[GenuineRisk]

I went to public school and we covered world religions in our World Cultures class. It wasn't elective (everyone had to take World Cultures) but I don't recall anyone having issues about it. Maybe because it wasn't taught as a "this is the truth" but as a "this faith is important in this region." Or so I recall. I think it's useful in that I learned that Islam, Buddhism, Judaism, etc. are as diverse as Christianity and, just as Christianity does here, varies in practice according to where the population lives (Pacific Island Islam is very different from Arabic Islam, for example, and Buddhism in Cambodia is a totally different faith from Buddhism in China).

So I think World Religions are a good subject for school, but probably best paired with education on the cultures where those faiths predominate, as people don't worship in a cultural vacuum.

I think you're not seeing a ton of dissent on the poll, Mike, because you cite cultural issues, not foreign policy or economic issues, and I think a lot of the DTers are probably on the same page, or close to it, where cultural issues are concerned. Polls are fun; thanks for posting it!