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Secular education

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A crucifix in a classroom at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. Crucifixes in classrooms of public schools have become a matter of controversy in some countries.

Secular education is a system of public education in countries with a secular government or separation between religion and state.

History

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Secular educational systems were a modern development intended to replace religious ecclesiastical and rabbinic schools (like the heder) in Western Europe. Secular schools were to function as a cultural foundation to diffuse the values of a human culture that was a product of man's own faculty for reason.

This contrasted against religious education which placed value on tradition - knowledge that was "revealed" - instead of the "human values through which manifested the uniqueness of the human being in nature as a creature who is himself a creator, a being who shapes his environment and who fashions himself within that environment". For Jews the ideal was the Maskil, the Jewish equivalent of Enlightenment philosophers or humanists.[1]

Actions and controversies

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Banning of religious symbols

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In the French public educational system conspicuous religious symbols have been banned in schools.

While some religious groups are hostile to secularism and see such measures as promoting atheism,[2][better source needed][unreliable source?] other citizens claim that the display of any religious symbol constitutes an infringement of the separation of church and state and a discrimination against atheist, agnostic and non-religious people.

Other

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ Schwied, Eliezer (2008). The Idea of Modern Jewish Culture. Boston: Academic Studies Press.
  2. ^ The Islamic Response to the Secular Educational System
  3. ^ Asia News 08/24/2013 Turkish government promoting Islamic schools at the expense of secular education
  4. ^ The National - Rise of Islamic schools causes alarm in secular Turkey
  5. ^ Andrew Finkel in the International Herald Tribune of 23 March 2012 What’s 4 + 4 + 4?; accessed on 7 November 2012
  6. ^ Full text of the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights
  7. ^ Press release of the European Court of Human Rights
  8. ^ Summary of the ruling by the European Court of Human Rights
  9. ^ Adriana Petrescu et al., Scrisoare catre CNCD re: simboluri religioase Archived 2007-01-02 at the Wayback Machine ("Letter to the CNCD re: religious symbols"), Indymedia Româna, 13 November 2006.
  10. ^ Faith in schools: The dismantling of Australia's secular public education system by Chrys Stevenson
  11. ^ No one is safe - The Ongoing Insurgency in Southern Thailand: Trends in Violence, Counterinsurgency Operations, and the Impact of National Politics, by Zachary Abuza, Human Rights Watch, p. 23
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