Children to study atheism at school

[Nomad559]

Education Guardian


-Snip-

Children will be taught about atheism during religious education classes under official plans being drawn up to reflect the decline in churchgoing in Britain.

Non-religious beliefs such as humanism, agnosticism and atheism would be covered alongside major faiths such as Christianity or Islam under draft guidelines being prepared by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, which regulates what is taught in schools in England.

Although some schools already cover non-religious beliefs, there is currently no national guidance for what is taught, even though all schools must provide religious education.

The draft plans being drawn up by the QCA will not be compulsory, allowing religious schools the freedom to keep devout parents happy. But they will be regarded as best practice for heads, and are likely to be followed across the country.

[Az]

1. heheh, they asked for it

Now they are going to find out the difference between religious neutral and atheism. This is the thing the religious right is so against. They do not want equal time for all beliefs. Its just their's that deserves representation.

[SOteric]

2. All that notwithstanding,

the UK isn't really a hotbed of fundamentalism or bible-thumping evangelicals.

[Taeger]

4. They ejected theirs

They ejected all their fundies to America ;-)

[SOteric]

5. And wasn't that

smart of them, really. Draft up a plan. Dubya's hot to start a Mars mission, now we've finally got an end-use for it.

[Taeger]

3. Athiesism IS a religion

Any professed belief about the afterlife or supernatural is a religion PERIOD. The belief that there is NO god is the same expression as claiming there IS one.

[Az]

6. Um, no

Atheism is no more a religion than theism is. It may be a component of a religion but on its own it is just a description of whether an individual has a belief in god or gods or not.

Organized atheists may comprise a religion. But it is their organization that is the religion. Not the atheistic component.

[papau]

9. um, yes - Atheism is a religious belief system that requires faith in

what can not be proved.

But that is just my opinion

:-)

:toast:

[Az]

11. What do you call someone

that simply does not believe in god or gods. Atheism tells you nothing about how or why the person lacks a belief in gods. Only that they are without a belief in them. Atheism is as much as religion as baldness is a hair style. It is an absense of a belief. There are a host of philosophies that are atheistic in nature. Buddhists for example are atheistic (generally). It is simply a component of the teachings. Not the core.

Atheism on its own is not a belief. There are those that put forward a stronger positive statement that there are not gods. This is sometimes refered to as Strong Atheism. This is a positigve claim and in an organized setting could well be considered a religion.

Now this is the key. There are those that may gather around the flag of atheism as a cause (think American Atheists). It is this gathering that brings their cause closer in nature to a religion. It is not the trait of atheism. There are those that proclaim there are absolutely no gods. Their claims are beyond that of simple atheism. They have taken a faith based stance in stating this. But even these are not a religion unless there is a gathering of like minded individuals around this concept. It is the gathering and sharing that raises a thing to a religious belief.

Now this is only in the broadest sense of the word religion. In fact you would have to stretch the dictionary def to get this inclusive. The socially accepted definition of the word incorporates a mystical divine intent behind the gathering. That is there is worship supernatural qualities attributed to the universe. You will find that most atheists will react strongly to this association. If you wish to dialog with other it is probably best not to label them in terms that they find objectionable. It is the equivalent of an atheist refering to god as the invisible sky monster that believers worship. Conversations are two way streets.

[papau]

12. we ask "what is their creation myth" and if "none" we ask how do they

explain the "beginning" and if they say they do not ask the question

the response is to wonder why they get upset with those who do ask the question - and we then agree if athiest means someone who does not ask the question - and after we ask why they do not ask the question and discuss the faith behind the answer to the "why" and we conclude that the fellow has a thought process that indeed simply can not be curious about the beginning, we then agree that if the fellow calls himself an athiest the word in this case does not imply a religion -


and if the response there was no beginning, or that the beginning was this or that, we point out the need for faith for such belief and go on to explore other parts of that "athiest's" religion.

Please remember that religious Dogma can be expressed by a

"this is true"

or by

"this is not true"

or by

"you are not allowed to ask that question because it has no meaning (and we discuss the faith necessary for the no meaning conclusion) or you are just not allowed to ask that question or by I do not have to answer that question"

Sorry - except for the fellow with the lock down uncurious mind - the word athiest does indeed mean a religion - at least in my opinion!

:-)

BUT WE AGREE that one should not offend (as in "invisible sky monster". However when someone says he simply does not believe in god or gods, we come down to what the meaning of "god or gods" is to this person. Does he have a faith - a belief - and is just avoiding attaching the word "god" or "gods" to that faith based explanation for the beginning.

I agree that as you are using it Atheism tells you nothing about how or why the person says they lack a belief in gods. Only that they are without a belief in them.

But Atheism is as much as religion as any other for most athiests (even bald ones!) Why being an agnostic is a lower level of intellectual purity is beyond me.

There can be no "absense of a belief" unless you refuse to ask the creation question. There can easily be "I'm agnostic" as the response

By my definition, Buddhists are not atheistic (generally) - indeed it is quite easy to be both Buddhist and Christian! As you say -It is simply a component of the teachings. Not the core.

So we come to "Strong Atheism" - which is what I called atheism. And what I called refusal to ask the question of creation as your just "atheism".

Why is gathering and sharing needed - can not one person have a personal religion?


We agree that I use religion in the broadest sense of the word religion - and perhaps in some dictionary it would be a stretch to be this inclusive.

But excuse me if I do not feel limited to what folks give as their socially accepted definition of the word - in the same way that science is a belief system of "unproven" ideas that in some way trace back to the ability to do an experiment and obtain the same result, and to then extend that thought into a prediction about the outcome of other experiments which appear to be correct - within a margin of error, or probability field if we need get into fun concepts - the assertion of belief in no God (or the assertion of no belief in God - it is the same thing), once explored, always becomes a discussion of beliefs.

And in my inclusive, expanded definitions - that is a discussion of religion.

Conversations are indeed two way streets - and I did not realize that anyone had any ego invested in being seen as an athiest without a religion, despite what those words usually mean - at least to me.

peace

:-)

[Nomad559]

7. Atheism Is not a religion

No, Atheism Is a belief, not a religion

Is baldness a hair color?

[Endangered Specie]

8. hmmm, ill have to use that next time someone says atheism is a religion

[asthmaticeog]

10. You're mistaken.

Theism is a belief in a god or gods. The prefix "a" indicates lack. Atheism is therefore a lack of belief. It isn't necessarily a positive assertion that a god or gods do not exist. The conclusion that there isn't enough evidence to support belief in deities is atheistic, yet is not even remotely analagous to religious belief.

[ulysses]

13. ...

The belief that there is NO god is the same expression as claiming there IS one.

No it isn't. Is claiming that my house is blue the same expression as claiming that my house isn't blue?