Christian ethics taught in Ukraine's public schools

For the first time in 90 years, Ukrainian students have the option of studying Christian ethics in the public schools. Christian ethics for the school curriculum was an initiative proposed by Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko shortly after the Orange Revolution in 2005.

The program calls for voluntary participation and is supported by the leaders of Ukraine's largest Christian denominations. One Baptist church association, "Hope to People" of Rivne, Ukraine, sponsors teacher training at several "fellowship camps" throughout the year.

In the summer of 2007, I attended one of these fellowship camps for teachers of Christian ethics as a public high school teacher from the USA. The camp was held at the Vodogray resort in the beautiful Carpathian Mountain region of western Ukraine.

I asked the principal of a school in Kharkov: "Why is the culture and attitude toward religion of eastern and western Ukraine so different?"

"It's not the same, eastern Ukraine and western Ukraine, because the western part of Ukraine was added to the Soviet Union later on, about 20 years.

"And this is why they could keep their national culture and national language as well.

"And they resisted the communists who pressured them so that people here might speak Russian only.

"And the Ukrainian language was forbidden as a language at school and even as a language of common fellowship."

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[jcr4runner]

For information on how you can get involved with this mission to teachers of Christian ethics or with Ukrainian missions in general, please message me at the link above -- jcr4runner

Or email me at my address listed on The Forerunner website -- see the address above.

[SanguineBullet667]

well now i know to never visit or move to the ukraine... christian fundies are bigots

[peterhumphrys]

@nik69 I think that you are correct, Schools should teach ethical or moral reasoning not tied to any particular faith, but should get students to think through the issues and help them to formulate their own moral views. Indoctrination is simply not going to work effectively in a modern pluralist world.

[majorgeeek]

Ukrainian Othodox teaches purer Chritian ethics which are closer to the truth than Evangelicals with USA origin - many USA evagelicals are corrupt, adulterers - be very suspicious of their real motives in any country

[jcrules54733]

Hi. There is nothing in our Constitution that "separates" religion from the Government. The only criteria is that the Government was forbidden to do was to establish a religion and they were not to touch our inherent (God-given) rights to freely worship anywhere we wish, any time, and any place. That includes the schools or anywhere else.

[jcrules54733]

Our 1st schools used the Bible to teach reading. That's what they studied. The Bible. It's only when the Feds established schools that it changed.  When I went to school...regular school not a Christians school... we would say a Bible verse in the morning after the Pledge of Alliegance. "Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven." Before lunch we'd all pray. Nobody had a cow over it like the brainwashed Cretens do now.

[jcr4runner]

I agree in principle that parents are responsible for their children's education.

However, if you have a school someone's worldview s going to be taught. It is either going to be a Christian worldview or an anti-Christian worldview. There is no neutrality.

Perhaps we need to advocate the separation of school and state. But their is no neutrality wherever there are schools.

[SKeene1956]

I hope you are using the apostolic way of teaching.

[SKeene1956]

Dogma also

[IwasaBushfan]

if everyone followed the example of the man christ there would be peace and never another war...........he did bring peace......let other peoples beliefs be for god to sort through..we do unto others like he did...............right?

[jcr4runner]

Christian ethics are basically the same in all churches.

Only doctrines and practices are different.