"Religious reasons" for missing school?

[aimeeandbeatles]

If you don't believe in God, you're an atheist. You cannot be both an atheist and agnostic at the same time.

Wikipedia doesn't agree.

Agnostic atheists are atheistic because they do not have belief in the existence of any deity, and agnostic because they do not claim to know that a deity does not exist. The agnostic atheist may be contrasted with the agnostic theist, who does believe that one or more deities exist but does not claim to have knowledge of such.

This basically describes my view. I mean, if God popped out of the sky to say hello, that's fine with me.

 

[G-Man]

Well, yes. Why should a parent's opinion about who's the best god, count any more than a parent's opinion about what is the best football team or best political party?

For the same reason religion gets treated differently in any other subject - because there are many people who follow it and they very much about it, and because after several thousand years of having religions around our culture is used to treating them differently.

 

[neutrino]

LOL ... 'skipping school due to religious reasons'?!?

1. Go ahead! The only trouble is that, later in one's own life, he will find it pretty darn difficult to find well-paying jobs. There have been many very successful businessmen who do not have college degrees, but they are pretty rare. My primary objection towards 'religious reasons': Practicality should override religious considerations. Sort out issues between you and your god in the afterlife, but as long as you are alive and kicking, you have to earn income and paying off bills somehow!

2. I suppose skipping school is not a big deal, if and only if the parents have what it takes to teach their kids at a level that would make the kids competitive relative to those getting their education from school systems. Unfortunately, do-it-yourself education can turn out to be pretty darn expensive.

3. Having poor school records is not something to be desired. Poor self-discipline is not a highly sought after quality in the job market. Enough of raw talents may get you somewhere in the beginning, but only so far, once the level of competition goes up.

4. A school system should be treated as a set of administrative procedures by a country. When you file your income tax, the only thing that the tax collection agency cares about is what and how you have filled out your tax return. It does not care about your psychological and social preferences. Likewise, if someone from the higher-level school or the job market is interested in trigonometry, they then would want to know what and how you have solved trigonometric problems, not your personal preferences. Can you do a job? Do you know what and how to do this or that? Religion is irrelevant as it contributes nothing to these sort of questions.

 

[Lillefix]

For the same reason religion gets treated differently in any other subject - because there are many people who follow it and they very much about it, and because after several thousand years of having religions around our culture is used to treating them differently.

That's why we treat them differently, no doubt. But that's no reason why we should treat them differently(in other words why they deserve to be treated differently). As enlightened people we should let go of this silly idea that one's opinions about god is worth more than one's opinion about anything else. Like politics.

 

[G-Man]

That's why we treat them differently, no doubt. But that's no reason why we should treat them differently(in other words why they deserve to be treated differently). As enlightened people we should let go of this silly idea that one's opinions about god is worth more than one's opinion about anything else. Like politics.

In the moral sense, I agree with you. However, I don't think there's a practical way to do such a thing in most (if not all) countries.

However, there's one more key difference in here between religion and other issues, such as those you've mentioned - religion demands you to do things others can't. A truely religious man (or child, for that matter) would rather skip school and be punished over not doing what his god told him to. And he would rather do ANYTHING his god tells him to over following the orders of other men. This doesn't happen in other subjects - I can skip the game and still be a fan of my sports team, and I can skip the rally and still hold my political opinions just as firmly. I can't be religious and not follow my religious instructions at the same time.

 

[GenMarshall]

@neutrino - There is a legitamate reason why to skip school because of religious reasons.

Well, yes. Why should a parent's opinion about who's the best god, count any more than a parent's opinion about what is the best football team or best political party?

Simple, the kids have to follow what there parents say. They live under there roof .

 

[bhsup]

Also, at least in the USA, the government cannot interfere wth..oh heck, I'll just quote it.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;

P.S. - notice the lack of the phrase "separation of church and state" in there

 

[Harvin87]

Well I'm what people would consider an atheist-agnostic. Where I don't personally believe there's a God, but there may still be one anyways.

just out of curiosity .. are you a man? or lady?

 

[Lillefix]

just out of curiosity .. are you a man? or lady?

Read the signature of the poster in question.

 

[Harvin87]

got it... my bad.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

So, what do people in general think of this?

Aimee's Opinion: I don't think it's such a good idea to force 16-year-olds to attend school. If they really don't want to be there, they tend to misbehave and interrupt the rest of the class. Then they keep misbehaving and end up expelled anyways.

Also, WHAT ARE THESE RELIGIOUS REASONS??? I can't think of any reason why religion is over education



Also, this reminds me of another newspaper article. It was in the newspaper I deliver, and it was about two teenagers stealing stuff from a store and that. Out of town. And because of these two teenagers, there was a quote from some council person saying something about enforcing a curfew on people under 18. And they said, "There's no reason for kids to be out after 9."

I think of several reasons:
1) They were going to the store to buy milk for their parents.
2) They are going to a sleepover or something.
3) They heard a cat get hit by a car and went out to try to help it, and they were taking the cat to a veterinarian.

I'm in favor of kids going to school until they graduate (or until they're 18, and have the say over whether or not they attend school). I graduated at 16, but took an extra year of sciences to boost my chances of getting into college.

As for religious reasons to not attend classes:

1. Funeral

2. Wedding that takes place out of town and can't be traveled to, attended, and returned from, in time for class.

3. If any ethnic religious event is occurring that REQUIRES the child to attend, the child should not be punished if the school knows ahead of time and a note requesting he/she be excused is presented to the teacher/principal - and the class material made up later.

As for reasons for kids to be out after 9 p.m.: I would be very irate if I were a teenager and wasn't allowed to be outside with my telescope at night - considering night time is when you can see the stars and planets!

In Norway, a child can skip the subject called something like "Christianity, philosophy and ethics" if the parents want. It's because some atheists and agnostics, and also people of other faiths, don't want their children to learn so much about Christianity and the Bible. You can also skip an excursion to a church if the parents have a problem with that.

Kids go on field trips to churches in Norway?

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

1. Funeral

2. Wedding that takes place out of town and can't be traveled to, attended, and returned from, in time for class.

IMO, those aren't exclusively religious.

This is article about the curfew. I quote just the relevant part.

She also thinks a curfew would be beneficial in the community where some stores have been vandalized and broken into.
“I think children should not be out past 9 o’clock in the winter because, basically, if they’re out wandering the streets what are they doing? They’re up to no good,” she said.

 

[Imrahil91]

Kids go on field trips to churches in Norway?

Yeah, I've been in a church, mosque and buddhist temple with the school. It's to learn about the religion and to hear the priest/imam etc. talk about it.

 

[Lillefix]

Kids go on field trips to churches in Norway?

Haven't been on a field trip, but until around I was around 14(elementary and middle school) I had to go to church the last day before every summer and christmas vacation.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

IMO, those aren't exclusively religious.

This is article about the curfew. I quote just the relevant part.

Have you ever been to a nonreligious funeral? I haven't. In my experience, they have all invoked God/Jesus in varying degrees, hymns were sung, and people prattled about "God's will"...

The only non-religious wedding I've ever attended occurred during a Society for Creative Anachronism event. It wasn't a mundanely-legal wedding, but it was good enough for the people involved, and was an affirmation (witnessed by several dozen people) of the couple's intention to live common-law. Mind you, the SCA is supposed to be religion-neutral, so Protestant/Catholic/Wiccan/pagan/etc. ceremonies aren't allowed anyway - or at least they weren't back then.

 

[History_Buff]

Have you ever been to a nonreligious funeral? I haven't. In my experience, they have all invoked God/Jesus in varying degrees, hymns were sung, and people prattled about "God's will"...

Yes. As if to contradict my point, I believe the main speaker was the local priest/pastor, but not once did he invoke any sort of religious mumbo-jumbo. He did in fact, wear a T-shirt under his formal dress (which he removed about 10 minutes into the ceremony). Rather than talking about god and this or that, the funeral focuses around the life, family, and friends of the deceased. It was a beautiful gathering.

The lack of religious content probably derived from the fact that the deceased was young (24), and himself non-religious. That, or Cochrane is just a lot more awesome than I give it credit for.

 

[Gustave5436]

My use of "God" above was not intended to imply the God of Abraham. It could be 'the force' for all I care, but if you just flat out believe there is no 'something' out there, you're an atheist, period. If you think there is or might be, then you're not an atheist. Really, it's a pretty hard and arbitrary line here with no wiggle room.

Compare to bigfoot. Some people believe bigfoot exists (theists). Some people don't believe bigfoot exists (atheists). Some of those people lack belief in bigfoot (agnostic atheists), while some of them believe that bigfoot is nonexistent (strong atheists).

Agnosticism is about whether or not you are open to the possibility that you are wrong (agnostic theists admitting God might not exist, agnostic atheists refusing to rule out the possibility that it might), not whether or not you have faith in God's existence.

 

[shadow2k]

Most Jewish kids miss school twice a year. Once for Yom Kippur, which I believe is the Jewish new year. The other for Rosh Hashana, and I don't remember what that holiday is, or even if I spelled it correctly.

Not sure what the big issue is. When I missed school due to those holidays, I still had to make up any work that was missed. Truth be told, I would have preferred to be in school...and I hated school.

This rule was actually instituted my Junior year in High School. I'd missed 37 days my Sophmore year due to skipping class and what not. If I remember correctly, anything over 13 my Junior year would have led to me losing credit for classes.

 

[warpus]

My funeral is totally gonna be non-religiously themed. You're gonna be free to pray to whomever you please, if people who are there are into that kinda stuff. There will also be bacon and music.

 

[warpus]

In Poland Easter Monday is a very important religious holiday; everyone gets Good Friday and Easter Monday off.

Too bad I've never tried getting it off here. I wonder if it would work?