Secular education

From Free net encyclopedia

Secular education is a term that refers to the system of public education in countries with a secular government or separation between religion and state.

While it is considered an important part of a democratic and free society, some may oppose secular education on the basis of theocratic beliefs.

A noteworthy feature of secular education is that of teaching subjects some religious adherents view as controversial. These subjects include Sex Education and extended science education; giving students more depth on biological theories and facts, especially Evolution. This has placed secular educators at odds with many Christians, especially Fundamentalist Christians, as well as religious dogmatists from other traditions.

A broader definition of "secular education" includes the total cultural education that a citizen is exposed to by growing up in a strongly secular society. This cultural secular education is a consequence of the environment of the society which typically includes exposure to other cultures with most citizens fluently speaking two or three languages, having TV and radio programs from other cultures, and having a strong public secular education system that includes studying comparative religions, world history, and world mythologies beginning in elementary school. Examples of such secular societies are The Netherlands and the Scandanavian countries. The societies of these countries actually practice complete separation of church and state even though their constitution does not separate church and state.