Possibly a contentious issue...
I have a lot of friends who have a belief system, a religion, so I am very sorry if this is a contentious issue.
I wrote this in response to one of my F-listers, and it is what I believe:
I have a firm belief that religion should be taught at schools.
Not just one religion, but all of them. So first term year one, get a Christian in. Second term get a Buddhist monk, third term a Hindi. All the way through primary school and high school, all the religions they can find from Hari Krishna, to Baha'ii, to Judaism - one hour every week for a term.
Each term, children should be exposed to "this is what our religion is about, and why we believe in it", rather than, "THIS IS THE RELIGION YOU MUST FOLLOW, ALL OTHERS ARE HEATHENS!!!"
The only way forward to tolerance, love, and acceptance is understanding. Understanding that most religions are about preventing anarchy and chaos by providing some sort of moral code, and a belief that that moral code will be rewarded.
There are extremists in most religions, but because of the moral code in certain religions they can never actually become fanatics or terrorists (Buddhism, for example, does not use religion to justify any violent acts done by Buddhists, and does encourage the less violent options, but does not prevent feudal violence, because even though they a Buddhist they are fighting for non-religious reasons).
My personal belief is that there a higher power, whether it is God, gods, or a universal consciousness of all gone before, who knows, but everyone should be taught that any belief, including agnostic, and atheism, is acceptable and that shoving religion to the forefront is not going to make people believe. However, understanding of the underlying principles of each religion means that hopefully people will learn that all religions at their base are pretty similar.
I believe in treating others how I would like to be treated myself. If we all did this, I think the world would be a better place. Live and let live...
One day I will write an update about Perth and things... but hey, I posted something tonight at least!!!
I wrote this in response to one of my F-listers, and it is what I believe:
I have a firm belief that religion should be taught at schools.
Not just one religion, but all of them. So first term year one, get a Christian in. Second term get a Buddhist monk, third term a Hindi. All the way through primary school and high school, all the religions they can find from Hari Krishna, to Baha'ii, to Judaism - one hour every week for a term.
Each term, children should be exposed to "this is what our religion is about, and why we believe in it", rather than, "THIS IS THE RELIGION YOU MUST FOLLOW, ALL OTHERS ARE HEATHENS!!!"
The only way forward to tolerance, love, and acceptance is understanding. Understanding that most religions are about preventing anarchy and chaos by providing some sort of moral code, and a belief that that moral code will be rewarded.
There are extremists in most religions, but because of the moral code in certain religions they can never actually become fanatics or terrorists (Buddhism, for example, does not use religion to justify any violent acts done by Buddhists, and does encourage the less violent options, but does not prevent feudal violence, because even though they a Buddhist they are fighting for non-religious reasons).
My personal belief is that there a higher power, whether it is God, gods, or a universal consciousness of all gone before, who knows, but everyone should be taught that any belief, including agnostic, and atheism, is acceptable and that shoving religion to the forefront is not going to make people believe. However, understanding of the underlying principles of each religion means that hopefully people will learn that all religions at their base are pretty similar.
I believe in treating others how I would like to be treated myself. If we all did this, I think the world would be a better place. Live and let live...
One day I will write an update about Perth and things... but hey, I posted something tonight at least!!!