobody is trying to stop them. They can listen to him at church just like they did back in the '90s.

silentcanyon12 said:I figured preschools in big cities were basically totally secular... you know, atheist style.
If Santa Claus is gonna be an issue for you, though, I don't even know what country you'd actually want to live in.

I honestly don't mind Santa Claus at all! 😁 I mean, let's be real—that's not even a religious thing! 😬

Jacob Lewis5 said:Kudos to the atheists if they actually pull off forcing their worldview on everyone else and blocking 85% of kids from taking religion classes. Honestly, learning about Moses and having actual conversations about love and friendship is way more important in school than just mindlessly memorizing facts without understanding a thing, which is how most other subjects go anyway.

I honestly don't get it—what on earth does talking about love have to do with Moses?
Honestly, you don't even need Moses to have a deep conversation about friendship and love!
You could even draw parallels from classic friendships, like Mickey and Minnie, or Winnie the Pooh and his buddy Eeyore... things like that!

Robert Rodriguez9 said:Nobody is trying to stop them. They can listen to him at church just like they did back in the '90s.

Look, diversity is actually a good thing. We just need to learn how to coexist with it. You aren't going to "win" against diversity by trying to sterilize public or government spaces. If we start purging our own Christian identity from the public square, then we might as well just kick every other kind of difference out too. Right?

slybison88 said:I don't have kids yet, but I definitely want them one day. 😁

My nephew just came home from preschool talking about all their holiday stuff, and now I’m sitting here wondering... honestly, I need some input.
With the holiday season kicking off, how should I even handle this?
Look, at my place, we’ll put up a tree and all that, but let’s be real—it’s mostly just for the vibes and because everything is so commercialized. We actually have two different faiths represented in our household, and I have zero intention of forcing any specific religion on my future kid.
I'm not planning on preaching about God, Jesus, or anything like that.
My nephew came home singing "Joy to the World," and it got me thinking... I get that he's just a kid and Christianity is a huge part of American culture, but I really don't want my child being taught songs about when Jesus was born, or about Muhammad either.

When it comes to school, I can choose religious education or not, and I’m definitely opting out of the religious classes. But what do I do about all this other stuff?

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...

slybison88 said:I honestly don't mind Santa Claus at all! 😁 I mean, let's be real—that's not even a religious thing! 😬

I honestly don't get it—what on earth does talking about love have to do with Moses?
Honestly, you don't even need Moses to have a deep conversation about friendship and love!
You could even draw parallels from classic friendships, like Mickey and Minnie, or Winnie the Pooh and his buddy Eeyore... things like that!

Look, the link is the Bible; that's where love and Moses meet. Some folks find their answers in the Old Testament, others in the New—basically sticking to the core ideology of Christianity—but it all traces back to the Bible and religious studies. It's tough to find things like love and friendship in our public school system, even though they really should be at the heart of everything we teach. Parents ought to be the ones teaching their kids about spiritual values through faith, rather than relying on scripts from Walt Disney.

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...

I grew up in the Catholic faith and I know it well, but I have no intention of teaching my child those things. I took religious ed and I've had all the sacraments, which is exactly why I don't want my kid believing in that stuff.

And I'm definitely not forcing Christmas two months early; I don't even have decorations up right now.
I might put up a tree just for the atmosphere. If I want it for the vibes, then that's that! I've got nothing against snowmen, ornaments, reindeer, or Santa Claus... I don't want to live in a bubble.
But I'm not teaching my kid about the Virgin Mary or Jesus.

If they want to choose for themselves one day, let them.

slybison88 said:I grew up in the Catholic faith and I know it well, but I have no intention of teaching my child those things. I took religious ed and I've had all the sacraments, which is exactly why I don't want my kid believing in that stuff.

And I'm definitely not forcing Christmas two months early; I don't even have decorations up right now.
I might put up a tree just for the atmosphere. If I want it for the vibes, then that's that! I've got nothing against snowmen, ornaments, reindeer, or Santa Claus... I don't want to live in a bubble.
But I'm not teaching my kid about the Virgin Mary or Jesus.

If they want to choose for themselves one day, let them.

As an American, I should probably be offended since you're calling something I hold dear "nonsense." But hey, at least you're being honest. Personally, I think atheism is just as nonsensical as Christianity—honestly, it takes more faith to be an atheist—but I bite my tongue because of political correctness. Anyway, that's not really the point. I'm responding because I wanted to call out your reasoning for ditching religious education—you're basing it on it being "stupid"! That's weak. Seriously, come on, can you find a better argument than that?

I’ve actually been avoiding your posts lately because I can see how hardcore you are about Christianity, and honestly, I wasn't asking for religious advice, nor am I really interested in that perspective.

But look, I’ve got an argument.
Do you seriously believe the Holy Spirit impregnated the Virgin Mary? Like, you think that’s actually possible?
And that Moses split the ocean right in half... c'mon now.
I'm just not buying it.

edit: And before anyone starts, I’m not looking to get into a whole debate about whether I’m a believer or not. I’ve already made up my mind on that.

My point was strictly about those Christian songs they play in preschools and elementary schools.