Gawd no...separation of church and state.

I certainly would not want my child being taught about religion in the public schools, except as a brief survey of what's out there in the world. I'd worry whether it was being taught with an equal emphasis on a variety of religions without any attempt to indoctrinate. Young children, especially, often take their teachers' opinions as fact and that's just too risky if you get the wrong teacher.

Religion is brain washing & should not be permitted in schools. That is a terrible thing to do to a young mind. In your own home & family, it is none of my business.

Yes. After the age of 12. It should be classes about all of the religions of the world from the ancient past forward. It should talk about all the religious books, all the teachings, all the virgin birth stories, and it should cover non religion too, it's history.

No - absolutely not. You don not teach all the mental disorders to kids so why religion?
Most secular countries, there is no religion taught in school. Parents are free to teach the children whatever they want out of school. If you teach it in school, you can upset parents and have to deal with how you said something or why you are putting Christians in the same level as Rastafarians.

Only religious schools per se. Belief systems of all kinds might be gone over in discussions of philosophy; but never as science. Mythos has naught to do w/ testable, falsifiable hypotheses.

academically, sure. Theologically - not in America.

Never should any religious teaching, except possibly a comparison of the worlds religions with a scientific point of view, but only in college. Actually, religious comparison leaves open the opportunity to push one over another, so, maybe not.

I agree. Since religion(s) have been a big part of human development, they should be taught in school, but not practiced in school. A thorough, complete overview of theology should be taught, including all the views expressed on this website and many others. It should include that many people consider themselves agnostic or even atheist because they don't like what religion does to people (besides it being a fairy tale). Religion, for the most part, uses fear to attempt to drive people to love. Now, if that is not insanity, I guess I don't know what insanity is. That needs to be taught. It needs to be taught that for a lot of people, the concept of "god" is like that of the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, or even Santa Claus. After a thorough review of the history of theology and world religions, then anyone is free to adopt whatever belief system they choose. Yes, RonnieD, "Teach them many religions and you inoculate them." Very well said. Thank you, Unknown.

i believe religion shouldnt be taught at school. if people were more open minded then maybe however i think to many people just go along with whatever is taught to them at home and this would bring drama between parents and the school. i say leave religion out of schools .

I love that quote RonnieD! Teach them mythology and within that context teach them many religions.

Why are churches tax free? So that members can worship there in peace and security. Church is where religion belongs. Not in politics, education or economic institutions. Religious fervor will be the end of Democracy if it is not kept in it's place.

Only in a Historical context.

As a cultural value yes, but not as a personal belief system. Why is the middle east in such termoil? Politics and religion both play a role, separately and symbolically. A knowledge of the several religions involved can greatly aid our understanding of the issues. Eastern cultures also differ from our own western aculturation. Religion is also central to those differences. What religions to learn depends upon the area under study. Even agnosticism has a religious context. After all, what canon of beliefs are you rejecting?

NO. Definitely not. Brainwashing is a no no.

It depends on the school. I attended a catholic high school for 1 year and it sent me on my journey to becoming an atheist. Personally I think that all religions should be taught in school but not until the students are old enough (as well as mature enough) to understand and ask questions.

No. They are useless. Instead the class can be "Tolerance", "Logic", or "Not being an ass"

I have no problem with teaching religion as a psychological underpinning of our general sociological values. As long as these values are constructively evaluated and not excepted without question. I also like the idea of gaining greater understanding, correlation and potential interrelationships a social gain. I say all this without any belief in the religious aspects, more in the way that social rules have developed over the millennia. If these constructs were adapted without all the fiction there could be advantages. In short, if they could take the religion out and keep the good bits I would be for it

If you do that, then you got to teach as many as you can. The fact of the matter is religion had a very important part in shaping our world as we know it. For good or bad. So the topic itself deserves discussion in historical contexts.

Should we teach kids to be religious? That's an entirely different matter, and I would say no.

No.

Only if you have a selection of classes in order for students to pick from which they can choose for all religions. Simply applying a religion course in any school would create an uproar from many parents and main stream religions crying foul. Which I believe is already an occasional issue brought up in the MSM often tossed out to create chaos a few times a year.

Yes, as a part of history, sociology, psychology, etc.

Absolutely. RELIGIONS, plural, that is. It is so important in adding to our understanding of one another.

I personally feel that religion should be taught at home not in schools. I was raised catholic in catholic and the only thing I got out of it was guilt! Glad that my son and daughter in law have chosen not to brainwash my thing babies. I hate the idea that kids grow up feeling like they are being watched and judged constantly! I want them to learn to make decisions on their own, to be fearless and not just go along with the lemmings!

Neeeeeeeever