Is'nt religion the biggest and the richest franchise? After all every one of them is selling a brand and saying my God is better than yours. Wars have been fought, cultures overturned and countless people have died just for this. Somehow even for the most educated, every sane thought flies out of the window when they perceive that their god is being attacked. With all this background of violence and turmoil happening all around the world, one might be excused for thinking that perhaps religious education is best avoided altogether.
I, on the other hand, have another a contrary point of view. Not unusual for me, because I enjoy a stimulating discussion. Religious education, I believe is key so that our children can question why because just as religion and God cannot explain everything so science cannot as well. Besides religious teaching often gives us a cultural anchoring which otherwise is not possible to give our kids. The feeling of belonging, the lesson of giving, and the opportunity to connect that the religious gatherings give our society is almost invaluable.
I think the problem in many ways lies in society's parenting skills. Parents usually don't have a deep knowledge of their own religion and depend on teachers of religious studies, who often have only superficial knowledge themselves. Trying to understand a question, and apply what each religious tradition says to the current context is often difficult, so most people take the path of least resistance and use tradition and religious teachings as an excuse not to understand or apply the teachings in context.
I also think people are not confident in their own beliefs and do not dare to question any tradition aloud so that no one is upset. Humanity in general, is a people pleaser and feels that sticking to tradition is the easiest way not to upset any wheelbarrows. It takes a great deal of courage to think about why we do something, put it in context, question it, and then stand by your conviction. I think society is failing our young people by not allowing them to do this. Therefore religious teaching is narrow and biased because it suits our power brokers to keep people as docile, unquestioning sheep who will follow a set line.
Finally, this brings me to the conclusion that one of the greatest gifts we can give our children is the gift of an open questioning mind. A mind that will assimilate what it learns thinks about it and takes the best out of the environment. But without giving them a deep knowledge of what their religion stands for this will not be possible because one needs a base of knowledge from where we begin to question.
