Should Sacred Studies be part of a general public school curricula

yeah I used to dread teaching R.E. - the kids were bored to tears and so was I.

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If this is a good idea how could it be implemented?

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Just to make clear what I'm suggestiong, I'll try to do a short summary.

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* a multi-year, multi-semester course.
* beginning about midway through Primary education and continuing until graduation.
* integrated with other disciplines, for example

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o in history religious components of different cultures would be included.
o in mathematics, the contributions of the Greek and Islamic world would be included.
o in current events the influence and effects of religious viewpoints would be included.

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* it would cover many different religions.
* philosophy, including naturalistic ones would be covered.
* testing would be done based on objective as opposed to subjective criteria.

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questions would not be on what you believe but rather

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o "What did Mencius say about ..."
o what is the "Eight fold Path?
o who drove the Jews out of Spain?
o who offered those Jews sanctuary and provided transportation for them?

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What you suggest is very similar to our Religous education class that all school children take (for about between one and two hours a week) in England and Wales. Students are also able to take it as a G.C.S.E (our leavers exam system) option.If you want to have a go at some of the questions that you may find on a GCSE R.E. exam (if memory serves me):http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/re/god/index.shtmlThis second link is to one of the main examination boards and you can download a sample exam paper and the like:Edexcel | About Edexcel | Pearson qualifications

Just so people know what we are on about - those are the questions from the paper (Edexcel | About Edexcel | Pearson qualifications) on the christian religion (there is also one concentrating on the Catholic beliefs.EITHER QUESTION 1

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(a) What is meant by religious conversion? (2)

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(b) Outline the reasons a person might give for being an atheist. (6)

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(c) Explain how religious experience may support a Christian’s
belief in God. (8)

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(d) Children should be allowed to make up their own minds about
whether to believe in God.

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Do you agree? Give reasons for your opinion, showing that
you have considered another point of view. In your answer
you should refer to Christianity. (4)

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or question 2

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(a) What does the word agnostic mean? (2)

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(b) Outline ONE response of Christianity to the problem of evil. (6)

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(c) Explain how the appearance of design and order in the world may lead to or support a Christian’s belief in God. (8)

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(d) Miracles don’t happen today.

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Do you agree? Give reasons for your opinion, showing that
you have considered another point of view. In your answer
you should refer to Christianity. (4)

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EITHER QUESTION 3

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(a) What is meant by the word immortality? (2)

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(b) Outline Christian attitudes to euthanasia. (6)

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(c) Explain why Christians believe in life after death. (8)

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(d) Near death experiences do not show there is life after death.

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Do you agree? Give reasons for your opinion, showing that
you have considered another point of view. In your answer
you should refer to Christianity. (4)

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OR QUESTION 4

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(a) What is contraception? (2)

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(b) Some people do not believe in life after death. Outline their
reasons. (6)

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(c) Explain why Christians believe that life is sacred. (8)

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(d) People who are suffering should be allowed to take their own lives.

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Do you agree? Give reasons for your opinion, showing that
you have considered another point of view. In your answer
you should refer to Christianity. (4)

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EITHER QUESTION 5

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(a) What is an extended family? (2)

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(b) State Christian teaching about sex outside marriage. (6)

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(c) Explain why Christians believe that family life is important. (8)

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(d) Living together is better than getting married.

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Do you agree? Give reasons for your opinion, showing that
you have considered another point of view. In your answer
you should refer to Christianity. (4)

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OR QUESTION 6

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(a) What is meant by cohabitation? (2)

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(b) Outline Christian attitudes to divorce. (6)

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(c) Explain how a Christian wedding ceremony may help a
marriage to succeed. (8)

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(d) Without religion family life would collapse.

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Do you agree? Give reasons for your opinion, showing that
you have considered another point of view. In your answer
you should refer to Christianity. (4)

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EITHER QUESTION 7

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(a) What does the word discrimination mean? (2)

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(b) Describe the advantages of living in a multi-faith society. (6)

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(c) Explain how biblical teaching affects Christian attitudes to the
roles of men and women. (8)

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(d) It is wrong to try to convert other people to your religion.
Do you agree? Give reasons for your opinion, showing that
you have considered another point of view. In your answer
you should refer to Christianity. (4)

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OR QUESTION 8

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(a) Name TWO religions other than Christianity practised in the UK.(2)

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(b) Outline the contribution of ONE modern Christian person or
organisation to racial harmony (6)

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(c) Explain why there are differences among Christians in their
attitudes towards other religions. (8)

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(d) Christians always treat men and women equally.

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Do you agree? Give reasons for your opinion, showing that
you have considered another point of view. In your answer
you should refer to Christianity. (4)

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You must answer ONE question from this section
You are advised to spend approximately 30 minutes on this section
You will be assessed on the Quality of Written Communication in this Section.

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EITHER QUESTION 9

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Religion and Media

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(a) (i) Describe a religious theme of importance to Christians
presented in ONE film or television drama. (4)
(ii) Explain why this theme is important and whether the
presentation was fair to religious people. (8)

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(b) The media always treat religion unfairly.
Do you agree? Give reasons for your opinion, showing that you have
considered another point of view. In your answer you should refer to
Christianity. (8)

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OR QUESTION 10

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Religion, Wealth and Poverty

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(a) (i) Describe how ONE Christian agency helps to relieve poverty.(4)
(ii) Explain how Christian teaching may lead the agency to do this
work. (8)

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(b) You cannot be truly religious and rich.

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Do you agree? Give reasons for your opinion, showing that you have
considered another point of view. In your answer you should refer to
Christianity. (8)

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General Krull,

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do you have to teach that stuff?

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Mick

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Well I'm not a teacher anymore but....Religious Education should be taught by a someone who is a expert in that area (I was an Economics and IT Teacher).
however they can be rare on the ground, so generally a teacher who is an expert in a different area may do it (Generally a history teacher in my experience).I did it for a bit but frankly was never that interested. I used to get people to come in and talk about their beliefs or I'd take the kids to a church. Many of the children used to give talks about their own beliefs and that could be quite eye-opening (Hey YOU have Jesus too!)

They complain that you read the bible? what do they expect the teacher to do? burn it?

Heh... I did my time in the trench as both a R.E. teacher and in my own subject.

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Speaking of finals, why the hell do they have to schedule them at 7:50 in the morning? Can't they understand that we don't get enough sleep even during our regular days?

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Ah..finals... due to a scheduling fluke (well mistake actually) it was possible to take all the modules without exams. The only one I actually sat was for business strategy - so it was a "final".