Expert: Bob - 2/18/2006

Question
hello, i'm doing a 3 minutes speech in school about why children shouldn't study religion in school.
i have ideas but i am no expert since i only became an atheist last year, so i was wondering if you could give me some good points and maybe a few good sites...
thank you

Answer
Hello Tamar,

Personally I would not oppose the study of religion in school if it were done in an objective manner in which the basic principles of each of the major religions were covered in a purely historical fashion. The problem with this is that religious fanatics would just use this as a stepping stone to push their own agendas. As far as the actual study of a particular religion such as Christianity is that this country was founded on the basis of religious freedom. Freedom to worship as the individual sees fit or not. To study a particular religion would be to indorse that religion, thus disclaiming the belief systems of all those outside of that religion. The other main reason is that schools are funded by governmental tax dollars. The constitution protects freedom from religious persecution and as such banes the endorsement of a particular religion by a governmental agency. As you wanted I have enclosed links to a few sites that my be informative. Good luck with the speech.
                                                                                        Bob

http://www.positiveatheism.org/index.shtml
http://www.infidels.org/news/atheism/
http://www.irregulartimes.com/further18.html