All Comments (21)

If one truly believes in the power of God and that God leads people,then God has the power to enlighten people thu his powers without one knowing how to read or write will be given to those that God has chosen to recieve it.

It is when people are always trying to tell others what God wants from their own concept and perceptions. Gods power is more then just a book.

The religion of man is the religion of false hope and one that makes war.

True God is love and peace and kindness and joy and happiness. God did not create hate,but the evil of man causes death of killing each other.

The ten commandments is the word of God but do men follow Gods word.

Man says that God kills and that God hates for the sake of mans excuse to kill in the name of God,for power over men. Is not that what Lucifer the devil was all about. Sit silent in your thoughts and prayer and if you do his love and peace will be with you. Man does not submit to Gods will.

The true will of God is kindness.

God does not kill for Gold,Oil and Diamonds and other peoples property. Yes we can find something good in all the books about God,so why not take all that is good from all books that speak about God or if you like A,B.C.D.E.

Allah-Buddha-Christo-Deus-Elohim.

Let us only rewrite what is love and kindness and peace and righteousness. I think we ca start with B.& C. Buddha and Christ The living Buddha and The living Christ. Amen.

Watch this video from a US soldier about atrocities he and other US soldiers commit on a daily basis in Iraq against innocent people:
http://www.turntoislam.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4315

Brian McCC writes that "[Religious studies] should however, be mandatory in prison".

Another defender of the Constitution! I'll bet Brian would be plenty pissed, though, if his tax dollars were used to promote Islam in prisons.

Mandatory religious studies in schools should be left open as a parental discretionary option. As Chuck will probably agree, it should however, be mandatory in prison. As the saying goes, 'teach your children well...' if not, they might end up in jail or worse.

Dr. Dozier

I am really curious as to what parts of the Constitution you think are biblically inspired? I hear this a lot, but I never see anything specific.

HOT OFF THE WIRE:

"Georgia public schools move towards teaching Bible

"By DOUG GROSS
Associated Press
Thursday, March 8, 2007; 9:16 PM"

ON THE FRONT PAGE OF THE WAPO TODAY

Notice that no other religion's scriptures are being taught.

Want to bet on whether the classes will have an Episcopal or a Fundamentalist cast to them?

This Georgia law shows exactly why religion should not be taught in the public schools!

Religion is already being taught in public schools in our US & World History textbooks; however, it's frequently taught with the biases of the school district or the teacher no to mention the "liberal slant" of the textbooks. The best question is, Should the Bible be taught in public schools? My answer is, "Yes, but with the accuracy reflecting our founding fathers and the significance that the Bible has had in the history of the world and the forming our US Constitution.

I agree with the substance of Colson's comment and respect his distinction between teaching about religions and teaching a particular body of belief. However, Colson uses an unfortunate type of argument, one called "the etymological fallacy." It is true that "culture" and "cult" go back to a common Latin root "cultus" that has to do both with cultivation and worship. However, "culture" was last used in English in the sense of worship in the 15th c., and "cult" has not been used generally of worship since the 17th c. "Cult" now tends to denote specific religious practice, a small religious group out of the mainstream, or an entertainment or public figure with a devoted following.

Speakers of a language don't typically know much about the histories of the words they use. Meaning is a function of usage, and etymology does not bear on contemporary usage. Consider that "silly" meant "blessed" in Old English and that "nice" meant "ignorant" in the Old French that English later borrowed it from.

www.jesusneverexisted.com

Keep your myth to yourself.

Norrie Hoyt:

Though I think a course dealing only with religion is beneficial, I understand your reasoning and think that your ideas are applicable too.

Mr. Colson is the founder and chairman of the board of Prison Fellowship. That is true. Mr. Colson is also one of the main figures of Watergate.
He, by his actions, did attack everything the constitution stands for.
And, maybe, again, he does attack the constitution. His Prison Fellowship, as many newspapers report, probably bends the civil-society-laws again.
"Denying people to understand the current events" (his quote) - starts with not mentioning the full bio of people who preach, again, "We versus Them".

It is at this very point where "teaching history" (his quote) starts.

You have more reliable minds in the UnitedStates. Talk to them.

I agree that "education is impoverished...unless it includes religion." Mr. Chuck Colson is Christian and I am an Ahmadi Muslim, but we agree because we see the world through our religion and we cannot imagine the world another way. I expect he would also agree with me that religion can only enrichen the world, because it enrichens every day of his life and he would like to share that with everyone.

What will the schools do with the Ahmadi question? The other Muslims say that we Ahmadis are not Muslim because we believe in the Promised Messiah (peace be upon him), a prophet after the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him), but we look like Muslims in hijab and we do our prayers, etc.

Could schools teach prayers? The prayer of Moses in the Holy Qur'an, for example is "I am in need of whatever good you might send down to me." Christian, Muslim and Jews would all appreciate the Prophet Moses, I'm sure.

Education on Islam should stop the war plans against Iraq and Iran and Syria. That would probably provide enough money to give everyone healthcare in America! Islam is a beautiful religion. As a Christian, I didn't learn anything about it until I was 35. I wish I had learned earlier. The Qur'an says "And thou didst never expect that the Book would be revealed to thee; but it is a mercy from thy Lord; so never be a helper of those who disbelieve." (28:87) One cannot understand The Holy Qur'an without guidance. I reccommend the five volume commentary by the son of the Promised Messiah (peace be upon him), available at Ahmadi mosques all over America.

Ghostbuster,

My answer to your questions has been posted in other threads.

Rather than having a separate course on religion, teachers should address and explain the religious aspects of what the students are studying in secular courses.

For example, if you're teaching the play "The Crucible", based on the Salem witch trials, you explain the religious situation in Salem.

If you're teaching about Henry VIII, you explain the Catholic-Protestant conflicts of the time.

If, in American Studies, you're teaching about Connecticut's anti-contraceptive laws, which lasted into the 1960's, you explain the religious background, including Roman Catholic doctrine.

This seems to me to be a much more useful and realistic way to inform students about religious thinking and how it operates in the real world, rather than having a course which only presents abstract religious doctrines, many of which will be hard to grasp for young students, and won't be seen to have much relevance to their real lives.

lepidopteryx:

"Ethics - a major branch of philosophy, is the study of values and customs of a person or group and covers the analysis and employment of concepts such as right and wrong, good and evil, and responsibility."

Many people/cultures/societies base their ethics primarily upon their religious beliefs. That is why I included ethics in the list.

I wouldn't deny for a second that there are many highly ethical atheists as you said.

Ghostbuster:
Religion is not necessary in order to understand ethics or in order to be an ethical person. I happen to know quite a number of highly ethical atheists.

Norrie Holt,

I agree with your point about religious misinformation being imparted to students by uninformed and prejudiced teachers. Would any of us want an outspoken teacher, biased against whatever we believe teaching our child about our own belief system?

However, how can a student hope to understand world history, social studies, literature, philosophy, art, ethics… with no knowledge whatsoever of any of the major world religions?

Should we teach no subjects that are controversial since they may cause social discord, endless controversy, possibly violence and I might add litigation and parental confrontations?

"If they ain't broke don't try to fix them."

Are they not broke!?

If informing children about this vastly influential area of human culture and experience is sure to cause discord, then we had better start doing it now before things get any more idiotic around here. The strategy of teaching them diddly-squat about the religions in the world has evidently not been a smashing success.

Teaching about religion in the public schools of the United States will give rise to much religious misinformation being imparted to students by uninformed and prejudiced teachers.

It will promote social discord, endless controversy, and probably violence. Leave things as they are now. If they ain't broke don't try to fix them.

Colson thinks religious education should begin in high school or later. How convenient! The Gideons love to get their Bibles into kids hands in the 5th grade because after that there's much less chance of influencing them. Accordingly, I'd like to see kids younger than 5th grade be introduced to a wide variety of beliefs about religion, including atheism. Kids deserve to know their options before their brains solidify into religious crud.

Good article Mr. Colson. Short, sweet and to the point. I agree 100%.

It almost sounds reasonable. Note however, that Mr. Colson mentions Islam in his essay exclusively in relation to "the clash between Islam and the West". In fact, it is also impossible to understand western civilization without understanding Islam and its societies in North Africa and Spain -- the source from which Europeans rediscovered ancient Greek writings after the worst of the European dark ages, and where useful things like the number zero were invented.

It sounds like I am making his point for him, and in a way I am. The problem lies in how one implements religious instruction at the K-12 level, and I do not trust fundamentalists like Mr. Colson to support something like this without an agenda. The chances are that any teacher who tries to do this in a way that is balanced will be excoriated by the Taliban elements of many different religions. In the end it will be co-opted by some dominant group.