Religion in school

I’m a proponent of religion as a class subject in school. I think in a day and age when we fight and die for religion (and freedom), we cannot afford to be ignorant.

I have no idea how many people are religion/church-affiliated in this country. I wouldn’t even want to hazard a guess. I’m not Christian myself. I am, in fact, very uncomfortable when it comes to church-run educational institutions, but that doesn’t mean we can’t teach our kids.

I grew up in a country that separates church and state, but I still had to go to religion class. In middle-school, it was a subject much like geography or biology. We learned about the five major religions and a few lesser known ones. We had guest speakers from whatever religion we discussed at the time, and at the end of the year, we knew what made each religion tick. No one was converted. No one was brainwashed. No religion was badmouthed. No religion was hailed above all others.

I honestly think we’re doing our kids a disservice by not teaching them what the rest of the world believes in and fights for. Or in the words of Martin Luther King, Jr.:

"Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity."