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Originally Posted by idi banashapan
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It would be difficult to teach in the same way as RE because the positive belief in a deity implies certain responses in terms of morality, lifestyle and religiosity. Atheism does also result in lifestyle and ethical choices but because it lacks the coherent third part, the religious response, it’s harder to integrate into a study of comparative religion.
That said, high schools these days seem to go for RME (religious and moral education) which has a greater focus on the ethical and lifestyle implications of belief and less on the religiosity of individuals or communities, so atheism as a concept would be easier to integrate into the curriculum.
As a Christian, I don’t expect my kids to learn their faith in a classroom. I think RME is (or should be) an extension of the humanities. I’m now studying theology at university and completed an introductory module in Ethics last term. I found it tremendously valuable. It was challenging and rewarding, all the more so because it sought to deal with Ethics as something living and real and in current and constant use by everyone, at all times, irrespective of their religion. I think the debate around current live ethical issues such as genetic modification (including human genetic therapy), abortion time limits, euthanasia, drug use, the death penalty, war and a whole lot of other issues would be much more vibrant in our society if there was a greater focus on ethics and the different ethical systems that are used to develop frameworks in which decisions are taken.
---------- Post added at 19:43 ---------- Previous post was at 19:34 ----------
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Originally Posted by Sephiroth
I think the trick to teaching Atheism is to start with "who pushed the big bang button" and let it develop from there.
50% says God did it; 50% says it just happened - no God. You can then build on the "God did it" postulation leading to when God had finished setting the Universe on its path, including life on Earth, God died. Evidence? Who has seen God?
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The Bible doesn’t try to prove God exists, any more than a Haynes manual attempts to prove the existence of your car. Both books make certain assumptions and proceed from there.
If you get stuck on trying to agree or disagree over cosmology you’re not going to get very far and you’re certainly not ever going to understand why a religion like Christianity exists and what the consequences of its existence are for believers and the world.
Religious studies, remember, are there to study the religion and its consequences. If you want to contemplate God, then you want theology (which is the term used by Christians at any rate ... you can study the concept of God in an Islamic or Hindu context also, doubtless they have their own terms for that).