People in the US

[emyandpotato]

Quick question; do you have religious schools? As in, schools only for children of one religion or denomination? Just need some background for an assignment.

 

[Noelle610]

We have religious schools. Quite a few Catholic schools. Most of the students tend to be of that particular religious denomination, but it's usually not a requirement. I went to a Catholic school for several years and I had some Protestants and Hindus in my class.

 

[emyandpotato]

Thanks. Are they very common, particularly for non-Christian religions? Are there Sikh schools, Jewish schools etc? In the Catholic school, was the religious education, science and English taught only in a Catholic way (no mention of evolution, for example)?

 

[Noelle610]

Thanks. Are they very common, particularly for non-Christian religions? Are there Sikh schools, Jewish schools etc? In the Catholic school, was the religious education, science and English taught only in a Catholic way (no mention of evolution, for example)?

They are really only common in the Christian faith. Schools affiliated with other religious backgrounds aren't common, but they do exist.

In a Catholic school, there is religious education, but everything else is taught as normal. Although I should add that Catholics (Pope included!) aknowledge that evolution exists

Culturally speaking, I think you actually run into more religious influence in schools depending on the region in which you live. For example, there are souther PUBLIC schools that do not teach the theory of evolution because the religious influence there.

In public schools, religious education is actually illegal... But it can happen in more subtle ways.

 

[emyandpotato]

Religious education is illegal?! You don't learn about any religions at all? Wow.

Thanks for all your help!

 

[Noelle610]

Oh, I think you could take a general religious class in a public school, but they can't teach one specific religion if that makes sense.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_education

Under U.S. law, religious education is forbidden in public schools, except from a neutral, academic perspective.[15] For a teacher or school administration to endorse one religion is considered an infringement of the "establishment clause" of the First Amendment. The boundaries of this rule are frequently tested, with court cases challenging the treatment of traditional religious holidays, displays of religious articles and documents such as the Ten Commandments, the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance (which since 1954 has described the U.S. as "one nation under God"), and how prayer should be accommodated in the classroom.

 

[mellyboo]

I'm not in the US but im in Canada and there is a crap ton of catholic schools here there always private too.

It's illegal to mention religion in any Public school in my area.

There is also religious university which they have to attend a church like ceremony everyday or else they dont graduate!

 

[x__amour]

Yes, there are.

 

[Pearls18]

Am I right in thinking evolution can't be taught in some states?? Or is it private schools that have to opt for that as they don't have an established religion? They have denomination specific universities in the US.

 

[amjon]

There are many religious private schools, but generally they don't require you to belong to their religion to go there. They do usually include religious studies though, so parents would have to be okay with that. Most of the ones here are christian of some denomination. I believe we also have a Jewish school around here, not sure about others. Public schools can teach about religions, but not really beliefs and that kind of thing as much. They have to do an overview though and can't just select one religion. Usually around Christmas they do a look at celebrations and the different religious holidays.

 

[Noelle610]

Am I right in thinking evolution can't be taught in some states?? Or is it private schools that have to opt for that as they don't have an established religion? They have denomination specific universities in the US.

Legally evolution can be taught in any state. Their are certain states with a number of school boards that try to strike it from their cirriculum however. Some schools teach the criticisms of evolution (Kansas and Ohio), some teach "creationism" along with evolution (Kentucky) and some states teach evolution, but leave it up to the teacher how it is portrayed (New York and Colorado).