fraser

Because it's all fantasy with no proof just stuff that was written years ago to keep the masses happy when nobody knew any different.

You might as well believe in Harry Potter.

NedKelly

Anyone who supports West Ham should be very careful about calling someone a complete tosser when you look at the team.

NAC

So you can honestly say that you have studied every piece of evidence, historical and otherwise, to come to this decision? Or is it that you don't believe the evidence that you have seen? You might not have proof for yourself but that does not mean that God does not exist or that you are right and millions of others are wrong.

fraser

Prove it to me and I'll accept it

Thet get told god exists as a child they believe it they have no proof

NedKelly

I thought Harry Potter was real. There is a book about him and I saw him on TV, just like Jesus but Harry has more books published.

fraser

Now stop it

spalen

A good thing about any religious teaching is that it brings with it respect for the individual (ie other individuals) and teaches right-from-wrong. Admittedly some do it using ghosties, dead blokes from 2005 yrs ago, and some slightly dodgy theories to get away with dinosaurs. But the one thing it does do is teach a moral framework.

If you dont have a moral framework and chose the 'default' society one which I'd struggle to articulate then I think kids are the worse for it. This doesnt mean kids have to go to church every sunday for the rest of their lives it just means that they are brought up with some guidance that suggests its wrong to hit others, steal, lie, commit adultery(er..) , covet thy neighbours pokemon cards, nor commit murder etc. This keeps them under control until they're old enough to work out for themselves how much fun all these things are.

But some evangelical schools are a bit too far the other way and will actually say that there werent dinosaurs (eg the American school system where a bunch of schools got together to have the right to not have to teach about Darwinism ! like guys... the world is round... its kinda proven.). loonies. Whats that big thing in the Natural History Museum main hall , a freekin airfix model.

Faith & religion is great for those who have it, but frankly any church that refuses to allow contraception in Africa to stem aids and sentences 1,000000000000's to death in a far away continent(from rome) because their missionaries got there first about 600 yrs ago and the people are more scared of eternal damnation than aids.(which will bring on the opportunity to find out for sure if that bet on Jeebus was the right one pretty soon)... that takes some faith to stay with and support..... it is gods will that millions of kids are born with aids/orphaned/etc... hmmmmm.... How about religious loonies in the US using catholicism to go and murder people in abortion clinics....

Im proud that I had a catholic upbringing (in a crappy state comp) because it gave me a moral background, but Im ashamed that for the same reason Im supposed to support and condone all this crap about contraception that is frankly 2000 yrs out of date. And dont get me on those dinosaurs again....

Badge

I take the piss out of all the rigmarole of the Church - I went for 14 years, but have absolutely no issues AT ALL with Christian teaching. A good Christian school would be high on my list.

I would be concerned about evangelicism.

As a minimum, I believe in moral framework - with bible-style moral teaching.

Badge

spalen

1st time you misbehave you get the old testament
2nd time you misbehave you get the new testament
3rd time you misbehave you get whacked with the whole bible on the ass

bondipom

From my experience of 9 years of Catholic school finishing in the nineties. I tended to get a trainer on the arse rather than a bible. The more severe elements of the school were retiring and dieing so I am sure matters are slowly changing. Sadly sex education is not something I would leave up to the catholic system. There were dickhead parents who objected to contraception being involved in biology books and the school did everything to accomodate their backwardsness.

bondipom

I would say 99% of those I went to school with resented catholiscism due to the schooling.

CPW

For the purposes of this thread, at least, I really wish people would not imply (possibly unintentionally, but I'm not sure in every case) that Catholic schools are not Christian schools. I know that the term 'Christian school' has come to be given a particular meaning - not least by the schools that describe themselves in this way - but the Roman Catholic Church is part of the Christian church, just as the Anglican Church, the Methodist Church or the Russian Orthodox Church, for example, are!

That's it, I'm off my soap-box now.

JAJ

A school that *calls* itself a 'Christian' school is likely to have an evangelical leaning to it, which isn't everyone's cup of tea either.

Going back to the original question, there are some pretty fundamental differences between the beliefs of Catholicism and those of the mainstream Protestant denominations and it seems odd that any parent would wish their children to be exposed to something with which they themselves do not agree.

While 'Catholic' schools do obviously vary, any non-Catholic parents contemplating a particular school (despite the general point above), should ask questions about the proportion of non-Catholic pupils, what specific doctrines are taught, and whether non-Catholic pupils are expected to participate in Catholic rituals. No matter how 'good' it may be academically, if your child is Protestant/Jewish/no religion at all etc, he or she may not feel at home in such an environment.

Jeremy

brisnick

but morality can be taught without religion

brisnick

i don't think anyone has ever seen the proof, since it simply does not exist. if it does, why hasn't it made the media.

and as for being fraser being right and millions of others being wrong... there are approx 1.1 billion people worldwide that describe themselves as non-religious. and out of those who have a religion, 60% are non-christian.

there are three religions with 1 billion followers or more, and they are very different (the hindu religion believes in many gods, not one). how can all these be right? if the hindus are right, then the christians are wrong, etc.

not one single religion has claimed to have undisputable proof. it's understandable why someone would question why religion still has a place in modern society.

in my opinion religions were mainly used to control the people in the past in the absence of governments.