Thinking is the key

Re: “Religion not the answer”, (Editorial, Feb 15).

Your editorial concludes with the suggestion that, instead of teaching Buddhism in schools, the Ministry of Education should introduce “extra ethics, philosophy, and human rights courses … in fields that can develop students’ logical and critical thinking abilities.”

It could do both. I realise that this is a fantasy, but why couldn’t we have a course in comparative religions (including atheism), to be taught during the final two years of high school, when students’ thinking abilities are at their peak?

Call the course “Worldviews”. Bring in accredited representatives of various religious and non-religious groups to present their cases. Have units on Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Baha’i, and atheism.

Hold free-wheeling discussions dealing with questions like: “If there is a God who is both omnipotent and beneficent, why is the world in such a mess?” “If there is no creating God, how and why did the universe come into being?” “What evidence do we have for the existence of any kind of afterlife?” “If there is an operative law of karma, why does it take so long for some individuals’ karma to bear fruit?”

Questions like these may not yield any conclusive answers, but they will certainly make students think. And exposure to a variety of views will broaden their outlook. I am under no illusion that the existing power structure would ever give such a suggestion anything more than a dismissive laugh.

YE OLDE FANTASIST