Samantha Edmonds

(Page numbers needed)

Professor George
English 1010
8 December 2015
Religion in Schools
Believing in a higher source or creator and worshiping that god is the definition of
religion. A popular discussion going on right now is if religion should be taught in school and if
so what religions? This is a touchy subject especially in the state of Utah. Most of the population
is LDS or Mormon, so in most Utah schools The Bible is read and there is also a seminary class.
Not many Utahans-Utahns are open to learning about different religions, and think very highly of
the LDS church. Awhile A while back, (comma) I saw a post on Facebook written by a LDS
women woman saying how upset she was that her sons school was teaching about Hinduism.
She received lots of feedback about the matter of the subject, everyone either agreeing or not
(This needs to be reworded, as 'everyone either agreeing or not' is basically the same as saying
everyone had opinions of this). My question is, what makes it okay for her beliefs to be taught in
school and not others? I believe (Shouldn't be used in an argumentative paper) that religion
should not be taught in school, but if it is then we (try to avoid these pronouns) should cover the
basics of the top religions.
According to estimates, there are roughly 4,200 different religions practiced around the
world. The major five, however, include Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Christianity, and New Age.
Hinduism is worshiping infinite representations of gods and goddesses. Hindus believe in
multiple lives and that everything in this life is based on their previous life. For instance, if they

suffer lots of hardships, (comma) it was because of evil behaviors in their previous life. The
overall goal of Hinduism is to be free from the law of karma or continuous reincarnations, to be
free of rebirths, (if this is a list of 3 items, the Oxford comma should be used after 'rebirths') and
be at rest.
Many people believe that Buddhists warship worship Buddha (Siddhartha Gautama),
however, (the reality/truth/fact of the matter is) they do not worship any god. Buddhists look up
to Buddha because they want to attain what he has, (either hyphenate or insert 'which is' or
something equivalent. Also spiritual enlightenment, freedom from a continuous cycle, and
death is a better way of structuring this sentence as it is a list of 3 items) spiritual enlightenment
and freedom from continuous cycle of life and death. Buddhists believe to end the cycle of
rebirth you must reach a state of enlightenment by purifying your heart and letting go of sensual
desires and the illusion of dualism (there is a list of 3 items here, replace the first and with a
comma and add another comma after 'desires'). Buddhists have a strict set of principles to follow
and, (comma) if done correctly, they reach Nirvana-( remove hyphen and add a term such as
'thereby') putting out the flame of desire.
Muslims believe in one almighty God named Allah. Allah is viewed as the creator of
everything and the source of all good and evil. He is very powerful and judging of his followers,
but very forgiving towards religiously devoted followers. Muslims relationship with Allah is as a
servant to him. Though a Muslim honors several prophets, Muhammad is considered the last
prophet and his words and lifestyle are that person's authority. To be a Muslim, one has to follow
five religious duties: 1. Repeat a creed about Allah and Muhammad; 2. Recite certain prayers in
Arabic five times a day; 3. Give to the needy; 4. One month each year, fast from food, drink, sex
and smoking from sunrise to sunset; 5. Pilgrimage once in one's lifetime to worship at a shrine in

Mecca. At death -- based on one's faithfulness to these duties -- a Muslim hopes to enter
Paradise. If not, they will be eternally punished in hell. (Adamson) (This is a drop quote,
meaning there are none of your own words in the sentences which include the quote, it is merely
someone else's words dropped into the middle of the paragraph without any set up. Dropped
quotes are a faux pas in English courses, as are having a quote that lasts for more than 3
sentences without interruption)
Christians believe in Jesus Christ, who is loving and believe in the trinity of God, the
Spirit and the Holy Ghost. Christians enjoy their relationship with God. Jesus was viewed as God
in human form, (this can either be a complete sentence or 'and' can be inserted here to connect
the two sentences) he performed miracles and forgave people of their sins. He stated, I am the
light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the light of
life. (citation needed) The Bible is viewed as a message from God, it reveals his personality,
love, and how to have a relationship with him. The Bible teaches Christians to lean on God in
hardships.
New Age believes that we, ourselves, (avoid these pronouns, a better way of saying this is
'...believes that each human is their own god') are god. God is a higher consciousness within
oneself, not a transcendent God who created everything. Everything in his or her life is
considered divine, what they see, hear, feel or imagine. Highly electric, New Age presents itself
as a collection of ancient spiritual traditions. It acknowledges many gods and goddesses, as in
Hinduism. The Earth is viewed as the source of all spirituality, and has its own intelligence,
emotions and deity. But superseding all is self. Self is the originator, controller and God of all.
There is no reality outside of what the person determines. Anything negative a person
experiences (failures, sadness, anger, selfishness, hurt) is considered an illusion. Believing

themselves to be completely sovereign over their life, nothing about their life is wrong, negative
or painful. Eventually a person develops spiritually to the degree that there is no objective,
external reality. A person, becoming a god, creates their own reality. (Adamson) (Again this is a
drop quote and runs for 9 sentences without interruption)
While reading more into this topic, I found a picture on Facebook saying So, you think
that religion should be taught in schools? Would that be all religions? Or just yours? This
picture has over 1,800 comments but one stuck out to me; a man commented My single best
experience at college was taking a religion course where we covered five religions. The professor
argued each one like he had been a lifelong adherent. At the end of the course none of us had any
clue which one (if any) he actually believed in/ followed. THAT is how its done. Teach, do not
indoctrinate. I completely agree with this man.
(This paragraph can be added to the end of the previous paragraph) Unfortunately,
(comma) teachers like this are hard to come by. When it comes to religion there is a fine line
between educating by fact based and by personal belief. That is why religion should not be
taught in schools. Leave faith and other personal point of views at home.
If religion is going to be mixed in with education, it should be an optional course in
college, when students are old enough to fully understand the pros and cons of every religion.
Religion is a huge part of society and transgressions against humanity. Many wars have been
created over differences in religious beliefs, including the most recent events of terrorism.
Americans are blaming all Muslims for the terrorist attacks, which is why if religion is going to
be taught, then we should learn the basic understanding of the Muslim Religion.
The U.S. Constitution states that church and state have to be separate, but anyone has the
freedom to practice religious beliefs and the pursuit of happiness. Some people feel like because

of this matter, (no comma needed) homeschooling is the only option. Many religions teach their
followers not to question their faith, which unfortunately leads to closed mindedness, making it
pointless to be taught in school. Religion should be taught at home and not at school to students,
(no comma needed) who dont care for the subject matter.

Works Cited
Adamson, Marilyn. "Connecting with the Devine." Everystudent.com. 2015. Web. 2 Dec. 2015.