What I have been thinking about this week is if the was we educated secularly in the US is better or worse than the religious educations that children receive in Middle Eastern nations. In America, we tend to assume that everything we do as a nation is the right thing to do and all of our ways of being the the correct ways. But if the education of children can only be implemented by the secular government to a certain extent and if our children are not receiving adequate moral/spiritual guidance at home, how can we defend the use of secular education?
Like I said in class, the government and our school systems can only do so much for the youth of this nation. If a child receives no motivation or encouragement or guidance as to the importance of an education, why would he/she want to pursue education? So in Middle Eastern nations where religious education is the preferred route of many families, children receive at least some guidance as to the moral aspects of life and more personal elements of existence. I guess my point is that, we can't blame Islamic education and automatically assume it is the wrong way to educate children when at least it gives them something to motivate them and help them in and out of class. On the other hand, when all a child learns is how to recite the Qu'ran, he/she is definitely being cheated of all of the other literature and material the world has to offer.
The subject of relationships between Islamic nations in the Middle East and secular Western nations is a touchy and complicated issue. I'm not sure if all of the problems associated with the tension between these two cultures will ever be solved, but I know that the only way to know is to continue discussing and moving forward.
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