Perhaps I can offer another perspective?
I think we can all agree that Ireland is about as religious as a country can get, considering our very long history of Catholicism. So what is the Irish experience of education regarding religion?
Ok, in primary schools to start with, religion classes went through the generic fluffy stuff in the Bible, hymns, ceremonies, whatever. The vast marjority of the students are Catholic anyway, so we'd get this at Mass on Sunday too. This is based on the permission of the parents; Church of Ireland families usually send in a request that their kids not participate. In my primary school, this meant that they'd go read a book from the little school library (full of really good titles, I remember reading Matilda and George's Marvellous Medicine).
In secondary school, things get a little more serious. Religion classes (maybe twice a week I think) are where you discuss current issues like divorce or abortion; other religions of every kind like Islam and Buddhism; and, most importantly, it was a chance for students to take a break and talk about how they were doing in school, maybe blow off some steam. In my final year of secondary school, we were taken on a religious retreat - which was nominally religious, but really was to give us a break from studying for our final exams and give us a chance to all be together as a class before we'd go off to different colleges or abroad.
Religion in Irish secondary schools is all about supporting the students rather than teaching. I came out of it knowing, if you'll excuse the phrase, bugger-all about Scripture, and I can safely say that I got one of the best educations it's possible to recieve in the western world. I studied the history, warts and all, in history class. I've gone on to do a degree and more.
So implying that one has to learn excessively about any religion, regardless of its cultural impact, in order to recieve a good education and be successful is simply not true. As we can see, Ireland has a remarkable standard of education and does not do this. I would call it indoctrination, and I would be very suspicious of anyone who suggests this.
The Rock Hound
"Those who fear the darkness have never seen what the light can do."
™ Version 4.2
