Ethics classes are a good alternative to Special Religious education in Primary Schools.

However, I still adhere to the fact that a Special Religious class would focus more on teaching the basis and beliefs on the religion, rather then being taught the morals for real life application. Simply put, if a class were to focus on radical Muslims in the Middle East, we can all reasonably assume that the teacher would avoid encouraging students to pursue certain morals. There are two contentions I would like to present today. 1. Special Religion Education is a pivotal part of learning. 2. Ethics classes have inherent problems that outweigh Special Religion Education. Contention 1: Special Religion Education is a pivotal part of learning. First, I'd like to bring up an assertion my opponent made. He states that we, as a society, want to move in a direction that is free and secular. The definition of secular (of or relating to the worldly or temporal ((1)) ), is summarized as "separate from religion. " The society particularly want to be separate from religion? The answer is no. Only 16% of the world is non-religious, and even half of those people are "theistic" and just non-religious. (2) This brings me to the core part of my first contention. Not even looking at the moral argument, we can see the importance of Special Religious Education just by the percentage of the world that is religious. My opponent states that children must be able to grow "morally", but I'd also like to bring up the point that they must grow "academically' as well. Take this scenario into account. You have a choice between two classes: An Ethics class where you would only learn ethics which you should already be familiar with just through everyday life, or a Special Religious class where you learn about something that directly concerns 84% of the world population. But that's under the assumption that a Special Religious class would not teach morals at all. Even though I brought up in my opening statement that certain religious morals are obviously dangerous and wrong, many major religions in the world teach peace and good morals. Classes that focus on Buddhism, for example, would include the moral effects of Karma, teaching an obvious lesson of your good outweighing your bad. Take the Bible. Can you tell me where the Ten Commandments are morally wrong? The point is, we can obviously see that Special Religious Education not only teaches students about one of the biggest facts in the world (that religion is everywhere), but it also goes in-depth with morals of various cultures. Of course, my opponent also brought up the fact that students should also be able to come up with their own views. I absolutely agree. So what exactly is wrong with doing that in an un-bias multi-religion setting? Learning about other religions is a way for students to bolster their own beliefs and also form new ones. An ethics class may offer insight to students with just a moral standpoint for varying situations, but a Special Religious class would have the same effect while also teaching other standpoints and appropriate responses to them. (Something all debaters should also learn. Taking both sides of an argument. ) Contention 2: Ethics classes have inherent problems that outweigh Special Religion Education. As I've proved above, Special Religion Education offers all that Ethics classes do, but with added benefits. That's 1 for SRE and 0 for EC. But what if there was something that made Ethics classes a -1? One of the biggest problems with an ethics class is the question of "who decided what's right and wrong. " An old lady falls on the sidewalk. Easy answer. You help her up. But what about when your best friend steals medicine to help his dying mother. Do you turn him in? If students are taught what the "right" answer is, then where is the student's ability to develop their own beliefs like my opponent mentioned? What if a student disagrees with a teacher? An even worse scenario is a teacher who doesn't agree with the curriculum given. Who ultimately comes up with the curriculum for an Ethics class? A Special Religion class is bound to specific religions that wouldn't stray to one side or another. The American public school system already has problems and complaints about the school system leaning towards liberal rather then conservative. If you were to produce an Ethics class, the person making the curriculum would ultimately decide what gets taught to students, making the political divide even larger. In summary, with one person, or even a committee, making a curriculum, you are assured to have problems with personal bias. I will conclude my argument here and await my opponents response. --- 1. mw1. merriam-webster. com/dictionary/secular 2. . http://www.adherents.com...