Comment by Lewal on October 6, 2011 at 8:55am

Gonna be devil's advocate for a second here but what if we taught world religion right from the start? Expose them to ALL religions equally. The idea of course is that they could then choose for themselves rather than being brainwashed into a particular belief system but I was a religious studies major and I can tell you with a great degree of certainty that after such an education these children would likely view the whole idea as tomfoolery. There's a certain "moving on" feeling, a certain peace that comes with it. And that's kind of the point isn't it?

Comment by Arcus on October 6, 2011 at 9:28am

"what if we taught world religion right from the start?"

In my country this was done, though with an emphasis on Lutheranism. Today around 20% of 14 year olds actively choose humanist confirmation over christian, and only around 1/3 of the population believe in God. Far from perfect, but haeding in the right direction..

I think you are absolutely right, the study of religion(s) should be a school subject since it is, unfortunately, an extremely important factor in modern society.  

Comment by Artor on October 6, 2011 at 11:16am

I think that a thorough education in comparative religion would quickly lead to the decline of religion in general. Once you know about more than one, you start to see that their "unique" claims and miracles are the same stories, recycled over & over. It's what happened with me. I distilled the worthwhile bits and left the rest at the curb.

Comment by Looptheloop on October 6, 2011 at 1:24pm

Many are indoctrinated into religion as children.  I would imagine that it's hard to have an objective view on the matter later in life once you've experienced a biased upbringing, not impossible but hard.

Comment by Nathaniel Summers on October 6, 2011 at 3:40pm

Comparative religion is a great thing for everyone to learn. The biggest influence it would have is in helping people understand people of other faiths. They might even learn about Atheism as well. In order to pass the class, they would have to know certain things about the various religious beliefs. This helps to break down barriers and diminishes the likelihood of an individual characterizing someone of a different faith as a true Other.

It will also force them to learn about their own faith outside of the sugar coated pulpits. You would be surprised to find, for instance, just how many protestants do not know the protestant stance on salvation... that is, they don't know how to get to heaven. No joke.

I fully support comparative religion, philosophy and critical thinking being taught as early as 8-13 years old.

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