Every society need a moral compass to tell its member what is right/wrong, what is good/bad, what should be done under certain circumstances, etc. It acted as a guideline for the member of the society.
Religious beliefs and practices are one such moral compass or guidance in our life. And in any society, we need some sort of moral compass to tell us what is right, what is good, what is desired and what is dignified for the common good of the society based on general belief. If any society don't have such moral compass, chaos will surely follow.
Moral compass are of course based on the society's general beliefs on what is good or desirable for them as a society. And what the society think is good or desirable changes as they move on and deal with new circumstances, new understanding and inventions, etc. But such beliefs, can also be institutionalized into a rigid frame that makes it hard for it to catch-up with the changing needs, thus they can become the unreasoned or out-dated beliefs, and to stick to that beliefs can hinder our progress as a humanity. Religion is one such institutionalized belief system.
Every religious practice or belief are not necessarily unreasoned, afterall they are based on what the society thought was good for the member of the society at the time of institutionalization. Take for example, the concept of love and peace are taught by all religion, and they are as desirable today as it was then. On the other hand, some religious practices demands that we stone to death a certain people, which are cruel and barbaric. So despite what our religion said about such thing, we decided to ignore them because, as a human, we have the capacity to logically think and reason the implications, and therefore, make independent decision about such issues.
The issue is, most often, religion demands blind faith, and blindly follow the moral compass it made for us centuries ago. Such moral compass have not been updated to the needs and desire of the society, so it usually come across as unreasoned, even barbaric. The primary aims of education is to take us beyond such unreasoned beliefs and practices. Education too is suppose to provide us a moral compass in the form of reason, logic and rationality that will guide us through life. But considering the current status of our education, is it able to provide us that?
If we are to view the role of the teacher as a facilitator, it doesn't matter how much religion is practiced, education will achieve it's aims. If we are to view the teacher as a mentor/guide/master etc, they might hamper the process of logic and reason, but as long as the student continued their education, and that our curriculum really encompass all the elements of the aims of education, nothing will stop education from achieving it's goal.
Religious beliefs and practices are one such moral compass or guidance in our life. And in any society, we need some sort of moral compass to tell us what is right, what is good, what is desired and what is dignified for the common good of the society based on general belief. If any society don't have such moral compass, chaos will surely follow.
Moral compass are of course based on the society's general beliefs on what is good or desirable for them as a society. And what the society think is good or desirable changes as they move on and deal with new circumstances, new understanding and inventions, etc. But such beliefs, can also be institutionalized into a rigid frame that makes it hard for it to catch-up with the changing needs, thus they can become the unreasoned or out-dated beliefs, and to stick to that beliefs can hinder our progress as a humanity. Religion is one such institutionalized belief system.
Every religious practice or belief are not necessarily unreasoned, afterall they are based on what the society thought was good for the member of the society at the time of institutionalization. Take for example, the concept of love and peace are taught by all religion, and they are as desirable today as it was then. On the other hand, some religious practices demands that we stone to death a certain people, which are cruel and barbaric. So despite what our religion said about such thing, we decided to ignore them because, as a human, we have the capacity to logically think and reason the implications, and therefore, make independent decision about such issues.
The issue is, most often, religion demands blind faith, and blindly follow the moral compass it made for us centuries ago. Such moral compass have not been updated to the needs and desire of the society, so it usually come across as unreasoned, even barbaric. The primary aims of education is to take us beyond such unreasoned beliefs and practices. Education too is suppose to provide us a moral compass in the form of reason, logic and rationality that will guide us through life. But considering the current status of our education, is it able to provide us that?
If we are to view the role of the teacher as a facilitator, it doesn't matter how much religion is practiced, education will achieve it's aims. If we are to view the teacher as a mentor/guide/master etc, they might hamper the process of logic and reason, but as long as the student continued their education, and that our curriculum really encompass all the elements of the aims of education, nothing will stop education from achieving it's goal.
