The study apon comparative religion within a secular school should be considered necessarily for GCE because it fits well with the curriculum and philosophy. the idea in which the outer world should be learned rather than understanding information without purpose. There had already been multiple classes mentioning religion but have not delved too much into the subject. These being Who Am I, Drama, and Argument. Still, despite mentioning, it seem taboo to bring more heavy into the subject as it could damage the idea of a secular school. The same idea goes for CPS schools, in which certain teachings of the religion are prohibited within their conduct. “such practices can be accommodated in a manner which does not violate the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution, and to the extent that the accommodation does not place an undue burden on the School.” Chicago Public Schools Policy Manual: ACCOMMODATIONS FOR STUDENT RELIGIOUS PRACTICES Still, the difference with GCE is it tries to separate itself within CPS by trying to understand the world around. This is important because such as Christianity, Buddhism, Muslamic, and Judaism have affected the world around students. Both negatively (sexual oppression, scientific resistance, etc) and positively (family heritage, spiritual consciousness, etc) to the point where it cannot be ignored. Seeing this, it should be wise to teach religion within the curriculum of GCE only to compare it and understand it in a scientific way. For myself, the greatest religions to study have always been of those that have little connect to my families history. These being religions such as buddhism, greek mythology, norse mythology, and much more. That being said, I believe GCE would be the perfect environment to study it rather then in the comforts of your home. It allows a sort of safe space where one could state opinions on the subject as a science and not be punished by peers. Furthermore, it gives the resource to different opinions from differing backgrounds rather than family members who most likely only know the religion that you have been affiliated with. Since politics and religion have been within a mixed bag throughout the history of the US, it should be no surprise that it is mention within a liberal school known as GCE. As stated within the website: “Civic engagement is built right into our daily life.” However, despite having multiple lessons which include legal cases based around religion, (Argument and Drama specifically), there seems to be a separation between the two. In order to understand politics within American society, one must acknowledge the buildup and history behind it. This including religion and the mentality it brings upon the human for motivation against certain minorities.
Even if one does not understand the subject of religion, they should at least understand the inspiration behind certain arts in which religion has created. Coming back to history, religion has set a basic of art for the creates of the renosaunts era to the modern day usage of symbolism and dissection of story. A personal favorite is the Devilman Crybaby series where it’s own philosophy is based around criticizing religion with the use of its own symbols. Still, the point stands of the idea of religion (whether to critic it or praise) to create knew concepts based off of old, and to give more significance to the medium since it could allow the use of abstract ideas such as gods or demons to either be believable or have more significance to the audience. I understand what is wanted is much within the GCE curriculum to be aspect. But I do believe there should a class based around the premises, and turn into reality. I do realize there are suppises such as FE’s staff, books upon the critic of religion, books upon the alternatives, different books that explain different religions, staff with experience, an environment of free thinking, and much more. Still, even if the class is not show, it should be an unalienable right for one to understand the world around them, which includes religious affars.